Indian Abroad - Jan 16-31, 2023

Plane with five Indians onboard crashes in Nepal: Indian embassy issues helpline numbers

local authorities and monitoring the situation.

Helpline numbers issued by the Indian Embassy are

1. Kathmandu: Diwakar Sharma: +977-9851107021

2. Pokhara: Lt Col Shashank Tripathi: +977-9856037699

An ATR 72 aircraft of Yeti Airlines with a call sign 9N-ANC that took off to Pokhara from Kathmandu at 10.32 a.m. crashed at Nayagaun of the city.

The Nepal government has announced a national mourning on Monday.

The government has also formed a five-member team to investigate the plane crash, in which most of the passengers are presumed dead.

Australian businesses call to boost migrant intake

healthcare sectors.

Arguing for an even bigger increase, the BCA said more migrants would be a significant economic and social boon to fill skills’ gaps and offset Australia’s aging population.

“Australia should aim for a reset on migration that not only attracts migrants back to our shores and tackles workforce shortages, but also helps set the country up as a high productivity, high-skill and high-wage frontier economy,” according to the submission.

“To give certainty for long-term planning, the government should consider setting Australia’s permanent migration intake at a percentage of the total population over the long term.”

Bhopal,

Indian-origin science teacher wins PM’s prize in Australia

Melbourne, Dec 5 (IANS) An Indianorigin teacher in Australia has received the 2022 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in secondary schools.

Melbourne-based Veena Nair, who is ViewBank College’s Head of Technology and STEAM project leader, has been awarded for demonstrating practical application of STEAM to students, and how they can use their skills to make a real impact in the world.

“To be recognised in the Prime Minister’s prizes for science, I am deeply humbled. I am very grateful to my school, to my colleagues, to my students, and to my family,” Nair said in a video message.

Canberra, Jan 9 (IANS) Australian businesses have called on the federal government to increase the permanent migration cap.

In its submission to the government’s review of the immigration system recently, the Business Council of Australia (BCA) called for a post-pandemic migration “reset”, reports Xinhua news agency

It urged the government to increase the annual migrant intake for the next two financial years to 220,000, with 70 per cent of places reserved for skilled workers.

In 2022, the new government announced it would increase the cap from 160,000 to 195,000 places in a bid to address workforce shortages, particularly in the technology and

Additionally, the peak body said employers should be allowed to bring in any skilled worker from overseas for jobs with a salary above the national average.

The wide-ranging immigration review, which was established by Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil in November 2022, is expected to hand down its reports and recommendations for change ahead of May’s federal budget.

Indian student bags Ambassadors of Change Award in Australia

So, after that, I knew that I too wanted to be a mentor,” Mittal was quoted as saying in a university statement.

He said that his time as a mentor helped him grow and develop his own skills.Before coming to Australia, Mittal did his Masters in computer programming from Gujarat Technological University and Bachelors from a university in Baroda.

“Before I started this, I was very much an introvert. I got to learn many things, how to interact with people, how to talk with others, and how to communicate. So it’s actually helped me a lot too,” he said.

“Many people know about STEM -- science, technology, engineering and maths, but STEAM is with an A, which is for Art. Art brings in out of the box thinking, and it brings in creativity because students need steam skills to innovate, to become resilient and to take risks,” she said.

As a leading educator in STEAM, Nair has more than 20 years of experience in teaching science-based subjects across India, the United Arab Emirates, and now Australia.

Through her work, she has increased the number of students who receive first round offers to study engineering and technology subjects at university, especially young women and students from diverse backgrounds.

Nair began her teaching career in Mumbai, where she provided computers to low socio-economic

British-Indian doctor saves man’s life twice on flight to India

London, Jan 6 (IANS) A BritishIndian doctor battled for five hours to save a fellow passenger, who almost died twice during a 10-hour Air India flight.

Vishwaraj Vemala, a consultant hepatologist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, was flying from the UK to Bengaluru with his mother when a 43-year-old man suffered a cardiac arrest.

Vemala attempted to resuscitate the passenger, who at the time did not have a pulse and was not breathing.

Melbourne,

Science, received the award for his volunteer work with the university’s mentor programme through its student support initiative, UC Thrive.

Vishal Mittal, who recently completed his final year of a Master of Data

“It was quite helpful for me to have a mentor -- I learnt a few tips and tricks, and more about the course.

Nine Ambassadors of Change were recognised by the university for their work.

The university’s student mentor programme provides individual support throughout a student’s first semester, answering their questions and helping them make connections.

“It took about an hour of resuscitation before I was able to get him back. Luckily, they (the cabin crew) had an emergency kit, which included resuscitative medication to enable life support,” Vemala said while sharing his experience.

Apart from oxygen and an automated external defibrillator, Vemala, with the help of other passengers, managed to get hold of a heart-rate

monitor, blood pressure machine, pulse oximeter and glucose meter to keep an eye on the patient’s vital signs.

The passenger then went into cardiac arrest for a second time, and this time it took longer to resuscitate him.

Kathmandu, Jan 15 (IANS) After a passenger plane with 72 people onboard, including five Indians,

crashed in Nepal on Sunday, the Indian embassy here issued helpline numbers, saying that it is touch with

Jan 10 (IANS) The two-day Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, held after a gap of two years, concluded in Madhya Pradesh’s commercial capital Indore, on Tuesday.

Over 3,500 overseas Indians participated in the event.

The valedictory session of the 17th NRIs convention was attended by

Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas concludes, MP gears up for global business summit

Jan 2 (IANS) An Indian student has been recognised as an Ambassador of Change by the University of Canberra in Australia for his outstanding work as a student mentor.

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Los Angeles, Jan 11 (IANS) India is all set to bring in the Golden Globe 2023 home as the song ‘Naatu Naatu’ from S.S. Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’ won the Best Original Song, Motion Picture at the 80th Golden Globes.

‘Naatu Naatu’ was in competition with ‘Carolina’ from “Where the

Crawdads Sing”, “Ciao Papa” from “Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio”, “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.

To receive the honour was music composer M. M. Keeravani, who was accompanied with his wife Srivalli. He dedicated the award to Rajamouli

and the actors Ram Charan and NTR Jr.

While accepting the award, he said: “Thank you very much for this prestigious award: “This award belongs to SS Rajamouli for his vision, I thank him for constantly believe and supporting my work. N.T. Rama Rao and Ram Charan who danced with full stamina.”

‘RRR’ stars NTR Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody and Olivia Morris.

It centres around two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, their fictional friendship and their fight against the British Raj.

Set in the 1920s, the plot explores the undocumented period in their lives when both the revolutionaries chose to go into obscurity before they began the fight for their country.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated music composer M.M. Keeravaani and Team ‘RRR’ for their win at the Golden Globes. He tweeted: “A very special accomplishment! Compliments to @mmkeeravaani, Prem Rakshith, Kaala Bhairava, Chandrabose, @Rahulsipligunj. I also congratulate @ssrajamouli, @ tarak9999, @AlwaysRamCharan and the entire team of @RRRMovie. This prestigious honour has made every Indian very proud.”

Describing the win as a “most well-deserving achievement”, mega star Amitabh Bachchan complimented the team in Telugu as well:

Conveying his reaction, industrialist Anand Mahindra tweeted: “Dance and the world dances with you. Thank you #RRR, thank you #NaatuNaatu for winning at the #GoldenGlobes and showing us what India’s global brand should be: A country that can make people sing & dance together. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.”

Mahesh Babu, who is set to work with S.S. Rajamouli on his next movie, wrote: “Watching the world

cheer for an Indian film is a dream come true!! This year couldn’t have started on a better note!

Congratulations @mmkeeravaani garu, @ssrajamouli sir, @tarak9999, @AlwaysRamCharan & the entire team of #RRR... Many more to come!!”

Anupam Kher also joined in the celebrations by tweeting: “What a moment for #IndianCinema!

Congratulations to the entire team of @RRRMovie! Specially to the masters @mmkeeravaani & @ ssrajamouli! And to our friends @ AlwaysRamCharan & #JrNTR! They literally danced into the hearts of audiences worldwide! Jai Ho!”

‘It was a beautiful torture’: Ram Charan looks back at ‘Naatu Naatu’

Los Angeles, Jan 11 (IANS) When Marc Malkin of ‘Variety’ asked Ram Charan if he would like to be a Marvel superhero, the ‘RRR’ hero responded at once: “Absolutely. Why not?”

And when he was asked about his favourite Marvel superhero, he said without thinking much: “Tony Stark.” He was referring to the character Robert Downey Jr plays in the Iron Man franchise.

“Or maybe Captain America, why not?” Ram Charan added as an

afterthought. “We have some amazing superheroes in India too,” he pointed out. “How about you invite one of our heroes over here?”

Talking specifically about ‘Naatu Naatu’, he said: “My knees still wobble talking about it today. It was a beautiful torture and look where it has got us.”

Was the ‘RRR’ director S.S. Rajamouli hard on them during the terrific action sequences? Rajamouli said: “I took care of them like babies. No one ever got hurt.” To this, Ram

Chran added: “He spanked the babies too.”

On the positive response ‘RRR’ has been getting in the run-up to the awards, Rajamouli said: “It humbles me that I get love from so many people.” In the same spirit, NTR Jr had told ‘Variety’ in another red carpet interview: “We thought we had a winner, but it turned out to be more than a winner ... you don’t expect this to happen.”

Earlier, the actor had tweeted: “Congratulations Sirji on your

well-deserved #GoldenGlobes award! I’ve danced to many songs throughout my career but #NaatuNaatu will forever stay close to my heart...@mmkeeravaani”

Cheering the win, ‘Los Angeles Times’ tweeted (and promoted the profile it carried of Rajamouli): “Last night, the audience at #RRRMovie’s sold-out Chinese Theater screening swarmed the stage to dance during the ‘Naatu Naatu’ number. Today, composer M.M. Keeravani won the Golden Globe for best original song.”

The ‘underdog’ wins against Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga: ‘Variety’

category. But awards interest in ‘RRR’ has picked up in recent weeks as the crowd-pleasing action-drama-musical has transcended cult status to earn serious attention, ‘Variety’ notes.

Los

Team ‘RRR’ makes

New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) For the upcoming 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), India has received an enthusiastic response from its diaspora with more than 3,500 registrations from nearly 70 different countries, the Ministry of External Affairs said. The NRI convention, which will be held from January 8-10 in Indore, will see ministerial level delegations from Mauritius, Malaysia, Panama,

a style

and participation from the Indian diaspora in several countries, including Mauritius, the UAE, the US, Qatar, and Oman.

Addressing a special Ministry of External Affairs briefing on the upcoming PBD, Secretary, Consular & Diaspora, Ausaf Sayeed said that diaspora will play a very important role in the developmental trajectory of India.

“In keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat over the next 25 years -- as we look up to India in 2047 -- we feel that the diaspora will play a very important role in the developmental trajectory of India,” he said.

Sayeed said that this year’s PBD is significant as it marks 75 years of India’s Independence.

The formal inauguration of the PBD convention with the theme -- ‘Diaspora: Reliable Partners for India’s Progress in Amrit Kaal’ -- will be done by Prime Minister

The song’s Globes win increases anticipation that ‘Naatu’ will become the rare song by Indian composers to get an Oscar nomination later this month; it already made the Academy’s 15-song shortlist, the Hollywood bible points out.

The night before the Globes, Rajamouli, music composer M. M. Keeravani (popular among Hindi filmgoers as M. M. Kreem) and the

film’s two leading men, Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr., convened in America for the first time at a raucous screening at LA’s iconic TCL Chinese Theatre, sponsored by the American Cinematheque and Beyond Fest.

The screening had sold out in just over 90 seconds, and the audience whooped and screamed throughout the three-hour-plus film, with dozens taking to the floor in front of the Chinese’s IMAX screen for a ‘Naatu Naatu’ dance-a-thon, ‘Variety’ reports, before finally settling down for a nearly hour-long Q&A with the

four guests.

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ maker J.J. Abrams was a surprise guest introducing the Chinese screening. In his introduction, he called ‘RRR’ “a film I love and a filmmaker I so admire. ... I love its exuberance. I love its friendship. I love its heart. I love what it says about fighting for what’s right. I love the music.

“I love the insanity. The fever-dream madness of this movie is more fun than you’ll have in a theatre -- (more) than I can imagine having in any other film.”

statement with sarees, sherwanis and bandhgalas

Los Angeles, Jan 11 (IANS) As India bagging a Golden Globe for the number ‘Naatu Naatu’ has made headlines, the Indian attire sported by the ‘RRR’ family too grabbed eyeballs at the prestigious event.

‘RRR’ brought home the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in Motion Picture for the song ‘Naatu Naatu’, however, the film lost out the bigger share of the pie -- that of the Best Motion Picture NonEnglish award to the Argentine film

‘Argentina, 1985’.

It was Ram Charan, his wife Upasana, M. M. Keeravaani, his wife Srivalli S. S. Rajamouli and his better half Rama Rajamouli, who unlike any other global star chose to flaunt the Indian wear at the ceremony.

Ram Charan looked every inch dapper in an all black Kurta paired with straight pants and sunglasses. His wife Upasana dolled up in a printed saree.

Rajamouli chose a black kurta, red dhoti pants and a crisp red dupatta while his wife Rama, a costume designer, opted for a green and orange Kanjeevaram saree.

Keeravaani seemed to join the gang with a black kurta and straight pants. His wife chose a bright yellow and orengish-red nine-yard wonder. Jr. NTR looked every inch handsome as he opted for a black suit paired with a bow-tie and a white shirt.

Narendra Modi on January 9. Five plenary sessions are planned for the PBD with themes of healthcare, soft power, Indian workforce and women, Sayeed said during the briefing.

He added that four of these sessions would be headed by cabinet ministers for the first time.

Additionally, a town hall has been planned, where G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant as well as coordinator Harshvardhan Shringla will give a presentation on India’s G20 presidency.

The first day, January 8, will be celebrated as Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, which will be organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs.

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur will deliver opening remarks along with External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar during this session of the convention.

‘RRR’ centres around two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, their fictional friendship and their fight against the British Raj. Set in the 1920s, the plot explores the undocumented period in their lives when both the revolutionaries chose to go into obscurity before they began the fight for their country.

‘World looking at India with hope’, says PM Modi at Pravasi Divas event

Bhopal, Jan 9 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Monday that the entire world was keenly looking at India with hope. He was addressing the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city.

After welcoming a large gathering of NRIs, who have arrived here from several countries to participate in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, PM Modi said that every Indian-origin person living in foreign countries ‘is brand ambassador of India’.

“As India has achieved high growth in several sectors, and especially despite Covid-19 pandemic, the entire world is watching us keenly. They are trying to know how India is strengthening its power despite hurdles. This is going to happen more because India is going to be progressive in coming years. And therefore, the role of each Pravasi Bharatiya living in different countries has increased,” Modi said.

During the over 30-minute address, PM Modi briefly spoke in English also. He appealed to the gathering of NRIs to get the knowledge about

India’s culture, diversity, democratic values, power of youth and many more in depth and spread the knowledge in countries they are living.

“The more you will understand about India, the better you will be able to tell new generations and NRIs in your countries. How India is growing, and what the possibilities are for new generations need to be taught so that more and more people come to India for research in every field,” the PM added.

The Prime Minister further said that India not only has the capability of becoming a knowledge centre but also a skilled capital. He said India’s youth has values, skill, honesty and strong determination towards work.

“Many Indian-origin people are contributing in building the nations they are living in now. I would appeal that a documentary should be made about the struggle of such people, whose role was making their present countries acknowledge them. We need to understand their struggle and courage to tell our new generations,” Modi added

He also requested that every Pravasi Bharatiya should know about India’s progress. India has also taken the presidency of G20 which is a great opportunity to show India’s sustainability goals and become an example of Jan Bhagidari for the world.

He further added that India got the opportunity to host the G20 summit where leaders of top 20 countries will assemble at one stage. “But, let me tell you that, India will use this occasion to make it as a ‘Jan Bhagidari’. Our idea is to take it beyond diplomatic event and to aid on a new thought and practice in G20 groups,” the PM said.

The song entered the race as an underdog, with music superstars Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga and director-songwriter Guillermo del Toro also competing in the

missing out on best non-English-language picture to ‘Argentina, 1985’ but triumphing for best original song with the viral sensation ‘Naatu Naatu’, writes ‘Variety’.

Angeles, Jan 11 (IANS) The Indian hit turned global phenomenon ‘RRR’ went one for two at the Golden Globes on Tuesday night (Wednesday early morning),

“Vijayniki abhinandanalu RRR, miru bharatadesarn garvapadela cesaru (Congratulations on you win, ‘RRR’! You have brought honour to your country.)”

23 injured in TN jallikattu event

The jallikattu, considered one of the most popular bull-taming events, was being held on Sunday early morning and coincided with the Mattu Pongal.

The jallikattu festival is considered a dangerous sport in which people injure themselves while trying to tame raging bulls. The winners are given two-wheelers, clothes, jewels, and money, and several youths participate in the jallikattu events at various places in Tamil Nadu during the Pongal festival.

Operative of Canada-based

Chandigarh, Jan 15 (IANS) An operative of Canada-based terrorist Goldy Brar’s gang was arrested by Punjab Police from Himachal Pradesh’s Sundernagar town on Sunday, an official said Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said the accused, Inderpreet Singh, alias Parry, 32, came in contact with gangsters Brar and Lawrence Bishnoi during his college days at DAV College in Chandigarh in 2011.

Chennai, Jan

Sunday.

Thirteen of the injured were admitted to Madurai Rajaji Government Medical College.

It is to be noted that Pongal is the biggest festival of Tamil Nadu which is held from January 15 to 18.

Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas concludes, MP gears up for global business summit

Suriname is celebrating 150th anniversary of arrival of Indians in June 2023. Murmu wished the celebrations every success and was proud to note that despite the large geographical distance between the two countries, Hindi is widely spoken in Suriname.

“The cooperation between India and Suriname is progressing well. Regular high level visits are providing impetus to our growing relations,” she added, as per the release.

The theme of this PBD Convention was “Diaspora: Reliable partners for India’s progress in Amrit Kaal”.

He has a notorious past with more than a dozen cases pertaining to murder and attempt to murder registered against him in Punjab and Haryana, he said.

The arrested accused also has involvement in the targeted killing of Pardeep Singh, who was killed by six persons outside his shop in Kotkapura on November 10, 2022. He had also actively participated when Bishnoi fled from police custody.

The DGP said following systematic investigations, police teams from

Mohali pinpointed the location of Parry in Himachal Pradesh and arrested him from a hotel with the help of local police.

Divulging the role of Parry in targeted killing of Pardeep Singh, the DGP said Parry on the directions of Brar gave Rs 20,000 in cash to Harshveer Singh Bajwa and directed him to deposit the amount in the account of Manpreet Singh, alias Manni, an

accused in Pardeep Singh murder case. Harshveer and Manni have already been arrested.

Parry was earlier arrested by Chandigarh Police in March 2022 in Arms Act case after one pistol and one .30 bore pistol was recovered from his possession. In this case, he remained in Burail Jail for around two months before being released on bail.

Hindu temple in Australia defaced with anti-India graffiti

New Delhi, Jan 12 (IANS) A Hindu temple in Melbourne was allegedly vandalised by anti-India supporters and defaced with anti-India graffiti, saying ‘Hindustan Murdabad’, media reports said.

The walls of BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Melbourne’s northern suburb of Mill Park were also marked with praises of Indian terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale -- a supporter of the creation of Khalistan for Sikhs -- as a ‘martyr’, The Australia Today reported.

She conferred Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards to 27 overseas Indians. The award is conferred on NRIs, PIOs, or an organisation run by NRIs in recognition of their outstanding achievements both in India and abroad.

In her address at the valedictory session, Murmu said the Indian diaspora has become an important and unique force in the global system and “grown into an energetic and confident community in every region”.

She said the Indian diaspora has exhibited extraordinary dedication and hard work and overcome many challenges to achieve excellence in all walks of life including art, literature, politics, business, academics,

philanthropy, and science and technology.

The President also met her Guyanese counterpart, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and said there is immense scope for cooperation and collaboration between the two countries in the area of oil and gas.

During her meeting with her Surinamese counterpart Chandrikapersad Santokhi, she expressed India’s commitment to extending technical cooperation and contributing towards capacity building and skill development in the South American nation, said a release from President Murmu’s office.

The President of Suriname was the special guest of honour at the mega conclave of the overseas Indians and addressed the event on Monday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has formally inaugurated the event on Monday saying the world was watching towards India with hopes. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan addressed the concluding session of the conclave and expressed his gratitude to NRIs for coming to Indore.

“Indore prepared to host the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention as one prepares for a daughter’s wedding. Now at the time of your departure, the heart feels heavy,” he said. During two-day long event, Chouhan held several meetings with different delegates attending the event and business deals were also discussed.

Now, Indore city is preparing for the Global Investment Summit (GIS), commencing from Wednesday. The global business summit being organised by Madhya Pradesh government to convince Indian and overseas investors in the state.

Indian-origin science teacher wins PM’s prize in Australia

schools and taught students how to code.

Nair’s students participate in the Swinburne Youth Space Innovation Challenge -- a 10-week program that sees secondary students competing to create the best experiment to launch into space.

The winning project is then sent to the International Space Station. She also supports the Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet program, a STEM-based enterprise development program that gives students the opportunity to engage with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as changemakers at a global level.

Via this program, she has led a team

of Australian teachers to conduct STEAM workshops for teachers in low socio-economic schools in Mumbai.

Nair is a BSc in Physics and a BEd in Science and Mathematics from the University of Mumbai and an MEd (maths education) from Deakin University.

She won the Educator of the Year Award by the Design and Technology Teachers’ Association of Australia in 2018.

The annual awards celebrate the contributions of 12 of the country’s leading scientists, innovators and science teachers.

British-Indian doctor saves man’s life twice on flight to India

statement released by University Hospitals Birmingham.

Concerned for the passenger’s chance for survival, Vemala and the pilot tried to get permission to land at the nearest airfield in Pakistan, but their request was denied.

Instead, they were able to arrange for landing at the Mumbai airport, where an emergency crew was waiting for them on the ground.

By the time the flight landed, the passenger was resuscitated and was able to speak.

his seven years as a consultant that his mother saw him ‘in action’. “She was crying a lot.”

Vemala was able to leave the patient safe and stable with the emergency team at Mumbai Airport, with very detailed notes and observations he’d shown cabin crew how to take.

“This was indeed a moment that I will remember for rest of my life,” he said.

Vemala graduated from Bangalore University in 1999, and completed post-graduate training in Bangalore in 2002.

“We are deeply saddened by the anti-India graffiti at the gates of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Mill Park, Melbourne, Australia by anti-social elements. The BAPS temple in Mill Park, like all temples of BAPS worldwide, is an abode of peace, harmony, equality, selfless service, and universal Hindu values,” the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha said in an official statement on Thursday.

“When I reached the temple today morning, all walls were coloured with graffiti of Khalistani hatred towards Hindus,” a local resident told the paper.

Makrand Bhagwat, Hindu Council of Australia’s Victoria state President, told The Australia Today that “any kind of hatred and vandalism against places of worship is not acceptable and we condemn it”.

He added that the issue will be raised with the Victorian Multicultural Commission and the Multicultural Minister of Victoria.

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha expressed gratitude to the governments of Australia and India as well

as local community organisations “for their continued support.”

“BAPS Mandirs across Australia are symbols of a thriving multicultural society which nurture Australian values of respect, mateship and tolerance”, the statement said.

In September last year, BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Canada was defaced by alleged Khalistani miscreants with anti-India graffiti.

“In total, he was without a good pulse or decent blood pressure for nearly two hours of the flight, alongside the cabin crew, we were trying to keep him alive for five hours in total,” Vemala said in a

“I don’t think I have ever treated a cardiac arrest during my job... Obviously during my medical training, it was something I had experience dealing with, but never 40,000 feet in the air!” Vemala said.

He said that it was the first time in

He completed basic specialist training in London (2006) at St George’s University Hospital. Later, he undertook a period of research in the Dame Sheila Sherlock Liver Unit at the Royal Free, London (2009).

15 (IANS) At least 23 people were injured in a jallikattu event being held in Avaniapuram of Tamil Nadu’s Madurai district on

President Droupadi Murmu, who had arrived there early in the day from New Delhi.

India for world peace

New Year and the challenges ahead

Democratic ideals have gone for a toss as elections in a democracy is not all about winning and getting back to power; it is also about losing with dignity and playing a much-needed and useful role of a strong Opposition.

Every democracy, including India and Australia, needs a strong Opposition to make it workable.

Strong governments do not necessarily give good governance; a strong Opposition ensures the government is compelled to give good governance. So even if one does not get to sit on the treasury benches, one can make a contribution by sitting in the Opposition.

With the ushering in of the New Year, it is time to take stock of all the happenings in the world. And as a starter, there is a need to discuss recession first. The recession, say the experts, is just round the corner, and it is gradually taking pandemic proportions. While recessions have had their advent with somewhat monotonous regularity in the modern globalised world, the next one could be far more severe than the previous one. The Covid-19 pandemic had plunged almost the entire world into recession, but it seems to have been a short-term phenomenon with many economies recovering or almost recovering way too fast than they themselves anticipated.

But the alarm bells are ringing again. The Indian Prime Minister and Finance Minister have also begun to echo the sentiments of experts and leaders worldwide. The world needs to brace up for another recession, is what they are saying. Europe and the UK are seeing the first signs of their ships of the economy sinking.

The US is not very far behind. India is also in line for a similar outcome and like the Covid-19 pandemic leaders and experts are forewarning without showing even of the slightest kind to know how to tide over this situation.

Russia is already facing recessionary pressures but even that has not deterred it to mute its guns pointed at Ukraine. Ukraine of course has no choice except to retaliate in self defence. The UN remains a silent spectator in all this, be it the impending economic downturn across the world or the war that has been raging for months. Energy crisis continues across the world, though India is managing to leverage its past good ties with Moscow and avoid at least for the moment the energy crisis that has engulfed Europe and some other countries.

In the midst of all this, COP27 discussed climate change and reiterated ambitious plans to reduce

carbon emission to a bare minimum across the world in record time. This does not mean it is really going to be achievable within the timeframe countries put forth for themselves; but at least for rhetorical reasons the targets set play well with their domestic audiences.

And most importantly, the world still needs to worry over its teeming poor on the brink of starvation. For them recession or climate change do not mean anything. It is food they need at an affordable price which the world is increasingly unable to provide its poor given the high index of inflation globally.

The problems, as it seems till now, have to do with both macro and micro mismanagement. In Pakistan political instability, coupled with environmental disaster in the form of devastating floods and the country’s overly new-found friendship with China have led it to face adverse economic consequences. Pakistan has lost more than gained in its friendship with China. The US will not support Pakistan to the extent it did in the past as global conditions have changed so much that old allies are finding it difficult to find new areas of mutual benefit.

Afghanistan continues to remain unstable politically and this situation is a threat to all its neighbours, including India. Western powers have almost completely relinquished their responsibility to establish a stable regime in Afghanistan that respects human rights.

Nepal under Maoists’ influence has aligned towards China, which is going to be an irritant for India.

China has had the policy of showing lollipops to the countries it eyes, and once it wins their confidence starts showing its true colours. Sri Lanka would have known more of it, as the island nation is gradually reaching some kind of economic and political sanity.

Brazil is seeing an orchestrated chaos and anarchy after its former President Bolsonaro lost elections.

But even as vibrant as it may want itself to be, the UK is facing political, economic and even cultural crises given the fact that Rishi Sunak has to show his mettle to take Britain out of the crises it faces on many fronts.

China continues to be a threat to India, especially smaller countries in India’s vicinity. China’s People’s Liberation Army continues to increase its strength close to India’s backyard. It continues to relentlessly pursue the policy of encircling India through building of roads and bridges. India has also started working on its own plans to build roads that could ensure the reaching of our troops if needed to fight the enemy.

All in all, a highly volatile situation exists in the world. The situation can precipitate into war extensively if diplomatic initiatives are not taken continually. India on its part is trying to maintain peace and stability in the region. But any attempt to maintain peace and stability entails military preparedness so that any foreign misadventure can be thwarted. In that sense, India is clear about its objectives and is building high-tech armed forces along the lines of Israel and the US armies.

While military strength is absolutely essential, it must also be backed up by a powerful economy. However, recessionary pressures may peg India back for a while in its buildup of a powerful economy.

And in that respect, India has begun asserting itself in international forums like the UN and is not prepared to be browbeaten by any other country insofar as taking foreign policy related decisions are concerned. India’s strong diaspora across the world is a dividend that works in the country’s favour.

This is precisely why Indian Prime Minister Modi makes it a point to address Indian diaspora almost anywhere he goes on an international trip. This is precisely why India celebrated Prawasi Bharatiya Diwas recently recognizing the efforts of prominent members of the Indian diaspora across the world.

Hockey World Cup and India

interest. But the thrill of a hockey match is perhaps comparable to soccer when played at the highest level. Of course, rules for playing hockey have changed and still the Indians have found the touch and the artistry has returned along with the much-needed fast paced hockey that is the face of modern hockey. Indians know the AstroTurf offence is the best defence and it must be relentless. This is precisely what the Aussies do. This is also the game of the Dutch, the Belgians and a host of European nations. And if pace could be backed up by delectable stick work, it is so much a treat to watch.

By D. C. Pathak

One of the great foreign policy feats of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that he stood upfront on the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine -- sparked by the launch of Russian military operation in February 2022 to support the Russian-speaking eastern provinces of Ukraine against the alleged suppression of their rights by Ukraine -- and took a line that both sides had concerns which should be resolved through peaceful negotiations.

The US-led West joined the fray in support of Ukraine amid appeals from President Volodymyr Zelensky for grant of NATO membership to Ukraine and the conflict went on to assume the proportions of a ‘war’ with no end in sight.

The US and its allies are merely supplying arms, ammunition and sophisticated war material to Ukraine, creating an impression that they were conducting a ‘proxy war’ against Russia.

It is possible that the US saw in its strategy a parallel with the anti-Soviet armed campaign in Afghanistan that had ultimately led to the withdrawal of the Soviet army and the demise of the USSR.

However, it is becoming increasingly clear that Vladimir Putin’s Russia is not getting worn down and it is Ukraine that is taking the real hit in terms of loss of life and assets.

President Putin has referred to the effectiveness of tactical nuclear weapons, but clearly not betrayed any desperation about using them in this conflict. He is still pursuing the original aim of protecting the eastern provinces of Ukraine closely identified with Russian interests and has again gone on record to claim that he wants to end the conflict.

The total scene around this military confrontation of geopolitical significance suggests that it is still not an irreversible case for return to peace. What is needed is a credible global level mediation acceptable to both sides.

It is noteworthy that beyond the UN that faced resolutions critical of Putin in the Ukraine- Russia conflict, India’s position as a possible mediator acceptable to both sides, has been acknowledged more than once by the unbiased sections of the international community.

Prime Minister Modi became the first world leader to call for cessation of hostilities and recourse to peaceful negotiation to resolve the Ukraine-Russia conflict. He told the Russian President that ‘this is not an era of war’, and subsequently voiced India’s firm opposition to use of nuclear weapons when there were speculations about possible induction of tactical nuclear missiles by Putin to achieve his goal in the war with Ukraine.

These responses made India the sane voice in the world and established Prime Minister Modi as a global counsel on issues of war and peace.

so with much greater confidence since he has a first-hand experience of the flaws and strong points of the latter and perhaps could see things in the wider global perspective even better than before.

Any attempt at mediation between Russia and Ukraine can hope to succeed only if the background of the conflict is clearly understood and steps recommended to establish lasting trust among the two neighbours accordingly.

When the Cold War ended consequent on the dismemberment of USSR and the termination of the Warsaw Pact, the emergence of East European states as independent nations, besides the rise of Central Asian Republics (CARs), left the residual Soviet Russia as a much smaller empire.

The US-led West might have done well to work for peaceful coexistence between Russia and its neighbours. Certainly, a high-pitch combative alliance like NATO did not hold the earlier ground as American hostility towards Russia did not have to exist at the level of the Cold War era.

In fact, in the unipolar world order, the US was expected to work for world peace while militarily safeguarding American interests across the globe.

Former US President Donald Trump treated Russia at par with European nations and seemed to have little problem with Putin - he was in the process able to deal with China on a stronger note of military and economic deterrence.

The advent of Biden Presidency saw a reversal of US attitude towards Russia - this could be in part because of the controversy that the crucial Presidential poll had left behind on the issue of Russian ‘interference’ in the American elections.

Biden declared Russia as the prime adversary for the US and underlined the trans-Atlantic alliance with Europe in a manner that underscored the continued use of NATO as a deterrent against Russia.

Putin’s action against Ukraine gave Biden a justifiable ground for confronting Russia.

The Ukraine-Russia conflict precipitated in February 2022 as Putin ordered ‘military operation’ in eastern Ukraine, ostensibly to safeguard the rights of the Russian speaking population there in the face of a simmering agitation continuing in those parts.

The situation rapidly worsened because of the declared policy of Zellensky to seek NATO membership to militarily respond to Russia and the decision of the US-led West to join the Ukrainian side by pumping in arms and ammunition into Ukraine.

legitimate to get the territory ‘back to Russia’ since it was earlier ‘gifted’ by Nikita Khrushchev to Ukraine internally, according to some authentic accounts.

The whole point is that there was no push back on the part of the West from the Cold War confrontation even after the USSR had collapsed in 1991 and international Communism on which it rested, had ended.

An international team of negotiators, including Indian representatives, can start a dialogue with Ukraine and Russia with their consent.

As mentioned earlier, mediators have to acknowledge the security concerns of the two warring nations and try to find their redressal in a mutual peace agreement that neighbours with different governance models could adhere to.

An immediate ceasefire pending a negotiated settlement would be necessary and supply of armament and ammunition to Ukraine from outside would has to be halted.

Restoration of democratic government in Ukraine based on ‘one man one vote’ and equal rights for all citizens regardless of language, community and region is extremely important.

Ukraine must declare that it is not seeking NATO membership. Lifting of sanctions against Russia may be considered consequent on a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine to their side of the border.

An effective peace pact between Russia and Ukraine governing their future relationship should be the final outcome of the mediation.

The US would do well not to create a geopolitical situation where Russia and China would jointly deal with the West and accelerate the reemergence of Cold War between two matching powers.

This will, among other things, impede the processes of international economic cooperation already set in motion. The virtual summit between Putin and Xi Jinping on December 30 reaffirmed that Russia-China strategic friendship is deepening further and blamed those who were, according to them, instigating the Cold War mentality.

The meeting acquires special significance in the backdrop of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine military conflict. The polarisation between the US-led West and China-Russia combine will no more be totally ‘ideological’, considering the ‘Sinicization of Marxism’ initiated by Xi Jinping and the emphasis placed on Russian national pride by Putin, and this would minimise the possibility of internal differences cropping up among them over claims on Marxist-Leninist thought.

The two countries shared a system of dictatorship that opposed the US - and this in fact would act as the more important binding element for them.

As far as India is concerned, IndoRussia friendship is one reason why China at least pretends that it wants to maintain good relations with India.

India has to watch out against China continuing to practice its ‘two steps forward one step backward’ policy in spite of such pretences.

As India began their Hockey World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Spain in Odisha’s Rourkela on 13 January, the focus is back on hockey in India, the country’s national game. After a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2022, the Indian team will be hunting their first podium finish in 48 years in the World Cup now. The Indian team is currently ranked sixth in the world and stakes are high for the team led by Harmanpreet Singh as they are playing on home turf in India and need to prove their prowess in international hockey.

It is well known that the standards

of Indian hockey fell after the introduction of AstroTurf. Back then, in the heydays of Indian hockey, legend has it that hockey was elevated to the level of an art. The skill of hockey was conspicuous by its absence since the AstroTurf was introduced which required more of power play than artistry. Hockey in the Indian subcontinent lost much of its gleam then.

The interest of the public shifted to cricket instead in which India was doing relatively better in terms of winning the World Cup in 1983 and subsequently more tournaments. Hockey around that time lost public

The passion for hockey will return once the players show the commitment to take on any opposition with the confidence that Indian players have it in them to thwart any opposition and win games. The audience must also back the team as it does to the Indian cricket teams where they play. The players must go all out and showcase their natural talent. The Europeans play according to a set plan and concentrate on upsetting the settled opposition. Indians need to stick to their own plans and play a cohesive game. Once Indians play to their strength, home crowd being an important one, India is capable of ruffling some feathers.

Modi has spoken to the two Presidents more than once and has kept up hopes in the prospects of return to peace sooner than later. The success of India’s foreign policy in the Modi regime can be measured by the fact that India’s friendly bonds with Russia do not come in the way of the deep and natural strategic friendship of India with the US, which was the hallmark of convergence between the two largest democracies of the world and - what is even more significant - by the fact that US President Joe Biden and Putin both understood India’s geopolitical position.

Interestingly, Putin now taking decisions on the readings of his own intelligence set up would be doing

The backdrop of the continuing tension between Russia and Ukraine going back to the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 - with the West beginning the spell of sanctions on Russia to express its support to Ukraine then - is also linked to the aggravation of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict this time.

The development regarding Crimea - a territory of vast strategic import for Russia on the Black Sea - had preceded an anti-Russia uprising there in which Islamic fundamentalists blessed by the West had played a major part.

Significantly, Putin also supported Syrian President Assad in the ‘civil war’ precipitated by Islamic militants against him - with US backing.

Russia might have been specially sensitive to the ‘destabilisation’ of Crimea because of what the USSR had experienced in Afghanistan - perhaps Putin considered it

In the final analysis, the US and Europe should work to return to democracy in all countries that were once a part of the USSR. This will be a useful long-term strategy for the US to maintain its geopolitical hold and global acceptability.

Enlargement of the democratic order can be an effective counter to Chinese expansionism and Russia’s possible strategic aim of bringing back the former USSR territories under its influence.

This provides an additional non-military route for the US for maintaining its supremacy as the leader of the democratic world.

Prime Minister Modi’s mandate that ‘this is not an era of war’ in fact strengthens Biden’s hands. India must continue to press for a peace negotiation between Russia and Ukraine without any preconditions being set by either side.

(The writer is a former Director of Intelligence Bureau. The views expressed are personal)

Centre names new scheme for distribution of free ration for one year

scheme for distributing free ration under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for a period of one year till December 2023, as the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY).

Under the scheme, the Centre started distributing free ration to NFSA beneficiaries from January 1, 2023 onwards.

Free food grains would be given till December 2023.

The move will entail a burden of Rs 2 lakh crore, which would be completely borne by the government.

The Union Cabinet had approved the decision to give free food grains to NFSA beneficiaries for a period of one year on December 23, 2022.

More than 81.35 crore NFSA beneficiaries will benefit from the move. Earlier rice and wheat were provided at subsidised rates to the beneficiaries under NFSA.

Food grains which were being provided under the erstwhile Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) since April 2020, will also be subsumed under NFSA quota.

Tigers & leopards behind most of 105 deaths caused by wild animals in Maha

killing four humans, wild boars and elephants (two each), besides sloth bears, foxes and even crocodile (one each) in 2022.

In Mumbai, the forests of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, the adjoining Aarey Colony, and the sprawling Film City and IIT-B campuses are the main leopard hotspots, though they have strayed far outside including on highways, in vehicles, buildings, bungalows or posh housing complexes.

There were around half a dozen conflicts with leopards, including at least two fatal involving kids, as the region is populated by an estimated 60-plus leopards, one of the largest urban concentrations of these spotted big cats in the country. Presently, the highest risk from leopards is witnessed in the lush forested Satara region, and the adjoining sugarcane fields, besides adjoining Pune, according to Rohan Bhate, BNHS Governing Council Member and a Honorary Wildlife Warden.

explained.

Bhate recalled that over two decades ago, following a big leopard hazard, around 110 were trapped from the infested Nashik, tagged with tracking devices, and released in different forest regions of the state.

“Surprisingly, it was found that after some time, around a dozen had returned to Nashik, their original habitat! Leopards seem to have the ‘homing instinct’ and go back to their place of birth, including the cubs born in the sugarcane fields, which keep returning there frequently as they find it cozier with lot of big and small prey around, compared with the jungles,” said Bhate.

It has also been found that the survival rate of the cubs is increasing from around 40 per cent to 50 per cent or higher, female leopards which earlier used to give birth to 2-3 cubs are now delivering threefour cubs, adding to the population, he said.

might take 5 yrs to complete trial’, judge tells SC in Lakhimpur Kheri case

New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) A trial court in Uttar Pradesh, which is hearing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, has informed the Supreme Court that it might take five years to complete the trial in normal course. The cases involve Ashish Mishra as the prime accused, who is son of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra.

the hearing, the top court asked the Uttar Pradesh government counsel to confirm whether four accused in a separate case lodged over the killing of three occupants of the car, which allegedly mowed down farmers, are still in custody. The bench scheduled the matter for further hearing on January 19.

out of their cramped habitats into residential neighbourhoods, leading to inevitable ‘man-animal conflicts’.

In recent times, the state has witnessed a surge in man-animal conflicts, with increasing human casualties, especially leopard attacks, in and around the concrete towny settlements.

From January to December 2022, there were a shocking 105 human deaths due to attacks by wild creatures, chiefly tigers and leopards, and the rest by other jungle residents.

In 2022, tigers burned bright to kill 77 people and leopards snuffed out 17 humans -- with the maximum eight deaths in Nashik, six in Chandrapur, plus one each in Nagpur, Kolhapur and Thane, said Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Mahip Gupta.

Recently, Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had revealed the figures of such conflicts with the graph inching north in the past three years in the state -- in 2019-20, 47 people were killed in attacks by wild animals, 80 in 2020-21, 86 in 2021-22, and 105 in 2022, the worst year for human deaths cause by wild animals.

Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Secretary and wildlife conservationist Kishore Rithe said that besides tigers and leopards, the state reports other forms of man-animal conflicts, with gaurs

“People’s encounters with leopards is growing. There are leopard sightings/rescue calls almost daily. We have rescued and reunited more than a dozen lost cubs with their mothers in the past four weeks alone,” said Bhate, who runs an NGO, Creative Nature Friends Society (CNFS).

Wildlife expert and former PCCF Sunil Limaye said humans continually stray into or encroach on wildlife territories though there are clear do’s and dont’s in place, particularly in the regions adjoining animal sanctuaries/reserves dotting the state.

Though terming the man-animal conflict as ‘not so good but not so bad either’, he said it is more for the humans to beware of the dangers lurking in the wild than to expect appropriate behaviour from the animals.

“Conflicts occur as humans trespass into their territories or the animals stray outside the jungles in search of food... For the past few years, there is concern about the growing menace of elephants romping here from Karnataka or Odisha, causing huge havoc on fertile farmlands and crops,” said Rithe.

“Besides, humans keep grabbing more and more space from wildlife, hinder wild animals on using their regular forest corridors or even chase them off when they are seen, leading to avoidable conflicts, often with casualties or fatalities,” Limaye

State forest officials said that there are Primary Response Teams to warn people against entering forests during wildlife movements, or after dark, when the big cats are always on the prowl.

In case of any tragedies, there are the Rapid Rescue Teams whose clear objective is “to save both humans and animals”, though it is not always possible, said a forest officer from Yavatmal.

Experts regularly appeal for an allround long-term strategy to reduce man-creature skirmishes, with the onus on humans to respond to the needs of animals and avoid confrontations in each other’s territories.

Hoping to give more ‘breathing space’ and ‘elbow room’ to the big and small wild animals, till 2022 Maharashtra has declared 52 wildlife sanctuaries/reserves across the state with plans to add seven more soon.

This has taken the physical area of protected regions up to 13,000 sq. km to secure the flora and fauna, especially in the territories adjacent to national parks/sanctuaries/reserves or the critical ‘jungle corridors’ linking them, said Mungantiwar.

In a laudatory move last year, the Maharashtra government hiked the compensations given to victims of all wildlife attacks, humans as well as their cattle or fowl and farm animals which are a source of livelihood.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and V. Ramasubramanian noted that the sessions judge says that in normal course, it may take five years. The sessions judge, in a letter sent to the apex court, said there are 208 prosecution witnesses, 171 documents, and 27 forensic science laboratory (FSL) reports in the case.

The top court was hearing a bail plea filed by Ashish Mishra. During

Last month, the apex court had asked the sessions court how much time in normal course would it take to complete the trial in the case.

On October 3, 2021, eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri in clashes during a farmers’ protest. Mishra was arrested in the case.

The family members of the farmers, mowed down by a car belonging to Mishra in Lakhimpur Kheri, have

Joshimath declared disaster-affected area

Chamoli/Joshimath, Jan 8 (IANS)

The Uttarakhand government on Sunday declared some areas of Joshimath as a disaster-affected area, based on the recommendations of the experts who had been surveying the houses in the holy city to identify the causes of the landslides.

The decision to declare the area of about one and a half kilometre, as ‘unsafe for living’ was taken late on Sunday evening.

Geotechnical and geophysical study of the city will be conducted for a long term solution. Guidelines will be issued for constructing buildings in areas where no cracks have appeared in the houses.

Along with this, a hydrological study will be conducted.

Disaster Management Secretary, Dr Ranjit Sinha said that Pipalkoti, Gauchar, Koti Colony, among other places have been selected for the rehabilitation of the affected.

In view of the construction of pre-fabricated houses, Sinha has sought a proposal from the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI),

Roorkee.

The affected colonies have been evacuated. The Army had instructed the jawans, living in rented accommodations to vacate the premises, and they have been shifted to safer places.

Both the Indian army and the IndoTibetan Border Police (ITBP) have been stationed in the city.

Joshimath is the last town on the Indo-Tibetan border, from where the Niti and Mana valleys join the border.

Sinha apprised that some parts of the premises of Army, ITBP, NTPC and Jaypee Company were also in the landslide zones.

ITBP has been vacating the colony, while Jaypee has vacated some of its residences and NTPC is preparing to do the same.

The landslides have now been moving towards the Army and ITBP camps. Along with the collapse of the road to the camp, the border connecting Malari Highway has also caved in, which may create problems for the army in view of transportation and provision.

After the series of landslides and cracks in houses intensified in Joshimath, a team of experts and scientists, led by Sinha was constituted by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

The team interacted with the locals, inspected the sites from Thursday, and submitted its report to the government after returning on Saturday evening.

Sinha said that several precautionary steps had been taken on the basis of the report.

‘It

been opposing Mishra’s bail plea. The trial court, last month, had framed charges against Ashish Mishra and 12 others for alleged offences of murder, criminal conspiracy and others in the case.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) The Central government has named the

By Quaid Najmi

Mumbai, Jan. Jan 7 (IANS) Since the past couple of decades, Maharashtras urban centres, notably Mumbai, Pune and Nashik, and semi-urban areas like Satara and parts of Vidarbha, have had to contend with the threats of wild animals straying

ICICI-Videocon case: Bombay HC bails out Kochhar couple, pulls up CBI

on Monday, and posted the matter for further hearing on February 6.

The high court pulled up the CBI for the “casual and mechanical and perfunctory” manner of arrest without application of mind and absence of a woman officer when Chanda Kochhar was nabbed.

Referring to the grounds of arrest as cited by the CBI’s Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakare that “the petitioners (Kochhars) were not cooperating and not disclosing true and full facts of the case”, the division bench said it cannot be the sole reason for their arrests and appears to be contrary to the facts on record.

TN holds first Jallikattu event in Pudukottai, 74 injured

Chennai, Jan 8 (IANS) Thousands of people gathered at Thatchankurichi village in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukottai district on Sunday to watch and participate in the first Jallikattu festival of the season, while 74 people were injured in the bull-taming sport.

Hundreds of bulls were brought to Thatchankurichi village in Gandarvakottai taluk on mini freight carriers, while a heavy police posse was present to regulate and control the crowd that thronged the venue. The festival was to be held on January 6 but was postponed by a couple of days due to some security reasons.

Mumbai, Jan. Jan 9 (IANS)

Rs 100,000 each and furnishing a bond with surety of Rs 100,000 each within two weeks.

Another co-accused in the same case, Videocon Group Ltd. Chairman V. N. Dhoot, who was also arrested later, continues to remain in judicial custody.

Justice Mohite-Dere and Justice Chavan said that “the petitioners’ (Kochhars) arrest was not done in accordance with the provisions of the law... there has been non-compliance of Section 41A thus warranting their release”.

A division bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Justice Prithviraj K. Chavan ruled that the Kochhars’ arrest violated the CrPC’s Sectiob 41A which mandates sending a notice for appearance before the police official concerned.

Accordingly, the high court ordered the couple’s release on a cash bail of

The Kochhar couple was nabbed on December 23, after which a Mumbai Special CBI Court initially sent them to CBI custody and later on December 29, sent them to judicial custody.

Soon afterwards, the Kochhars had challenged their “illegal and arbitrary” arrest in the Bombay High Court, which pronounced its verdict

The judges noted that after the CBI registered the case in December 2017, the Kochhars have always appeared before the investigators and submitted all details and documents.

During the period from 2019 till June 2022, almost four years, the CBI did not issue any summons to the Kochhars nor established any communication with them, and “what was the reason to arrest them after four years is not spelt out in the arrest memos”, said the court.

Experts blame Joshimath disaster to rampant infrastructure development

are either located in seismic zone V or IV which are prone to earthquakes.

Local environmental activist Atul Satti said they have been repeatedly warning authorities about the irreparable damage caused due to several tunnel and hydropower projects in and around Joshimath and other parts of Uttarakhand.

“However, our voices were blatantly ignored and our worst nightmare has come true today. The entire responsibility of Joshimath caving in is on NTPC’s Tapovan Vishnugad Hydro Power Project.

As many as 485 bulls were let off to the field one after the other and the tamers tried to tackle and control them in a marked area filled with coir pith. The tamers had to produce a negative RT-PCR test report taken a day before for participating in the tournament.

The bulls had also undergone dope tests before they were allowed to

march to the ‘Vadivasal’ or entry point to the ground. A 20-member medical team was deployed at the venue and a fleet of ‘108’

Ambulances was deployed to rush the injured to the nearby Thanjavur Medical College Hospital.

UP: Some more time before Khushi Dubey walks free

Kanpur (UP), Jan 11 (IANS) It will take some more time before Khushi Dubey, the young widow of an aide of slain gangster Vikas Dubey, accused in the Bikru massacre case walks free.

Her bail forms have been filed in the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) but the court has ordered verification of the same.

After the verification report of the sureties is received, the court will issue orders for Khushi’s release from Mati jail in Kanpur Dehat. The court had ordered two sureties of Rs 1.5 lakh each.

The Supreme Court had granted bail to Khushi Dubey on January 6. Shivakant Dixit, the counsel of Khushi Dubey, said that in compliance with the court’s order, bail forms have been filed in the court of additional district and sessions judge-XIII Shailendra Kumar Verma as well as in the Juvenile Justice Board. As the court has

ordered their verification, after the verification report of the sureties is received, it will issue orders for the release of Khushi.

Recently, while granting bail to Khushi, the Supreme Court had said that as she was only 17 years old at the time of the incident, and her trial has started in the case, there is no justification for keeping her in jail.

It may be recalled that, a case of robbery and attempt to murder was registered against Vikas Dubey, a resident of Bikru village of Chaubepur.

On July 3, 2020, the police raided Bikru village to arrest him.

Vikas Dubey and his more than four dozen aides had attacked and killed eight policemen, including a deputy superintendent of police.

Later, the police killed six accused, including Vikas Dubey and Amar Dubey in back-to-back encounters.

Vikas was killed on July 10, when he tried to flee from the police custody

while being brought from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.

Khushi

Pushed out of forests, leopards spread terror from Bengaluru to Belagavi

By Vishal Gulati

New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) The appearance of cracks on roads and houses across Joshimath in Uttarakhand is mainly due to the rampant infrastructure development that is happening in a very fragile ecosystem like Himalayas, experts said on Sunday, adding climate change is a force multiplier. However, a local environmental activist blamed the irreparable damage to several tunnels and hydropower projects in and around Joshimath. Their voices have been blatantly ignored, he added.

Saying Joshimath is a grave reminder that the local authorities are messing up with the environment to an extent that is irreversible, Anjal Prakash, Research Director and Adjunct Associate Professor, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business and Lead Author for IPCC reports, told IANS climate change is becoming a reality.

“There are two aspects to Joshimath problem -- first is rampant infrastructure development which is happening in a very fragile ecosystem like Himalayas and this is happening without much of a planning process in a way where we are able to protect the environment and at the same time bringing in basic infrastructure for the millions of people who are inhabitation in those areas.

“Secondly, climate change is a force multiplier. The way climate change is manifesting in some of the hill states is unprecedented. For example, 2021 and 2022 have been years of disaster for Uttarakhand. There have been numerous climate risk events recorded like high rainfall events triggering landslides.

“We have to first understand that these areas are very fragile and small changes or disturbances in the ecosystem will lead to grave disasters, which is what we are witnessing in Joshimath. In fact, this is a particular point in history which

should be remembered as what should be done in the Himalayan region.”

According to the book ‘Central Himalaya’ by Heim, Arnold and August Gansser, Joshimath town of Chamoli district is situated on the debris of a landslide.

A few houses had already reported cracks back in 1971, post which a report had suggested few measures that included conservation of the existing trees and plantation of more trees, boulders on which the town is located should be touched and reinforced cement concrete (RCC) should not be done.

Y.P. Sundriyal, Head of Department of Geology, HNB Garhwal University, told IANS these measures were never followed. Several experts have cited that traditional housing construction technologies are able to withstand earthquakes and landslides much more strongly than the newly constructed infrastructures.

Talking about the present situation, he said, the ongoing crisis in Joshimath is primarily because of anthropogenic activities.

The population has increased manifold and so has the tourist landfall.

Infrastructure has also amplified and has been unchecked. However, the town does not have a proper drainage system.

Besides gradual weathering of fine material between the rocks of debris, water percolation has decreased the cohesive strength of the rocks over the time.

According to Sundriyal, this has resulted in landslides, triggering cracks in the houses.

Secondly, the construction of these tunnels for hydropower projects is being done through blasting, creating local earthquake tremors, shaking debris above the rocks, again leading to the cracks.

The Himalayas is a very fragile ecosystem. Most parts of Uttarakhand

“Continuous blasting in the tunnels have shaken the foundation of our town. We demand instant action from the government that must include immediate stalling of NTPC project, closure of Chardham all-weather road (Haleng-Marwari Bypass), implementation of NTPC’s pact that insures houses, setting a committee for rehabilitation of Joshimath within a set timeframe.”

Giving scientific viewpoint, Research Director Prakash said he is convinced that the Joshimath caving incident is caused by the hydropower project which has been operational in building the tunnel and is the major cause of concern for residents.

It has shown that water which has gushed out is from a fractured zone which has been punctured by the tunnel that has been leading to the devastating situation.

“This is also in the pretext of several reports in the past. I would quote two reports of IPCC, published in 2019 and 2022, that have critically observed that this region is very prone to disasters. This means a very strong planning process must follow.”

“In fact, the entire planning should be done at the bio-regional scale that should include what is allowed and what is not and has to be very stringent. I am not against bringing infrastructural development for people as these are the places of tourist interest. I understand the fact that people in these places here have no other means of survival considering the religious place they are in.”

“However, it has to be done in a planned manner. We must leave out some things and look out for other ways for energy generation. The return investment cost in hydropower projects is very less when compared to the cost associated with environmental and ecological damage. Joshimath is a clear example of what one should not do in the Himalayas,” Prakash added. (Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

Bengaluru, Jan 7 (IANS) Karnataka is witnessing an unprecedented development regarding man-animal conflict. The leopard menace has caused major disruption to normal life, not only in residential settlements adjoining forest areas, but the big cats are prowling in state capital Bengaluru as well as in other major cities such as Mysuru and Belagavi.

Many leopards have turned into man-eaters, forcing the people to live in fear. In some places, leopard attacks on livestock have become a common phenomenon, leading to forest authorities to be on their toes to tackle the situation.

Environmentalists say that the forests in the state have become a desert for the wildlife, pushing leopards and elephants out in search of food.

As the incidents of loss of life are increasing every day due to leopard attacks, the Karnataka government was compelled to announce Rs 15 lakhs as compensation for the victims’ families. Earlier, this compensation amount was given to families of victims of elephant attacks.

In the last week of December 2022, celebrations took place in Mysuru district as a seven-year-old man-eating leopard was finally trapped in Ukkalagere village of T. Narasipur taluk.

The leopard had killed two persons, a student and a 22-year-old woman, and also attacked livestock, creating terror for the residents of the region.

Forest department authorities had tried to capture the leopard for two months. The incidents had created such chaos in the region as people took to streets to protest.

The major operation to catch the leopard was launched in Belagavi city in mid 2022. After being spotted in the premises of eth Golf Club located at the heart of the city, the animal compelled the authorities to declare holidays and switch to online mode for 22 schools for more than a month.

The mega operation was launched to catch the prowling leopard in

Belagavi city. Elephants were roped in and more than 200 personnel from the forest, police departments had launched the search operation.

Sharpshooters, wildlife activists and anesthetic experts were also in the team.

The leopard which surfaced before the team on Tuesday managed to escape by a whisker. It had attacked a labourer and after hearing the news, the mother of the youth died of a heart attack. The authorities have also got a special drone with algorithm technology.

The prolonged operation led to frustration. The authorities were mocked on social media. The people even named the big cat after god Ganesha describing it as a guest for the festival and will go only after the celebrations. The residents came out with sticks to join search operations.

Finally, the big cat walked into the forest and a mega operation was called off.

The leopard menace in Bengaluru compelled Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to react and assure safety for the people.

Bommai explained that earlier, leopard movements and attacks were reported from the regions located close to forest areas. Now, they are reported in and around Bengaluru.

Bommai stated that there are leopards in the elephant corridors of Mysuru and Bengaluru. To contain the leopard menace, a special team

has been formed and they are given specific directions. To catch the leopards who have come out of jungles, a dedicated team is already working, he said.

Leopards are repeatedly spotted in Kengeri, Kumbalagodu, Nagarabhavi and areas surrounding Turahalli forest region in Bengaluru.

Recently, residents of Nagarabhavi locality sighted a leopard prowling with two cubs. Bike riders have said that the leopard was in a ready to attack position on them.

CCTV footage also confirmed the movements and the forest department has taken up an operation to trap the leopard.

Congress MLC Dinesh Gooligowda explained that he had written a letter to the Chief Minister Bommai urging him to address the leopard menace faced by the people of Mandya district.

He has urged that the state government should wake up before tragedy strikes.

MLC Gooligowda stated that leopard menace is found in all seven taluks of the Mandya district.

Leopards have been prowling in popular tourist destination the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam in the district for two years.

The famous tourist spot was shut for almost two months as leopards freely roamed in the premises. Only recently, the public had been allowed to enter.

The Jallikattu was declared open by state Ministers S. Raghupathy and Siva V. Meyyanathan with District Collector, Kavitha Ramu administering the oath to the tamers and handing over t-shirts to them.

was made an accused in 17 cases, including murder and conspiracy. She had been married for three days when the incident took place.

The Bombay High Court on Monday granted interim bail to former ICICI Bank honcho Chanda Kochhar and her businessman husband Deepak Kochhar, while pulling up the Central Bureau of Investigation which arrested them flouting the provisions of the law.

Australia’s housing prices mark largest annual decline of 5.3% since 2008

reports Xinhua news agency.

Annual value falls were the most significant in Sydney, which slid 12.1 per cent, followed by a 8.1 per cent drop in Melbourne.

Hobart, the Australian Capital Territory, and Brisbane also recorded an annual decrease.

but falling sharply as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) commenced the fastest rate-tightening cycle on record.

Covid reduces Australian life expectancy: Report

Canberra, Jan 6 (IANS) The Covid-19 pandemic drove a fall in Australia’s life expectancy and a historic spike in death rates, a government report revealed on Friday.

Canberra, Jan 3 (IANS) Australia’s housing markets finished the 2022 calendar year on a weaker note, as a national home value index showed a 1.1 per cent fall in December, taking the annual drop to 5.3 per cent -- the largest since 2008.

In a report, the multinational property information provider CoreLogic revealed that the 5.3-per cent drop through 2022 marks the largest calendar year decline since 2008, when values were down 6.4 per cent amid the global financial crisis and successive interest rate rises,

Meanwhile, three capital cities -- Adelaide, Darwin and Perth -- saw values rise over the year, marking 10.1 per cent, 4.3 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively.

According to the report, despite the downturn across many areas of the country, housing values generally remain 11.7 per cent above where they were at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tim Lawless, CoreLogic’s research director, pointed out that 2022 has been a year of contrasts, with housing values mostly rising through the first four months of the year,

“Our daily index series saw national home values peak on May 7, shortly after the cash rate moved off emergency lows. Since then, CoreLogic’s national index has fallen 8.2 per cent, following a dramatic 28.9 per cent rise in values through the upswing,” he added.

After lowering the cash rate target to 0.1 per cent in a bid to boost economic recovery, Australia’s central bank has launched a spate of consecutive rate hikes since May last year, pushing the rate to a decade-high of 3.1 per cent.

Australia’s Consumer Price Index is currently running at 7.3 per cent, with the RBA expecting further rate increases to return inflation back to the 2-3 per cent range.

Surge in respiratory illness: No restrictive measures needed for passengers to Seychelles

Victoria, Jan 8 (IANS) The Seychelles has decided not to introduce restrictive measures or requirements for incoming passengers from any country, including China, in spite of a surge in respiratory illnesses globally, especially in the northern hemisphere.

The decision is based on an analysis of a series of factors including the Seychelles’s vaccination status, community immunity and rate of infection, Public Health Commissioner Jude Gedeon told a press conference on Friday, Xinhua

January for five years since January 2018, when the first weekly result was 122.0, up 5.5 points on the last week of December 2017, reports Xinhua news agency.

Mixed results were recorded across some Australian states, as New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia saw upticks in consumer confidence while the sentiment in Western Australia went down.

News Agency reported.

However, Gedeon noted, the government will be monitoring the global situation including the variants and sub-variants currently circulating in the country.

He urged the public to remain vigilant and to continue taking personal responsibility so as to prevent respiratory infection, suggesting that people still wear a face mask especially in enclosed spaces even though face masks are not mandatory.

inflation surging to a record-high 7.3 per cent since 1990.

As for current financial conditions, 22 per cent of Australians, down one percentage point, say their families are “better off” financially than this time last year, compared to 45 per cent, down one percentage point, believing their families are “worse off” financially.

The Centre for Population report said that almost 80 per cent of Australia’s Covid-19 deaths occurred in the first eight months of 2022, when the restrictions were lifted in the country, reports Xinhua news agency.

There were approximately 129,000 total deaths in Australia between January and August -- 17 per cent more than the historical average.

In the first week of August alone there were 4,200 deaths -- 20 per cent higher than the historical weekly average.

As a result, the life expectancy for Australians fell by 0.4 years

in 2021-22 and is not expected to recover until 2023-24.

By 2033, life expectancy is forecast to reach 87 years for women and 83.5 for men.

The portion of the population aged over 65 will grow from 16.8 per cent in 2020-21 to 23.1 per cent by 2061.

However, the report noted that by doubling Australia’s migrant intake, the 2061 figure could be brought down to 19.9 per cent.

“Because migrants arriving in Australia are relatively young, overseas migration has helped slow Australia’s population aging amid declining fertility rates and increasing life expectancies,” it said.

Liz Allen, a demographer from Australian National University (ANU), said the country was facing years of slow population growth

and the report showed the impact of Covid-19.

“In the not too distant future, deaths are predicted to increase and births will decrease, which will see us more reliant on migration as an economic requirement, to ensure our workforce is sufficient,” she said.

Australia’s fertility rate bounces back, challenged with aging population

Canberra, Jan 2 (IANS) Australia’s fertility rate has rebounded from an all-time low to pre-Covid levels.

According to the government’s annual population statement, which will be released in full on Friday, the national fertility rate in the financial year 2020-21 was 1.66 babies per woman, reports Xinhua news agency.

It marks a similar rate to 2018-19 after it fell to an all-time low of 1.58 births per woman in the early stages of the pandemic and 1.61 for 2019-20 as a whole.

The report noted that Australians adapted to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and caught up on delayed childbearing plans.

Australia’s population is expected to grow from 25.7 million people in 2021 to 39.2 million within two

decades.

The median age of the population is projected to rise from 38.2 to 42.8 by 2060, prompting a warning from Treasurer Jim Chalmers over the challenges of an aging population.

“We really welcome the rebound in the fertility rate since the worst of Covid-19,” he said on Monday.

“It is a good thing to see that fertility rate edge upwards but we are still aging as a population and as a society, and so we need to make sure that we’ve got the workforce to support our society as it changes, as it evolves, and as it ages.”

Chalmers said the measures included making early childhood education cheaper to make it easier for parents to work if they want to, and investing substantially in skills and training to get that workforce of

the future needed.

He also mentioned that the government wants “the right balance” between homegrown population growth and a sensible migration program at the same time to make sure the workforce can support an aging population.

Australia beach murder: Indian nurse moves court for extradition to Australia

New Delhi, Jan 7 (IANS) The Indianorigin nurse, who is accused of killing a woman at a beach in Australia’s Queensland in 2018, has moved an application in Delhi’s Patiala House court seeking to give his consent for extradition to Australia.

Canberra, Jan 10 (IANS) Australian consumer confidence registered a 4.9-point jump to reach 87.4 between January 2-8 -- the highest for over three months since September last year, after staying virtually unchanged at around 82.5 for weeks, a report revealed on Tuesday.

The report from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) and Roy Morgan showed that this week’s growth of 4.9 points also marks the first increase in the first week of

According to the report, weekly inflation expectations dropped sharply from the last print of 2022, falling 0.9 percentage points to 5.0 per cent.

Its moving average for the last four releases was down 0.3 percentage points to 5.7 per cent.

Despite positive signs emerging in many sub-indices, the general confidence is still 18.6 points lower than that of the same week a year ago.

Following eight hikes in a row, Australia’s cash rate target presently sits at 3.1 per cent, with the country’s

The report also highlighted that sentiment regarding the economy in the longer term is still very weak with only 14 per cent, up 2 percentage points, of Australians expecting “good times” for the economy over the next five years, compared to 17 per cent, down one percentage point, expecting “bad times”.

“Despite the new year jump, confidence is still well below the neutral level (100) and the long-run average of 111.7. Household inflation expectations eased significantly by 0.9 percentage points from the last print of 2022, suggesting cautious optimism about lower inflation through 2023,” said ANZ Senior Economist Adelaide Timbrell.

Link Metropolitan Magistrate Swati Sharma listed the matter for further consideration on January 10.

Talking to media, accused Rajwinder Singh, who had earlier wished to go to Australia and contest the case there, claimed that he did not kill the woman.

“Australian Police should investigate the case,” he said.

Toyah Cordingley was walking her dog on Wangetti Beach, 40 km north of Cairns in Queensland, when Singh allegedly killed her in 2018.

Around three months ago, the Australian police had declared a million dollar reward for any information leading to his arrest.

Singh, who originally hails from Buttar Kalan in Punjab, used to work

as a nurse in Innisfail, Queensland.

“On November 4, via Twitter, the Australian High Commission had declared a reward of one million Australian dollars on the arrest of Singh, an Indian-origin Australian citizen, who had committed the gruesome murder of an Australian woman on October 21, 2018 in Queensland and had been absconding ever since,” said police.

According to a senior police official,

the Interpol had also issued Red Corner Notice (RCN) against the accused and the CBI had got a non-bailable warrant, under the Extradition Act, issued against him from the Patiala House court on November 21, 2022.

Singh

Australian consumer confidence jumped 4.9 pts in past week

was arrested from near GTKarnal road in Delhi on November 26 last year by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell.

Is Indian-American Ro Khanna eyeing 2024 US presidential bid?

moves have sparked speculation among Democrats in several key states that the congressman has his eyes set on a higher office.

The Silicon Valley lawmaker has retained consultants who are veterans of New Hampshire’s primary and Nevada’s.

He also paid an Iowa firm, before the Democratic National Committee made plans to revoke the state’s first-in-the-nation status, according to the news site.

“I’ll rule that out definitively,” he had told Politico in an earlier interview.

While talking about his Senate bid, Khanna said: “There are a lot of Bernie (Sanders) supporters and progressives who have reached out to me to encourage me to look at the race and what I’ve told them is I will do so over the next few months.”

Jaishankar hopes more Austrian work permits for ‘deserving’ Indians

New York, Jan 14 (IANS) IndianAmerican Congressman Ro Khanna, who said he is weighing a Senate bid in California, may be looking for a potential presidential run in 2024, according to his Democrat allies.

After six years in the US House, Khanna, 46, said he would not run for the White House if President Joe Biden seeks re-election in 2024, the Politico reported.

The report said that Khanna’s recent

Mark Longabaugh, a Democratic strategist whose firm did media consulting for Khanna last year, told Politico that he thinks Khanna “would be a great US Senator”.

Longabaugh, however added, that in case Biden decides not to re-run, Khanna would be a very “plausible” candidate.

Asserting that he would support Biden if he were to run, Khanna denied that he would go for the White House should Biden ultimately forgo a re-election bid.

“If President Biden didn’t seek re-election, his name would have to be on the list of top contenders,” Stacey Walker, founder of the Iowabased firm Sage Strategies, which Khanna paid $8,000 last year, told Politico.

Further, Khanna’s donations prove that he is bolstering his bid to be in the presidential race.

According to Politico, he paid $22,000 last year to Sanders’ former New Hampshire state director, Shannon Jackson; $25,000 to the Sanders-founded progressive group Our Revolution for digital advertising; and $8,000 each to political firms in Nevada and Iowa.

Meta hires Vikas Purohit as Head of Global Business Group in India

Purohit will report to Arun Srinivas, Director and Head of Ads Business for Meta in the country.

He will spearhead the company’s strategic relationship with the country’s leading brands and agencies to drive Meta’s revenue growth across key channels in India, the company said in a statement.

“India’s largest businesses and agencies are playing a crucial role in the country’s expanding digital economy and are building innovative business models that are inspiring marketers globally,” said Srinivas.

Purohit will also partner with the media and creative ecosystems for accelerating adoption of digital

the Canadian province of Yukon. He will be the second Premier of Indian descent to take oath after Ujjal Dosanjh who became the Premier of Canada’s British Columbia province between 2000 and 2001.

A deputy in Premier Sandy Silver’s government, Pillai was elected as the leader of the Yukon Liberal Party unopposed.

“I am honoured and humbled to be acclaimed as the leader of the Yukon Liberal Party. We have so much to be proud of and I’m very excited for what the future of the Yukon holds,” Pillai said in his campaign

tools by the largest advertisers and agencies.

He earlier worked with companies such as Tata CLiQ, Amazon, Reliance Brands Limited, Aditya Birla Group and Tommy Hilfiger.

He started his career at Aditya Birla Group before joining Hilfiger and then heading retail at Reliance Brands Limited.

At Amazon he played an instrumental role in leading and building Amazon Fashion.

His last stint was at Tata CLiq, where he joined as COO before moving on to become the CEO.

Purohit is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore.

statement.

“I am committed to working hard, seeking common ground, acting strategically and to fiercely defending the interests of the Yukon. I look forward to serving all Yukoners as our dedicated team continues to make this territory one of the best places to call home,” he added.

Pillai, who hails from Kerala, was first elected to the Legislative Assembly as MLA for Porter Creek South in November 2016, and was inducted into the Cabinet as Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, and Economic Development.

Vienna, Jan 2 (IANS) To further cement India and Austria relationship, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar hoped more Indians will get Austria’s Red Card-White-Card that allows its holders to stay and work in the country for a period of upto two years.

“The Red-White-Red cards, we hope, will be given in larger numbers to qualified and deserving Indians, who I am sure, will help to build the reputation of this country and strengthen our relationship,” Jaishankar said addressing the Indian community in Vienna on Sunday.

A Red-White-Red Card is a work permit and residence permit that is issued for a period of 24 months to highly-skilled individuals from other countries who wish to work in Austria.

This will come under the Working Holiday Programme agreement, which will be signed between the two nations shortly, and will enable Indian students in Austria to work for six months.

“It is for us, I would say, a novel experiment. If it works well in Austria, (it) is something which we would like to take forward in other countries,” Jaishankar said.

He added that this is the first time India is signing such an agreement with any country. Jaishankar, who is on his three-day maiden visit to

Austria, will be signing a total of five agreements, including the Migration and Mobility pact.

“It (the agreement) will make it easier for people who want to work here (Austria), who want to come here for business, who want to come here as students, who want to come here as professionals,” Jaishankar said.

India recently signed a similar agreement with Germany, and before that with a host of other European countries, including the UK, France, Portugal and Denmark.

Describing the Indian diaspora as a “community of great standing and reputation”, the Minister said that he is “pleased” and glad to interact with them.

“When people think of India, they don’t think of a country, they think of a person. They relate to an Indian

and the experience they had with that Indian. If that experience with that Indian is good their impression of India flows from there. For me, all the diplomacy I do is nothing compared to the image and the sentiment that you create. So, keep doing what you are doing here,a he said.

Inviting applause from the Indian community, Jaishankar said: “I would sincerely want to thank all of you because if India-Austria relationship is so good that it didn’t need the Foreign Minister for 27 years, then a lot of credit really goes to all of you.”

Jaishankar’s trip is the first IndiaAustria Foreign Minister-level visit in the last 27 years, which is taking place against the backdrop of 75 years of diplomatic relations.

Indian-American named NASA’s chief technologist

New York, Jan 10 (IANS) NASA has named Indian-American aerospace industry expert A.C. Charania as its new chief technologist to serve as principal advisor on technology policy and programs at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.

In his role, Charania will align NASA’s agency wide technology investments with mission needs across six mission directorates and oversee technology collaboration with other federal agencies, the private sector, and external stakeholders.

The role is housed within NASA’s Office for Technology, Policy, and Strategy.

“The rate of advancement we seek in the 21st century is dependent upon selecting and maturing a portfolio of technologies into systems to execute our missions,” Charania said in a NASA press statement.

advisor to Administrator Bill Nelson.

Prior to joining NASA, he served as vice president of product strategy at Reliable Robotics, a firm that works to bring certified autonomous vehicles to commercial aviation.

His previous experience also includes working at Blue Origin to mature its lunar permanence strategy, Blue Moon lunar lander program, and multiple technology initiatives with NASA.

“A.C. is an experienced leader in managing large, rapidly shifting technology portfolios. I am eager for him to apply his knowledge and enthusiasm at NASA,” Bhavya Lal, NASA associate administrator for technology, policy, and strategy, said in a press statement.

Lal served as acting chief technologist prior to the appointment of Charania, whose first day working at NASA Headquarters was January 3.

helping to incubate two startups, Generation Orbit and Terminal Velocity Aerospace.

New York, Jan 11 (IANS) An IndianAmerican doctor has agreed to pay approximately $1,850,000 for allegedly billing the government for cataract surgeries and diagnostic tests that were not medically required.

Aarti D. Pandya and her Pandya Practice Group violated the False Claims Act by also performing and billing for tests that were incomplete or of worthless value, and office visits that did not provide the level of service claimed.

“Physicians who perform procedures and tests without a legitimate

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 7 (IANS)

On New Year’s Day, it was a dream come true for US-settled Keralite Surendran K. Pattel as he was sworn in as the judge of 240th Judicial District Court in Texas’ Fort Bend county.

District judges are chosen through elections in the US and Pattel, 51, defeated the sitting judge in the first round of the election to become the first Malayalee to be a district judge in the US.

Pattel’s path to the post was far from easy and was due to his determination, hard work, and the willingness to fight his way upwards, as he was

medical need place profits ahead of patients and subject those patients to unnecessary risk,” said US Attorney Ryan K Buchanan in a statement released on Monday.

“This settlement represents our office’s commitment to ensuring accountability for physicians who subject patients to unwarranted medical care and waste taxpayer funds,” Buchanan said.

From January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2016, Pandya knowingly submitted false claims to federal healthcare programmes for medically unnecessary cataract extraction surgeries and YAG laser capsulotomies, according to a Justice Department release.

The prosecution alleged that Pandya performed these procedures on patients that did not qualify for the procedure under accepted standards of medical practice and, in some cases, caused injury to her patients.

Additionally, it accused Pandya of falsely diagnosing patients with glaucoma to justify unnecessary diagnostic testing and treatment that was billed to Medicare.

The prosecution also said that many of the diagnostic tests that

not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. As his parents were daily wage earners, he, to make both ends meet, had to work as ‘bidi’ roller and soon became an expert. Life was tough for him when he took a break for a year after his Class 10.

He completed his further education and bachelor’s degree, while engaging in part time work including as a daily labourer so as to earn his livelihood, but never let it affect his studies.

After enrolling for LLB at a college in Kozhikode, he worked in a hotel and in 1995, he passed law and straight away entered into practising law.

Pandya ordered were not properly performed, were performed on a broken machine, or were not interpreted in the medical record, as required by Medicare.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) imposed in 2019 a payment suspension on the Pandya Practice Group that precluded it from receiving any reimbursement from Medicare for Part B claims.

As part of the settlement of the government’s claims in this case, the Pandya Practice Group agreed to forfeit the suspension amount to the government.

The payment suspension will also be lifted as part of the settlement.

To protect federal healthcare programmes and beneficiaries going forward, Pandya and the Pandya Practice Group have entered into a detailed, multi-year Integrity Agreement and Conditional Exclusion Release (IA) with the Office of Inspector General.

“We must assure patients and taxpayers that healthcare is dictated by clinical needs, not fiscal greed,” said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta.

Then came his marriage to Shubha, a nurse by profession and he moved base to Delhi and was practising at the Supreme Court.

In 2007, his wife got an opportunity to work in the US and he too joined her and since his passion was law, he, after working in a supermarket for a while, appeared for the Texas bar exam and cleared it.

He then got admission for the LL.M programme at the University of Houston Law Center, passed it with flying colours, and began work as a lawyer again. This New Year’s Day, he wrote himself into the record books.

“With this in mind, there are incredible opportunities in partnerships within and outside of NASA. I now look forward to the opportunity to work with the entire community to increase the rate of space and aviation progress,” he added.

Charania will serve as principal

By Sheikh Qayoom

Srinagar, Jan 10 (IANS) The dream project of a Kashmiri doctor couple, Khurshid Ahmad Guru and Lubna Guru, to set up a Kashmiri museum abroad that was envisioned in 2020 has finally become a reality.

In the backdrop of the picturesque yet roaring Niagara Falls, world’s first overseas museum of Kashmiri culture and arts has been set up by the couple.

Khurshid Guru told reporters that over 12 million people visit the Niagara Falls each year and even if a small percentage of them visit the museum, his dream will bear fruit.

To assert its origin, Khurshid has named the museum as ‘Centre for Kashmir’. It includes a number of Kashmiri artefacts depicting the culture, history and art of the region.

The passion of the Kashmiri doctor bears its origin in the brutal assassination of his father, renowned cardiologist Abdul Ahad Guru, who was killed on April 1, 1993 in Srinagar.

Khurshid is a senior robotic oncologic surgeon and heads the urology department of Roswell Park comprehensive cancer centre at Buffalo in the US. He has been working in Buffalo along with his paediatrician wife, Lubna, for the last 17 years.

The couple has assembled 1,500 rare books on Kashmir besides artefacts, which is said to be the biggest collection on Kashmir outside the Valley.

In 2020, the centre purchased the former First Church of Christ Scientist on Park Place. It has its

Charania has also worked in strategy and business development for the Virgin Galactic (now Virgin Orbit) LauncherOne small satellite launch vehicle program.

He also served in multiple management and technology roles at SpaceWorks Enterprises, including

Charania led the formation of the FastForward industry group focused on high-speed point-to-point transportation, was a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts fellow, and served on the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group Commercial Advisory Board, according to the agency release.

He received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s in economics from Emory University.

own history. The church had been built in 1917 in the Gothic Revival style by the First Society of Christian Scientists of Niagara Falls that existed since July 26, 1903.

Post-purchase, the interior remodelling started. False ceilings were taken down, the roof was renovated, and windows were resealed, and an elevator was installed. They are also planning to buy two additional houses to provide residential space to visiting Kashmiri artistes, scholars and contributors.

The museum is now ready to be thrown open. The items planned to be displayed include paintings, out of print books, and Kashmiri handicrafts, including shawls, rugs, wood carving, papier machie and other items.

Since costs have shot up post Covid-19, the couple is raising funds from patrons of Kashmiri culture and art and also those interested in synthesis of global culture that

consists of different remote yet deeply interconnected cultures of different races and regions.

The centre acquired the property for $200,000 from its owner, Michael Suszek; spent $1.25 million for construction and rennovation, another $250,000 for furniture and equipment, and $300,000 for other costs.

Post the pandemic, the costs escalated. This was despite the fact that the New York authorities approved a tax concession to the 9,400 sq ft building in September 2021. The centre is a public charity that aims to serve as the global focal point on arts, culture and history of the South Asian Himalayan region. To preserve, protect and promote the ‘Kashmiri way of life’ is central to its existence.

The centre hopes that it can run on its own as a business operation, with ticket sales and annual memberships covering the operation costs.

New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) Meta on Monday appointed Vikas Purohit as the Director of Global Business Group for its India operations.

World’s first overseas Kashmiri museum set up in Niagara Falls

Toronto, Jan 10 (IANS) Indian-origin cabinet minister Ranj Pillai is set to be sworn in as the tenth Premier of

Indian fighter jets welcomed in Japan with water cannon salute

units, equipment, etc. during his visit.

As reported by IndiaNarrative.com earlier, both countries had decided to hold their first air combat exercises following the 90-minute bilateral between visiting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart Yasukazu Hamada in Tokyo on September 8.

Sri Lanka’s treasury running out of funds: Cabinet spokesman

Colombo, Jan 10 (IANS) Sri Lanka’s treasury is running out of funds as the island nation’s worst-ever economic crisis since its independence in 1948 continues, Cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said on Tuesday.

Gunawardena told reporters that funds collected through taxes have seen a decline, reports Xinhua news agency.

By Ajeet Sharma

New Delhi, Jan 11: The Indian Air Force (IAF) contingent was given a grand welcome as it landed at the Hyakuri Air Base, about 80 km northeast of Tokyo, on Tuesday for the inaugural joint Air Exercise between India and Japan that kicks off on January 12.

A traditional water cannon salute was given to the IAF’s frontline Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft, four of which are participating, along with two C-17s and one IL-78, in Exercise ‘Veer Guardian-2023’ to be held till January 26.

The Indian contingent also includes Squadron Leader Avani Chaturvedi who is the first IAF woman fighter pilot to participate in an air exercise abroad.

Hyakuri Air Base Commander Major General Ishimura Takahisa, who welcomed the IAF contingent along with India’s Ambassador to Japan Sibi George, affirmed that both countries will continue to promote defence cooperation in order to maintain and strengthen Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) region.

The Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) will be represented by four

The Hyakuri Air Base, located in Omitama City of Ibaraki Prefecture, is the only base in the Tokyo metropolitan area that has a combat air wing.

It was home to the former Navy Hyakurigahara Air Corps, which was established in 1938. In 2010, Hyakuri Airport was shared and the Ibaraki Airport terminal building was completed.

In 2019, Japan Air Force’s 302nd Squadron (F-4) was moved to Misawa Air Base and upgraded to the F-35A. One year later, the reconnaissance squadron was abolished and the 3rd Squadron (F-2) moved from Misawa Air Base to Hyakuri Air Base.

As India and Japan celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, Chief of Air Staff Vivek Ram Chaudhari visited the key JASDF base in May last year at the invitation of JASDF chief Shunji Izutsu.

Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari was given a detailed presentation by Base Commander Ishimura on the

Held at the headquarters of the Japanese Defence Ministry ahead of the second India-Japan 2 + 2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial, the discussion finalised a roadmap to step up bilateral defence cooperation and engage in more military exercises.

This also included the holding of the first joint fighter jet drills, reflecting the growing security cooperation between the two sides.

“This exercise will thus be another step in deepening strategic ties and closer defence cooperation between the two countries,” the Indian Defence Ministry said in a statement last week.

The inaugural exercise will include the conduct of various aerial combat drills between the two Air Forces. They will undertake multi-domain air combat missions in a complex environment and will exchange best practices. Experts from both sides will also hold discussions to share their expertise on varied operational aspects.

“Exercise ‘Veer Guardian’ will fortify the long-standing bond of friendship and enhance the avenues of defence cooperation between the two Air Forces,” said the Defence Ministry. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

As a result, the treasury is running short of funds to make payments, he said.

The spokesman said the economic crisis that hit the country in 2022 has affected the income of the treasury.

“The expected income by way of taxes during the first three months of 2023 is low. However, we need to pay public sector salaries. Payments are made by the treasury and not by

our personal funds,” he said He noted the President has informed all the ministries to slash their budget allocations for 2023 by at least 5 per cent.

Gunawardena said further steps to cut expenses will be taken to reduce the impact caused by the economic crisis.

The cabinet spokesman said the treasury gets funds from public taxes.

The country used to print money and obtain loans, but now it is unable to do that as no one is giving loans and they cannot print money, he added.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its repayments of loans last year and is now seeking approval from the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package to help the country recover from the crisis.

2022 becomes New Zealand’s warmest year on record

Wellington, Jan 11 (IANS) The year 2022 became New Zealand’s warmest on record, knocking 2021 off the top spot, scientists said on Wednesday.

It was also the eighth most unusually wet year on record, Xinhua news agency quoted chief scientist of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Chris Brandolino as saying at a told a press conference.

New Zealand’s nationwide average temperature was 13.76 degrees Celsius, 1.15 degrees above the 19812010 annual average and surpassing 2021 by 0.2 degrees, according to the 2022 Annual Climate Summary released on Wednesday.

November 2022 was the most unusually warm month, the summary said.

The top four warmest years on record have all occurred since 2016, Brandolino said, adding La Niaa was one of the primary drivers of last year’s weather patterns.

Sea surface temperatures near New Zealand also had a big impact, being above or well above average every month and resulting in a marine heatwave for most of the year, he said.

Last year, the highest air temperature was 34.7 degrees Celsius at Lake Karapiro in Waikato on January 3 and the lowest was -11.6 degrees Celsius at Mt Cook Airport on July

17, according to the 2022 Annual Climate Summary.

Of the six main centres in 2022, Tauranga was the wettest, Dunedin was the driest and coolest, Auckland was the warmest, Hamilton was the sunniest, and Wellington was the least sunny, it said.

World Bank slashes Pakistan’s GDP growth in half

Islamabad, Jan 11 (IANS) In view of Pakistan’s deteriorating economic condition, the World Bank (WB) has slashed the country’s GDP growth to only 2 per cent in the current fiscal year, cutting its forecast by 50 per cent.

According to a WB’s latest Global Economics Prospects report, the 2022 devastating floods and slowdown in global growth have contributed to what it termed as “sharp, long-lasting slowdown”. Due to the global growth frozen at only 1.7 per cent this year, Pakistan’s overall rate will also be much slower and will stand at only 2 per cent points from its June 2022 estimates. “Pakistan’s economic output was not only declining itself but also bringing down the regional growth rate. Pakistan’s GDP growth rate may improve to 3.2 per cent in 2024, but that too would be lower than the earlier estimates of 4.2 per cent,” said the report.

“Policy uncertainty further complicates the economic outlook of Pakistan in addition to flood damages and resultant increase in poverty.”

The report further said that global growth was slowing sharply in the face of elevated inflation, higher interest rates, reduced investment, and disruptions caused by Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The current perilous financial situation of the country, coupled

with shrinking foreign exchange reserves and towering current account deficits, have been severed by the last year’s floods, which not only claimed thousands if lives but also directly affected 15 per cent of the country’s total population, sunk one-third of the country under water and damaged widespread infrastructure.

“Recovery and reconstruction needs are expected to be 1.6 times the FY2022-23 national development budget. The flooding is likely to seriously damage agricultural production, which accounts to 23 per cent of GDP and 37 per cent of employment, disrupting the current and upcoming planting seasons pushing at least 9 million people into poverty,” said the WB report.

“Pakistan, with low foreign exchange reserves and rising sovereign risk, saw its currency depreciate by at least 14 per cent between June and December and its country risk premium rise by 15 per cent points over the same period.

Pakistan’s consumer price inflation reached 24.5 per cent in December on an annual basis, recently coming off its highest rate since 1970s,” it added.

The dire situation in Pakistan is because of many factors that are interlinked. The country faces massive challenges on its economy, which is triggered by political uncertainty, lack of continued and consistent policy and the catastrophic floods.

Pakistan, like other countries of the South Asian region, are faced with food insecurity as well

For Pakistan, the challenges are at multi-levels of borderlines.

Shrinking foreign exchange reserves, expanding external current account deficit and struggle to continue the IMF programme has damaged the country’s credit rating, which has further blossomed the fears of financial default and an economic meltdown.

The combination of limited foreign exchange buffers and widening external current account deficits encouraged several countries (including Bangladesh and Pakistan) to approach the International Monetary Fund to help bolster foreign exchange reserves and mitigate external financing pressures.

In parallel, governments have tightened fiscal policies and, in some cases, imposed import controls and food export bans.

Skyrocketing prices making flour inaccessible in Pakistan

Islamabad, Jan 10 (IANS)

Skyrocketing wheat flour prices have kept the food staple inaccessible for many in Pakistan as varied rates of grain and its by-products in provinces continue to encourage its black-marketing.

People are struggling to get a single bag of the daily-use commodity and stampedes have also been reported at sale points in rural parts of the country as the people endeavour to get subsidised flour bags, The News reported.

The highly subsidised 10 and 20 kg flour bags in Punjab province are still short in supply despite issuance of wheat to mills in sizeable quantity.

The price of a 15 kg bag went through the roof as it is available at around 133 PKR per kg or over 2,000 PKR per bag.

The whole wheat flour on the other hand soared to 150 PKR per kg in the province.

In Sindh, especially in the urban areas, and in the entire Balochistan, per kg flour price has been as high as 150 PKR.

Similar is with the case of Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa where a 20 kg flour bag is in short supply even at record price of 3,000 PKR per bag.

The rates of tandoori roti and naan also hiked to almost double the price of what was prevalent a year back.

It seems that there is no check on black-marketing of wheat and flour in the country, especially in the Punjab province from where complaints about pilferage of subsidised wheat have been rampant.

There are serious issues of flour

quality deterioration.

People complained that smelly wheat flour is being supplied by the flour mills and there is no quality check of the officials concerned, The News reported.

Meanwhile, market insiders are of the view that price of wheat may touch the peak for the time being following increase of wheat release quota in Punjab province, the biggest producer and consumer of grains in the country.

Indians residing in New Zealand, out

23 ram raids in the Northland region

Mitsubishi F-2 multirole fighters and four F-15 aircraft in the joint exercise.

Importance of having a plant-based diet and active nutrients in them

By Dr. Anita Jatana

January 09, 2022 (IANSlife)

Obesity is an emerging public health problem of epidemic proportions worldwide. As to WHO, globally, obesity has nearly tripled since 1975 and as per 2016 data 1.9 billion adults are overweight or obese. Unhealthy dietary habits are a major modifiable factor, leading to obesity. India too is battling this full-blown crisis of malnutrition which has worsened over the years in addition to undernutrition and micronutrient deficiency.

The increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity are important predicting indicators of their relationship with Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, heart disease and cancers that today are plaguing the nation.

This increase in NCDs is partly due to a shift in lifestyle with a higher intake of calorie-dense foods, high in refined cereals, sodium, sugar, saturated fat, processed meats, packaged foods and Transfats and low intake of vegetables, fruits, fibre, nuts and seeds coupled with a decrease in physical activity levels.

Consuming good amounts of fruits and vegetables at 300g of Vegetables and 100g of fruits, as recommended by ICMR in addition to Pulses, Cereals, Millet and other plant foods are known to be protective against diseases caused by chronic oxidative stress. This benefit is both due to consuming these plant-based foods which have health-promoting

compounds and due to a decrease in the consumption of excess processed foods and red meats. The protective nature of plant foods is due to the combined benefit of fibre and phytonutrients they contain which provides protection against the initiation and progression of the disease. These beneficial components of plant foods include phytosterols and antioxidants.

Polyphenols are a group of plant-derived functional components and are categorised into lignans, phenolic acids and flavonoids based on their different structures. They have various biological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antiviral and antibacterial properties and play an important role in preventing NCDs which are on the rise. They are also potential prebiotics which regulates the intestinal flora and prevent dysbiosis and maintain gut health and overall health. To ensure a healthy balanced vegetarian diet all the macro and micronutrients should be adequately included in the diet.

Carbohydrates (CHO)are the main source of energy whereas Complex CHO has many other additional health benefits too. It provides dietary fibres- both soluble and insoluble which play a major role in disease prevention. Including fruits, vegetables, and pulses and choosing whole grains like wheat, oats, barley, quinoa, corn and millet improves the nutritional quality of food intake.

Millets are a group of cereals which have many health-promoting attributes, they are gluten-free and

have higher amounts of proteins, minerals, and vitamins and some even have a low Glycaemic Index (GI) when compared to wheat and rice. Sorghum (Jowar), pearl millet (Bajra), foxtail millet (Kangni), and finger millet (ragi) are some of the important millets. They are a good source of fibre and have health-promoting vitamins, minerals, phenolic acids and flavonoids, in addition to their potential prebiotic and probiotics health benefits. With so many health benefits it is good to include these ‘Nutri-cereals’ with a variety of other grains on a daily basis to get the benefit from all. ICMR recommends 1/3 of the cereal intake can be these healthy millets.

Proteins have a wider range of functions in the body. Recommendations as per ICMR are to consume 0.60.83 gm /kg body weight of proteins. Including vegetarian protein sources such as pulses, beans, soy, milk and milk products and nuts and seeds and also combining cereals with pulses complements proteins and ensures adequate intake.

Fats and oils are an essential component of a balanced diet providing the essential fatty acids besides helping in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins – Vitamin A, D, E and K.The fat consumption of 25-40g(5-6teaspoons) per person/ day of visible fat such as oils, ghee, butter etc. depending on the energy requirement. It is recommended to decrease the consumption of Saturated fats to less than 8-10%of the energy obtained from animal products, coconut and palm oil and include monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) fats (in the ratio of 1.3:1 respectively) from

nuts, avocados, seeds, and oils of olive, safflower, sunflower, corn and oil, safflower, canola in the right proportion.

An adult should ideally maintain a 5-10:1 ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 PUFA for all the essential functions in the body. Omega -3 is known to support heart health, improve mental well-being, and reduce depression and is important during pregnancy being critical building blocks of the fetal brain and retina. Vegetarians should include nuts, seeds, whole grains, legumes, and vegetable oils of soy, and canola in their day’s diet to get their required omega 3

Trans fatty acids (TFA), produced by partial hydrogenation of vegetable fat (Vanaspati ghee or margarine) are also found in processed, fried foods and are responsible for adverse effects on serum lipids. They are associated with increased levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol and decreased levels of HDL (good) cholesterol and hence, are worse than saturated fats for heart health. It is recommended that the intake of TFA should be less than 1% of total energy intake, which is less than 2.2 g/day for a 2,000-calorie diet. (Asper AHA)

Multi-source cooking oils combine the potency of two or more edible oils which improves the oxidative and thermal stability of oils and improves the balance of fatty acids and introduces phytonutrients to the blend. Consuming fats as blends is a viable option to get the benefit of both the oils used in blends and lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Studies have shown that a

blend of rice bran oil and safflower oil (70:30) with added antioxidants showed improvement in blood lipid levels and inflammatory markers.

The mainstay of Good Health is a lifestyle change and a continued commitment. Consuming a balanced diet with adequate macronutrients comprising of complex carbohydrates from whole grains oats, millets, adequate plant-based proteins from pulses, beans, milk and milk products and nuts and seeds with adequate fruits and vegetables and healthy fats in the right proportion coupled with a good exercise regime is the mantra to good health.

References:

• J GeriatrCardiol. 2017 May; 14(5): 355–368 doi: 10.11909/j.issn.16715411.2017.05.012 Plant-based nutrition for healthcare professionals: implementing diet as a primary modality in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseaseJulieanna Hever1 and Raymond J Cronise2

• Polyphenols as Plant-Based Nutraceuticals: Health Effects, Encapsulation, Nano-Delivery, and Application Xiaojing Li, Shangyuan Sang, David Julian McClements, Long ChenJie Long, ZhengyuJinChao Qiu

• Recommended Dietary Allowances and Estimated Average Requirements. Nutrient Requirements for Indians. A Report of the Expert Group. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR/NIN). 2020.

• HaridasUpadya, C. J. Devaraju, Shashank R. Joshi. Anti-inflammatory properties of blended edible oil with synergistic antioxidants. 2015. Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism. 19 (4): 511-519

(Dr. Anita Jatana, Consultant Dietetics -Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi)

Food gadgets for healthy cooking in 2023

to blenders launch of such cooking gadgets has rapidly surged over the last few years.

Meanwhile over 65.1 per cent of the panelists of the Godrej Foods Trends Report 2022, also foresee an increasing pride in traditional Indian cookware, since such cookware emanates a sense of deep pride and heritage among multiple Indian households. “Traditional implements, many of which are suited to small batches will see a comeback as families try to create their own takes on heirloom recipes and spices,” claims food expert and connoisseur, Deepa Chauhan.

By N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe

It’s that time of the year to focus on making healthy and conscious food choices. Several contemporary trends involving health and food are expected to materialise and take shape in 2023. One such emerging trend, is a growing interest in culinary cultures that have a sharp and renewed focus on wellness, which will drive kitchen appliances and tools purchases

upwards this year.

One has become increasingly focused on individual health choices, and kitchen gadgets play a huge part to support healthy cooking and also save time. As households will purchase such gadgets to adopt smarter lifestyle choices, the shift has been predicted by over 200 plus food enthusiasts and experts, according to the latest Godrej Foods and Trends Report 2022.

World over, especially in India, for many working people, the worklife balance is a major hindrance while settling in for healthy meal options that can be delivered within a limited period of time. Hence kitchen gadgets and appliances that promise on delivering healthy cooking options and are time saving, will come as a major relief to those with a paucity of time. From air fryers, to chopping tools to cookers,

The Indian market today is flooded with multiple food gadgets and there is no doubt the Indian consumer is definitely spoilt for choice. 55.6 per cent of the panelists are confident that consumers will be opting for such healthy diet driven gadgets.

Gadgets also known to specify specific food cravings, or foster newly developed hobbies will gain popularity. According to home

chef and owner of The Hopeless Ramentic, Navika Kapoor, while people want convenience, there is also an indulgent side to cooking at home in 2023. “Convenience cooking gadgets like dough mixers, and instapots are gaining immense popularity because of their ability to make delicious, healthy meals less labour intensive. Elaborate stews, breads, and batters now take a lot of less babysitting and active attention, making it vastly easier to afford the time and energy to prepare these speciality meals” adds Kapoor. These thoughts too are echoed by the panelists of the Godrej Foods Trends Report 2022 where over 52.4 per cent of the experts predict consumers opting for time-saving cooking gadgets. For the uninitiated, instapots are multicookers that have a range of functions, including pressure cooking, slow cooking , steam cooking, warming and sautéing etc. They can assist in cooking many a day’s worth of lunches in an hour while avoiding a sink full of dirty pans and pots.

For many consumers cooking is often a hobby or the perfect idea to de-stress, the Report panelists forecasting close to 33.3 per cent consumers purchasing appliances meant for recreational cooking. While such consumers would not very often cook on a regular basis for meals, for many others, tradition is key, with over 28.6 per cent households picking up traditional food processing tools and implements, to maintain that vintage taste grandmama’s taste that brings along loads of nostalgia and tease the taste buds simultaneously.

There is also a growing and renewed interest surrounding traditional Indian cookware. According to culinary anthropologist Kurush Dalal, “Thanks to the lockdown, people have had the time to pay more attention to food and experiment with vessels. So a lot of people are moving back to cast iron, copper vessels, brass kettles and so on, in a big way even though they require more maintenance and care.”

An ideal recipe book for folks suffering from lifestyle disorders

including insulin, is critical to their survival. There is a globally agreed target to halt the rise in diabetes and obesity by 2025.” - WHO

have tweaked them here and there but it is more a curation of Indian home food than recipes written by me. I made this book free for all because I wanted people to see at the end of the day all they need is normal home-style meals. Our traditional foods have everything we need to stay healthy, we just need to learn how to tweak the basic recipes as per our health goals. This book will find itself useful in almost every Indian household no matter where in India they are from or where in the world they live today. This one had to be free.

individuals suffering from conditions such as Hypertension, PCOS, High Cholesterol, Weight Lose, and Type 2 diabetes?

Khushboo: This book is perfect for anyone who has these lifestyle disorders. Each recipe is gluten-free, low glycemic index, is high in fibre, rich in phytonutrients and is plant-based. These simple traits make sure that your glucose levels are more stable and stabilising blood glucose levels is the one trick that helps each and every lifestyle disorder including the ones mentioned here.

just need to stick to my proportions. Similarly, there is a mixed greens saag recipe that is again just a formula that can be used to make a saag out of whatever greens you have at home.

Share one recipe with an interesting backstory?

By N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe

According to the World Health Organization, around 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, with the majority living in low- and middle-income countries, and diabetes is directly responsible for 1.5 million fatalities each year. Diabetes has been progressively increasing in both the number of cases and the prevalence during the last few decades.

“Diabetes is a chronic, metabolic disease characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose (or blood sugar), which leads over time

to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves. The most common is type 2 diabetes, usually in adults, occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn’t make enough insulin. In the past 3 decades the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has risen dramatically in countries of all income levels. Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin by itself.

For people living with diabetes, access to affordable treatment,

“Lifestyle is an all-encompassing term that has the power to transform your life within weeks,” says Khushboo Jain Tibrewala, founder of The Health Pantry, Nutritionist, and Diabetes Educator. IANSlife spoke to Khushboo, author of ‘Everyday recipes for Diabetes’, to better understand the disease and how to deal in order to achieve the global objective of ending the chronic disease by 2025. What prompted you to create a free ebook?

Khushboo: If you actually see each of the recipes, you’ll notice that most of them are normal everyday dishes that we all eat at our homes. I may

What are the most prevalent issues that your association with Diabetic patients has revealed?

Khushboo: There are quite a few! But one of the most common ones is the role the rest of the family plays. In some homes, the remaining family members identify that these are lifestyle disorders and they may all be at risk as a family. They make dietary and lifestyle changes as a family. Such patients see an almost magical response. Because there is no stress around their food at home. In homes where the remaining family members refuse to support the patient, results are slower and there are higher chances of dropouts. How does your book help

How does your book differ from the numerous others on the market that discuss Diabetes and other topics?

Khushboo: As mentioned before, this book is a simple curation of recipes from Indian homes. What makes it unique is the addition of a Nutritionist’s perspective. I have labelled each recipe as per its glycemic index, the culinary skill required and whether it can be used as part of weekly meal prep. Also, I have created some simple formulas to help the reader personalise the recipe and use locally available ingredients. For eg., there is a cheela recipe that can be made with literally whatever you have at home, you

Khushboo: What makes this book so special to me is that literally, every recipe has a special story and a special person to thank. The Sattu recipe comes from my Nani, the Kanji from my Dadi, there is a salad that comes from all the lunches at my best friend’s home. Mangodi pulao is my mother’s recipe. One that I am most excited about is the Methi ki Chutney. Growing up, Aloo Bedmi and this Chutney was the standard Sunday breakfast at home. Back then we would buy this one special brand from Delhi that we would never find in Mumbai. Cut to my life as an adult, when I learn that methi seeds are actually fantastic for type 2 diabetics. So while most nutritionists ask you to soak the seeds and eat them every morning, I wanted to find a tastier way of incorporating methi seeds. That’s when I recreated the recipe for that chutney and now, this simple recipe has become part of all my clients’ lives.

All About VEGAN

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

Telugu Association of Gold Coast (TAG), Queensland Telugu Association (QTA) and Brisbane Telugu Association (BTA) are collaborating to present Astaavadhaanam by Sri Kalyan Tatavarthy garu, founder of Tatavarthy Gurukulum on the Saturday 25th February 2023 from 4-7pm AEST at Upper Mt Gravatt Progress Hall, 1873 Logan Rd, Upper Mt Gravatt 4122. The event is being organised to celebrate the beauty of the Telugu language as also to raise its awareness among the next generation for upholding its great traditions in its true form.

Sri Kalyan Tatavarthy garu has embarked on a selfless journey to raise the awareness of language and

literature and founded Tatavarthy Gurukulam with a sole intention to drive telugu language and poetic forms to the next generation, thus making it accessible to the modern communities. He also aspires to revive and adore temples through avadhaanarchana.

Avadhaanam is an ancient literary process and has its origins in Sanskrit. It was subsequently adopted by the modern Telugu poets in an attempt to showcase the mastery and command of language using both wisdom and wit. Avadhaani is the performer and the panel who are also scholars are referred to as Prucchakulu.

There are several forms of avadhaanam, the most common is Ashtaavadhaanam, that has 8

Prucchakulu, each posing a question to the avadhaani on a specific issue and expects the avadhaani to respond in a peotic form in a specific metre. Avadhaani is often disturbed deliberately by an irrelevant speaker called as aprasthutha prasangi and equally distracted by other prucchaka’s by their questions. It is upon the avadhaani to respond appropriately and equally making the whole process entertaining and humorous. This is a complex test of cognitive capacity and draws on the avadhaani’s ability to sustain extreme attention, retain information, reasoning, creativity, knowledge on poetic forms, metres (chandassu) besides a broad understanding of current affairs, literature and many more.

AsmitaParva of Shree Swaminarayan Perth Temple organized

recently.Mahant

Members

CG meets Victoria Police Chief

Commissioner

Indian diaspora in Western Australia actively participated in the PravasiBharatiyaDiwas celebrations at the Consulate and viewed live telecast of inaugural session of the 17th PravasiBharatiya Divas Convention 2023. An extensive interaction on diverse issues pertaining to exchanges between India and WA in education, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, agriculture, horticulture, cyber security, digital

payments, utilization of local grants, orientation of new students and migrants, enhanced engagement with local universities and colleges, teaching of Indian languages in WA schools, common calendar of cultural activities by various associations and dance schools, spiritual centres, promotion of Yoga, Ayurveda and classical dance and music, among others. The participants representing Indian Society of WA (ISWA), Hindu Council of Australia Perth, HSS, Sikh Assoc of WA, Perth, Australian

Indian Business Association (AIBA), academicians, educationists, linguists and two Indian-origin Members of Legislative Assembly of WA – YazMubarakai MLA and Kevin Michel MLA – greatly appreciated the event and sought regular interaction by all community leaders on issues pertaining to the diaspora. As part of the ongoing International Year of Millets, the participants thoroughly enjoyed millets-based refreshments.

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

Consul General of India, Perth Amarjeet Singh Takhiparticipated in the 10th year anniversary celebrations - AsmitaParva - of Shree Swaminarayan Perth Temple

Indian Abroad Newsdesk Consul General (CG) of India, Melbourne DrSushil Kumar

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

Swami and other Swamijis and thousands of devotees, including those who joined from various other countries, were present on the occasion.

of KutchiLeva Patel community have made commendable

met Shane Patton APM, Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police recently and discussed strengthening

PravasiBharatiyaDiwas celebrated in Western Australia

and inspirational progress and contributions to welfare and development activities around the world. Shree Swaminarayan Temple Perth flies Indian tricolour.

cooperation in various areas including short term capacity building trainings for police personnel.

Lohri celebrated CGI meets new British Consul General

Prof ChennupatiJagdish gets PBS Award

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

It is a moment of pride for the Indian-Australian community as eminent Physicist Prof. ChennupatiJagadish AC has been conferred the prestigious PravasiBharatiyaSamman (PBS) Award 2023. He is the President of the Australian Academy of Science, and a Distinguished Professor of Physics at the Australian National University Research School of Physics. He is head of the Semiconductor Optoelectronics and Nanotechnology Group which he established in 1990. He is also the Convener of the Australian Nanotechnology Network and Director of Australian National

New COVID guidelines announced

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

As per the new COVID guidelines for international arrivals in India dated 29th December 2022, passengers arriving to India from China including Hong Kong, ROK, Japan, Singapore and Thailand would be required to fill self-declaration form and upload negative RT-PCR Report on the Air Suvidha Portal.

Transiting passengers through aforementioned six countries would also be required to fill self-declaration form and upload negative RT-PCR

Tricolour hoisting on 26 January

Essay competition to celebrate Vishwa Hindi Diwas

CGI meets business leader

Rajasthan International Expo from 20 March

Jodhpur from 20-22 March 2023.

This is a one of its kind Expo and will mainly be focusing on Handicraft products of Rajasthan.

Australia-India film making ties discussed

The Consulate General of India in PerthAmarjeet Singh Takhi has invited all Indians and Friends of India to flag hoisting ceremony on the occasion of

74th Republic Day of India on 26 January. The time will be from 10-11 am. The venue of the flag hoisting is Level 6, 12 St. Georges Terrace, Perth.

ZanetaMascarenhas Guest of Honour at Youth PravasiBharatiya Divas 2023

ZanetaMascarenhas MP was the Guest of Honour at the 13th Youth PravasiBharatiya Divas 2023 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India and spoke about aspirations and hopes of the Indian Diaspora in Australia.

Narrating her experience in a Facebook post

About the bourgeoning AustraliaIndia relations Zaneta wrote, “Australia’s relationship with India has never been closer. IndianAustralians are one of our fastest growing migrant groups, and our shared histories and cultures make for a special bond between our two countries. In the 75th year of Indian independence, it is my hope that the next 75 years are as productive and enriching as the last.”

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

ZanetaMascarenhas wrote, “I’m in India! It was an honour to share my hopes for the Indian diaspora as the keynote speaker at the 13th PravasiBharatiya Divas (Overseas Indians Conference) Youth

Fabrication Facility ACT Node.

Report on the Air Suvidha Portal, irrespective of their originating country.

Plenary in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.”

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

The Consulate General of India, Perth family celebrated the festival of Lohri,

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

Consul General of India (CGI), Perth Amarjeet Singh Takhi met his new consular

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

Consul General of India (CGI), Perth Amarjeet Singh Takhimet Sameer Chhikara, GM Metals, Minerals and Recycling

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

Consul General of India (CGI), Perth Amarjeet Singh Takhi met Chris Watson, Chris Veerhuis and Dan Holliday from

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

Celebrating Vishwa Hindi Diwas, High Commission of India, Canberrais organising an online essay writing competition. The topic of the Competition is

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

Rajasthan Export Promotion Council is organizing Rajasthan International Expo,

MakarSankranti, MaghBihu and Pongal recently. The celebrations were presided over by Consul General Amarjeet Singh Takhi.

colleague, British Consul General Tina Redshaw, at the Consulate. Both discussed bilateral ties, including with Australia.

at Sojitz Australia Ltd recently. With 7 offices across India, Sojitz is engaged in several projects, including dedicated freight corridor, and partners with Maruti, Tata & L&T.

Screenwest Western Australia (WA) recently and discussed opportunities for cooperation in areas of cinematography, film making between Australia-India.

“Bharat: MeriNazar Se” (India: From my perspective). One can submit self-written essay on the topic and win exciting prizes. The last date of entry is 31st January 2023

The

Indo

previous PravasiBharatiyaSamman Award (PBSA) recipients, community leaders, representatives from business, culture, media and academia.

PravasiBharatiya

Swachhata pledge taken

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

The Sikh Sangat in Western Australia, together with members of the wider Indian community, celebrated Guru Gobind Singh Ji’sPrakashPurab, with great devotion and fervor, at the Canning Vale Gurdwara Sahib. The Consul General Amarjeet Singh Takhi and his family and the entire Consulate parivar joined the langgarsewa at the Gurdwara sahib. The Indianorigin Members of Parliament of

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

PravasiBhartiyaDivas2023was celebrated on January 9 at the Consulate General of India premises in Sydney.It was attended by

Western Australia - YazMubarakai MLA, Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests and Education; as well as Dr Jags MLA, newly-appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Finance, Commerce, Women’s Interests - and Cr. TarunDewan from City of Cockburn and also representatives of Indian Society of WA (ISWA), Hindu Council of Australia Perth, HSS, Maharashtra Mandal Perth, ABCWA, Haryanvi Association of Western Australia, Haryana

Divas is observed on 9 Januaryto mark the

Society of Western Australia, Hindi Samaj HSWA, ISKCON Perth - Sri SriGauraNitai Temple, Aggarwal Association, Kashmiri Pandits Perth, Assam Association of WA, FIAWA, Australia-India Medical Association, Honorary Consul of Fiji, business persons and academicians joined the evening Dewan&langgarsewa and obtained blessings of the Guru.

OZ/ Perthnama Australia and Radio Tarang covered the Gurpurab celebrations.

contribution of the Indian diaspora towards the development of India. The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to Mumbai on 9 January 1915.

Indian Abroad Newsdesk

As part of the Swachhata Pakhwada, being observed from 1-15 January 2023, Consul General of India, Sydney Manish Gupta administered the swachhata pledge to the members of the Consulate. Since the Modi government took over the reins of India in 2014, Swachhata or cleanliness has been given the utmost priority throughout India.

Officials of the High Commission of India, Canberra also took the Swachhata pledge to celebrate Swachchhata Pakhwada from 1st to 15th Jan 2023.

As a Special Campaign on Cleanliness under “Swachhata

Pakhwada”, on 2nd January 2023

Consul General of India Melbourne Dr Sushil Kumar administered Swachhta pledge to officials of India in Melbourne to adopt and spread the message of cleanliness at various

levels. The Consul General administered the Swachhata Pledge to the consulate officials as part of the Swachhata Pakhwada.

‘I got hooked to pitting supernatural powers against soldiers with modern weapons’

‘information on the Resistance militia’ and so on and all this is a big part of her next book ‘A History of Violence’.

“But somewhere during the pandemic the germ of the story of ‘Contamination’ was spawned.

I got hooked on the idea of pitting supernatural powers against soldiers with modern weapons, basically mixing horror elements into the war scene and seeing what happens. The bullets fly, grenades explode, body count rises right from the beginning, there is paranoia of a constant war, surviving on low ammo and supplies and then facing supernatural creatures.

and on screen it imbues them with spectacular tales of love and wealth, found-lost-regained amidst the pageantry of choreographed dance pieces. India, the largest film industry of the world, but for the longest time mostly there has been a visible disinterest in big budget supernatural and sci-fi content the kind we see in Hollywood as far as films are concerned and perhaps because the audience was not too keen on the content,” she said.

Hollywood has an overabundance of supernatural and sci-fi content.

“Indian content creators somehow for some reason relegate the supernatural to a lower position than material-based reason. However, there have been departures of late, perhaps with the coming in of global content and though Indian audiences were not seen as being keen on supernatural content on the big screen but that’s changed a little more sharply in recent times,” she maintained.

of OTT, if the uptick of Hunger Games-inspired archery lessons and the CDC’s humorous-but-practical Zombie Preparedness Guide are any indication, this is not going away any time soon. Re-enchantment delivers something more important than escapism or entertainment.

Through its promise of a world of mystery and wonder, it offers the hope that we have not seen all that there is and there is so much more which can be done,” Lakhera explained.

By Vishnu Makhijani

New Delhi, Jan 10 (IANS) As a journalist one is relentlessly exposed to stories of conflicts between the state and indigenous tribes, more in some areas than others like along some belts in the North east or Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, or Orissa to name a few, says Richa Lakhera, the bestselling author of books like ‘Hungry Gods’, ‘Garbage Beat’ and “Item Girl”, who is back with an intense and gripping take of the supernatural and horror with a female combatant set in the current times.

“One cannot but be moved by their separate tragedies, the desolation which results from constant strife- wars which leave indigenous

people homeless, in fact, thousands of forest dwellers are still fighting over traditional rights for their own land parcels,” Lakhera told IANS in an interview of her new book, ‘Contamination’.

“That they manage to hang on optimism is also evidence of the stubborn resilience of the people. For any human being losing their land is traumatic but the suffering is greatest from losing hope. These are people who live buried under the compromises with the state and face repeated exploitation,” she added.

Sometimes they resist and fight back against organised subterfuge across villages, people informing on each other and reward for getting

“There’s guerrilla warfare and hunting down insurgent patrols interspersed with horror imagery. On one hand there is the constant attempt by your characters to survive on low ammunition and dwindling supplies and the paranoia of a constant war and real possibilities of that they would all starve and freeze to death or be blown to bits getting slammed or hit by stray artillery and then come the ghosts!

“Having said that, war is the greater horror, not ghosts. It is a militia horror and fronted by a female hero.

And the genre is quite under-utilized especially in India. As such there is a lot of unexplored terrain to be uncovered in the militia-horror sub-genre,” Lakhera elaborated.

How does she see writing on the supernatural evolving given its rise on OTT and the big screen?

“Indian storytelling has been, and still is, partial to family dramas,

Pointing out that when the Indian story writing scene is replete with folk tales with magic and mythology in India and its part of our cultural history, this makes their near absence till recent times in Indian cinema and overabundance in Hollywood more remarkable.

“The top earners, even till a few months ago, were not really expected to be about wizardry or apocalyptic destruction caused by supernatural forces. No one could even think of investing that kind of money and time in such a project. Bollywood, not Hollywood, is the largest movie industry in the world. But only a handful of its top hits in the last four decades have dealt with science fiction themes, and even fewer are fantasy or horror,” Lakhera maintained.

Noting that the 19th century German sociologist Max Weber had a useful theory about the west being ‘disenchanted’ and the world to them felt explainable, predictable, and boring leading to a widespread loss of a sense of wonder and magic and so they sought the enchantment in films, she said Perhaps that’s why

What’s missing in the Indian writing scene in this genre?

“We still do not have a ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’, but we have had Hindi films like the hugely successful ‘Koi...Mil Gaya’, ‘Krrish” to ‘Bhool Bhulaiyya’ sequels. I think filmmakers are now more than ready to test the audience’s commitment to the rational by introducing the fantastic into the narrative.

“I think that has got to do with the commerce of it. Commerce would be tied to desires and needs are cultural and there has been perhaps a cultural change in audience taste. People are now opening up, and this is fairly recent, to watching films with mythological, supernatural and nationalism themes. There is a distinct shift in taste...so we have big budgets being invested now in such films and after the success of Ayan Mukherjee’s ‘Brahmastra’ we have several more big-ticket films of the fantasy and supernatural world lined up.

“Having said that, and talking

What next?

“My next, ‘A History of Violence’, is all about guns, grenades and guerillas and gangsters. But no ghosts in my next. The next book is a militia thriller-political drama and is set in the hill states of North India. Land wars and conflict between state and indigenous people is an integral part in the story with the larger unifying theme of how wars never end. They mutate. They change form.

“Even though there are no supernatural horror elements involved, it is about a people caught in brutal relentless wars. It is about the shadowy world of tunnels along the borders which come alive during economic blockade and nakabandi, about gangsters and local warlords who feed on blood and bullets and unlimited power and greed. The true horror of war and conflicts, about accords failing, turncoats and sellouts, piling coffins, dirty cops and dirtier deals,” Lakhera concluded.

(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)

menace: Tension in Bengaluru University campus

forest like areas, bushes and thick vegetation.

Thousands of people flock to the sprawling campus for greenery for morning and evening walks and the sighing of leopards has caused panic and tension. The residents of neighbouring localities of Jnanabharthi campus are also concerned over the development.

Bengaluru, Jan 15 (IANS) The authorities have issued directions for students and staff, and the general public not to wander in the Jnanabharthi campus after two leopards were spotted there.

The campus road connecting to Nagarbhavi residential locality is

closed between 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day. Other connecting roads have also been closed and strict directions have been given in this regard.

Two leopards were spotted in the Jnanabharathi campus which is spread across 4.5 square km and has

CCTV footage of leopards prowling in the campus in day and night time have gone viral on social media. The wildlife activists are maintaining that the spotted animals are not leopards, they might be big wild cats.

The forest officials have taken a serious note of the development and no leopard was spotted during the preliminary searches. They are also verifying the footage of leopards in the campus to check their authenticity.

NDMA bars sharing details on Joshimath saying ‘it’s creating confusion’

situation. It is creating confusion not only among affected residents but also among citizens of the country,” said NDMA.

The letter, issued on January 13, further said that the issue was highlighted during a meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on January 12.

An expert group has been formed for the assessment of ground subsidence at Joshimath, it added.

2022 was 5th warmest year on record, situation alarming: NASA

Washington, Jan 14 (IANS) Earth’s average surface temperature in 2022 tied with 2015 as the fifth warmest year on record, according to an analysis by US space agency NASA, which termed the situation as “alarming”.

The global temperatures in 2022 were 1.6-degree Fahrenheit (0.89-degree Celsius) above the average for NASA’s baseline period (1951-1980), scientists from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York reported.

“This warming trend is alarming. Our warming climate is already making a mark: Forest fires are intensifying; hurricanes are getting stronger; droughts are wreaking havoc and sea levels are rising,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

The past nine years have been the warmest since modern record-keeping began in 1880.

This means that Earth in 2022 was about 2-degree Fahrenheit (or about 1.11-degree Celsius) warmer than the late 19th century average.

“NASA is deepening our commitment to do our part in addressing climate change. Our Earth System Observatory will provide

state-of-the-art data to support our climate modelling, analysis and predictions to help humanity confront our planet’s changing climate,” Nelson added.

Human-driven greenhouse gas emissions have rebounded following a short-lived dip in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Recently, NASA scientists, as well as international scientists, determined that carbon dioxide emissions were the highest on record in 2022.

NASA also identified some super-emitters of methane - another powerful greenhouse gas - using the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation instrument that was launched to the International Space Station last year.

“The reason for the warming trend is that human activities continue to pump enormous amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and the long-term planetary impacts will also continue,” said Gavin Schmidt, Director of GISS, NASA’s leading centre for climate modelling.

The Arctic region continues to experience the strongest warming trends - close to four times the global average - according to a GISS

research presented at the 2022 annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, as well as a separate study.

Several factors can affect the average temperature in any given year. For example, 2022 was one of the warmest on record despite a third consecutive year of La Nina conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

NASA scientists estimate that La Nina’s cooling influence may have lowered global temperatures slightly (about 0.11-degree Fahrenheit or 0.06-degree Celsius) from what the average would have been under more typical ocean conditions.

A separate, independent analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concluded that the global surface temperature for 2022 was the sixth highest since 1880.

Joshimath crisis: NTPC faces locals’ opposition, cracks appear in Auli ropeway

New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued a letter to the government authorities and scientific departments not to share details regarding ground subsidence in Joshimath with the media till a conclusion is drawn.

The office memorandum came following widespread media coverage on the ISRO data on the ground subsidence at Joshimath in

Uttarakhand.

The memorandum released by the NDMA pointed out that the data released by government institutions are creating confusion among residents.

“It is observed that various government institutions are releasing data related to the subject matter on social media platforms and they are also interacting with the media with their own interpretation of the

“You are requested to sensitise your organisation about this matter and refrain from posting anything on media platforms until the final report of the expert group is released by NDMA,” it noted.

Reacting on this, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh commented on Twitter: “They make one Constitutional institution attack another. Now, the National Disaster Management Authority tells ISRO to shut up. But how can satellite images lie? This is New India where only one man knows everything, and will decide who will speak on anything.”

Bangladesh declared free from toxic DDT pesticide

According to the World Health Organisation, DDT is a persistent organic pollutant (POP), a chemical that can have significant negative effects on both human health and the environment, Xinhua news agency reported.

Bangladesh imported 500 metric tons (500,000 kg) of the pesticide in 1985 to control malaria-carrying mosquitos. Upon arrival, it was put into a government compound in the Agrabad district in Chattogram city.

Over the years, many of the boxes and bags have disintegrated, leaving exposed piles of the white DDT powder.

Joshimath, Jan 14 (IANS) The local residents have organised a front against the NTPC in Joshimath, by putting up posters demanding their exit from the holy city. Meanwhile, cracks have also appeared on the platform of the Auli ropeway.

The locals consider the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) responsible for the the constant threat of landslides being faced by them.

The cracks on the ropeway were spotted on Friday night and its operation has been stopped in view of the danger.

One of its towers is situated in Manoharbaag ward, that has been

declared unsafe by the administration, which intensified apprehensions about the ropeway.

Ropeway Manager Dinesh Bhatt said that the tower is being regularly checked.

The distance of the ropeway from Joshimath to Auli is about 4 km, in which there are 10 towers.

It takes 15 minutes to reach Auli from the holy city by the ropeway and it is preferred by the tourists.

Taking lessons from Joshimath, the state cabinet has decided to conduct a carrying capacity survey of all hill towns.

Surveys will be conducted in the municipal corporations,

municipalities and nagar panchayat areas in the first phase.

The increasing population and construction activities being carried out haphazardly are increasing the pressure on the hill towns.

One of the reasons behind the crisis is that of construction exceeding the load carrying capacity of the

2 out of 3 glaciers could be lost by 2100: Study

San Francisco, Jan 6 (IANS) By 2100, two out of three glaciers could be lost, that is, the world could lose 41 per cent of its total glacier mass this century -- or as little as 26 per cent -- based on today’s climate change mitigation efforts, a new study has shown.

David Rounce, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the US-based Carnegie Mellon University, led an international effort to produce new projections of glacier mass loss through the century under different emissions scenarios.

Dhaka, Jan 9 (IANS) Bangladesh has been declared free from dangerous Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane pesticide, commonly known as DDT pesticide.

Bangladeshi Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister, Md. Shahab Uddin made the

announcement at a press conference on Sunday.

The press briefing came after Bangladesh’s successful removal of 500 tons of DDT from a medical sub-depot in Chattogram city, nearly 242 km southeast of the capital Dhaka, in December 2022.

In 1991, Bangladesh imposed a DDT ban, but the huge consignment remained.

Under a project titled “Pesticide Risk Reduction in Bangladesh,” the toxic substance was completely exported to France for incineration, according to the Ministry.

According to a study by Carnegie Mellon University, Rounce and his team found that in a future scenario with continued investment in fossil fuels, over 40 per cent of the glacial mass will be gone within the century, and over 80 per cent of glaciers by number could well disappear.

These glaciers are usually small (less than one km) by glacial standards, but their loss can negatively

affect the hydrology in local areas, tourism, glacier hazards, and cultural values.

A temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celcius will disproportionately affect glaciers in smaller glacier regions such as Central Europe, Western Canada, and the US, and at a rise of 3 degrees Celcius, glaciers in these regions will almost disappear completely, said the study.

Rounce noted that the way in which

glaciers respond to changes in climate takes a long time.

He further describes the glaciers as extremely slow-moving rivers.

Changing emissions in the present won’t eliminate previously emitted greenhouse gases, nor will it stop inertia that contributes to climate change, so even if emissions are completely stopped today, glacier mass loss is still expected to take between 30 and 100 years to reverse, the study added.

‘TheGreenBillions’ joins hands with Pune civic body on plant to extract green hydrogen from waste

state municipalities across India to implement and set up similar plants in the future.

Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), a Central Public Sector Enterprise of Government of India will provide the Project management consulting and Variate Pune Waste to Energy Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of TheGreenBillions Limited, will implement the project to convert Pune’s municipal non-recyclable waste into hydrogen.

infrastructure for hydrogen transportation to industries for this.

For the first phase of the project, MAHAPREIT proposes blending in the city gas distribution network in Pune by partnering with Maharashtra Natural Gas Ltd -- a joint venture of GAIL (India) Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL).

sources that do not harm the environment.

cubic meter space every day and 25.16 hectare of precious land per year.”

New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS)

TheGreenBillions Limited (TGBL), a company specialising in consulting, managing, and executing sustainable initiatives, has announced its association with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to set up first plant in India to extract green hydrogen from biomass and municipal solid waste.

TGBL’s

The

The Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) from the waste would later be utilised to generate hydrogen using Plasma gasification technology. The technology has been developed while closely working with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

Mahatma Phule Renewable Energy & Infrastructure Technology (MAHAPREIT), a Maharashtra government undertaking, has proposed to off-take the hydrogen generated at the facility and develop logistical

The joint efforts by MAHAPREIT and GAIL can help the proposed hydrogen blending project set a benchmark for a circular economy with hydrogen generated from the city’s waste and blended back into its gas distribution network.

According to Prateek Kanakia, PhD, Chairman and Founder, TheGreenBillions Limited: “The growing Indian economy is witnessing an increase in demand for energy from all sectors. The situation has put a lot of pressure on Indian energy reserves to meet the ever-increasing demand. It has increased the focus on identifying and developing alternative energy sources, mainly green and clean

“With the rising demand from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to generate Clean Hydrogen, it is essential to find alternatives to foster clean hydrogen in the country. We recognise that an efficient garbage collection and disposal system is crucial for quality urban solid waste management. Especially in India, unsustainable garbage management affects living spaces for many cities. Our association with the Pune Municipal Corporation is a step forward in mitigating these demands.”

An official statement from Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) said: “With this project, Pune city can reduce upto 2.5 million MT CO2e, more than 3.8 million MT waste would be diverted from the landfill and around >1,80,000 estimated households will be served directly. The Municipal solid waste (MSW) otherwise being dumped in low lying urban areas will be diverted, saving upto 689.5

This waste will comprise biodegradable, non-biodegradable and domestic hazardous waste and would be segregated at the TheGreenBillions’ facility in Pune using optical sensor technology.

The wet waste from the facility will be used to generate humic-acid rich bio-fertilisers, which are considered better than conventional bio-fertilisers and has low carbon emissions.

This project aims to demonstrate the technological and financial feasibility of waste to hydrogen generation.

With a strong focus of the government of India on hydrogen adoption, the projects like these will not only help India achieve decarbonisation goals but will also reduce significant emissions from waste disposal.

Once achieved, the goals will help India achieve the vision of Swachh Bharat and also match the hydrogen ambitions.

wholly owned subsidiary Variate Pune Waste to Energy Pvt. Ltd. (VPWTEPL) will be managing and utilising the municipal waste of 350 TPD of Pune for generating hydrogen for a period of 30 years.

project aims to extract clean hydrogen from municipal solid waste in a pioneering initiative. The company is discussing with other

Will get your tongue cut, K’taka Min to BJP MLA on ‘pimp’ remark

in Karnataka, two senior leaders, an MLA and another minister have indulged in a war of words by trading charges against each other.

BJP Minister for Heavy Industries Murugesh R. Nirani on Saturday warned party MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal that his tongue will be cut if he continues to talk “senselessly”.

Earlier, MLA Basanagouda Patil had called Minister Nirani a pimp while talking about reservation quota under OBC category to Panchamasali Lingayat sub sect. He had also stated that he had no faith in Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and approached

the party high command.

Minister Nirani stated, “He (Basanagouda Patil Yatnal) had used the word ‘pimp’. He is very much in that culture and uses the same language. Those who are born to their fathers don’t use such language,” he said.

“If he is talking without sense, his tongue will be cut. Chief Minister Bommai has given directions to be quiet. If he doesn’t want to be in the party, let him go out and stage a protest,” he stated.

Vijayapura people from where he hails would give him a befitting answer. The reservation demand

is not recent one. CM Bommai has committed to giving reservation for Panchamasali sub sect. The government had created 2C and 2D categories to accommodate the OBC quota. In spite of all this, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal is trying to put blame, Minister Nirani stated. He also condemned the protest staged in this regard by Basava Jayamrutynjaya Swamiji terming it “politically” motivated. The SC/ST and Vokkaliga communities have made their submissions peacefully, he said. MLA Basanagouda Patil is issuing statements and embarrassing the government.

Rahul should apologise for hate-filled blood-soaked history of Cong: VHP

Congress has a history of spreading hatred, dividing the society and causing massacres. Instead of blaming Hindu organisations, they should apologise for the great sins committed by the Congress to break the country.

New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS) The Vishva Hindu Parishad has demanded that Rahul Gandhi should apologise for “the hate-filled blood-soaked history of the Congress”, and said that a conspiracy was being hatched to spread hatred by defaming and dividing the country once again.

VHP’s Central Joint General Secretary Dr. Surendra Jain said in a statement on Friday that the

March

Dr. Jain recalled that the Moplas, who killed 20,000 Hindus in Malabar, Kerala in 1920 due to the Khilafat movement, were not only promoted by the Congress but declared freedom fighters, and even after 75 years of independence their families were given pension. “India was partitioned because of the wrong policies of the Congress, and due to the wrong implementation of the partition policy lakhs of innocent people were killed and crores of Hindus had to stumble door-to-door as refugees.

“In 1948, it was this Congress that committed the heinous crime of

against politics

attacking thousands of Chitpavan Brahmins, brutally killing hundreds and burning many Sangh workers alive by making baseless and false allegations against the Sangh for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

It is a well-known fact that in the 1980s, the Congress was responsible for giving rise to the Khalistani terror that was responsible for the killing of more than 22,000 Hindus and the displacement of lakhs of Hindus.

“Evidence is now being found that in 1984 more than 20,000 innocent Sikhs were mercilessly murdered at the behest of the Congress. Congress has been doing the work of honoring the terrorists who mercilessly killed hundreds of Hindus and made lakhs of refugees in the Kashmir Valley.”

Jain said, “All the forms of terrorism that have taken place in India after 1947 have been taking birth only

because of the wrong policies of the Congress. Even today, be it the ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’ or the ‘Sar Tan Se Juda Karne Wale Gang’ who spread hatred, they all work on the instigation of the Congress leaders. How can the army of lawyers associated with Congress stand with Love Jihadis and terrorists without asking the Congress leaders?”

He said that the whole world knows that Congress had also committed the heinous sin of defaming Hindus and giving patronage to Jihadis by propagating saffron terrorism. How can the Congress, which commits such crimes, keep its back clean? That’s why this so-called young leader should introspect and atone for his sins and instead of blaming Hindu organisations, he should apologise for the great sins committed by Congress to break the country.”

of fear and hatred, says Rahul Gandhi

Jodo Yatra, on Wednesday said the march was against the politics of fear and hatred promoted by the BJP and the RSS, and their attempt to divide India on the lines of religion, caste and language.

“That is not our history”, he said, “our history is of love, mutual brotherhood and unity among people”.

Addressing a public meeting before beginning the Punjab leg of the march, Gandhi said he felt humbled to have visited the site of the martyrdom of the two young sons of Guru Gobind Singh, who chose to lay down their lives in the fight against injustice and intolerance.

He also thanked the people and the party workers for participating in the yatra so early in the morning despite the biting cold.

Drawing a clear, ideological distinction between the BJP and the Congress, Gandhi said, “while they (BJP) practice the politics of hatred, violence and fear, we practice the politics of love, unity and brotherhood”.

Gandhi said in the journey of about 3,000 km so far, he had met diverse sections of the people, including farmers, traders, small shopkeepers, labourers, unemployed youth and students. “The purpose of this yatra is to listen to people rather than

telling our own point of view.”

Former Aam Aadmi Party MP from Patiala, Dharamvir Gandhi, and film actress Jonita Dhoda also joined the yatra.

Gandhi also interacted later with senior ex-servicemen and a panel of Punjabi historians, economists, sociologists, and agricultural experts.

He was on the 117th day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra that began in Kanyakumari on September 7, 2022, and will culminate with the hoisting of the tricolour in Srinagar on January 30.

Priests chide Rahul Gandhi over ‘tapasvi’ and ‘pujari’ remark

New Delhi, 9 Jan (IANS) Several priests slamed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for insulting them for saying that India is a country of ‘tapasvis’ not ‘pujaris’.

Gandhi had recently said in Haryana that the Congress believes in ‘tapasya’, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is an organisation of ‘pooja’. He alleged that the BJP-RSS force people to worship them, adding that India is a country of ‘tapasvis’ (ascetics) and not ‘pujaris’ (priests).

Swami Dipankar noted that Gandhi had described his Bharat Jodo Yatra

as his “mohabbat ki dukan” (shop for love), but was now talking about “hate”. The Congress leader should think before speaking as he, on one hand, is working to unite people and on the other hand, is making such a statement. “Should priests be then thrown into sea?” he asked.

Ujjwal Pandit of Yuva Teerth Purohit Mahasabha alleged that Gandhi had insulted India’s ancient cultural traditions in which priests played a central role. It is clear that the Congress leader wore ‘janev’ (holy thread) and tilak on his head for show, he alleged in a statement,

claiming that Gandhi’s remarks are against Brahmins.

Rajnikant Semwal of Gangotri Dham said that priests had a key position in the land of ‘sanatan dharma’.

Pujaris have been following an ancient tradition, he said, urging Gandhi to study the same.

At some places, including Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, priests carried out protests and burnt Gandhi’s effigies. Demonstration were held at many places against Rahul Gandhi and Congress.

Gandhi’s statement a reflection of “Vinash Kaale Viprit Buddhi”: VHP

New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), in a response to Rahul Gandhi’s statement, accused him of insulting priests and called his act a reflection of “vinash kaale viprit buddhi” (good sense going for a toss in times of crisis).

VHP’s national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said that Congress’ anti-Hindu face had been exposed by Gandhi’s statement and that the people would never forgive him for this.

Bansal alleged that Congress is responsible for making the Hindus second-class citizens, for Muslim appeasement and for promoting Christian missionaries in the last 70 years, and of now turning opportunist in the wake of Hindu Rashtra.

UP Minister objects to Rahul Gandhi’s kiss for sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

Uttar Pradesh Minister Dinesh Pratap Singh has now questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s public display of affection for his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and asked, “Which Pandava kisses his sister at the age of 50 in a public gathering?”

The Gandhi siblings were seen bonding on the stage during the Congress’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.

Singh’s barb comes after Rahul Gandhi equated the RSS to “21st century Kauravas”.

“A Sangh pracharak “takes oath to remain unmarried and dedicates himself to nation-building without any greed,” he said.

“If Rahul Gandhi is calling the RSS ‘Kauravas’, does that mean he is a Pandava? If he sees himself as Pandava, did the Pandavas kiss their sister in a public gathering like Rahul Gandhi did at the age of 50?”

Singh asked.

“It is not our culture because Indian culture does not give permission for such things,” he added.

Singh, who fought and lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Rae Bareli, also predicted that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi would lose in 2024 general elections and “will be the last foreigner to exit from Rae Bareli”.

“When it comes to visiting Rae Bareli, she (Sonia Gandhi) always says she is not well but she is seen walking with her son Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ to promote him. In 2024, she will not be an MP and will be the last foreigner to exit from Raebareli,” Singh said.

Continuing further, he asked, “Can Sonia Gandhi say she is not a foreigner? Can anyone from the Congress say that Sonia Gandhi is not a foreigner? She was denied the PM’s post since she is a foreigner. We have struggled a lot to drive out the British and get independence.

Indians will not accept any foreigner as a ruler,” he added.

BJP’s Kirit Somaiya accuses NCP leader Hasan Mushrif of fraud worth Rs 158 cr

raided NCP leader Hasan Mushrif’s residence, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Wednesday accused the former minister of committing a fraud worth Rs 158 crore.

He also demanded an inquiry from the Rural Development Department Secretary Rajesh Kumar Meena. He further claimed that when Uddhav Thackeray was Maharashtra Chief Minister, he had tried to shield

Mushrif.

Addressing a press conference here, Somaiya alleged that there have been scams in various sugar mills which are interlinked. Soon, Anil Parab and Aslam Sheikh will also land in trouble, he warned.

“The ED has now clamped down on Hasan Mushrif, another minister in Thackeray’s mafia government. Hasan Mushrif scammed Rs 158

crore in the name of his family, son and son-in-law’s company. Money was sent to his family company from several shell companies in Kolkata. It was then transferred to Sir Senapati Ghorpade Sugar Factory.”

“Maa Mahalakshmi, the Goddess of Kolhapur, is pleased with me today. I remember that on September 28, I was wanting to go to Kolhapur

but was stopped by Hasan Mushrif, Dilip Walse Patil, Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar, and Uddhav Thackeray. But Mahalakshmi blessed me today as Hasan Mushrif’s countdown has begun,” he added.

Somaiya further alleged, “Let me give two examples. A sum of Rs 13.85 crore was moved into the account of Hasan Mushrif family from Rajat Consumer Services Private Limited

in 2013-14. But that company was already shut down in 2004. There is no company at all. Where did the money come from?

An amount of Rs 24.75 crore was also sent to one Mount Capital Private Limited which was again a defunct company. Hasan Mushrif paid in cash. A check for the same money was being deposited in the family’s account.”

New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) Hours after the Enforcement Directorate (ED)

Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab), Jan 11 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, spearheading the Bharat

Rae Bareli, Jan 11 (IANS) The war of words between the BJP and the Congress is intensifying and getting increasingly below the belt.

He further said that Gandhi flaunted his Hindu identity to win elections, and now identifies as an ascetic.

Bansal accused the Congress of creating a rift in Hindu society by insulting the priests.

Bengaluru, Jan 14 (IANS) In an embarrassment to the ruling BJP

Realty boom a curse for Himachal’s popular tourist magnets

structurally safe or not, are coming up haphazardly one after another,” remarked octogenarian Ramesh Manta, who was born and brought up in Shimla.

Standing near the Himachal Tourism Development Corporation lift and pointing towards the upcoming vertical constructions beneath the Mall road, he said, “You can see the pressure for development that has increased during the last few decades due to population spike and high influx of tourists.”

over 2,50,000 people.

More than 200 public utility buildings comprising hospitals and government schools and colleges within the municipal limits of Shimla require seismic strengthening, Shimla’s former Deputy Mayor Tikender Panwar admitted.

Experts estimate that more than 98 percent buildings in Shimla are highly vulnerable to collapsing if there is a major earthquake.

Church where many British officials were buried, and claimed over 20,000 lives.

Records of the field station of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, an autonomous research institute of the Department of Science and Technology at McLeodganj, show that several earthquakes have struck this region since 1905.

“Rampant commercial development is currently happening in a very fragile ecosystem of Burwa. That entire zone is located on the debris of the Pagal nullah,” he said, adding that “climate change can be a force multiplier.”

Taking serious note of haphazard constructions, the Himachal Pradesh High Court in October last year summoned top officials of the state, including the Chief Secretary.

By Vishal Gulati

Shimla, Jan 14 (IANS) Most buildings, due to illegal construction and hanging precariously on to steep slopes and clinging to one another in the quake-prone erstwhile summer capital of the British, Shimla and other tourist resorts such as McLeodganj, Kasauli, Manali, Palampur, Mandi, Solan and elsewhere in Himachal Pradesh cannot withstand a high-intensity quake and can collapse like a house of cards, warn experts.

Also cloudbursts and flashfloods have become a regular feature in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh in recent years. The heavy loss of life caused by such calamities can be mainly attributed to the increasing human activity, particularly along the rivers and water channels. The local authorities are yet to wake

up from their slumber despite the fact that most of the picnic spots in the Himalayan state fall in high seismic zones IV-V, suggesting severest seismic sensitivity.

Advocating sustainable development, the National Green Tribunal and the state High Court have time and again rapped the state authorities over their lack of response to the growing unauthorized constructions across Himachal.

Old-timers charge the successive BJP and Congress governments with converting most of the picturesque towns into concrete jungles.

In Sanjauli, a congested locality on Shimla’s outskirts, the dead often have to be lifted out of homes with ropes.

“You can see the fast changing skyline of Shimla where the buildings, regardless of whether they are

Officials admitted to IANS that 14 major localities in Shimla are located on an average gradient of 70-80 degree where a majority of the buildings violate the by-laws and building norms and haven’t even adhered to seismic norms.

An official of the Town and Country Planning Department told IANS that Shimla’s northern slope of the Ridge, an open space just above the Mall that extends to Grand Hotel in the west and Lakkar Bazaar in the east, is slowly sinking.

“Most buildings are precariously hanging on to steep slopes and clinging to one another. A moderate or high-intensity quake can be catastrophic for congested settlements with no escape routes. They can collapse like a pack of cards,” added another resident Naresh Sud.

Planned for a maximum population of 16,000, Shimla is now home to

TN to hold Global Investors Meet in 2024: Stalin

Chennai, Jan 13 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday said the government will hold the Global Investors Meet next January.

Making the announcement in the Assembly, he said the meet will be held on January 10 and 11, 2024, and have participation from over 100

countries.

Stalin said his government is working towards the target of making Tamil Nadu a $1 trillion economy by 2030 and towards that several investors meets were held in places like Dubai and others.

Great opportunity to look at sectors like green hydrogen: G20

Sherpa Amitabh Kant

of India,” he said while referring to India’s G20 presidency while delivering the third annual lecture of Public Affairs Forum of India.

With the G20 summit scheduled to take place in September in Delhi, Kant said India holds an advantage in terms of demographics, digitalisation, decarbonisation and deglobalisation to be a major power and become a voice of the Global South.

highlighting the need to address the climate crisis, progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, global debt, geopolitical tensions and the ensuing food and energy crisis,” he pointed out.

Kant further said that there will be a renewed push for green development and climate finance, with the concept of Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) woven in.

The mushrooming of illegal constructions in McLeodganj, located in the suburbs of Dharamsala, is threatening Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama’s abode.

Experts fear a high-intensity quake can turn the uphill town McLeodganj, known for attracting a steady stream of Tibet enthusiasts, Buddhist scholars, backpackers and even Hollywood stars, into a tomb of rubble as it falls in seismic zone V. McLeodganj in Kangra district supports around 16,000 exiled Tibetans and an equal number of Indians.

“I visited McLeodganj after five years and was shocked to see the place. It used to be a beautiful place with lush green slopes whereas today it was concrete all over with massive high rises,” remarked tourist Sanjay Basu from Kolkata.

A devastating earthquake in 1905 severely damaged property in the Kangra region, including St. John’s

Prominent among these were the ones on June 15, 1978, and another on April 26, 1986 -- the first being of magnitude 5 and the other 5.7 on the Richter scale.

Sounding the alarm bell, Ram Krishan Thakur, former Survey of India Director, told IANS that like Joshimath town of Uttarakhand, Manali and its suburbs are also situated on the debris of a landslide.

The population has increased manifold and so have the tourists.

Infrastructure has not amplified but has also been unchecked. The town of Manali does not have a proper drainage and sewerage system.

“The seepage may result in landslides, triggering cracks in the buildings of Manali,” Thakur, who has been residing in Manali after his retirement in 2002, said.

According to Thakur, Burwa village located in the suburbs of Manali, is seeing a construction boom these days despite the fact that the entire area falls in the sinking zone.

Hearing a public interest litigation highlighting unregulated constructions in the most ecologically sensitive area of Barog in Solan district, a Division Bench of Chief Justice A.A. Sayed and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua observed, “Ordinarily, we avoid passing orders directing the high officials of the state to remain present in court. However, in view of the helplessness expressed in the affidavits of the state officials the order has been passed to ensure that the construction activities, particularly in the hills which are ecologically fragile areas of the state, are regulated and are not subjected to environment damage or further deterioration.”

Himachal Pradesh is prone to various types of disasters. The central government has identified 25 hazards to which the state is prone. (Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

Credible economic institutions have unprecedented confidence in India: PM

New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that institutions and credible voices that track the global economy have unprecedented confidence in India.

Virtually addressing the Madhya Pradesh Global Investors’ Summit 2023 being held in Indore, Modi gave examples of trust shown by global organisations in the Indian economy.

He said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees India as a bright spot in the global economy, and the World Bank has said the country is in a better position to deal with global headwinds than many other countries.

third-largest economy in the next four to five years.

He further added that the CEO of McKinsey has declared that not just the present decade but the century itself belongs to India.

“Institutions and credible voices that track the global economy have unprecedented confidence in India”, Modi said, adding that the “global investors also share the same optimism”.

New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS) G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant on Friday said it is a great opportunity to look at sunrise sectors like green hydrogen development and mobile phone manufacturing with India holding the presidency of the G20 grouping.

“The stars are aligned in favour

Referring to the various crises being faced by the world at a time when India has assumed presidency of G20, Kant said: “To my mind, every crisis has a huge opportunity and G20 in the past has demonstrated the ability to deliver in times of adversity.”

“India’s focus would be on

Referring to the climate crisis, Kant said: “The promise of climate finance is not being lived up to by the developed world. It is important to have the flow of resources from multilateral institutions, besides the $100 billion funding from the developed countries. Nudging them is a key part of the government’s agenda.”

Microsoft plans $10 bn investment in AI-driven ChatGPT: Report

to prospective investors in recent weeks outlining its terms indicated a targeted close by the end of 2022”.

Microsoft’s $10 billion investment will see it get 75 per cent of OpenAI’s profits “until it recoups its investment,” the report mentioned.

New Delhi, Jan 10 (IANS) Microsoft is planning to infuse $10 billion into OpenAI, the owner of popular AI platform called ChatGPT, that will value OpenAI at nearly $29 billion, the media reported on Tuesday.

News portal Semafor reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that it is still unclear if the deal has been finalised but “documents sent

“After that threshold is reached, it would revert to a structure that reflects ownership of OpenAI, with Microsoft having a 49 per cent stake, other investors taking another 49 per cent and OpenAI’s nonprofit parent getting 2 per cent,” the report claimed.

Microsoft and OpenAI did not comment on the report.

The tech giant had invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019.

Opened last month for the general public, ChatGPT has invited users to get feedback and learn about its strengths and weaknesses.

AI-driven ChatGPT gives human-like answers to questions and has become very popular on social media, with people asking it to write poems to essays.

Microsoft is now pushing ChatGPT applications for solving real-life problems.

The tech giant is also reportedly adding OpenAI writing tech to Office, providing users with a way to compose the text for projects by incorporating AI technology into its apps.

Indian startup funding dropped by 33%, may become normal after 2-3 quarters

in CY21 and CY22 (in volume terms).

Average ticket size per deal was $4 million per deal, according to the PwC India report.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) Funding for the Indian startups in CY22 was nearly $24 billion, a drop of 33 per cent in comparison to CY21 but was still more than twice the funds raised in CY20 and CY19 each, a report showed on Wednesday.

Early-stage deals accounted for 60-62 per cent of the total funding

“With significant dry powder waiting to be invested, it seems likely that the funding scenario will begin to normalise after 2-3 quarters,” said Amit Nawka, Partner-Deals and India Startups Leader, PwC India.

Many startups are using this time to tighten operating models and optimise their cash runway by deferring discretionary spends and investments, he added.

The software-as-a-service (SaaS) segment witnessed an increase of 20 per cent in funding values

during CY22 compared to CY21 and accounted for nearly 25 per cent of all funding activity.

Growth and late-stage funding deals accounted for 88 per cent of the funding activity in CY22 (in value terms).

Average ticket size in growth-stage deals was $43 million and late-stage deals was $94 million during CY22.

Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai account for nearly 82 per cent of total Indian startups.

About 28 per cent of the startups in the top three cities have raised in excess of $20 million, the report mentioned.

Modi credited India’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals and mentioned OECD which claimed that India will be among the fastest-growing economies in the G20 group this year.

Quoting Morgan Stanley, the Prime Minister said that India is moving towards becoming the world’s

“A stable government, a decisive government, a government running with the right intentions, shows development at an unprecedented pace. Dedicated freight corridors, industrial corridors, expressways, logistic parks, are becoming the identity of New India... PM Gatishakti is a national platform for infrastructure building in India which has taken the form of the National Master Plan,” he informed the gathering of corporate sector.

“We have implemented our National Logistics Policy with an aim to make India the world’s most competitive

logistics market,” the Prime Minister further emphasised, urging investors coming to Madhya Pradesh to take maximum advantage of the PLI scheme.

“The government approved Green Hydrogen Mission a few days ago which will bring in investment possibilities of about Rs 8 lakh crore,” he highlighted.

By Sanjeev Sharma

New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) Wall Street major Goldman Sachs does not expect any significant reforms to be announced in this budget, but some details on incentives for ‘Make in India’, a roadmap on direct tax code implementation, and rationalization of subsidies, particularly fertilizers. The Indian Union budget will be presented on February 1 as the final full-year budget under the current administration before the national elections in mid-2024.

This comes at a time when the government is trying to weigh expenditure priorities around: welfare spending before the general elections, the reduction of subsidies as commodity prices have declined from previous highs, incentives for promoting manufacturing in India, continuing the infrastructure build out and a higher allocation for defence, Goldman Sachs said in a report.

“Given the general elections scheduled to take place in 2024, we expect the government to increase rural and welfare spending as seen in pre-election budgets in FY09, FY14 and FY19. In FY24, we expect current expenditure (excluding interest and subsidy) to be at 7.3 per cent of GDP. Rural employment and housing are likely to be in focus,” it said.

With India running one of the highest public debt to GDP ratios among

emerging markets globally, firm adherence to the fiscal consolidation would seem the most appropriate path for the government.

The commodity shock required incremental spending on food and fertilizer subsidies, and exhausted the fiscal room from higher tax buoyancy in the current fiscal year.

This apart, the government also tabled extra demand for spending before the parliament, comprising 0.8 per cent of GDP (Rs 2.2 trillion) mainly towards capital expenditure, rural development, and defence, Goldman Sachs said.

“We expect the government to meet the budgeted fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of GDP1, but estimate an expenditure reallocation of 0.3 per cent of GDP from other current spending,” it said.

While uncertainty remains around the realization of disinvestment receipts, both direct and indirect taxes so far in the year are tracking well ahead of budget estimates. “We expect the Central government to consolidate its fiscal deficit to 5.9 per cent of GDP in FY24, fully driven by a reduction in food and fertilizer subsidies, and project tax revenues to remain buoyant in the year, Goldman Sachs said.

The free food programme was implemented at the peak of the pandemic, to ensure food security to the vulnerable population. In December 2022, the government

discontinued the free food programme and instead decided to provide free foodgrains under the existing public distribution system. This is likely to reduce the food subsidy to 0.8 per cent of GDP.

Further, global commodity prices which rose sharply in 2022 on the back of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, have since normalized and the outgo on fertilizer subsidy is likely to decline in FY24.

“We expect the fertilizer subsidy in FY24 to return to the pre-pandemic average of 0.5 per cent of GDP. We expect the government to continue with the cooking fuel subsidy program (Ujwala Yojna) and expect fuel subsidies to remain at 0.1 per cent of GDP. We thus expect spending on subsidies as a share of GDP to fall to 1.5 per cent (from our estimate of 2.1 per cent in FY23)”, Goldman Sachs.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)

Modi govt’s final full budget to focus on welfare spending, reduction of subsidies, ‘Make in India’

Pair your denims in quirky ways

A pair of blue denims can never go wrong

Without a doubt, denims are a wardrobe essential for everyone, because they are so versatile and easy to style.

A pair of blue denims can never go wrong, but some people make this simple garment so glamorous that they turn heads everywhere they go. What distinguishes it is how well it is styled!

Denims come in a variety of colours, shapes, sizes, and styles. While it’s simple to pair your favourite denim with a graphic tee for a casual look, figuring out how to dress up jeans to make them appropriate for any occasion requires a little more ingenuity.

Fortunately, there is a plethora of street style experts, fashion bloggers, and influencers who have cracked the code for us. When we lack sartorial inspiration, we can

look to these fashionistas to inspire us with their effortlessly cool and classic ensembles. Don’t be afraid to try something new, and shake things up. You may discover that the top you relegated to the back of your closet looks fantastic with your high-rise flare jeans. There is no dearth of ways to make your denim look chic, from elevating boyfriend jeans to creating the perfect office-ready ensemble to transitioning go-to skinnies from day to night. Whatever style of jeans you prefer, there is a way to make them look as polished as you want.

Sushmit Shubham and Pratishtha Gohain ,Denim Designers, Spykar rounded up a bunch of different ways to dress up all your favourite pairs of jeans to give us all some inspiration.

The wedding season is almost approaching. And if you’re getting married, you must already be making preparations for the big day. Indian weddings are, after all, nothing less than intense mini-festivals that demand that every moment be photographed and preserved. If you want those Instagram-worthy pictures in your wedding album, it’s up to you to select the greatest photographer with the best camera equipment.

But it is simple to become distracted and forget to take pictures of some of your D-breath-taking day’s moments due to the numerous errands to do and stress of wedding preparations. But rest assured—we’ve got your back.

Here are 5 eye-catching photos that no Indian bride can afford to miss. (And oh, a camera suggestion you need to include in your photographer checklist)

It’s time to record this magnificent moment of a lifetime as you enter the location with your family and friends, dressed to wow each and every guest. Not just for the visitors but also for the photographer, you are the centre of attention. So, take

You’ve finally pulled together the most stunning bridal attire after going back and forth with the jewellery, hours spent on the ideal bridal makeup, and numerous outfit tries.

Go for the Denim-on-denim look –

or

black really compliments light indigo washes the best, making the style classy and timeless. Even elements like a silk scarf with double denims look chic.

A stunning single photograph of you spinning and showcasing your wedding attire in all its splendour is required after weeks of searching.

You can take a solo outfit-twirl photo in the garden, the halls, or the main stage. Nothing is better than including your better half or bestie in it if you don’t want to do it alone. But how do you make sure to snap

your bridal outfit grandeur in the most aesthetic way? Nikon Z 6II features fast image processing, so whether you twirl beautifully or pose graciously with your spouse, this camera captures everything with extraordinary clarity and Pinterest-type aesthetic. To ensure the beauty is expressed in its true colors, Nikkor Z 24-70MM F/2.8 S is the go-to lens. You can get everything from detailed outfit close-ups and wide-angle shots, the lens is the secret ingredient for the oh-so-wow wedding outfit pictures.

\ The process of turning into a bride is so wholesome that you can’t afford to miss any detail. So, make sure you get every step captured - be it the process of getting ready or flaunting that oh-so-gorgeous jewellery and outfit. Just let the camera adorn your bridal beauty on the roll

advantage of the opportunity and give him some of your greatest shots to remember for the rest of your life. And to capture this priceless moment, you need a camera that records at 4K ultra-HD even under dim lights.

Jeans are known for their versatility and casual appeal, but with a little imagination, you can dress up and style your denim in a comfortable yet formal way. Silk tops are a no-brainer for such situations. The elegance of the silk top balances

and heels is a perfect evening look. Have some fun with newer trends like corsets and platform boots, or go with all-time classics like a biker jacket.

It’s time to bring out the quirky side of you with your bridesmaids. It’s only fair that you have some candids clicked with your best buddies who have been with you for years. Experiment with poses, rock different styles, and let the pictures adorn your wedding portfolio. There’s so much you can explore;

every nook and corner can be a backdrop to capture the bridal gang craziness if captured with NIKKOR Z 14-24MM F/2.8 S. The

-

While the Kurti-jeans trend remains popular, there are several ways to give the jeans an Indian twist. For a

the casualness of the jeans very well. With the right accessories, you can make this look appropriate for a range of occasions, right from business meetings to leisure-some Sunday brunch.

family gathering, wear your favorite bandhani dress with skinny jeans and jewellery.

film while you cherish the process of getting ready for the big event. The Nikon Z 6II camera comes with an exceptional resolution of 24.5 MP and next generation autofocus to capture every single detail of your makeover. Sheer perfection for a perfect bride like you.

The One with Your Soulmate

Let your relationship with your other half be represented in its true spirit. You can capture a succession of images that change from silly and romantic to jittery and ecstatic. But keep in mind that good photos need a good camera. And the only way

to take photographs that are worth looking at again is with a mirrorless digital camera like the Nikon Z 6II. Your special day images will be enhanced by the high-speed shooting ability and 4K Ultra HD video capabilities of the Nikon Z 6II.

How men should design their wardrobe?

In this world of ever-changing fashion trends, picking the right clothes for a man’s wardrobe is not easy.

“Instead of blindly following fashion trends, one should buy clothes mindfully and invest in a quality wardrobe,” says Ashish, co-founder of BeYours, a clothing brand that specifically caters to mens’ fashion. Beyours houses a complete range of minimalistic clothing for men. This brand stands out for its timeless essentials - clothes that don’t lose their charm in the name of changing fashion trends.

Nilesh, co-founder at Beyours states that, “A man’s wardrobe should have a combination of both casuals and formals that can be worn at multiple occasions, when paired with the right combination.That’s why we have got everything covered - from a pair of golfer shorts to a formal linen shirt.”

According to him, these are the top six must have clothing essentials of a man’s wardrobe:

Air Trousers and a Classic Shirt

If you want to show off your personality, then a pair of Air trousers is really what you need. When teamed up with a classic shirt, they surely give you that much wanted - confident yet charming look. Nothing

like your normal pants, these Air trousers are super comfortable and can be worn all day long at work, or through the night for a dinner date.

• Every Day Pant with Polo T-shirt Over the years, Polo T-shirts have earned their name as a fashion classic. When tucked under a well-fitted pair of Every Day Pants, they are the perfect choice, if you are looking for a range of smart casuals.

• Linen Trousers and Linen

Shirts

Linen is an all season fabric that keeps you cool during the summers and warm during the winters. Bearing a natural shine, a pair of Linen Trousers and a Linen shirt in vibrant colors can make you look utterly attractive at your friend’s wedding reception.

• Air Shorts and Soft Crew Neck

T-shirts

A pair of Air Shorts will be a man’s favorite - they shout effortless style and comfort. Paired with a tri-blend, crew neck soft t-shirt, they can beat the heat in the summer, if you are looking to spend a day at the beach. As corporate spaces all over the world adopt an easy going culture, a pair of Everyday Shorts in subtle colors can rock the smart casual workwear look on a friday.

24 Hour Trouser with Renew Shirts

A pair of ordinary trousers is never

easy to carry for long hours, owing to the thick fabric. The 24hour trouser is designed to give you maximum comfort -such that you can even go trekking down a hill, or have a goodnight’s sleep without the fit bothering you. When teamed up with a Renew Shirt, it can be your go-to outfit for finalizing that business deal you had been looking forward to for months.

Smart Hoodies, Bold Sweatshirts and Sweatpants Hoodies and Sweatshirts are no longer limited to just winter wear. When worn over a pair of

Sweatpants, they give you the perfect athleisure look, when worn with a shirt, they give you a semi-formal look.Sweatshirts in basic colors and pairyy of slouch joggers look good regardless of the occasion. Thus,if you are looking to revamp your wardrobe, Beyours is your goto destination. The team at Beyours carefully crafts each design after thorough research and analysis. So make sure to check out Beyours - it has every piece of clothing that you will ever need to complete your wardrobe.

If you’re wearing the same shade, top and bottom, make sure to break the monotony with accessories and layering pieces; like dark blue jeans look best with brown pair-ons

A chic blazer is one of the simplest ways to dress up a pair of distressed jeans. The juxtaposition of the damaged grunge look and the elegance of a blazer is chef’s kiss. Ripped jeans in any fit with a shimmery top

The top six must have clothing essentials of a man’s wardrobe

In Her Picture-Perfect Wedding

Dress up your casual ripped jeans

Dress up your jeans with a silk top

The Indo-Western quirk

Denim on denim

One with Your Lady Gang

magnif

icent lens captures the interiors beautifully, a win-win especially if it’s a destination wedding. After all, your squad deserves to be in the spotlight, right?

Document the Makeover

The Ultimate Bridal Outfit Twirl

Should you colour your hair after a Keratin Treatment?

skincare

2022 was a year of skincare, from the rise of plant ingredients to endless Korean skincare! And 2023 we are expecting skincare to get even bigger, with new innovations in ingredients, textures, and hybrids. K-beauty skincare has been on the rise and we anticipate another round of ‘simplified skincare’ basis your zodiac - from which color dominates the month for you to which music elevates your mood, zodiac signs can dictate it all.

By Bhavin Bheda

January 05, 2023 (IANSlife)

Can you picture yourself with a hideous colour patch in your hair that resembles a thatched bundle? That is indeed what occurs when you colour your hair immediately following a Brazilian. Thus, the subject is raised.

Can you colour your hair after a keratin treatment?

Professional hairstylists advise waiting two weeks following a keratin treatment before colouring your hair. Before that, don’t even try your luck! If you’re fascinated with hair colour, personally wait three weeks to be cautious. Then you’ll be certain that adding a little touch of hue to your silky, smooth waves might transform their entire appearance from stunning to mind-blowing! It immediately gives your hairstyles a completely new depth and makes your hair shine with an intensity that is unrivaled.

You must follow the rules, though! What takes place when your hair Is Coloured after a Keratin Treatment?

After a recent keratin treatment, your hair will have a thin coating of keratin that takes two weeks to bind and deeply permeate your hair. It envelops your hair and fortifies every fiber right down to the core. As a result, the first two weeks are

crucial since they determine how well and how long your keratin hair treatment will endure. Anything that disrupts the setup process at this point may result in unanticipated outcomes like

Areas of tangles

Uneven hair or even keratin that has been prematurely washed out For the first two weeks, you need to do nothing with your hair and let the keratin do its job.

Because of this, your hairstylist also advises using a mild sulphate free shampoo after receiving a keratin treatment.

What Is The Best Resolution, Then? Because they don’t include ammonia or peroxides, semi-permanent hair colours are the ideal choice for keratin-treated hair. Consider them to be the equivalent of hair mascara. They can be used to cover your hair in vivid colours until a few shampoos eventually make them disappear.

What is the best way to achieve this?

It’s simple. Next time, dye your hair first and then get a keratin treatment. It’s also a win-win circumstance. There are more advantages to dyeing your hair beforehand in addition to the extended spa treatments you receive at your hair salon.

Following a colour treatment with a

keratin treatment:

Restores the structural damage to the hair

Restores the pH of the hair Closes the cuticles and softens them

Eliminates all colour chemical stains (at step 1 – clarifying) Additionally, a keratin treatment gives your hair a robust protective layer that stops colour pigments from evaporating when it is washed or exposed to sunlight.

As you can see, using this treatment allows the keratin barrier to complement rather than contrast your hair colour. After that, all you have to do to preserve your freshly coloured and keratin-treated hair is use a color-safe, sulfate free shampoo. A high-end hair treatment calls for a high-end, professional aftercare regimen.

But keep in mind the proper sequence:

1. First, colour your hair 2. Next, have a keratin treatment, or if you already missed your chance, wait at least 3 weeks before colouring your hair.

(Bhavin Bheda, Business Manager, Cadiveu Professional)

The beauty boom in 2023

platform: E-commerce is playing a significant role in the growth story. The biggest advantage brought about by e-commerce is the accessibility to upcountry and remote markets. The inventory holding required has been reduced, enabling faster upgrades.

E-commerce has also ensured that companies are getting faster feedback from consumers, which has increased the rate of customization in the market. Companies have been forced to innovate at a faster pace to meet consumer requirements.

It is possible to live your best life according to your horoscopes, astrology experts suggest. And not to forget, these predictions have moved on from lucky days and generic signs to categorical tips for everything happening in your life. So, what does your zodiac sign say about your skincare regime? Without any further ado, our team of skin experts at Quench Botanics share zodiac predictions and the best-suited skincare regime for this year.

Aries

The Fire sign that’s always brimming with enthusiasm! Aries are passionate, confident, and determined. And you need something that’s as quick and fun as your ideas. Hey you Aries girls, do try the ultimate quick fix with Peel Pads for a brightened and even skin tone.

Taurus

The Earth sign that enjoys serenity and stability is Taurus. For someone who likes things that bring peace and joy, skincare specials that give it all for skin is a fun match. So, it’s time for you to hook yourself with a good Face Mist that would plump up your skin moisturizes, and revives your dull-looking, lackluster complexion! Perfectly practical, like you.

• Gemini

A charismatic Air sign, Gemini indulges in humor and can talk about everything there is to know. This socializing sign deserves skincare treats that bring fun to the new year! To match your gentle soul, a quick-absorbing Serum would fix your skin woes. It will satisfy your appreciation for change with its skin-firming ingredients like arginine, allantoin, and hyaluronic acid, and skin-reviving properties. Enhance your glow, not just in your life but also in your skin!

Cancer

This comfort-seeking Water sign is known for its unending forgiveness. Cancer needs skincare that can take on their concerns just like they take on others’. This New Year, grab Korean skin delights that sensitively deal with trouble, just like you!

skincare must-have has hyaluronic acid that plumps up the skin, moisturizes, and revives a dull-looking, lackluster complexion! Perfectly practical, like you.

Leo This Fire sign exudes warmth and thrives on creativity. Vanity and luxury call your name and all for the right reasons for your personality are larger than life. And you need to try K-beauty which shines the limelight on your skin!

To add that extra limelight to your skin, procure the goodness of an ultra-nourishing body butter without dealing with stickiness or greasiness with Quench Botanics Mon Cherry Intense Moisturizing Body Butter. It has a velvety-soft, whipped texture that instantly melts into the skin and leaves it soft, bouncy, and nourished.

Virgo

A witty Earth sign, Virgo enjoys quick fixes. Along with the need to feel useful, you need skincare that does that too. So this new year, cherish skin treats that work exceptionally well! All the Virgos out there, similar to your nature, a Moisturizing Gel takes its job of keeping your skin fresh, hydrated, and smooth, seriously. And your daily-use moisturizer will work hard, like you, to give you dewy soft skin!

Libra

This Air sign desires to be surrounded by people and fantastic skincare products. You need to bring in the New Year with aesthetically pleasing skincare that delivers results. No need to dwell on this decision, it’s a perfect match for you!

To please your skin as we start the new year, try the Quench Botanics Birch Please Gentle Cleansing Gel Face Wash and take the first step towards spotless, healthy skin. It is a super-refreshing and non-drying gel face wash that thoroughly cleanses and gently exfoliates with its biodegradable cellulose beads.

Scorpio

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to skin treats that look fun and get things done, just like you! All you need is an Under Eye Cream to treat dark circles and under-eye puffiness as stubborn as you.

Sagittarius

This loud and proud Fire sign is all hot on emotions. Just like you are obsessed with self-improvement, Quench Botanics is keen on delivering you true Korean skincare. Time for Sagittarius to turn to skin-friendly products this new year! One skincare gem that matches your ideals is the Clay Mask. It is your guide to no more dead skin, excess oil, and breakouts. Get dewy soft and supple skin in a jar!

Capricorn

Mature and responsible, Capricorn, the dutiful Earth sign deserves skincare that takes care of your skin effortlessly. Success and results are common between you and Quench Botanics. So this new year, grab products that motivate you to look your best! Good skincare needs discipline, just like you, and a refreshing Overnight Mask will deliver as promised.

Aquarius

An Air sign that appreciates concepts and personal freedom. Aquarius looks for skincare that perfectly aligns with your esoteric personality. Go for our products that address all your skin concerns! One skincare tip that’s as independent as you are Treatment Patches, to get you glowing through the year!

• Pisces

By Sandhya Sakhuja Director

In India, the wellness, beauty, and personal care industry is going through a significant transformation. The spending propensity has expanded enormously as Indians in metro and upcountry areas become more aware of many facets of beauty and wellness.

Per capita spending on cosmetics and personal care items was reportedly around INR 450 in 2017; between 2019 and 2024, this figure is predicted to nearly double. The Indian beauty and wellness industry was estimated to be worth INR 901.07 billion in 2018 and is anticipated to develop at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.40 percent between 2019 and 2024 to reach INR 2,463.49 billion.

The industry growth has been driven by increasing product access, rising disposable income levels and growing awareness about skin care products and their usage. Covid too has been a catalyst to the growth of this sector. With the growing trend of working from home, people started spending more time with themselves. As a result, there has been a growing need towards self-care and skin care, which also ramped up the industry’s growth in the last two years in India. Additionally, with the growth of the women workforce in tier 1 and 2 cities, purchasing power has increased regardless of gender, and earning women are no longer dependent on their families to fund their personal care spending. This growth trend is expected to witness consistency for the next one year and receive a bigger push by 2024.

By 2023, India should see an

increase in the number of domestic and foreign beauty and wellness businesses expanding there. In 2022, there were a tons of new product launches in the Indian beauty retail sector as a whole; this tendency will pick up speed in 2023.

Below are some interesting trends expected in the wellness industry in 2023:

Natural or chemical-free ingredients- Ingredients derived from plants and other natural sources are becoming increasingly popular in India. Consumers are increasingly moving towards chemical free products, as they see the benefits without any visible impact on product efficacy, with the additional attraction of zero side effects. As a result, Brands and their manufacturers are focused on creating products which are natural, environmentally sustainable and use lesser synthetics. This trend towards natural/ chemical free products will only escalate in 2023.

Increased product knowledge: Consumers today are more aware of the products they use. They get into the minute details of product ingredients, understand the importance of environmental sustainability, and give importance to sustainable packaging. This is also changing companies and brand outlook, as they have to cater to the changing consumer behaviour. Today, companies cannot create just a product that looks fancy, smells good and have great packaging. Companies are working hard to use ingredients which cater to the well-informed millennial audience.

Increased use of E-commerce

E-commerce has been a true enabler for the beauty and wellness industry, providing greater geographical reach, a wider audience, and greater interest from segments that were not traditionally catered to. Going in Tier 2 and 3: No longer are the demands for beauty and wellness products limited to urban centres. The growth in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities is almost outpacing the demand in certain categories.

Around 30-40 percent (approx) of consumer demand has been witnessed from the smaller cities in the last year. All thanks to e-commerce, which has been a catalyst in pushing the demand and supply of wellness products in the Tier 2/3 markets and even beyond. Added to the increased consumer knowledge, the personal care market is witnessing fast and consistent growth in smaller towns and cities. 2023 will also witness a good penetration of the latest innovations and trends in upcountry India.

In a nutshell, the beauty and Wellness industry is poised to accelerate its growth story in 2023. There could be some short-term hurdles, due to the slowdown in overall economic growth, but the upward movement will be sustained. The industry has to cater to the changing market dynamics, consumer needs and ever-evolving customer demands. Thus, data analytics will play a key role in the product portfolio, innovative tech and new product plans of brands and manufacturers, who will strive to go to market with customized beauty offerings as per the fast evolving consumer tastes and preferences.

(Sandhya Sakhuja Director, Vedic Cosmeceuticals Pvt. Ltd.)

Just like you, the Quench Botanics Mon Cherry Brightening Face Mist is reliable. It’s devoted to hydrating, protecting, and brightening your skin, every day. This Korean

As someone who thrives on looking cool, this Water sign is on the hunt for out-of-the-box products. Scorpio needs soulful skincare and Quench Botanics knows that. Treat yourself

Pisces deserve skincare that matches its fantastical personality. This Water sign can go both extremes and needs K-beauty that can do it all. So it’s no surprise that you will really enjoy using watery moisturizers which feel skin-quenching! Just like you, a Cleansing Balm is wise and removes all traces of dirt, makeup, and impurities in a jiffy! Whether you are an Aries on the hunt for smooth skin or Aquarius looking for superstar ingredients, we have you covered with the help of our celestial globe to predict your skincare future! Your skin needs some much-needed TLC, so be sure to give it the time & skin solutions from Quench Botanics it deserves!

Do you have chicken skin? It’s actually Keratosis Pilaris

By Dr. Sunil Kumar Prabhu

It is a well-known truth that both in the US and India, athletes and film stars are among the influential people in society. Both the development of Parkinson’s disease in world boxer Mohammed Ali and the spinal injury and paralysis of Superman actor Christopher Reeve sparked interest in the issue among the general public and the scientific community in an effort to better understand and treat the condition.

Since most celebrities visit their dermatologist, it is crucial for them to establish their beauty and candour with the large fan bases they have in society. In the recent past, two film celebrities from India, Yami Gautami and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, made it known that they were suffering from Keratosis Pilaris and Myositis.

In this context, we will talk about keratosis pilaris, often known as chicken skin, which has gained prominence as a result of the general population being exposed to the terminology, which they presumably already knew but were unsure of whether or not to seek medical care for.

Keratosis is a skin disorder that results in rough patches and tiny, flesh-colored or red lumps that resemble swellings. This disorder appears when the skin produces an excessive amount of keratin, a protein that can obstruct hair follicles and result in bumps. Typically, the arms, thighs, cheeks, and buttocks are where the pimples appear. They are normally white, occasionally

red, and do not pain or itch. While there is no complete cure for the condition, it can be controlled with medicated creams, occasionally with oral drugs, and sometimes with small cosmetic operations that may improve skin look.

Both sexes can be afflicted, though it is known to affect women slightly more frequently than men. The illness is known to worsen in the winter, probably because of xerosis (dryness) and friction from wearing additional layers of clothes during the colder months. In fact, it is known that prickly bumps on pregnant and nursing moms deteriorate. Age-related improvements take place, however some activities might last well beyond middle age before gradually fading away.

Some people may seek medical assistance if they have minor redness around the spiny red dots or pigmentation surrounding the spiny skin lumps. On the face, cheeks, and neck, this can happen. The problem may coexist with other conditions like Ichthyosis (a skin ailment that looks like fish scales) and Atopic dermatitis (Eczema), both of which flare up in the winter. This may be a grouping of the frequent drying skin conditions that aggravate themselves during particular seasons.

A skilled dermatologist can easily diagnose this condition by examining the spiny bumps in the hair follicular region of the arms, thighs, trunk, and occasionally the face and neck. It must be distinguished from a few other paediatric illnesses with a similar presentation, such as

diet). With careful examination and, if necessary, a few diagnostic tests, a competent dermatologist can make a diagnosis. Simple emollient lotions and keratolytic agents (which exfoliate the outer skin areas) are used to treat the disease, but the condition can also naturally improve as the seasons change from winter to spring to summer. Other treatments include topical retinoid creams (Vit A synthetic derived drugs), short-term topical steroid creams, and even oral therapy using oral retinoids. Microdermabrasion and pulsed dye or long pulsed diode laser therapy have also been explored with some effectiveness in some people as minor cosmetic operations. Overall, with some cooperation from the patient and the clinician, a clear description of the illness’s benign nature, and reasonable expectations for the course of treatment, the condition can be controlled.

(Dr. Sunil Kumar Prabhu, Consultant Dermatologist and Aesthetic Physician, Aster RV hospitals)

The beauty industry in India is expected to INR 2,463.49 billion by 2024

Aesthetically pleasing skincare that delivers results

A thin coating of keratin takes two weeks to bind and deeply permeate your hair

Both sexes can be afflicted, though it is known to affect women slightly more frequently than men

Lichen Spineless and Phrynodermas (Vitamin A and Fatty acid deficiency due to poor

Dealing with the complexities of Karma and Dharma

Nitish

This play features Nitish Bharadwaj who took the nation by storm with his performance as Lord Krisha in B. R. Chopra’s Mahabharata, once again as Lord Krisha. The show has already been performed close to a hundred times in various parts of the country and has been featured in various prestigious festivals.

The play is the story of the thirteenth day of the great battle of Mahabharata. This play does not confine “Chakravyuh” to just a war-craft and takes it to the level of a complete philosophy. This play explores the episode of the killing of Abhminayu in Chakravyuh formation and all the questions, myths, ideologies, and convictions related to it at many levels. Written and performed in the form of verses, this play works as a bridge

between history and the present and connects them both with perennial concepts of “Karma” and “Dharma”.

Atul Satya Koushik known all over India for his original plays and spectacular visualization on stage has written and directed the play totally in a new avatar. The play will tell the story of Mahabharata from the perspective of Krishna. Krishna appears and settles all questions, myths, and misunderstandings of everyone present. He passes on the eternal messages of Karma and by telling no one has ever been able to come out of their respective Chakravyuh as this whole life is nothing but a Chakravyuh. Our Karma is to fight in the Chakravyuh and getting out of it is the result of that Karma over which we can never have control.

Atul Satya Koushik, Writer, and Director said, “Indian history has always intrigued me and I have

always tried to interpret the history in a manner that gives a new meaning to the episodes that have been told to us a myriad of times before.

The mere idea of a sixteen-year-old young fighter, who bears on his shoulder the name and legacy of the most acclaimed archer of all times, fighting alone with seven of the greatest warriors who ever fought on this earth undoubtedly gave me goosebumps. But I wanted to bring out more from this story. I have tried to tell, through Krishna, why

choreography demanded. And it was only at the final performance that the dancers would be exposed to the music. I find that mind-blowing. I could never do that or be there.

To me, the entire choreography and movement dictionary happens only when the music satiates my imagination. These are all different ways of approaching work,” says dancer Geeta Chandran, recipient of the Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi honors, who is also a trained musician.

Chandran, who was a co-curator (Dance) during the recently concluded Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) in Goa that featured Dr. Anita Ratnam’s ‘Naachiyar Next’, Santosh Nair’s ‘Game of Dice’ and Dadi Pudumjee’s ‘Rumiyana’ says, says she was extremely cautious in programming considering classical dance is a difficult universe to curate, especially when the focus audience is young, hip and roaring. “Dance comes from a different edge of the performing spectrum; especially classical dance. So this time round, I was testing the waters for myself.”

to mourn the fact that “Abhimanyu” could not make his way out of the “Chakravyuh” when no one else has ever been able to do so. This whole life is a “Chakravyuh”, those seven warriors were seven evils within us and we all are “Abhimanyu” who has to fight them throughout our lives.”

Actor Nitish Bharadwaj said, “Delhi audience has always been very critical yet loving and it is a joy indeed to return to Delhi and perform for them after Covid. I believe that with whatever the world has seen during

programming will have to be created from scratch.”

Chandran, who founded ‘Natya Vriksha’ in 1991, with a view to tweak Bharatanatyam teaching/ learning pedagogy, says it is an experiment that has worked well. “It is a lab where I explore the widest range of classical dance issues that have engaged my focus: Exploring linkages between body and mind; forging relationships between solo dancing, group dancing, and choreography; actualizing the connects between the artist and society; and using dance as a medium for expressing abstract notions of joy, beauty, values, aspirations, myth, and spirituality.”

these difficult years of the pandemic, the words and message of Lord Krishna in this play will connect all the more with the audience. I look forward to my Delhi show”

Written and directed by: Atul Satya Koushik

Play Date & Time: 08th January 2023 (Sunday) - 05:00 pm onwards

Play Venue: Kamani Auditorium, Mandi House, Delhi

Entry: By invitation and by tickets only

Tickets: Rs. 300 to 2000/- available online on bookmyshow.com or call 9873579796 for tele booking. Also available at the counter on show day.

It’s fine to have Netflix and chill plans for the weekend, but have you tried binge-watching a local series on an OTT platform? Although we are far from our hometowns and live in busy, fast-paced metropolises, the memories of quiet evenings, early-morning shikara rides, and the uplifting sounds of our hometown folklore inspire a sincere desire to reconnect with our roots. Because of this, someone really did say, “Where I was born and raised is where I keep all my yesterdays.”

By Sukant Deepak

She says one can approach dance through various windows -- hers is music. That her body will move only with music. “I was amazed when

Merce Cunningham, a renowned American choreographer said that in his process, he created movement without music. His music collaborator – John Cage - would create a track for the timing that Merce’s

Stressing that threshold of excellence is rather missing in many government and private festivals where coteries and politics keep the best away from being showcased, she adds, at SAF, the curators have complete independence to pursue their vision and the structure supports their vision. “I am diffident about commenting on replicating this in other smaller towns simply because the infrastructure required for such superb and quality

Admitting that visual art curation in India has matured in the past decade or so, but curation in the field of other arts is in its infancy with curators “promoting friends and friends of friends”, Chandran feels professional ethics in curation is a work in progress in this country. “But curation is even one step removed from a bigger need – and that is of professional event managers who can manage artists and their art. Like software professionals twenty years ago, this is a sector that is crying to boom,” she says.

Talking about the Pandemic, Chandran opines it showed us the deep vulnerabilities of the arts sector --- lack of sustained financial patronage, insurance policies and healthcare packages for artists, etc. “ Not to mention, it unleashed the added burden of technology. Artists had to acquire new tools and skills at a time when they could not even afford their bread and butter.”

Excavating Othello in 2023

ancestors come on a slave ship with sugar? Theatre director Anuradha Kapur’s latest project, which will materialize in 2023 is about excavating Othello. She says while we know he was in Venice and Cyprus, the work delves into how he reached there and his relationship with the slave trade and sugar.

It’s a collective work being made with Deepan Sivaraman and a collaborative effort with Sumangala for the music and Ari Sitas for writing,” adds the former Director of the National School of Drama (NSD) in the capital.

then that something truly unique emerges. Also, we must let go of our preconceived notions like ‘this cannot work’. Whenever boundaries are blurred, it leads to interest.”

The current generation of Indian millennials like to consume content in their own tongue and has progressed past Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos, Disney+, and Hotstar to discover new regional content categories. Regional content climbed from 27 percent of the titles generated to 46 percent in 2021, according to a recent FICCI EY analysis. Regional language usage in OTT video content is anticipated to increase from 27 percent in 2020 to 54 percent in 2024. It is clear from Allu Arjun’s magnetic attraction in the movie Pushpa, which captivated audiences everywhere and was seen by individuals regardless of language proficiency. The dynamics of content development are shifting as a result of the creation of regional content to connect with culture.

I.

audiences. The platform has original content of short film,

series,

and is winning hearts with the interesting and innovative content. AAONXT plans to scale up operations eventually by curating and producing content also for the Bengali, Assamese and Malayali audiences. The focus is on creating contemporary content with a local beat.

By Sukant Deepak

“This is an India-South Africa collaboration and we are trying to refract the figure of Othello, and this person who has travels and notions between of who is poor, and crosscut histories,” says the Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee theatre director. The production will be in English and in more languages later from Africa as well as India. “Many things will be cross-cutting and multiple tangents will be at play.

Known for her collaborations with artists from diverse fields ( visual, video, and filmmakers), the director who has worked with the likes of Vivan Sundaram, Bhupen Khakhar, Madhusree Dutta, Nalini Malani and Nilima Sheikh is one of the founding members of ‘Vivadi’, a working group of painters, musicians, writers and theatre practitioners. Believing that one must go through improvisation, one must change till the very end, she adds, “It needs to be ascertained that there is a constant dialogue between forms exists at all times. It is only

The director, who will be co-curating the upcoming International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) to be held from February 5 to 14, 2023 along with Deepan Sivaraman and B. Ananthakrishnan is particularly looking forward to the student productions. “ It’s also something that is a pedagogy festival with students, something that is of paramount importance. The diversity in the festival in terms of themes, presentation, and style is bound to make it an experience to look forward to,” says the director who is currently a visiting professor at the School of Culture and Creative Expressions, Ambedkar University Delhi.

OTT platforms to binge and watch some real regional content:

Hoichoi (Bengali)

The Hoichoi is an Indian subscription video on –demand and streaming service that has exclusive Bengali language content. It has a feature of around 500 film titles and around 1000 Bengali audio songs for global streaming. The Hoichi platform was launched on 20th September, 2017 and is owned and maintained by SVF Entertainment Pvt Ltd with its headquarters in Kolkata, India. It is available on Android, IOS, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV & Android TV. Bengali cinema is enticing, high on cultural index and is known for excellent storytelling, so if you are willing to experience the best of Bengali cinema, Hoichoi is the platform for you.

II. AAONXT

AAONXT which means ’All about originals’ is one-of-a-kind, independent and premium OTT platform for exclusive Odia content. The platform was launched by Mr. Kaushik Das in 2020, and is inspired by technology and his profound love for Odisha’s rich cultural heritage. The idea was to bring the indigenous and heart-warming stories of Odisha live through an OTT platform for global

III. Sun NXT Sun NXT was launched in June 2017 by Sun TV Network to deliver South Indian Content. It runs content in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi. The Sun NXT platform is available for Android, IOS and Smart TVS. It is popular for its intelligent search feature and non-complex content search. The Sun NXT platform is user-friendly and doesn’t compromise on user experience even on a low bandwidth. It assures that subscribers get excellent audio/video quality.

IV. Koode

Koode means ‘with you’ is an independent OTT platform exclusively for Malayalam content from the house of Studio Mojo. Koode was established to bring attractive content to a platform by building a network of leading content creators and influencers in Malayalam. The team creates original content for the platform and also curates top-notch content from other social media platforms like YouTube.

V. Planet Marathi

Planet Marathi is world’s first OTT platform for Marathi content and was established in 2017, with a purpose of bringing rich cultural infused Marathi cinema across the world map. Planet Marathi has created a niche for itself in Marathi films, Arts and Culture with its exclusive and aesthetic content. The OTT platform is breaking stereotypes that surround the Marathi cinema with their fresh and real content, which is helping to change perspectives people might have with regarding the state or entertainment industry.

Bharadwaj and The Film and Theatre Society come back to Delhi with their much-revered play “Chakravyuh”.

Nitish Bharadwaj as Lord Krishna in Hindi play “Chakravyuh”

5 OTT platforms to binge and watch some real regional content

I approach dance through music’s window: Geeta Chandran

Regional content climbed from 27 percent of the titles generated to 46 percent in 2021

Chandran, was a co-curator (Dance) during the recently concluded Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) in Goa What

theatre director Anuradha Kapur’s

web

feature films and documentaries for viewers

January – March 2023 book releases

Anew year beckons a new reading list... here are the latest titles to

Iyer brings together a lifetime of explorations to upend our ideas of utopia and ask how we might find peace in the midst of difficulty and suffering. Does religion lead us back to Eden or only into constant contention? Why do so many seeming paradises turn into warzones? And does paradise exist only in the afterworld – or can it be found in the here and now?

For almost fifty years Iyer has been roaming the world, mixing a global soul’s delight in observing cultures with a pilgrim’s readiness to be transformed. In this culminating work, he brings together the outer world and the inner to offer us a surprising, original, often beautiful exploration of how we might come upon paradise in the midst of our very real lives.

beyond the glamour and jargon of the business world to individual stories that share real personal insights into the aspirations, vulnerabilities, pressures and possibilities of corporate careers and lives. These are urgent conversations we need to keep having as we reflect, review and decide where we can go from here.

Over the next two hundred and fifty years, Pampa Kampana’s life becomes deeply interwoven with Bisnaga’s, from its literal sowing out of a bag of magic seeds to its tragic ruination in the most human of ways: the hubris of those in power. Whispering Bisnaga and its citizens into existence, Pampa Kampana attempts to make good on the task that Parvati set for her: to give women equal agency in a patriarchal world.

But all stories have a way of getting away from their creator, and Bisnaga is no exception. As years pass, rulers come and go, battles are won and lost, and allegiances shift, the very fabric of Bisnaga becomes an ever more complex tapestry – with Pampa Kampana at its centre.

the marriage partnership slowly, inexorably crumbles. Eventually, Yasodhara is forced to ask what kind of life a woman can lead in ancient India if her husband abandons her— even a well-born woman such as herself. And is there a path she, too, might take towards enlightenment?

Award-winning writer Shyam Selvadurai examines these questions with empathy and insight, creating a vivid portrait of a fascinating time and place, the intricate web of power, family and relationships that surround a singular marriage, and the remarkable woman who until now has remained a little-understood shadow in the historical record. Mansions of the Moon is an immersive, lively and thrilling feat of literary imagination.

We live in a world where there is a new fad diet, superfood, supplement or nutrition theory every month.

There are so many tricks to optimizing workouts, peak performance, burning fat, living longer, sleeping better and biohacking your immune system. Wellness has become a part of mainstream discourse like never before, and the result is an overwhelming barrage of seemingly contradictory information.

But here’s one simple truth: good health impacts every aspect of life, be it productivity at work, interpersonal relationships or a balanced family life. In Hacking Health, Mukesh Bansal takes on the mammoth task of demystifying the science, simplifying the research and tracing the story of our relationship with our body. Through a combination of personal experience and cutting-edge science, this is a book that draws from ancient wisdom and also debunks unscientific myths to help you make smart choices in pursuit of good health.

From nutrition and fitness to sleep and immunity, weight management and mental health to ageing and longevity, this book delves into the breadth and depth of holistic health and helps you navigate the lines between science and pseudoscience. Can we use science to hack the human body’s functioning and be our most efficient, fittest and happiest selves? Hacking Health takes a 360-degree approach to answer this very question and help you unlock your body’s potential.

An ode to the majestic life of the late Lata Mangeshkar, Lata: A Life in Music celebrates art in its totality and tells the life story of India’s most loved vocal artists. The result of Yatindra Mishra’s decade-long dialogue with the great singer, it also explores the lesser-known aspects of the great artist, introducing the readers to Lata Mangeshkar as an intellectual and cultural exponent and providing a rare glimpse into the person behind the revered enigma. At the confluence of cinema, music and literature, this is the most definitive biography of the voice of the nation that also documents sociocultural changes from the late British era through post-Independent India right up to the twenty-first century. This is the story of the various myths, mysteries, truths and contradictions which make a human an icon and also make an icon incredibly humane.

Kannappan is posted to Perumalpuram as the new schoolteacher. The village lies in the black soil region of Tamil Nadu where the river Tamirabarani flows. He’s an outsider in this village with Veerayyan, a local farmer, as his only guide and friend.

Is Pluto a planet? Or a dwarf planet?

The controversy rages. But this planet, on the fringes of our solar system, has immense astrological significance, unexplored by the Vedic and Western astrologers.

Author and scientific astrologer Greenstone Lobo believes Pluto symbolises destruction and regeneration-as the mythological Rudra Shiva.

In Search of an Adarsh Indian State. In India, public policies are all around us. Questions are rarely asked of the Indian State-the institution that makes rules, bends them and punishes others for breaking the laws it creates. The privileged can afford not to think about the State because we have given up on it. The not-so-privileged have resigned themselves to a State that provides short-term benefits.

Either way, we seldom pause to reflect on why the Indian State works the way it does.

Missing in Action aims to change such perceptions through sketches from everyday experiences to illustrate India’s tryst with public policymaking. It acquaints the reader with some fundamental concepts of the public policy discipline. It explains the logic (or the lack of it!) of the Indian State’s actions, shortcomings, constraints, and workings.

Jargon-free and accessibly written, the book achieves the difficult task of both entertaining and educating.

One sultry Mumbai night, business tycoon Mihir Kothari takes a bite of a soufflé and drops dead. According to the CCTV footage, celebrity chef Rajiv Mehra is the killer. It seems like an open-and-shut case.

Or is it? A catastrophic accident on the day the chef is to be hanged allows him to escape and, driven by an inner calling, pursue a new life. Chased by shadows he thought he had left behind, torn by spurned love, the chef returns in search of the real killer so that he can prove his innocence. But there is a problem. Unknown to him, the killer has chosen his next target: the chef himself!

Soufflé is a rich, layered thriller that explores life, love and the passions that motivate people to do unexpected and impossible things.

‘If this psychological, compelling and unpredictable novel doesn’t keep you hooked, give up reading’ASHWIN SANGH

Once settled in his role, Kannappan observes the everyday brutality faced by the farmers at the hands of the sadistic, all-powerful landlord-the Master. Child marriage is common in the village and so is the appalling practice of marrying young lads to older women who then serve as their father-in-law’s consort. Through his gentle yet probing conversations with the villagers, Kannappan tries his best to show the villagers a better way of life. The farmers who had begun protesting the excesses meted out to them by the upper-caste landlord soon find an ally in Kannappan. The schoolteacher’s sympathies for their cause bolster their waning spirits and replenishes their resolve to fight back.

Ponneelan’s first novel is a tour de force. Now translated for the first time, Black Soil lays bare the atrocities faced by the farmers and the human cost of building a better tomorrow.

In a scary and uncertain world-on the edge because of a pandemic, economic crises, ecological disasters and pandemonium in politics, Lobo looks towards Pluto to make sense of the past, present and the future He describes the planet’s journey over the last 250 and the next fifty years, as well as the grand scale on which it can operate. Exploring its character and impact, Lobo discusses his techniques for predictions, the cyclical nature of Pluto, how it changed the world order and its relationship with astrological signs.

From his unique insider’s perspective-as someone familiar with the ways of Pluto through his research-Lobo predicts what to expect and how to prepare for it through 91 predictions. What will the next fifty years bring? When will the world see the last of the pandemic? Who will lead India next? Can India win the next Cricket World Cup? What does the future hold for Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt? What lies in store for star kids Suhana Khan, Hrehaan Roshan, Aarav Akshay Kumar and Aaradhya Bachchan? What about Messi, Angelina Jolie, Rihanna, Beyoncé and others who hold our imagination today?

Through these predictions of good fortune and disasters, scandals and affairs, readers will gain an intimate sense of the rogue planet and its centrality to astrology.

Written by the poet Thiruvalluvar, the Kamattu-p-pal is the third part of the Tirukkural – one of the most important texts in Tamil literature. The most intimate section of this great work – it is also, historically, the part that has been most heavily censored. Although hundreds of male translations of the text have been published, it has also only ever been translated by a woman once before.

Tirukkural is award-winning writer Meena Kandasamy’s luminous translation of the Kamattu-p-pal. Meena Kandasamy delves into this classic and provides the first feminist interventionist translation into English-remaining true to the desire throbbing through the lifeblood of the text, while retaining the drama that pervades the quintessential Tamil world of exaggerated hurt, lover’s quarrels and evenings lost to longing.

With her trademark wit, lyricism and passionate insight, Meena weaves a magic spell: taking the reader on a journey through 250 kurals, organised under separate headings – ‘The Pleasure of Sex’, ‘Renouncing Shame’, ‘The Delights of Sulking’ – the result is a fresh, vital, and breath-taking translation that conveys powerful messages about female sensuality, agency, and desire. It is a revolution 2000 years in the making.

On a rainy night of 25th June 1976, in a bizarre turn of events, Aslam Sher Khan was born in an abandoned bungalow at the outskirts of Motihari, India. Interestingly, George Orwell had also been born in the same house exactly 73 years earlier. Aslam’s birth was facilitated by a mysterious midwife who vanished into thin air just after Aslam’s birth.

Later, Aslam begins to believe that he has some supernatural connection with George Orwell and tries to become a writer. His literary ambitions bring him to America where he meets Jessica, an ex-pornstar, and now an actor and activist, and falls hopelessly in love with her. This novel is about these two unlikely characters and their journeys. Their love story is heading towards a fairy tale end when Aslam gets tangled in a political event in India, and something happens that changes his life forever.

Paradise: that elusive place where the anxieties, struggles, and burdens of life fall away. Most of us dream of it, but each of us has very different ideas about where it is to be found.

For some it can be enjoyed only after death; for others, it’s in our midst-or just across the ocean-if only we can find eyes to see it.

Traveling from Iran to North Korea, from the Dalai Lama’s Himalayas to the ghostly temples of Japan, Pico

There are many challenges facing business corporations today-the pandemic we have barely moved on from, economic recession, rapid changes in consumer behaviour and technological and competitive disruptions. These challenges stick out like the visible tip of an iceberg, while culture, the biggest challenge, is like the slow-moving, gigantic mass that lurks deep under the surface. We cannot deal sufficiently with superficial problems if we do not understand the depths that drive them.

‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’ is a widely accepted saying in the business world, often attributed to Peter Drucker. This is as true for corporate India as it is for its consumers. Yet, we spend more time and money studying our consumers and their cultures than we do ourselves.

The Company We Keep is a market research-based exploration of Indian corporate culture. It looks

The epic tale of a woman who breathes a fantastical empire into existence, only to be consumed by it over the centuries – from the transcendent imagination of Booker Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author Salman Rushdie.

In the wake of an insignificant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms in fourteenth-century southern India, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. After witnessing the death of her mother, the grief-stricken Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for the goddess Parvati, who begins to speak out of the girl’s mouth. Granting her powers beyond Pampa Kampana’s comprehension, the goddess tells her that she will be instrumental in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga – literally ‘victory city’ -the wonder of the world.

From the bestselling, award-winning author of Funny Boy and The Hungry Ghosts comes a breathtaking reimagining of ancient India through the extraordinary life of Yasodhara, the woman who married the Buddha.

In this sweeping tale, at once epic and intimate, Shyam Selvadurai introduces us to Siddhartha Gautama—who will later become “the enlightened one,” or the Buddha—an unusually bright and politically astute young man settling into his upper-caste life as a newlywed to Yasodhara, a woman of great intelligence and spirit. Mansions of the Moon traces the couple’s early love and life together, and then the anguished turmoil that descends upon them both as Siddhartha’s spiritual calling takes over and

When everything is taken away from you, love and courage are all you have left.

In 1938, the Nazis come to Vienna. They hate anyone who is different, especially Jewish people.

Fritz and Kurt’s family are Jewish, and that puts them in terrible danger.

Fritz, along with his father, is taken to a Nazi prison camp, a terrible place, full of fear. When his father is sent to a certain death, Fritz can’t face losing his beloved Papa. He chooses to go with him and fight for survival.

Meanwhile, Kurt must go on a frightening journey, all alone, to seek safety on the far side of the world.

In this extraordinary true story, Fritz and Kurt must face unimaginable hardships, and the two brothers wonder if they will ever return home

A retelling of the Sunday Times bestselling The Boy Who Followed his Father into Auschwitz, a Daily Mail and Sunday Express book of the year:

‘Shattering, astonishing’ Daily Mail

‘Extraordinary’ Observer

Bansal)

Festival tourism lends boost to Meghalaya’s economy in 2023

heights brimful with waterfalls, streams, and forest trails

of

In 2021, India’s tourist sector contributed $178 billion, or almost 5.8 percent, to the GDP of the nation. According to government estimates, this will more than treble to $512 billion by 2028. About 137 million employment are generated by the tourism industry. The industry has been observing historically high rate and occupancy demands, together with a rise in domestic travel. Meghalaya has a variety of celebrations planned for the new year in addition to its natural beauty, which is guaranteed to appeal to all types of tourists.

The Government of Meghalaya, under the leadership of CM Shri Conrad Sangma envisions to make Meghalaya, one of the top 10 states of the country and tourism plays a pivotal role in achieving this goal.

The policies and programs implemented by the Government works towards trying to make Meghalaya the most sought-after tourist destination. Meghalaya, also known as the Abode of Clouds, is known for its abundant biodiversity areas, famed monsoons, and the dramatic terrain but Meghalaya also has a rich cultural and natural heritage, and many festivals are celebrated all around the year to commemorate the same. This makes Meghalaya the perfect destination for avid travelers around the globe who can immerse themselves in the vivid cultural heritage of the state. These festivals form an integral part of showcasing the cultural wealth of the State and unlocking its potential through tourism.

to music and literature.

The Kayaking Festival, the Autumn Festival, the Boating Regatta, the International Film Festival, and the Winter Tales Festival are the noteworthy events among them (December).

The most prominent festivals are the Cherry Blossom festival and the Me.Gong Festival. One of the most vibrant and beautiful celebrations

held each year in Meghalaya is the Cherry Blossom Festival, which takes place in Shillong. The Cherry Blossom festival is celebrated in Shillong during the month of November to mark the blossoming of the pink cherry flowers. It is a 10-day celebration comprising a series of events including music and literature festivals. The Me.Gong festival is celebrated during the first week of December in the Garo Hills. This celebration is given the name Me.gong after a flower that grows plentifully in the Garo Hills. The event showcases the traditions and cultures of the people through games, shows and performances.

The three-day festival also showcases beverages from all over the area.

Meghalaya has ample to offer to the zealous traveler with its unforgettable landscapes, table-top

Experience 7 Instagram-able places in the city of joy

By N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe

January 03, 2023 (IANSlife) Social Media has been ruling our lives

for over a decade now. Instagram has been doing it with style by providing an indulgent experience, from witnessing picturesque

destinations to a melting pot of flavourful regional cuisines. While you are on a spree to travel and explore different Instagram-worthy destinations across India, you must

Instagram wall demands to be painted with beautiful pictures of the bygone time architecture, locales, and local art, music, food, among others.

A place of great historical importance, the church prohibits the use of a camera to maintain its sanctity. However, the green meadows

outside

to decide from. Spend hours with your friends, both old and new, over steaming cups of tea and coruscating plates. Telling you the tales of Calcutta’s heritage and stories of the past are The Bhawanipur House’s long-standing solid frames and walls that are typical of that period. Its state-of-the-art kitchen and elegant dining experience set the café truly apart as one-of-its-kind throughout the city.

A haven for those desiring a finedine setup and antiquated décor, Deck88 just is the address where you have to be. Housing in The Astor Kolkata, their menu has dishes made using the choicest ingredients.

to choose from. Amid the city yet away from the noise Scarlet lets you unwind peacefully as you scroll through their new sumptuous menu to choose your favorites from. More than just desserts, you must tantalize your tastebuds with their American breakfast, crispy bagels, and more.

Choose

A heritage bungalow-turned-café, The Bhawanipur House (TBH) opens its door to showcase the age-old architecture, choicest coffees, teas, savories, and more. Built as a Bungalow during the Imperial rule’s time, today The Bhawanipur House exhibits the bygone aura, letting the aficionados unwind for hours over the velvety textured teas, aromatic coffees, and a wide menu of sumptuous savories and platters

This elegant patisserie housed in the AaURIS hotel on Robinson Street, is drool-worthy not only for its freshly baked creations but for its shimmery, luxe décor too. An #InstaWorthy location for desserts, satiate your sweet cravings with an exhaustive menu of donuts and artisanal Ice cream Sundae

Bungalow-turned-Café to India’s oldest functioning Paddle Steamer that presents quintessential river cruising indulgence, Kolkata is a dreamy destination if your

India’s longest surviving Paddle Steamer from 1945 is restored to its lost glory to sail again in Hooghly River (Kolkata). With a capacity to house 500 people, the boat offers an immersive experience of Hooghly’s grandeur. One of the key attractions of the boat is the first-of-its-kind Riverine Museum which has been curated in the vessel’s erstwhile

boiler room presenting the history of the Hooghly and the Paddle Steamers that sailed on it. With a dedicated F&B space - both indoor and outdoor – the boat is equipped with global cuisines to aid the patrons with flavourful creations as they enjoy the river’s expansive view.

and the majestic church in the backdrop are where you want to pose for the ‘Gram.

from Mediterranean, Continental, Pan-Asian, Indian, etc., cuisines and pair them with the curated drinks at their picture-worthy bar too.

visit these places, for a feast to your camera, if your destination is Kolkata - the city of joy. From colonial-era

The Wangala Dance (held in the Garo Hills in November), Shad Suk Mynsiem and Nongkrem Dance Festival (held in the Khasi Hills in April and November), and the Behdeinkhlam Festival are the State’s four most important cultural and religious celebrations (Jaintia hills - July). The Government of Meghalaya also puts together a schedule of carefully selected events, which cover everything from kayaking

Meghalaya has ample to offer to the zealous traveler with its unforgettable landscapes, table-top heights brimful with waterfalls, and postcard perfect representations of life

Kolkata is a melting pot of cultures

The Bengal Paddle

The Bhawanipur House

Scarlet, AAURIS

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Deck88

and postcard perfect representations of life – complete with pastel green meadows, tall pine groves, crisp cool air, and quiet villages with quaint cottages and wooden fences spread across the countryside. It is, however, the State’s bouquet

festivities, owing to its many distinct tribal inhabitants along with a vibrant and modern State capital, that truly make it standout. Meghalaya is the perfect microcosm of the Northeastern part of this great nation and a must-see destination for the globe trotter.

Built in honor of Queen Victoria, the marble-made building is among one of the most popular Instagrammable places in Kolkata. Surrounding the building is an expansive lush garden that makes an ideal place as a picnic spot, and casual meet space and offers a panoramic view to be

captured of course. The building houses a museum reflecting the heritage of the British during their time in India. A mix of colors of the sky, the building, and the lush green garden is sure a photographer’s paradise to be at.

Victoria Memorial

Microsoft enables AI chatbots to empower knowledge workers, creative souls

By Nishant Arora

New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) Generative artificial intelligence (AI), now being used by the masses via ChatGPT for various tasks, will help frontline workers, knowledge workers and creative professionals become more productive in the near future, thinks Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella.

During his India visit earlier this month, Nadella demonstrated some practical functions of AI chatbots, like responding on the dream of the future of Bengaluru with some pretty nice pictures or showcasing what cuisines are part of the popular South Indian tiffins (the AI chatbot showcased biryani too as part of tiffins and later politely apologised to Nadella, smartly saying that biryani is a high-quality food loved by all).

“To truly have AI chatbots as our co-workers will help us do whatever tasks we’re setting out to do by being more creative and more productive, thus breaking down some of the barriers of learning curves for everyone,” he told the audience.

From writing plays to poems, from doing homework to writing essays, ChatGPT is slowly opening its deep neural networks to more and more real-life use cases.

“2023 is going to be the most exciting year that the AI community has ever had,” according to Kevin Scott, chief technology officer at Microsoft.

“We can already see its promise in systems like GPT-3, which can do anything from helping copyedit and summarise text to providing inspiration, and DALL-E 2, which can create useful and arresting works of

art based on text inputs,” Scott said in a latest blog post.

As generative AI becomes more popular and accessible, more people will be able to use the technology for creative expression, whether it’s helping them produce sophisticated artworks or write moving poetry.

“An AI system such as DALL-E 2 doesn’t turn ordinary people into professional artists, but it gives a ton of people a visual vocabulary that they didn’t have before - a new superpower they didn’t think they would ever have,” he mentioned.

Inspired by the potential of AI chatbots, Microsoft, which invested $1 billion in ChatGPT developer OpenAI in 2019, is now reportedly planning to infuse $10 billion into the company, which will value OpenAI at nearly $29 billion.

The company now wants to incorporate AI created by OpenAI into Office, Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, and other apps, The Information reported.

Microsoft is also preparing to launch a version of its Bing search engine that uses AI behind ChatGPT to answer some search queries.

According to Prabhu Ram, HeadIndustry Intelligence Group, CMR, AI posits new possibilities for a tech-enabled future.

“Over the past decade, Generative AI models have developed and gained ground, entering the mainstream only now. Generative AI models can usher in greater democratisation for all, with AI-powered insights for a broad-range of tasks, for creating text, images, video, music or speech, among others,” Ram told IANS.

Generative AI model tools, such as ChatGPT, have the potential to reimagine currently prevalent search architectures, and threaten market incumbents.

“That said, as Generative AI undergoes further development, it remains to be seen how guardrails are deployed for ensuring the usage of such tools and, for instance, preventing bad actors from leveraging it with a malicious intent,” Ram noted.

Generative AI has the capacity to profoundly alter the working practices of a range of vocations, giving rise to new professions and transforming established ones.

“With ethical and thoughtful deployment, it is a tool that could help precipitate a revolution in creativity -- one that enables everyone to

better express their humanity,” said Scott.

(Nishant Arora can be reached at nishant.a@ians.in)

What exactly is ChatGPT? Is it the tech world’s new Frankenstein?

New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) As the world goes gaga over artificial intelligence (AI)-driven chatbot called ChatGPT -- that writes poems and essays and makes humorous comments like your friendly buddy, the conversational AI has opened several frontiers for real-life use cases going forward, only if handled with care.

According to OpenAI, the company behind chatGPT, they have trained an AI model which interacts in a conversational way.

The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer follow-up questions, admit its mistakes,

challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.

ChatGPT is a sibling model to “InstructGPT”, which is trained to follow an instruction in a prompt and provide a detailed response, according to OpenAI which was acquired by Microsoft for $1 billion.

This is how it works.

The company trained the model using ‘Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback’ (RLHF), using the same methods as InstructGPT, but with slight differences in the data collection setup.

“We trained an initial model using

supervised fine-tuning: human AI trainers provided conversations in which they played both sides - the user and an AI assistant,” says OpenAI.

The teams gave the trainers access to model-written suggestions to help them compose their responses.

“We mixed this new dialogue dataset with the InstructGPT dataset, which we transformed into a dialogue format,” the company informed.

To create a reward model for reinforcement learning, it took conversations that AI trainers had with the chatbot.

OneWeb nearing completion of satellite constellation, deploys 40 satellites

said.

According to OneWeb, the rocket lift-off took place on Monday, January 9, 2023 at 11:50 p.m. ET.

OneWeb’s satellites separated successfully from the rocket and were dispensed in three phases over a period of 1 hour and 35 minutes, with signal acquisition on all 40 satellites confirmed.

OneWeb has connectivity solutions active today with its distribution partners in Alaska, Canada, the UK, Greenland and wider Arctic area, with expanded services coming online soon across the US, Southern Europe, Australia, Middle East and more.

“We randomly selected a model-written message, sampled several alternative completions, and had AI trainers rank them. Using these reward models, we can fine-tune the model using ‘Proximal Policy Optimisation’. We performed several iterations of this process,” explained OpenAI.

What are its limitations?

ChatGPT sometimes writes plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers.

According to the company, fixing this issue is challenging, as during RL training, there’s currently no source of truth and training the

model to be more cautious causes it to decline questions that it can answer correctly.

Also, supervised training misleads the model because the “ideal answer depends on what the model knows, rather than what the human demonstrator knows”.

ChatGPT is sensitive to tweaks to the input phrasing or attempting the same prompt multiple times. For example, given one phrasing of a question, the model can claim to not know the answer, but given a slight rephrase, can answer correctly, according to OpenAI.

The model is often excessively

verbose and overuses certain phrases, such as restating that it’s a language model trained by OpenAI.

“These issues arise from biases in the training data (trainers prefer longer answers that look more comprehensive) and well-known over-optimisation issues,” the company admitted.

“While we’ve made efforts to make the model refuse inappropriate requests, it will sometimes respond to harmful instructions or exhibit biased behaviour. We’re using the Moderation API to warn or block certain types of unsafe content.

ISRO, Microsoft join hands to empower spacetech startups in India

Bengaluru, Jan 5 (IANS) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Microsoft on Thursday announced a collaboration to fuel the growth of space technology startups in the country.

Chennai, Jan 10 (IANS) The UK-based satellite broadband connectivity company, OneWeb, on Tuesday confirmed the successful deployment of 40 satellites launched by SpaceX from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

This launch is OneWeb’s 16th todate, with only two more launches remaining to complete its first-generation constellation enabling global connectivity in 2023, the company

With 542 satellites now in orbit, OneWeb has more than 80 per cent of its first-generation constellation launched.

With this launch, OneWeb kicks off its ‘Countdown to Global Connectivity’ campaign marking the final launches remaining to complete its first-generation LEO satellite constellation that will offer high-speed, low latency connectivity solutions.

With each new area covered, OneWeb and its partners can provide internet connectivity to a greater number of unserved and underserved rural and remote communities and businesses.

“Today’s launch is a thrilling way to start 2023 and at OneWeb, this launch brings us even closer to completing our constellation and launching connectivity services around the world,” Neil Masterson, Chief Executive Officer said.

Take a virtual tour of MG Pavilion at ‘Auto Expo 2023’ in metaverse

customers demanding digital products and brand experiences more than ever, MGverse, the first of its kind, is creating a new era of immersive customer experiences,” said Gaurav Gupta, Chief Commercial Officer, MG Motor India.

People can virtually view their realistic avatar by entering MG’s expo pavilion and experience interactive engagement features while conversing with other avatars.

Through this tie-up, the space tech startups identified by ISRO will be on-boarded onto the aMicrosoft for Startups Founders Hub’ platform, that supports startups at every stage of their journey-from idea to unicorn.

“ISRO’s collaboration with Microsoft will greatly benefit space tech startups in their analysis and processing of vast amounts of satellite data for various applications, using cutting-edge methods like AI, Machine Learning and Deep Learning,” said S Somanath, Chairman, ISRO.

Through ‘Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub’, space-tech startup founders in India will have free access to the tech tools, and resources they need to build and run their business.

This includes technical support to build and scale on Azure,

best-in-class developer and productivity tools including GitHub Enterprise, Visual Studio Enterprise and Microsoft 365 and access to smart analytics with Power BI and Dynamics 365.

“Through our technology tools, platforms and mentorship opportunities, we are deeply committed to empowering space tech startups in the country to drive cutting edge innovation and accelerate scientific discovery,” said Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India.

Microsoft will also provide mentoring support to space tech entrepreneurs in areas ranging from space engineering to cloud technologies, product and design, fundraising and sales and marketing.

In addition, founders will have access to Microsoft Learn for tailored startup centric training content and programmes to help them build connections with the industry and potential customers, said the tech giant.

Microsoft and ISRO will also jointly organise knowledge sharing and

YouTube to share ad money with Shorts creators from Feb 1

New Delhi, Jan 10 (IANS)

Automaker MG Motor India on Tuesday unveiled ‘MGverse’, its future-ready 3D metaverse platform which anyone can experience during the ‘Auto Expo 2023’ from anywhere and take a virtual tour of the event.

MG has teamed up with Metadome to offer an enriching digital experience for remote visitors.

The MGverse offers an integrated Explore & Creator’s centre, a virtual experience zone with extended customer experience touchpoints and the MG Arena including an ‘Avatar Shop’, among other options.

It is a social, interactive digital twin of the physical ‘MG Pavilion’ at the event.

“With the automotive buying journey moving online and new-age

“We look forward to a successful collaboration in empowering the brand’s ecosystem of immersive customer experiences with our proprietary 3D & XR platform for the automotive industry,” said Kanav Singla, Founder and CEO, Metadome.ai.

The ‘MGverse’ was announced earlier as a platform that would combine multiple virtual spaces into a single continuum to allow MG’s stakeholders to work, play, engage, collaborate, co-create, socialise and shop.

Microsoft’s new AI tool can copy any voice

in just three seconds.

The tool was trained on 60,000 hours of English speech data, reports Gizmochina.

Moreover, it can replicate the emotions and tone of the speaker, which earlier models were not capable of. However, there are concerns about the ethical implications of this new technology.

Another possibility is the impersonation of politicians and other public figures, which can cause misleading information to spread on social media.

Moreover, some banks use voice recognition technology to verify the identity of a caller and with AIgenerated voices, it could become more difficult to find if a caller is genuineAor not.

San Francisco, Jan 10 (IANS) Tech giant Google has announced that it has restructured the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) terms to include new modules such as ‘Shorts Monetisation Module’, which allows creators to start making ad revenue on Shorts starting February 1 on the video-sharing platform.

The new modules provide creators more flexibility in the ways they can earn from their content, the tech giant said in a support page.

“After signing the Base Terms, which are the foundational contract terms for all creators wishing to monetise on the platform, creators can pick and choose from contract Modules to unlock earning opportunities.”

The new modules include the ‘Watch Page Monetisation Module’, ‘Shorts Monetisation Module’ and

‘Commerce Product Addendum’.

Users need to accept the Watch Page Monetisation Module to earn ad and YouTube Premium revenue on long-form or live-streaming videos viewed on the Watch Page.

“The Shorts Monetisation Module allows your channel to share revenue from ads viewed between videos in the Shorts Feed,” the company said.

If users already accepted the ‘Commerce Product Addendum’ which unlocks a series of Fan Funding features, then they won’t need to accept its terms again.

All users need to review and understand the new YPP terms as “accepting the Base Terms is required to join or remain in YPP.”

“To remain in the YouTube Partner Program and continue monetising on YouTube, all monetizing partners

will have until July 10, 2023, to review and accept new terms,” Google said.

If users do not accept the Base Terms by that date, their channel will be removed from the YPP and their monetisation agreement will be terminated.

Samsung planning to release human assistant robot in

Las Vegas, Jan 10 (IANS) Samsung Electronics is planning to release a human assistant robot named ‘EX1’ this year.

The company said that it sees robots as “a new growth engine,” reports SamMobile.

San Francisco, Jan 10 (IANS) Tech giant Microsoft has released its new artificial intelligence (AI) tool, VALL-E, that can replicate any voice

The voices generated by VALL-E and similar technologies will sound increasingly believable, which might pave the way for realistic spam calls that imitate the voices of real people that a potential victim knows.

So, it is important for Microsoft to create measures to regulate the use of VALL-E to make sure that it is used for good and not for malicious purposes, the report said.

“We plan to release a human assistant robot called EX1 within this year,” Han Jong-hee, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, said at a press conference at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023.

The company already has a device

named ‘EX1’ which is a decade-old digital camera, the report said.

Meanwhile, in January 2021, the tech giant had introduced its innovations in sectors ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) to robots at its press conference for the world’s largest tech show.

At the online event, Samsung had unveiled its robots that were in development, including Samsung Bot Handy which can pick up objects after analysing their sizes, shapes and weights through advanced AI

2023

technology.

Moreover, the company introduced the upgraded version of its Samsung Bot Care, a robotic assistant that was unveiled at CES 2019.

thought leadership sessions for the startups with space industry experts.

The government has opened up the space sector for private players. The country has more than 100 active startups in the spacetech sector.

Researchers tests AI tool that predicts risk of lung cancer

Clinical Oncology.

“Lung cancer rates continue to rise among people who have never smoked or who haven’t smoked in years, suggesting that there are many risk factors contributing to lung cancer risk, some of which are currently unknown,” said corresponding author Lecia Sequist, MD, MPH, a lung cancer medical oncologist at the US-based Mass General Cancer Center.

in the background of a standard radiology reading station which enables point-of-care clinical decision support,” said co-author Florian Fintelmann, MD, of the Department of Radiology at the US-based Massachusetts General Hospital.

Former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi on 24x7 external oxygen after contracting Covid

San Francisco, Jan 13 (IANS) With lung cancer the leading cause of cancer death around the world, researchers have tested an AI tool known as “Sybil” that accurately predicts its risk for individuals with or without a significant smoking history, a new study has shown.

Based on analyses of LDCT (lowdose chest computed tomography) scans from patients in the US and Taiwan, Sybil accurately predicted the risk of lung cancer for individuals with or without a significant smoking history, according to the study published in the Journal of

“Instead of assessing individual environmental or genetic risk factors, we’ve developed a tool that can use images to look at collective biology and make predictions about cancer risk,” she added.

The team created Sybil, a deep-learning model that analyses scans and predicts lung cancer risk for the next one to six years, using data from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) in the US, the study said.

“It was designed to run in real-time

Sybil was validated using three independent data sets: scans from over 6,000 NLST participants who Sybil had never seen before, 8,821 LDCTs from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and 12,280 LDCTs from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan, according to the study.

The latter group of scans included people with a variety of smoking histories and those who had never smoked.

“Sybil can look at an image and predict the risk of a patient developing lung cancer within six years,” said co-author and Jameel Clinic faculty lead Regina Barzilay, PhD, a member of the US-based Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.

Covid-19: Thailand adopts new rules for foreign visitors

foreign visitors to show proof of at least two doses of the Covid-19 vaccination, government officials have announced.

Bangkok, Jan 6 (IANS) Thailand adopted a new requirement for

Foreign arrivals are also required to have travel insurance that covers potential Covid-19-related expenses in case their next destination requires a negative RT-PCR result, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health minister Anutin Charnvirakul was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

Despite no requirements for

Covid-19 testing prior to entering the country, those suffering from respiratory illnesses should postpone their visits until they have fully recovered, Anutin told the press.

\Although Thailand’s Covid-19 situation was improving, intensive care patients and deaths were still being observed, Anutin said in a statement issued on Wednesday. From December 25 to December 31, the country has detected 2,111 Covid-19 cases with 75 deaths.

Global Covid surge fears loom as China resumes air travel

will be announced.

According to China’s Ministry of Transport, more than two billion passengers are expected to take trips over the next 40 days.

China on Saturday marked the first day of “chun yun”, the 40-day period of Lunar New Year travel.

European Union officials are “strongly” recommending that all member states insist on negative Covid tests from Chinese arrivals before they travel, reports BBC.

New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS) Former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi on Friday revealed that he is on 24x7 external oxygen after contracting Covid-19 twice in two weeks and deep pneumonia.

The 59-year old took to social media to give updates about his health, saying that he was airlifted to London from Mexico after three weeks of confinement.

“After 3 weeks in confinement with a double Covid in 2 weeks accompanied by influenza and deep pneumonia - and post trying several times to leave. Finally landed via air ambulance accompanied by two doctors and superstar super efficient son who did so much for me back in london,” wrote Lalit in his instagram post along with his picture from the hospital bed.

“The flight was smooth. Unfortunately still on 24/7 external oxygen. Thank u to all at @vistajet

for going the extra mile. I am extremely grateful to all. Love to all. Big hug,” he added.

In another post, he also mentioned about saviours -- two doctors-- who took care of him.

“With my two saviours. The two Drs seriously for 3 weeks monitored me treated. Me 24/7. 1 Mexico City based whose care I was under and the second my London Dr who specifically flew in to Mexico City to accompany me back to London. I have no words to describe of they sacrificed there time etc to get me out. Still need time to recover. Currently on 24/7 external oxygen,” wrote Modi along with pictures of two doctors.

“I was I thought touch and go. But my children and thief friends and my close friend @harish_salve_ who were all with me 2 out of my three weeks fully by my side. They are all my family and part of me. God bless. Jai hind. Not to forget the @

vistajet crew. Who were better then par excellence. Thank u my friend @ thomasflohrvista,” he added.

Last year, the businessman had made his relationship with Sushmita official on social media, with a note and an array of photos. However, the duo haven’t been spotted much post making their relationship public, leading to various speculations.

Heatwaves set to become more common: Swedish expert

Stockholm, Jan 5 (IANS) Heatwaves such as those that enveloped Europe in recent years are bound to become more frequent and more intense, and their impacts will be dramatic, a Swedish expert has said.

“It is worrying that we see more dramatic effects than what we believed only ten years ago,” Mikael Karlsson, associate professor of environmental science and senior lecturer in climate change leadership at Uppsala University, told Swedish Television (SVT), commenting on the most recent heatwave that pushed temperatures above 19 degrees Celsius in Poland and the Czech Republic and close to 17 degrees Celsius in the Netherlands.

Tora Tomasdottir, an SVT meteorologist, said that it was “extremely unusual” for so many temperature records to be broken in such a short time, Xinhua news agency reported.

Karlsson told SVT that although the most recent heatwave cannot be definitely attributed to climate change, further temperature records will very likely be broken in the years to come.

“We will no doubt be affected by extreme weather more often,” he said.

While the historic winter warm spell shattered records across Europe, North America battled freezing temperatures and heavy snow. Stopping short of attributing this to

Beijing, Jan 8 (IANS) As China opened borders and resumed travel on Sunday, billions of local travellers are set to make overseas trips in the next few days, triggering Covid surge concerns in various countries as they put restrictions in place for flights coming from China.

Global Times reported that the downgrading management of Covid-19 officially took effect on Sunday and the inbound quarantine for international arrivals was cancelled.

“The order numbers for international flights recorded a year-on-year growth of 628 per cent, reaching the highest since March 2020, data from online travel agency LY.com showed,” said the report.

Among the surging orders, the numbers of inbound and outbound

flights account for 48 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region became the top destination for inbound tickets on Sunday, with flight orders from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland rose 62 per cent from the previous day.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced that international flights can directly land in Beijing without being redirected to other entry points.

Some 18 international flights, majorly from Hong Kong, were expected to arrive in Beijing on Sunday.

Shenzhen and Hong Kong will review the first phase of border reopening in a week. On the basis of consensus reached by both sides, arrangement of the second phase

France, Spain and Italy have already introduced testing but others such as Germany had been monitoring the situation.

England, outside the EU, requires pre-flight testing on China arrivals.

The US has imposed mandatory Covid-19 tests on travellers from China beginning January 5.

India has mandated a Covid-19 negative test report for travellers arriving from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

Air travellers to Canada from China must test negative for Covid-19 no more than two days before departure.

China is currently seeing a surge in the Covid cases, with reports of hospitals and crematoriums being overwhelmed.

per cent had two to three assets and 16 per cent had four to five assets.

As young adults, only 12 per cent of participants maintained cardiometabolic health over time, and white youth were more likely to maintain good health later in life compared to Black or Latino youth.

Teens with four to five positive mental health assets were 69 per cent more likely to maintain positive cardiometabolic health as young adults.

San Francisco, Jan 11 (IANS)

Teenagers with the feeling of optimism, happiness, self-esteem, belongingness and love, were more likely to reach their 20s and 30s in good cardiometabolic health compared to teens with fewer of these positive psychological assets, a new study has shown.

According to the study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, fostering positive psychological assets in teenagers may help prevent cardiometabolic disease in adulthood and may also play a role in addressing health inequities.

The study mentioned that the way teens -- especially Black youth -- feel about their lives may impact their cardiometabolic health risk as adults.

“We learned a lot in the last few

decades about the impact of discrimination and other social risks youth of colour face that may explain their elevated rates of cardiometabolic disease, however, much less attention is paid to the inherent strengths they possess and the ways those strengths may be leveraged to advance health equity,” said lead study author Farah Qureshi, ScD, MHS, an assistant professor at the US-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Researchers identified five mental health assets associated with better cardiometabolic health outcomes based on survey responses when participants were teenagers: optimism, happiness, self-esteem, belonging, and feeling loved.

The study found that about 55 per cent of youth had zero to one positive mental health asset, while 29

While psychological assets were beneficial to all racial and ethnic groups, Black youth experienced the greatest health benefits, according to the study.

Black teens also reported having more positive mental health assets than the youth of any other racial or ethnic group.

Despite having the most assets and reaping the most health benefits from them, there were still racial disparities in cardiometabolic health in adulthood. Black individuals were the least likely to maintain good cardiometabolic health over time, said the study.

“This work suggests that early investments in youth mental health may be a critical new frontier in the advancement of cardiometabolic health equity,” Qureshi said.

global warming, Karlsson said that the cost of climate change will likely surpass previous estimates.

“Climate change is probably the most expensive (disaster) ever caused by humankind. The cost is on par with that of a world war,” he said.

Can walking 6,000 steps a day improve heart health in the elderly?

San Francisco, Jan 6 (IANS)

Walking between 6,000 to 9,000 steps daily may significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in older adults, a new study has shown.

According to the study published in the journal Circulation, researchers found that individuals walking between 6,000 to 9,000 steps daily had a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes, by 40 per cent to 50 per cent.

The study analysed data from over 20,000 people in the US and 42 other countries, in which the average age was 63.2 years, plus or minus 12.4 years, with 52 per cent being women, reports Medical News Today.

The study found that for every 1,000 steps added, there was an incremental reduction in CVD risk.

“There was no upper limit at which there was no additional benefit in our study. Each incremental increase was associated with lower heart disease risk in older adults,” said Dr Amanda Paluch, a physical activity epidemiologist and kinesiologist at the US-based University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The study discovered a progressive reduction in CVD risk for people

who walked up to 15,000 steps per day.

Moreover, the study suggests that people who want to reduce their risk of CVD should set goals that feel more attainable than the commonly cited 10,000-steps-a-day target, which is not based on scientific research.

However, the study found no association between increasing one’s steps and lowering CVD risk for younger adults.

Dr Paluch believes this is not surprising given that CVD is primarily a disease of the elderly. According to the study, only 4.2 per cent of

younger adults had a subsequent CVD event, compared to 9.5 per cent of older adults.

“This does not mean that younger adults shouldn’t be exercising for their cardiovascular health,” said Dr Paluch.

“For younger adults, being physically active benefits many of the precursors of cardiovascular diseases, such as high blood pressure, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. These conditions are more likely to develop in younger adults, and are important for early prevention of cardiovascular disease,” she added.

Finnish researchers develop new genetic test to improve ovarian cancer treatment

Helsinki, Jan 12 (IANS) A new genetic test developed at the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital helps identify ovarian cancer patients who benefit from PARP inhibitors, a type of targeted drug that could be effective against ovarian cancer, the University of Helsinki said in a statement.

In recent years, PARP inhibitors have achieved excellent results as a maintenance treatment after surgery and cytostatic therapy of newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patients.

Since the therapy with PARP inhibitors is associated with potentially serious side effects, it is important to be able to target it to the patients that benefit the most from it, the university added on Wednesday.

“The genetic test helps to identify patients who do not benefit from the drug, thus avoiding unnecessary

treatment and the adverse effects associated with the drug,” Anniina Farkkila from Helsinki University Hospital was quoted as saying in the statement.

The new genetic test has been developed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and statistics, Xinhua news agency reported.

“Roughly half of ovarian cancers have a deficiency in a specific DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) repair pathway. Cancer cells with this deficiency are unable to accurately repair breaks in the DNA double-strand, which causes the accumulation of DNA lesions,” doctoral researcher Fernando Perez-Villatoro from the University of Helsinki said.

The study results show that each cancer type is associated with different characteristics of the genetic

lesions related to homologous recombination DNA-repair deficiency (HRD), which is a common driver of genomic instability. Therefore, developing a test optimised for ovarian cancer was important for advancing the precision of therapies for the cancer type, the University of Helsinki noted.

The study results were published in the latest issue of npj Precision Oncology.

Teens

Angulimala: Rehabilitative vs Retributive Justice

he could repay his teacher. But no one was willing to do so. So he hid in the forest and attacked people to get their little fingers. In most cases he had to murder them to get their fingers. People branded Angulimala as a monster and fled from the surrounding villages. This caused a lot of economic turmoil for all the villagers. Because Angulimala could not store these fingers, he put them on a string and wore it like a garland. His name Angulimala means “finger garland”. When he had collected 999 (or 99 depending on the version of the story) and was excited that he had almost reached his goal.

By Paddy Krishnan

The Buddhist story about Angulimala is about understanding the root cause of evil behaviour, how to reform a violent person and the idea of forgiveness. This story is also used to explain how attaining Nirvana does not suspend past Karma.

Angulimala was a brilliant student at Taxshila. His brilliance made the other students jealous. They made up stories to his teacher about how Angulimala was an evil person. The teacher believed these stories and wanted to punish Angulimala. Another version of the story is that the teacher’s wife had fallen in love with Angulimala and tried to seduce him. But Angulimala rejected her advances. So she told her husband that Angulimala had tried to rape her and wanted Angulimala to be punished.

The teacher knew that Angulimala would obey him and do anything that was asked of him. The teacher also wanted Angulimala to go to hell for his alleged evil behaviour, including attempted rape. The teacher told Angulimala that Angulimala had to provide one thousand (other versions say 100) little fingers as Guru Dakshina (a fee paid to the teacher before one can graduate). Angulimala, like an obedient student, went looking for the thousand little fingers.

Initially, Angulimala asked people to donate their little finger so that

The next step also has multiple versions. In one version, Angulimala saw a monk in the forest. In another version, Angulimala decided to kill his mother who had got him some food. But just as he is about to kill his mother, there was a bright light that illuminated the whole forest. So Angulimala let go of his mother and decided to investigate the source of light, when he saw a monk.

No matter how fast Angulimala ran behind the monk, he was unable to catch up with him. Soon Angulimala was exhausted, and in anger asked the monk to stop and identify himself. The monk identified himself as the Buddha.

Angulimala asked the Buddha how he was able to get away. The Buddha stated that he was not moving and it was Angulimala’s running that prevented him from catching the Buddha. Obviously, Angulimala did not understand how the Buddha stopping and Angulimala not stopping prevented Angulimala from catching the Buddha. The Buddha explained that he had stopped being violent to all living beings (both in action and in mind). However, Angulimala was always thinking of and committing acts of violence. It is in that respect that the Buddha had stopped and Angulimala had not stopped. Angulimala wanted to know more about this and became a monk and the Buddha’s disciple.

Soon Angulimala started following the principle of Ahimsa and was called Ahimsaka.

After sometime, the king who

wanted to capture Angulimala came to the Buddha and asked him to handover Angulimala. The Buddha asked the king, how would he treat a person who is a good person and truly follows the path of Ahimsa. The king replied that he would pay homage to such a person as such behaviour was rare. When the Buddha pointed out that it was Angulimala who was now a good person and called Ahimsaka, the king was surprised. He was amazed that his police force and weapons could not tame Angulimala, while Buddha’s teachings changed Angulimala’s behaviour without the use of force. The Buddha then explained the power of forgiveness. He said that forgiveness can heal anyone however violent their past actions may have been.

Once Ahimsaka encountered a woman suffering a breech birth. This moved him and he observed that all living beings were tormented. The Buddha agreed with him and encouraged him to show compassion to all. The Buddha emphasised the need to avoid making value judgments. One should not label behaviours as good and bad. There is a whole range of behaviours. Furthermore, such behaviour is connected to the behaviour of others. Showing compassion is true courage, as one needs to look beyond disagreeable human behaviour. It is also an acknowledgement that all beings suffer. Compassion, is therefore, the ability to feel other people’s pain and sorrow. A compassionate mind needs to goes beyond oneself or one’s loved ones. True kindness needs to be unselfish and be extended to all beings, including those with whom we are in conflict. Thus compassion leads to universal love, as it drives one to serve others and take care of them.

Once when Ahimsaka was seeking alms, a few people threw bricks and rocks at him. Ahimsaka suffered injuries to his head, his begging bowl was broken and his robe was ripped. Ahimsaka, dripping with blood, went to the Buddha seeking counsel. The Buddha told him to

bear the pain. This was Karma and the result of his past actions. The Buddha explained how he could have suffered (e.g., be in hell) for many years and how he is lucky to experience only a brief hardship at that time. This pain had save Angulimala from spending a long time in hell.

While the Buddha does not talk about a deity, others usually interpret God as a strict enforcer of morality. Any deviation from this will result in severe punishment. God defines what is good behaviour. Anyone who chooses good behaviour will be rewarded (e.g., with heaven) while those who choose bad behaviour will be punished (e.g., with hell). The Buddha argues that such black and white behaviour does not attempt to identify the root cause of bad behaviour. Bad behaviour is often a result of anger and shame which could be triggered by extreme events such as poverty, child abuse, or lack of suitable role models. There are cases where there are no external triggers and people are guilty of immoral behaviour. In Buddhism, and in Hinduism, there is no notion of sin for which one would go to an eternal hell.

Sociologists have used Angulimala’s story to show how the current justice system is focused on punishment rather than reformation. A punitive incarceration-based system does not help the offender. It also has a negative impact on people related to the offenders. That is, the offenders’ friends and families are adversely affected. One must therefore, question if a system based on punishing offenders is effective and, more importantly, justifiable. A more practical approach to human weakness must be taken. The Buddha says that evil or immoral behaviour is because they are suffering from Dukkah and are not yet enlightened. Unenlightened people suffer from Dukkah and hence such people need to be treated as mentally ill patients. This will enable the cure to focus on their delusion which causes Dukkah.

Of course, the story of Angulimala does not talk about the negative

impact on families of the people Angulimala killed. It also does not talk about the damage caused to society caused by people fleeing their villages. Angulimala’s stoning also indicates that some people in society will always want retributive justice. Anyone who destroys the social fabric needs to be punished.

However, one has to balance the punishment meted out to the criminal and the justice to those have suffered. But as the story shows, even the king was willing to let-go.

The king’s point is that there is no need to punish those who have truly reformed themselves.

The courts and the justice system cannot be expected to pass judgements that are based on moral arguments. Enacting laws based on moral judgements is the role of those who are framing the laws based on their philosophical beliefs.

The laws need to consider how one can be reformed, balancing it with social harmony. This is especially difficult in the context of violent offenders, who cause harm to many people. A stable society depends on its members feeling safe, with a shared commitment to ethical conduct. The justice system needs to handle a small group who disrupt social harmony.

The Buddha states that external violence is a symptom of some deeper cause. Violence is a manifestation of

anger, enmity, and lack of rational thinking. In Angulimala’s case, he was violent because of his teacher’s orders. Because the teacher was misled by other students (or his wife), the root cause is the behaviour of the students or the teacher’s wife. In the story, these people were never punished. Angulimala is not totally blameless as he had the option to disobey his teacher.

Can a justice system that looks at the root cause be designed? Expecting everyone to be non-violent is not practical. The key question is what type of justice (e.g., retribution based or forgiveness based) one wants?

• References:

• Analayo: The Conversion of Angulimala in the Samyuktaagama, 2008

• P. J. Sangsri: A Study of Unity in Buddhism, 2019

• D. R. Loy: A Different “Enlightened” Jurisprudence? 2010

Paddy Krishnan is a computer scientist, who got his BTech degree from IIT-Kanpur and PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Being very interested in Hindu philosophy, he maintains a blog at www.goldcoasthindu. wordpress.com

Odisha Governor’s support for entry of foreigners into Jagannath temple, stir debate

video of Shri Hanuman Chalisa during the Gorakhpur Mahotsav 2023, in the presence of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath. The event witnessed a huge footfall of over 50,000 people from in and around the city. The singer shared that he would feel the presence of his mother while working on the track.

With this music video featuring Sonu Nigam, the audience gets to experience a new version of the devotional hymn praising Lord Hanuman with unique video effects. The track was released simultaneously on more than 50 YouTube channels, making it the first ever such track in the history of a music asset launch.

Addressing the audience, the Chief Minister said: “We just heard a line now from Shri Hanuman Chalisa sung by Shri Sonu Nigam ji.

Hanuman Chalisa is a famous work composed by Goswami Tulsidas ji. Whether educated or illiterate, singing Hanuman Chalisa is as simple and easy for both. Every person, every Indian recites the Hanuman Chalisa with great reverence and respect. Here today, the famous musician Shri Sonu Nigamji has given it a new height with his voice.”

He further mentioned: “I thank him from the bottom of my heart for this, that by giving voice to this chalisa of Bajrangbali Hanuman, the supreme devotee of Shri Ram, Sonu ji has not only produced his work through this medium but has also given a new direction to Lord Hanuman’s devotees. For this, I again extend my heartfelt thanks to Sonu ji.”

Walking down the memory lane, Sonu Nigam said: “It was my mother who in my childhood insisted that

I visit a temple every Tuesday and recite the Hanuman Chalisa. She was the one who inculcated in me the spirit of reverence to one super consciousness represented by multiple faiths. I, being a mother’s boy, did obey her always and thus Hanuman Chalisa became an integral part of my life.”

“When I sat down to compose it, I could feel my mother streaming down the composition and the arrangements spiritually. It was like magic. This is my tribute to my mother, the beautiful ‘Sanskars’ of Hinduism that I was born to, the Great Saint Tulsidas Goswami and our beautiful Motherland Mother India,” the singer added.

The music video of Shri Hanuman Chalisa was released under Sonu Nigam’s I Believe Music label along with Global Music Junction.

PM to inaugurate Tent City in Varanasi

increased tourist influx in Varanasi, especially since the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham.

It has been developed by Varanasi Development Authority in PPP mode.

The tourists will reach the Tent City by boats from different ghats situated in the vicinity.

It will be operational from October to June every year and will be dismantled for three months due to rise in river water level in the rainy season.

Also on Friday, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Haldia Multi Modal Terminal in West Bengal.

Zamania in Ghazipur district and at Kanspur in Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh.

Besides, foundation stone will be laid for the five Community Jetties at Digha, Nakta Diyara, Barh, Panapur in Patna district and Hasanpur in Samastipur district in Bihar.

More than 60 community jetties are being constructed along river Ganga across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal to boost the economic activities and improve the livelihoods of local communities in the region.

Odisha Governor’s support for entry of foreigners into Jagannath temple, stir debate

Bhubaneswar,

While addressing inaugural function of Odisha Vision 2036 Conclave in Bhubaneswar on Thursday, the Governor had said, “If a foreigner can meet Puri Gajapati, Puri Shankaracharya

servitors, he/she should get a chance to pay obeisance to Lord Jagannath.”

New

Jan

Developed under Jal Marg Vikas Project, the terminal has a cargo handling capacity of around over 3 Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA) and the berths are designed to handle vessels up to around 3000 Deadweight tonnage (DWT).

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate Maritime Skill Development Centre for North East in Guwahati, which will help in honing the rich talent pool in the region and provide for better employment opportunities in the burgeoning logistics industry.

Officials said that the project has been developed opposite the city ghats which will provide accommodation facilities and cater to the

Apart from this, the PM will also inaugurate four floating community jetties at Saidpur, Chochakpur,

In addition to these, the Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for a ship repair facility and an elevated road at the Pandu Terminal in Guwahati.

Stating the governments should work on this issue, Lal said, “This is my personal opinion... someone may appreciate it or not, but, I request the servitors, Puri Shankaracharya and king Gajapati to consider my proposal.”

As per tradition, only Hindus are allowed to have darshan of Lord Jagannath and siblings inside the Puri temple. So, this statement of the Governor has created a fresh row in the state.

Puri temple servitors have opposed the proposal of the Governor.

Temple servitor and member of the Jagannath Temple managing committee, Madhab Chandra Mohapatra said, “It is laughable. The proposal is beyond our imagination. It is not possible. Nobody other than Hindus should be allowed into the temple.”

Another servitor Shyama Mohapatra also made a similar opinion. Lord Jagannath and his siblings come out of the temple each year during Rath Yatra to give darshan to such

(foreign) devotees. So, the age-old tradition should not be changed, Mahapatra said.

Similarly, the BJP and Congress party leaders have expressed their opinions on the proposal of the Governor.

Leader of opposition in Odisha Assembly, Jayanarayan Mishra (BJP) left it to the pandits of Mukti Mandap to take decision on this issue while Congress MLA Suresh Routray said the tradition should not be broken.

Delhi,

11 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday inaugurate the Tent City in Varanasi, which has been conceptualised on the banks of the Ganga to tap the potential of tourism in the region.

Jan 14 (IANS) Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal’s statement in favour of entry of foreigners into Jagannath temple, Puri, has sparked a debate in the state.

Swami Nischalananda Saraswati and

Nigam recently launched the music

Mumbai, Jan 14 (IANS) Padma Shri awardee and playback singer Sonu

Football: Australia to host Cup of Nations ahead of FIFA Women’s World Cup

participate in the Cup of Nations, a four-team tournament comprising three match days in February’s international window.

Games will be played at Central Coast Stadium on February 16, Parramatta Stadium on February 19 and McDonald Jones Stadium on Feb 22, with the Matildas to play the Czech Republic, Spain and Jamaica in order.

news agency Xinhua.

“The teams have been carefully selected for the Cup of Nations to ensure we have the right preparation heading into the FIFA Women’s World Cup,” he said in a media release.

Canberra, Jan 12 (IANS) Australia’s onational women’s football team will play home games against Spain, the Czech Republic and Jamaica ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Football Australia (FA) announced on Thursday that the Matildas will

For the Matildas, the match against seventh-ranked Spain will offer a chance to make amends for a 7-0 defeat last June.

Tony Gustavsson, head coach of the Matildas, said playing matches at home is crucial ahead of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20, reports

“Not only are all three nations filled with quality, but they also provide a difference in playing style and approach with the three-match days aiming to mirror tournament group play to the best of our ability.”

The Matildas are on a four-game winning streak, including a 4-0 win against third-ranked Sweden last November.

They will compete in Group B at the World Cup alongside Ireland, Nigeria and Canada.

Australia, India players gain big in latest ICC Player Rankings

reign at the top of the rankings chart in the batters rankings.

In the bowling charts, Josh Hazlewood, who made a comeback in the Sydney Test, is the biggest mover. He scalped five wickets in the contest, which saw him gain six spots to move to No. 10. Cummins continues to remain the top-ranked Test bowler.

Meanwhile, Virat and Rohit moved up in the ODI batting rankings. Kohli, who scored a stunning century in India’s victory against Sri Lanka in the first ODI in Guwahati, has moved up two spots to 6th.

Dubai, Jan 11 (IANS) Australia’s star performers from their Test series win against South Africa have been richly rewarded in the latest ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings released on Wednesday while India stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were also the big gainers in the ODI section.

Usman Khawaja was the biggest mover, following his stunning century in the third and final Test against South Africa in Sydney -- he moved up to 8th in the Men’s Test batters’ rankings.

Khawaja was unbeaten on 195, missing out on his double ton as skipper Pat Cummins declared to

force a result in a rain-curtailed contest. Khawaja’s exploits saw him gain four spots and break into the top 10.

Performers from the drawn Test between Pakistan and New Zealand also made big gains, with Tom Latham, Devon Conway and Saud Shakeel making big moves.

Latham scored 71 and 62 in the second Test in Karachi and has gained a place to move to 19th.

Conway’s century in the first innings also saw him move up three spots to 21. Shakeel, who scored his maiden Test ton, has gained twenty spots to move to 30.

Marnus Labuschagne continues his

On the other hand, Rohit also scored an aggressive 83 and has gained a spot to sit at 8th. Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka scored a fighting ton despite his side losing and has gained 20 spots to move to 61.

Meanwhile, in the bowling charts, Mohammed Siraj is the biggest gainer after scalping two wickets in the first ODI, moving up four spots to 18.

In the T20I rankings charts, Suryakumar Yadav continues his reign at the top of the batting charts, driven by his brilliant century in the third T20I against Sri Lanka.

Shakib Al Hasan remains the topranked all-rounder in the shortest format, while Wanindu Hasaranga is displaced by Rashid Khan as the top-ranked bowler following his struggles in the series against India.

Suryakumar extends lead on top

of the

table, closes

in on all-time ICC T20I batting rankings

(896), Virat Kohli (897) and Aaron Finch (900) over the last week, as per ICC.

The right-hander batter had to wait for a long time for the India cap, making his T20I debut after turning 30. But there has been no stopping him ever since as he has gone to rack up runs consistently at a rate not seen before. In 45 T20Is, Surya has accumulated 1578 runs at a phenomenal strike rate of 180.34, the highest for any batter with more than 250 T20I runs.

In the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, he finished as the third-highest run-getter with 239 runs in six matches while striking at an eye-watering 189.68.

Jan

batter Suryakumar Yadav, who is making a habit out of breaking records, is inching closer towards the all-time ICC men’s T20I batting rankings, extending his lead on top of the table from 883 rating points to 908 in the latest update on Wednesday.

Following up his 36-ball 51 in the second T20I, Surya blasted a majestic century -- his third in six months -- in the series decider in Rajkot recently. The 51-ball 112 not out was laced with seven fours and

nine sixes, not sparing an inch of the stadium with his sublime 360-degree hitting.

Unsurprisingly, he was the Player of the Match as India put on a colossal total of 228/5 and went on to register a massive 91-run win.

His stunning returns in both games puts him second in the all-time T20I batters bankings, just seven rating points behind England’s Dawid Malan (915). Suryakumar was placed fifth in the all-time list during the previous update of the rankings but has now leapfrogged Babar Azam

All three of his fifties -- against South Africa, Zimbabwe and Netherlands -- proved to be crucial knocks under the circumstances and in the case of the latter two, turned the tide in favour of India.

Suryakumar will not have to wait for too long to gun for Malan’s record as New Zealand are set to travel to India for a white ball tour consisting of three ODIs and three T20Is later this month.The T20I series will kick off on January 27 in Ranchi and good returns against the fifth-placed Kiwis could see Surya break yet another record, something he has made a habit of.

Madrid, Spain, Jan 7 (IANS) World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from the Australian Open due to a right leg injury.

The 19-year-old Spaniard, who last year became the youngest player to finish year-end No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, would have held the top seed at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career.

Alcaraz tweeted: “When I was at my best in preseason, I picked up an injury through a chance, unnatural movement in training. This time it’s the semimembranosus muscle in my right leg.”

“I’d worked so hard to get to my best level for Australia but unfortunately I won’t be able to play the Care A2+ Kooyong or the Australian Open. It’s tough, but I have to be optimistic, recover and look forward. See you in 2024 @AustralianOpen.”

The withdrawal imperils Alcaraz’s hold on World No. 1, with Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic all having an opportunity to rise to top spot the Monday after the Australian Open.

Despite his breakout season, Alcaraz

had a frustrating end to 2022, being forced to withdraw from the quarter-finals of the

On September 12, Alcaraz became the youngest World No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP

Rankings.

Last

Dubai,

11 (IANS) Star India

Rolex Paris Masters with an internal oblique muscle tear that also sidelined him at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

Carlos Alcaraz withdraws from 2023 Australian Open

He finished 2022 with a 57-13 record and five tour-level titles, including his first two ATP Masters 1000 victories (Miami and Madrid) and his first Grand Slam trophy at the US Open.

year Alcaraz lost 7-6 in the fifth set to Matteo Berrettini in the third round of the Open.

Rakul Preet Singh asserts the importance of talking about sexual health

regard to empathy and awareness. Elaborating her thoughts, the actress said: “For me it’s not about the subject being bold, I think the entire conversation is that it is not bold it is as normal as it can be and I am a believer that if we talk about key health, mental health, emotional health then why not sexual health. You know It’s not an option, it is compulsory.”

“I truly believe this is the only thing we don’t have an option for in life so why should education related to it be an option. I think it’s very important and it’s a need of the hour.”

Sharing what she felt after reading the script, the actress further mentioned: “When I read the script, I connected with it so much that I felt...you know sometimes, you have certain beliefs but it comes to you in the form of the script it just re-intrigues the fact that yes I think I should do something which will help people, obviously, entertainment being on the forefront.”

Yami would love to play her ‘favourite actress’ Madhubala in biopic

Actress Yami Gautam Dhar envisions doing a biopic of the iconic and her “favourite” actress Madhubala.

When asked whose biopic she would like to do, Yami said: “The most beautiful one would be Madhubala ji. I know that there are some films being announced, but it’s nothing to do with those announcements.”

She added: “I have always said this in my makeup room, because I used to watch her songs at night. So at night, I have this habit till date, of watching either some old songs or some old interviews.”

“It could be Madhubala ji’s to Smita ji’s interviews, and my God! How well-spoken they were. I wish again, one of those actors were still alive. There was so much more that was left to be seen and I wish she was here today, because she’s one of my most favourite actors.”

Actress Rakul Preet Singh, who is gearing up for her upcoming romantic comedy film ‘Chhatriwali’, feels that just like mental and physical health, it is important to have conversations

around sexual health and wellness too.

The film, which will be released on OTT, sheds light on the importance of sex education and how it can shape the future generations with

“I connected with it so much that nobody has ever spoken about the effects of it on women’s health like talking about abortion, miscarriages but can anyone of us tell how many abortions can a woman’s body take and what are the ill effects and how does it traumatise women you know mentally, emotionally, physically and these are the conversations we need to have for a society to hope and to move forward,” she added.

‘Chhatriwali’ is set to release on January 20, on OTT platform ZEE5.

Sikkim cop Eksha Keirung to play femme fatale in ‘Lakadbaggha’

Sikkim nationally many times. In the film she will be seen doing hand to hand combat with the protagonist. The film is directed by Victor Mukherjee and produced under the banner First Ray Films. When asked about casting Eksha, he said: “I am a huge fan of Kill Bill and female assassins in action movies. When Alok was writing ‘Lakadbaggha’, we intentionally decided to have a femme fatale. He suggested this cop in Sikkim who has been a super model. I reached out to Eksha. She was kind enough to audition.”

He further mentioned: “Being a martial artist and a kickboxer, she really fitted the world of the film. She is ‘the girl with no name’ & we are so proud to introduce her. Fun fact: she actually ended up hurting me physically during our action scenes because she didn’t know how to hold back or act. She went all out. And it was thrilling. She is the surprise packet in the film.”

Meanwhile, on the work front, Yami has more power-packed performances lined up with projects like ‘Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga’, ‘OMG2’ and ‘Dhoom Dham’ among other unannounced projects.

The Rise’ set to become No. 1 all-time Indian film hit in Russia

Ayear after its theatrical release around the world, the Allu Arjun-led ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ continues to hold its own, not just in India, but also internationally.

The blockbuster directed by Sukumar, which was released in Russia last month, has collected more than 10 million roubles or about Rs 12 crore.

The Allu Arjun-starrer saw its grand Russian-language release on December 8 and after shows in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the film has been running successfully in 774 screens with no drop reported in the number of screens till date, according to the makers.

‘Pushpa: The Rise’, which is in the third week since its release, is on track to becoming Russia’s mostloved Indian film of all time. And the Russian satellite rights to the film will be sold soon for another Rs 2 crore, unit sources said.

Given the current trend, ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ is expected to outperform all other Indian film collections and set a new high.

The highest collection for a Russiandubbed Indian film thus far has been the Hrithik Roshan-Tiger Shroff-starrer ‘War’, which grossed around 15 million roubles or about Rs 17 crore. Now, ‘Pushpa: The Rise’,

Interestingly,

‘Lakadbaggha’ also stars Anshuman Jha, Ridhi Dogra, Paresh Pahuja and Milind Soman. The film is set to release in cinemas on January 13 worldwide.

Kartik Aaryan reveals his 2023 New Year resolution: ‘More and more travel’

Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan has revealed his 2023 resolution - a lot of travelling.

Kartik took to Instagram, where he shared a slew of pictures from all the travels he has done.

“More and More Travel... that’s my 2023 resolution,” he captioned the image.

As soon as the actor dropped his pictures, his fans and friends took to the comment section.

Filmmaker Kabir Khan wrote: “Nothing better than travel.”

A fan wrote: “The heartthrob of Bollywood, winning hearts of fans with his humbleness on the streets of London. Your fanceptions from London will be always the most emotional and special one!”

In 2022, Kartik delivered two blockbusters - one horror comedy ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’, which raked in Rs 200 crores, and ‘Freddy’ which was widely appreciated after its release on OTT.

He is currently busy shooting for ‘Satyaprem Ki Katha’ with Kiara Advani. Kartik will also be seen in ‘Shehzada’, which also stars Kriti Sanon. He has ‘Captain India’ and Kabir Khan’s yet-untitled next.

Geared up for 2023, Bhumi Pednekar will exhibit her versatility as an actor

Actress Bhumi Pednekar has six releases in 2023 including ‘Bheed’, ‘The Ladykiller’, ‘Afwaa’, ‘Bhakshak’, ‘Mere Husband Ki Biwi’, and says that this year will be hers as an artist.

Bhumi said: “With six films releasing this year, I’m putting it out in the universe that 2023 will be my year in cinema as an actor! Given the diversity of these films and the powerful women that I will essay in the film, I don’t think I could push myself any further to showcase the variety of roles that I can play as an artist.”

“People will get to see six different Bhumi’s on screen in one year which is what is most exciting for me. I live to play out different lives on screen. It excites me, challenges me and stimulates me as an artist. I’m fortunate that I’m an actor living out my dream every single day. I couldn’t have manifested anything better to happen to me,” she added. Bhumi said that her wish for 2023 is very simple.

“I want to entertain everyone with these six films and move a few notches higher to realising my personal goal, which is to be regarded as one of the best actors that India has ever seen. I know it’s a lot of hard work and I’m prepared to put in everything for this because

‘Pushpa:

The upcoming animal vigilante film ‘Lakadbaggha’ will see in action the real life cop from Sikkim - Eksha Keirung.

I’m in it to be amongst the best. This has driven me so far and I hope this

given the kind of response it has been getting, is expected to surpass this figure and become the most

Eksha will make her debut with the film as the ruthless femme fatale.

she is also a professional boxer and has represented

fuels what future has in store for me.”

successful Russian-dubbed Indian film of all time.

‘Vadh’

a

He said: “Yes, there is a chance of

‘Vadh 2’ because we have left the story open-ended. We do have a further story to come up with. And the newness would be more edgeof-the-seat narrative and powerful performances. I am kind of excited but let’s see what happens.”

Jaspal further spoke about Sanjay

and Neena and shared that everyone liked their acting skills and appreciated them for their roles. “Everyone spoke about the impact of casting Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta and praised their natural acting. When you have such actors your job becomes a little easier because they are able to do full justice to the character and story. Audiences were surprised and thrilled to watch their characters in the film.”

The director recalled memories from the sets and shared how the shooting happened in extremely high temperatures: “I remember it was very hot and the temperature was around 46 degrees and we were shooting in a very small claustrophobic location. Even though the location was very inside and we had to keep our vanities on the main road, Neena ma’am used to walk long distances and never complained. Manav was very amazing and cheerful. Saurabh Sachdeva was so much into his character that everyone was afraid to go to him and ask for tea.”

Hollywood producer Jason Blum says ‘RRR’ will win Oscar for best film

‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘Insidious’ took to Twitter and wrote: “I’m going with RRR winning best pic. You heard it here first. Mark it down, please.”

“If I’m right, I am awarding myself my own Oscar,” he added.

‘RRR’ stars NTR Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody and Olivia Morris.

It centres around two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, their fictional friendship and their fight against the British Raj.

Set in the 1920s, the plot explores the undocumented period in their lives when both the revolutionaries chose to go into obscurity before they began the fight for their country.

Child welfare body asks UP DGP to get ‘Pathaan’ song removed from social media

2015, the Child Welfare Committee, Bahraich (bench of magistrate), has written to the DGP that it has taken a suo moto cognizance of obscene contents, including the ‘Besharam Rang’ song, being circulated on social media.

The owner of Hombale Films Vijay Kiragandur has shared information regarding ‘KGF Chapter 3’, the next part of the superhit KGF Series.

Talking about his plans, Vijay Kiragandur has stated that the ‘KGF Chapter 3’ project will kick off in 2025 and release only after 2026.

The pre-production work for the sequel has not begun yet, he stated.

Interestingly, Vijay Kiragandur has said that as the James Bond movies have different heroes, KGF sequels will also have different heroes.

“There will be five sequels to the KGF series, the heroes will keep changing,” he added.

Sources explain that Prashanth Neel, the director of the movie is busy with ‘Salaar’ presently and he would take up a movie starring Jr NTR later. Only after that, ‘KGF Chapter 3’ work would begin.

Sources also state that there is a connection between ‘KGF Chapter 2’ and ‘Salaar’. They also reveal that ‘Rocking Star’ Yash will also be seen in the movie.

Actor Chahatt Khanna records statement in conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar case

TV actor Chahatt Khanna on Tuesday recorded her statement before Delhi’s Patiala House Court in connection with Rs 200 crore extortion case related to conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar.

Chandrasekhar’s close aide Pinky Irani, who was arrested by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in November, had, as per sources, had allegedly contacted models and actresses, on behalf of the conman, asked them to meet him or talk to him on the phone, and also given expensive gifts to actresses.

According to sources, Nikki Tamboli of “Big Boss” fame, Khanna of “Bade Acche Lagte Hai” fame, Sophia Singh, and Arusha Patil met Chandrasekhar in the jail premises and he introduced himself as a producer of the southern film industry.

“Irani had facilitated their meetings with Chandrasekhar. All these four actresses were given expensive gifts of renowned brands such as Gucci, Versace, and Louis Vuitton,” said a source.

“Chandrasekhar also transferred some Rs 5.20 lakh into the account of Patil, who has admitted to have met him but not in the jail. When Irani introduced Khanna to Chandrasekhar, the actress was allegedly given Rs 2 lakh and a

blue-coloured

Chandrasekhar

from

Using the powers given under the relevant section of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act

In the letter sent to the DGP, Bahraich CWC President Satish Kumar Srivastava and four-member bench consisting of Deepmala Pradhan, Archana Pandey and Navneet Mishra has said that smart mobile phones had been provided to the teenagers by the Uttar Pradesh government for their all-round development and they cannot be stopped from watching easily available contents.

In such a situation, it is necessary in their best interest that obscene contents should be removed from social media, the letter says.

For Ridhi Dogra, the medium doesn’t really matter

Actress Ridhi Dogra, who is all set for her movie ‘Lakadbaggha’ starring Anshuman Jha to release, said that mediums don’t really matter to her as long as she is a part of a good story, character and team.

Speaking about films and her debut with ‘Lakadbaggha’, Dogra said: “There’s no system, clean slate. I don’t think that okay now I am doing a film, my process on whatever I have done is that I ask many questions, I would like to know everything, I would like to make as much logical sense and it continues to whichever set I am on.”

“I think when I saw myself on the big-screen in Kolkata I felt like Oh my God! I don’t look bad at all, I sound good, I should do more films. But the mediums don’t really matter to me as long as I am part of a good story, a good character and a good team; that’s all that truly matters.”

Lately, the actress has been making noise for her work in the recently released web-series ‘Pitchers 2’, a second season of the cult show Pitchers.

2023 is a very exciting year for Ridhi Dogra with several big releases in the line. She is all set and steadfast for big ticket films like ‘Jawan’, ‘Tiger 3’, shows like ‘Asur 2’.

Mumbai, Jan 4 (IANS) Actor Akshay Oberoi, who will be seen in the upcoming Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone-starrer ‘Fighter’, said that his character in the film is a tribute to real life heroes.

Akshay, who will be seen playing the role of an Air Force officer, said that it’s an honour for him to play his part.

He said: “It’s an honour to be playing the part of someone who has served the nation. My character is a tribute to all those real life heroes who have fought for their country. As actors, we might imitate their actions, but the grit and courage that they would have shown in real life situations are unfathomable. All thanks to the director Siddharth and Mamta Anand for picking me for the part.”

Recently Akshay posted on Instagram, a picture of himself along with the director Siddharth Anand and co-star Karan Singh Grover to announce his association with the film.

‘Fighter’, which sees Hrithik and Deepika as Air Force pilots, is slated for release on January 25, 2024. The film is said to be shot across the world and will pay tribute to the sacrifice of the country’s armed forces.

He is remembered for uprooting a hand pump in ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’ in 2001, and over two decades later he will be seen lifting a giant wheel in the sequel of the film.

The first look of ‘Gadar 2’ has been unveiled and Sunny and Ameesha Patel are in the leading roles. The film is slated for a 2023 release, directed by Anil Sharma. The first glimpse of the film hints that the movie will be action-packed. In the video, Sunny is seen lifting a giant wheel over his head as he shouts.

‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’ was a blockbuster, it is a partition-time drama that followed the story of Tara Singh, a Sikh who falls in love with a Pakistani Muslim girl Sakina.

‘Vadh’ director Jaspal Singh indicates towards sequel to film ‘KGF’ maker shares ‘Chapter 3’ update, hints another hero could play Rocky Bhai

The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district has advised the Director General of Police (DGP) to get the clippings of ‘Pathaan’ movie song ‘Besharam Rang’, and other obscene contents, removed

Hollywood producer Jason Blum is sure that Indian filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’ will be feted with the Best Film honour at this

director Jaspal Singh Sandhu revealed that there are possibilities of a sequel to the movie as it got

good response from the audience and he also appreciated the work of Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta in the film.

the social media as it was having a ‘detrimental impact on the psyche of adolescents’.

year’s Oscar awards. The founder of Hollywood studio Blumhouse, who has produced Oscar-winning movies such as ‘Get Out’ and horror movies such as

Akshay Oberoi on ‘Fighter’: My character is a tribute to real-life heroes

Actor Utkarsh Sharma, who played Sunny and Ameesha’s son Jeete in the 2001 movie, will be seen

Versace watch,” the source added.

had also allegedly deposited Rs 2 lakh into the account of Singh and later gifted her an LV bag. She was, later on, given Rs 1.5 lakh more.

reprising his role in the sequel as well. Other details of the film are still under wraps.

Irani got an amount of Rs 10 lakh from Chandrasekhar for introducing him to Tamboli, and she gave Rs 1.5 lakh to Tamboli. Later on, Chandrasekhar gave her a Gucci bag and Rs 2 lakh on their first meeting, said sources.