Indian Abroad April 1-15, 2021 by IndianAbroad

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Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

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Vijayan: Left to make a resounding comeback sense the mood of the people.

Exuberant Holi celebrations across Australia even as PM Morrison extends greetings to PM ModiP - Page 7

“From the response that we are getting starting from youth to the senior citizens, it’s quite obvious that we are going to record an electoral victory which would better our performance in 2016,” said Vijayan.

ith just days left for the Kerala assembly polls on April 6, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday expressed confidence that the Left will win with a resounding victory. Speaking to the media as part of his state-wide campaign trip at Kasargode, he said he is able to

International Women’s Day high tea hosted by GOPIO GC - Page 8

Why Holi & politics are losing colour in UP Page 12

Ravishing Fashionistas casting call auditions: “Girls were clothed in confidence and dressed with sass” Page 22

3rd ODI: India hang on to win by 7 runs, clinch series 2-1 - Page 24

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Hasina received the Indian leader at the tarmac of the VVIP terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital at around 11 a.m.

“In my trips across the state, what I could find is that the venue of our meetings gets filled and it’s overflowing and this in itself tells the tale of what April 6 is going to be like. It’s like a wave in favour of the Left,” added Vijayan.

The farmers said that they will not play Holi with colours and rather use soil to celebrate the festival adding that if the farm laws are not withdrawn then they will celebrate Diwali also at the borders of Delhi. Continued on Page 3

India move to 7th position on ICC WC Super League standings their seven-run win over England in the third ODI. The victory helped India seal a 2-1 win over England in the series.

India moved up to seventh position on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League standings after

angladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday received her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and rolled out the red carpet to welcome him on his two-day official visit.

In 2016, for 140 member Kerala Assembly polls, the Left won 91 seats, the Congress-led UDF 47 seats, the BJP-1 and Independent-1.

Farmers burn farm law copies as ‘Holika Dahan’

he farmers, who have been agitating at Delhi borders for the past four months, burnt the copies of the farm laws as part of the ‘Holika Dahan’ celebrations on Sunday and said that the government will have to repeal these laws and make a law on Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Hasina rolls out red carpet for Modi

Despite the loss, England remain the top-ranked team in the standings with 40 points. England have played nine matches in the league out of which they have won four and lost five. India, on the other hand, have played six matches, winning three and losing as many. While England are on 40 points, India are on 29. Continued on Page 24

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The Indian Prime Minister was accorded a guard of honour by a contingent comprising personnel from the Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force at the airport. Several Ministers, State Ministers, and high-ranking civil and military high officials were also present at Continued on Page 19

Indian community rises to the occasion as NSW floods wreak havoc

In the aftermath of the destruction brought about by the recent NSW floods, the Indian community members offered succour to all those who were affected, in an exemplary display of resilience and solidarity with fellow Australians, writes Deepika Banerjee. Torrential rains, which commenced on 18th March, battered the east coast of Australia leading to widespread flooding in New South Wales (NSW) and leaving a trail of destruction from the North Coast to the Sydney metropolitan area with the suburbs of the latter experiencing the worst floods in

the last six decades. In the words of NSW Premier Gladys Berejeklian, it was a “one-in-100-year” flooding. However, the Indian community, which was in the recent past lauded for its tireless relief efforts during the worst phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, once again rose to the occasion and provided much needed aid. Not only did the various community groups offer a generous helping hand but also many individuals opened their homes. Continued on Page 3

Maha, Punj, K’taka major contributors to Covid resurge

ive states -- Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat -- have reported a surge in daily new cases, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

Of the 59,118 new cases reported in

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the last 24 hours through out the country, Maharashtra contributed 35,952, followed by Punjab with 2,661 while Karnataka reported 2,523 new cases -- which comes to 41,136 alone. Continued on Page 5

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

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Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Australian Floods

Indian community rises to the occasion as NSW floods wreak havoc

Farmers’ Stir Farmers burn farm law copies as ‘Holika Dahan’ Continued from Page 1 They had also invited the police personnel from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, deployed at the borders, to join the Holi celebrations. “We will celebrate Holi with the Delhi and UP Police personnel deployed at the border. We will make the necessary arrangements for them and communicate to them asking them to celebrate Holi together,” Tikait told IANS.

Continued from Page 1 Hindu temple keeps doors open despite flooding Arya Samaj Temple which is located in flood-ravaged Shanes Park, Sydney despite being affected by the flood water itself has still kept its gates open for anyone in need of food and shelter. Suresh Chandra, the President of Arya Samaj Temple commented that their temple is inundated with flood water but this has in no way dampened their spirit of helping the community and that the temple community is ready to help and support any individual, who was compelled to evacuate his home, by providing food and shelter. Hindu Benevolent Fund and Karma Kitchen assist SES volunteers Hindu Benevolent Fund and Karma Kitchen members have been assisting and collaborating with the State Emergency Services volunteers of the various affected areas such as Blacktown by distributing food. They even went to the extent of donating a washing machine and dryer to the volunteers so that they could wash their clothes. One of the volunteers remarked that when the whole community is braving a natural disaster then it is crucial that everyone should join the relief efforts, prioritise standing with the community in this hour of need and prove that humanity is the most ideal religion known to mankind. Sikh Volunteers Australia (SVA) cooks hot curries for the flood-affected Members of the Melbourne-based Sikh Volunteers Australia drove 12 hours to reach flood-affected areas such as Oxley Island, Taree and Manning Point to cook fresh meals for the victims who had to evacuate their homes. Some volunteers took time off from their work to lend a helping hand to this

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noble initiative. The community group which was at the forefront in distributing food and other necessary supplies to the most economically-vulnerable community members during the nation-wide Covid-19 lockdown, once again displayed its selflessness by providing freshly cooked vegetarian lunch and dinner to local residents of Oxley Island, Manning Point, Taree and Old Bar who were extremely busy in post-flood cleaning, and also could not cook their own meals due to electricity and gas supplies being shut down. The Oxley Island Hall Committee, on behalf of the beneficiaries of the SVA’s relief efforts, in a bid to show their gratitude, presented written words of appreciation to the SVA team.

residents in the vicinity of his Blacktown home were affected by the floods, he immediately posted on his Facebook account, “Due to current flooding conditions in Penrith and nearby areas, lot of people are getting evacuated. If you or anyone else is in need of accommodation or food, I have three bedrooms available at my house at Blacktown. I am happy to look after your fur babies as well if required. Please feel free to contact me.”

He said, “Whenever there are festivals celebrated at the India-Pakistan border, there are pleasantries exchanged at the border, so why can’t it be done here at the Ghazipur border? If pleasantries are not exchanged, then it will mean that Ghazipur border is more dangerous than Pakistan border. “If all the security forces and police officials do not exchange Holi

pleasantries with them, then we (farmers) will think that the Central government does not want to talk to us. The Delhi Police will be given an invitation to join us for Holi celebrations as they, too, are on police duty away from their homes.”

Bharat Bandh: Agitating farmers block NH-24

Turbans 4 Australia (T4A) deliver essential supplies Another Sikh non-profit organization based in Sydney distributed over 12 tonnes of grocery and other personal care items to the victims of flood in Taree. They have been helped in their benevolent initiative by donations from organisations such as Good360 Australia, an online donation platform and Foodbank Australia, the largest hunger relief organization in Australia. T4A even sent help by a helicopter to Kurrajong residents as succour via road was not possible. Community members offer their homes to victims Many community members took to their social media accounts and through their posts offered assistance to their fellow residents who were unfortunate enough to have been driven out of their homes as the water levels rose alarmingly.

Ankur Patel, a member of Australian Hindu Foundation also posted an appeal on Facebook which read as follows, “Hello Sydneysiders, We are met with yet another challenge in the form of once in 100 years flood event. It’s an ever changing situation and let us all be vigilant and help each other. I live in Marsden Park. If you need shelter, food or any other support, please reach out to me via DM without any hesitation. Prayers for all Sydneysiders to quickly overcome this.”

When Ashish Kumar, Vice-chairperson and Multicultural Ambassador (NSW), Mental Health Foundation Australia, who had previously worked as a volunteer for SES, heard the news that

undreds of farmers on Friday blocked the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur border here as part of their 12-hour Bharat Bandh on the completion of four months of protest over the three contentious farm laws. The farmers blocked the National Highway 24 that connects Delhi with Ghaziabad. The farmers sat on the highway demanding repeal of the three farm laws. Delhi Traffic Police in a tweet said: “Traffic movement is closed on Ghazipur Border NH-24 (Both carriageway), Kindly avoid the stretch.” On Thursday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said that all shops, malls, markets and commercial establishments will remain shut on Friday in view of its ‘Bharat Bandh’ call on completion of four months

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of farmers’ protest at Delhi’s borders against the Centre’s three new farm laws. According to the SKM, the 12-hour bandh will be observed between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. However, ambulances and other essential services will be allowed. The Bharat Bandh called by SKM is being supported by representatives of various farmer organisations, trade unions, student groups, lawyer associations, political parties and state governments. Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi’s borders -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur -- for more than four months, demanding the repeal of farm laws and ensuring MSP of their produce.

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Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Battle for the Assemblies-2021 Kerala HC asks EC to ‘one person Even polls don’t change fortunes ensure votes only once’ of these graffiti artists in TN

ome election time and graffiti artists across Tamil Nadu would be richer with loads of work, but those good old days are gone as far as the graffiti artists of the southern state are concerned this time.

John Samuel, a graffiti artist in Coimbatore, told IANS, “We used to get a lot of work during elections and that was the time when we settled all our financial commitments, but now we are short of work. There are two reasons behind this -- firstly, the technological advancement and use of social media, and secondly, the Model Code of Conduct in Tamil Nadu which prevents graffiti campaigns on walls in urban areas. We now have to scout for villages. It’s less work and we are hard pressed.” Samuel (48) has been in the business of wall graffiti since the past 25 years and has a small studio at the Avinashi road in Coimbatore. However, he said that he

is now slowly migrating to social media campaigns to survive in the industry. The electoral officer of Tamil Nadu has banned wall paintings and graffitis in the urban centres of the state, leading to lesser work for the artists.Muruganandan, a graffiti artist at Egmore, is also having a tough time. “We were expecting good work as lots of political parties are now in the fray, including the AIADMK, DMK, BJP, MNM, AMMK,

DMDK and several other parties, but the work flow is less and its mainly owing to the Election Commission’s order banning wall graffitis in the urban areas.” Muruganandan, however, said that he is going to the rural areas of Tamil Nadu along with his fellow workers where they have managed to get some small work which will help them survive the tide.

TN parties woo voters from border towns of Kerala

n an interim order, the Kerala High Court on Monday asked the Election Commission to ensure that a voter in the state votes only once. The interim order came after the court heard the petition of Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala after he approached the court seeking its immediate intervention in the “fraudulent” voters list for the April 6 Assembly polls. When this petition came up last week, the court directed the chief electoral officer to come with a detailed explanation on this serious issue. The Chief Electoral Officer on Monday informed the court that they were in the process of seriously looking into this issue and a clear picture on this would emerge by Monday evening. Following this the court passed an interim order asking the election officials to ensure that a voter be allowed to vote only once and

posted the case for further hearing on Tuesday. Chennithala’s public interest litigation, according to him, was a forced one as he had approached the Chief Electoral Officer, in the state five times with a complaint that there are over four lakh fraudulent voters in the 140 Assembly constituencies, having their names in multiple constituencies. He has been releasing the details of this ‘duplication’ in the past week in various constituencies that he has been touring. Chennithala in his petition has demanded all such people, who have multiple identity cards, should not be allowed to vote and action under the Indian Penal Code and the Peoples Representation Act should be taken against all the government officials who played a role in issuing such fake cards. Kerala goes to the polls on April 6 to elect 140 legislators.

BJP expels 7 more leaders for contesting against party candidates

T T

he parties in Tamil Nadu engaged in fierce electoral battles are mulling new options to stay afloat and clinch victories. One such instance is that several families in the bordering Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu also cast their votes in the Palakkad district of Kerala. It will be a tough four-cornered fight in Coimbatore South constituency this time with actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan being the major attraction of the constituency. Vanathi Srinivasan, the National president of the BJP’s Women Wing is contesting for this Assembly seat

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in the coalition of AIADMK-BJP-PMK combine, while Mayura Jayakumar is contesting on a Congress ticket in alliance with the DMK and the former MLA R. Doraiswamy is contesting as an AMMK candidate.

votes. If we give them good offers, they will come and vote for us.”

With several voters in the borders adjoining Kerala having twin votes in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the cash-rich political parties in Tamil Nadu are appeasing voters at Kerala borders with freebies.

V. Sasi, Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, while speaking to IANS said, “The voters of Kerala are politically conscious and I don’t think that they will go to Tamil Nadu for some freebies. We are trying our best that they vote here itself as we are also engaged in a tough electoral battle.”

A senior leader of a political party in Tamil Nadu requesting annonymity while speaking to IANS said,”Yes we are speaking to the people across the border in Kerala and several people have twin

In a similar vein, parties in Kerala are wooing the voters travelling across the border to exercise franchise in Tamil Nadu.

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he ruling BJP in Assam on Sunday expelled seven more leaders from the party for six years for contesting as Independent candidates against the party’s official candidates after being denied tickets, party sources said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had earlier this month expelled 15 leaders, including former Deputy Speaker Dilip Kumar Paul, from the party for six years for filing nominations as Independents after being denied party ticket. A BJP statement on Sunday said that the state party president Ranjeet Kumar Dass has expelled the seven leaders for six years with immediate effect for contesting as Independents against the party’s nominated candidates. Another sitting legislator Shiladitya Dev had resigned from the

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party earlier this month after being denied tickets to contest the Assembly polls. However, following the persuasion of Minister and senior party leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, Dev, an RSS ideologue, subsequently announced he would campaign for the party. The ruling party had this time also denied party tickets to 10 sitting legislators and Minister Sum Ronghang, who later joined the Congress, and was made its candidate from his Diphu constituency. Of Assam’s 126 seats, the BJP is contesting 92 seats, giving 26 seats to its old ally Asom Gana Parishad and 8 seats to new partner United People’s Party Liberal. Polls in Assam would be held in three phases.

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Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Covid Resurge in India

Maha, Punj, K’taka major contributors to Covid resurge Continued from Page 1 India’s total active caseload continued to rise after touching its lowest mark in mid-February. It stands at 4.21 lakh (4,21,066) on Friday. A net incline of 25,874 cases was recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours. Three states -- Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab together account for 73.64 per cent of the total active cases in the country. India’s cumulative recoveries stand at 1,12,64,637 as on the day. The national recovery rate is 95.09 per cent. A total of 32,987 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours.

While 257 people lost their battle against the pandemic in the last 24 hours.

Six states account for 78.6 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra reported 111 casualties, followed by Punjab with 43. So far, 5.55 crore doses of corona vaccines have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for ‘Covishield’ and ‘Covaxin’. Now, those over 45 years of age will also get Covid-19 vaccine from April 1, irrespective of the co-morbidities, the central government has announced.

12B doses of Covid vax could be available this year: Study vaccine nationalism, our work highlights that manufacturing and supply issues remain the critical barriers. There is very little transparency in the landscape, so it is difficult for country leaders to assess the feasibility of delivery schedules or to understand the risks and contingencies.”

ew data on Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing and supply capacity indicate up to 12 billion doses from 13 different sources could be available by the end of the year, enough to vaccinate 70 per cent of the world if distributed equitably. However, an assessment from the Duke Global Health Innovation Center Launch and Scale Speedometer program continues to show an astonishing gap between wealthy countries and low- and middle-income countries in terms of who controls the lion’s share of vaccines. The analysis also finds that countries at all income levels cannot adequately assess and act to minimize risks of supply disruption. This is due to a rapidly shifting landscape in which they see manufacturing capacity and supply projections abruptly expanding or contracting on a daily basis. The research is the most detailed analysis to date of the most ambitious vaccine development and immunization effort the world has ever seen. The data provides a detailed breakdown of 2021 vaccine purchases by country and developer; the supplies antici-

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India reports over 68K Covid cases, highest surge since Oct

pated from each vaccine maker through the end of the year; and the many manufacturing partners around the world stepping in to provide bulk production and “fill-finish” capacity -- filling and packaging vials of vaccine, which is often a bottleneck in the vaccine supply chain. “Covid-19 vaccine access remains a lopsided issue as wealthy countries have now purchased about 4.6 billion doses, with 1.2 billion of those controlled by the United States alone for its 330 million citizens, compared to one billion for the COVAX pact supplying several billion people in low- and middle-income countries,” said Krishna Udayakumar, Director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center. “There are new developments that could push overall supplies for 2021 to 12 billion doses, and if distributed equally, that would be more than enough to vaccinate 70 per cent of the world’s population, the threshold for herd immunity,” said Andrea Taylor, who leads research on Covid-19 vaccines for the Launch and Scale Speedometer program. “But alongside the challenge of

The analysis from the Launch and Scale Speedometer program is based on an aggregation of a wide assortment of publicly available data. However, Taylor said the lack of data on a number of issues, such as the capacity of the many new partners now stepping in to provide bulk manufacturing and fill and finish work, makes it difficult to give decision makers a clear picture of current and future vaccine supply. She called for a new effort to “crowdsource” data from public and private sources to address gaps that could delay decisions to expand manufacturing capacity and limit insights into precisely when vaccines will be available in different regions. For example, the analysis shows that the African Union and Africa CDC have procured 670 million doses for African countries that would be in addition to what they will receive from COVAX, the global multilateral alliance to procure and allocate vaccines more equitably. Taylor said uncertainties around financing and production capacity make it hard to predict whether those doses would arrive in the second half of 2021 or sometime in 2022.

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ndia recorded 68,020 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far this year, taking the nationwide Covid-19 tally to 1,20,39,644, Union Health Ministry’s data showed on Monday. Registering a steady increase for the 19th day in row, the active cases have increased to 5,21,808 comprising 4.33 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 94.32 per cent. The 68,020 new cases reported in a span of 24 hours are the highest since October 2020, while the death toll increased to 1,61,843 with 291 daily new fatalities. The number of people who have recovered from the disease surged to 1,13,55,993, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.34 per cent, the data stated. India fought through the first wave Other uncertainties include plans for broader distribution of vaccines from China’s CanSino Biologics and the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute. The available data indicate that projected manufacturing capacity for each of these vaccines may not be sufficient to contribute significantly to immunizations beyond China or Russia. However, at least for Sputnik V, there are several contracts with non-Russian manufacturers under consideration and a pending application for an Emergency Use Listing (EUL) from the World Health Organization. The EULs have the potential to greatly expand supplies, which could help address shortfalls for low-income countries. But Taylor said there is no data to accurately assess how many doses might be available and where and when.

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of infection six months ago and recorded a highest single-day spike of 93,617 cases on September 16. The highest number of deaths recorded in a day were 1,169 on September 15. According to the ICMR, 24,18,64,161 samples have been tested up to March 28 with 9,13,319 samples being tested on Sunday. Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu continued to show high daily new cases, the Health Ministry said. The Centre has advised high-burden states and Union territories to take stringent measures for containment of the surge. So far, 6.05 crore doses of corona vaccine have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for ‘Covishield’ and ‘Covaxin’. Meanwhile, lurking in the background of the vaccine equity issue is the potential for new variants that have at least a limited capacity to evade immune responses to render certain vaccines clearly superior to others. For example, the Launch and Scale Speedometer data indicate that, for at least the rest of 2021, the vast majority of vaccine doses from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna appear to be headed to wealthy countries. By comparison, of the 670 million doses procured by the African Union, 500 million are for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Astra-Zeneca is also a key supplier to COVAX and, outside of the pact, the Launch and Scale Speedometer data show the company has large purchasing agreements with a number of low- and middle-income countries.

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Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

PM Modi in Bangladesh Hasina rolls out red carpet for Modi Continued from Page 1

while President Md Abdul Hamid will attend as chief guest.

From the airport, he visited the National Memorial in Savar where he paid rich tributes to the victims of the Liberation War of Bangladesh to commemorate country’s 50th Independence Day.

A family member of Father of the Nation will also speak on the occasion.

the airport.

From Savar, he will go to the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum and lay wreath at the portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen will call on Modi at the Presidential Suite of the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel at 3.30 p.m. Modi will then attend celebratory events at the National Parade Ground as Guest of Honour where he he is slated to deliver a speech. Hasina will preside over the event

there and sign the visitors’ book.

After his visit to the Bangabandhu Mausoleum Complex, Modi will reach Orakandi Thakurbari and offer prayers at the Matua temple.

After the Parade Ground programme, the two Prime Ministers will inaugurate the Bangabandhu-Bapu exhibition at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) that will showcase the life and legacies of the two great leaders.

Modi will pay tribute to Harichand Thakur (1812-1878), the founder of the Matua community.

On Saturday, Modi will leave Dhaka for Shyamnagar in Satkhiraand visit Jeshoreshwari Temple, dedicated to the Goddess Kali.

Upon his return from Gopalganj, the Indian Prime Minister will arrive at the Prime Minister’s Office and hold talks which will be followed by delegation’s level meeting.

Modi will then visit Tungipara in Gopalganj to pay homage to Father of the Nation at Bangabandhu Mausoleum Complex. He is scheduled to plant a sapling

Orakandi is the holiest place for more than five crore people of Matua community living in Bangladesh and Indian state of West Bengal.

The two Prime Ministers will virtually inaugurate different projects and witness signing of agreements.

PM Modi made us glorified with his presence during pandemic: Hasina Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday expressed her gratitude to her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, saying the government of India always stands by Bangladesh through thick and thin. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Dhaka on Friday on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to attend the celebrations of the country’s 50th year of liberation from Pakistan and the 100th birth anniversary of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Sheikh Hasina. “I’d like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Modi Ji and the people of India,” Hasina said. On the last day of the 10-day celebrations to mark the country’s 50th year of liberation from Pakistan, Modi and Hasina enjoyed the music of legendary classical vocalist Pandit Ajoy Chakravarty at the National Parade Square in Dhaka, along with the President of Bangladesh, Abdul Hamid, and others. Hasina said, “The Prime Minister of India made us glorified with his priceless presence in this pandemic period. The people of Bangladesh are grateful to Modi Ji and the people of India, who served the most for the people of Bangladesh in 1971.” Hasina added that India must play a leading role in building a politically and economically prosperous South Asia. “We can make this region a hunger-free, poverty-free zone. We will achieve the goal set by the UN by 2031,” she said.

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Modi gifts 109 ambulances, 12L doses vaccine dose to B’desh

ndia on Friday gifted 109 ambulances and 12 lakh Covid-19 vaccine doses to Bangladesh, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi handing over the keys of the ambulances to his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh and India on Saturday signed five MoUs at a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in Dhaka. In addition, several projects were also inaugurated during the concluding day of Modi’s twoday visit to Bangladesh. The Indian Prime Minister had arrived in Dhaka on Friday on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to attend the celebrations of the country’s 50th year of liberation from Pakistan and the 100th birth anniversary of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Sheikh Hasina. On Saturday, Modi and Hasina also

virtually inaugurated the ‘Mitali Express’, a passenger train between Dhaka and New Jalpaiguri in India. The railway officials at the Dhaka Cantonment Station said that the train will run two days in a week as of now. On Mondays and Thursdays, the train will run on the Dhaka Cantonment-Chilahati-New Jalpaiguri route, while on Sundays and Wednesdays, the train will run on the New Jalpaigurui-Chilahati-Dhaka Cantonment route. The two leaders also inaugurated four projects virtually after witnessing the signing of the MoUs by representatives of the two governments at Hasina’s office on Saturday evening. The Bangladesh Prime Minister welcomed Modi at her office at 5 pm where the leaders held a meeting involving senior officials of both the countries.

B’desh is strong example of communal harmony: Modi

“I am grateful to India for nominating Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for the prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize in 2019. India is our friendly neighbour, and the two countries share a long standing relationship. The government of India had provided all kinds of assistance to the people of Bangladesh who took refuge there to save their lives from the atrocity, rape and arson of the Pakistani army in 1971. The Indian government and its people gave shelter, served food and assured medical help to around 1 million helpless people from Bangladesh,” she said. ”In 1971, many army officers from India shed their blood for the independence of Bangladesh. I respectfully remember their contributions. India’s cooperation will never be forgotten. I’m personally grateful to the people and government of India. After all my family members were killed during the war, I was at my husband’s workplace in Germany with my sister and children. I had lost everyone. There was no arrangement to

stay in that country. At that time, then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi and Yugoslav leader Marshal Tito gave us shelter,” Hasina said. The Bangladesh premier also appreciated the policies of Modi, and his slogan “Neighbours first and foremost”, saying that Bangladesh receiving 2 million Covid vaccine doses from India establishes this principle. With the inauguration of the Maitri Bridge, India will now be able to use the Chittagong Port and Mongla Port, Hasina assured to Modi. “May Bangladesh-India friendship be long-lasting for all kinds of cooperation,” she said. Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid said, “During my stay in India for nine months during the liberation war in 1971, I myself witnessed how the government of India and its people gave shelter to 10 million people and refugees from Bangladesh. I hope all the unresolved issues will be settled soon. Bangladesh is always grateful to India.”

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isiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that Bangladesh is a strong example of communal harmony, adding that New Delhi will deeply cooperate with Dhaka “all the time”. He made the remarks while addressing members of the Matua community in Gopalganj district following his visit to the Orakandi temple.

The temple is considered to be the holiest place for more than five crore people of the Matua community, founded by Harichand Thakur, living in Bangladesh and Indian state of West Bengal. “I’m blessed to come to this holy land of Orakandi. It is because of the blessings of Orakandi Thakur. When I first visited Bangladesh in 2015, I hoped that someday I will be able to come here. My wish has been fulfilled today. “We are moving forward through the way directed by Harichand Thakur and his son GuruChand Thakur,” the Prime Minister said. “Joy Bangla, Joy Hind, Bharat-Bangladesh moitry chirojibi hok.” Modi also met members of the Thakur family.

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Before visiting Orakandi, he paid homage at paid to Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by visiting his mausoleum in Tungipara, also in Gopalganj. He arrived in Tungipara aboard a helicopter after offering morning prayers at the Jeshoreshwari Kali temple in Satkhira district. Modi is the first Indian head of state to visit Tungipara. The Indian head of state arrived in Dhaka on Friday on a two-day visit and attended the twin celebrations of the country’s 50 years of independence and Bangabandhu’s birth centenary. Later in the day, Hasina and Modi are set to have substantive discussions with focus on trade, connectivity and Covid-19 cooperation.

HOLI AUSTRALIA

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Exuberant Holi celebrations across Australia even as PM Morrison extends greetings to PM Modi vices.

Gold Coast festival of colours Holi The Great lawn in Broadwater Parklands, Gold Coast served as the venue for one of the biggest Holi celebrations in Australia on March 28, 2021 from 9.00 am to 3.00 pm. Apart from getting covered and splashed with colours, the visitors were also entertained by various cultural programmes. The event was also a gastronomic delight as the food stalls at the venue not only offered iced tea and ice creams but also several savoury Indian dishes and intercontinental cuisines. Knox Holika Dahan and Hindu food festival 2021

Gold Coast festival of colours celebrations in full swing

The Indian festival of colours, Holi which fell on 29th March this year is being celebrated across different venues in Australia with festivities commencing on 26th March and more celebrations are on the cards till the first week of April. Prime Minister Scott Morrison extended his heartfelt wishes to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian diaspora in Australia on the delightful occasion of Holi. In his video message on his Twitter account, he also praised India for doing a tremendous job as part of the Quad and in making vaccines which are playing a vital role in combating the health crisis. He ended the video saying ‘Holi ki shubhkamnaye’ which means “Best wishes and greetings on the occasion of Holi”. In a special message to the Indian community in Australia, he wrote, “Holi is a story with ancient origins- a timeless festival that draws Indian families and communities together around the world.” According to the Hindu calendar, on the full-moon day of Phalgun month, Holika Dahan is celebrated and the following day people play Holi with colours. Holi is celebrated all across India with reasons varying from place to place. Although what is common in Holi is that it marks the beginning of spring in India and signifies the triumph of good over evil. PM Morrison’s buoyant wishes for Holi this year and a hope for a healthy future were echoed by the Indian community members across Australia as they congregated in plethora of venues to play with colours and enlivened the spirit of Holi which commemorates the idea of bolstering solidarity and amicability as well as brings forth the victory of virtues over

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The Cultural Diversity Week which was being celebrated in Knox culminated with the Holika Dahan and Hindu food festival on March 28, 2021 which was held from 4.00 pm to 7.30 pm at Shree Swaminarayan Temple Melbourne in Dinsdale Ward, Knox. Councillor for Dinsdale Ward, Sorina Grasso also joined the celebrations where she was welcomed with open arms and given an introduction to the temple. She also enjoyed some of the delicacies on offer.

Holi celebrations with full fervour at Melbourne Holi Festival at Birrarung Marr

Melbourne Holi Festival 2021 Birrarung Marr playground in Melbourne was the ideal venue for fun, frolic and dancing that is inextricably linked with Holi festivities. The event was a two-day affair lasting from March 27 to March 28. The wonderful sight of the sea of humanity swathed in vibrant hues swaying to Bollywood chartbusters was worth beholding thus dispelling the gloom which had for so long descended over Australia due to the terror unleashed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Point Cook Bolly Holi Picnic park, Point Cook in Victoria also saw many enthusiastic community members gathering together to play the festival of colours this year from 11.00 am to 8.30 pm. The lineup of programs included a rangoli competition from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm; Holi DJ dance party from 12.30 pm to 3.00 pm- the most awaited event of the day, followed by cultural performances and Bolly Dance workshop from 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm and, ending with the airing of the hit Bollywood movie - 3 Idiots from 5.30 pm onwards.

Holi festivities at Point Cook Bolly Holi

Balam Pichkari Neon Holi Cruise party The Balam Pichkari Neon Holi Cruise party which was held on March 26 was a one of its kind neon colours and glow light themed party on board a luxury cruise with two decks and rooftop. The boarding commenced at 8.00 pm from King Street wharf with

Sorina Grasso (middle), Councillor for Dinsdale Ward, Knox City Council at Knox Holika Dahan and Hindu food festival 2021 the party lasting for well over four hours. The event featured DJs with

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Bollywood and retro music; a night cruise and an evening to be the

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part of the most hyped party of Sydney.

AUSTRALIA

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

International Women’s Day high tea hosted by GOPIO GC

n Sunday the 14th of March GOPIO GC hosted their annual International Women’s Day event at the prestigious RACV Royal Pines Resort. The event was attended by over 60 participants who enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of networking,

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sharing experiences, discussing challenges facing women and celebrating each other’s success over a delicious high tea and bubbly. GOPIO GC had invited 3 very inspirational VIP speakers who shared their personal journeys and experiences that led them to where

they are today. The speakers were Mrs Vahini Panda, Dr Tanya Chaithanya Unni and Ms. Parvin Balsara. They each spoke on what they #choosetochallenge to allow personal and professional growth, keeping with the global theme of International Women’s Day.

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The afternoon got more exciting for the ladies as raffle prizes worth over $1000 were drawn and finished off with photography and mingling. The participants walked away having built many contacts and friendships in the community. The event was a big success in

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promoting positivity and encouraging women to reach out for support to connect together socially and professionally. The GOPIO GC International Women’s Day High Tea was sponsored by Gaura Travels and Way2Wealth Advisers.

AUSTRALIA

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Victoria to resume receiving international arrivals

ustralia’s Victoria will resume receiving international arrivals from April 8, nearly six weeks after the state banned international flights due to cases detected at quarantine hotel that triggered a five-day lockdown.

Rare waterfalls form on iconic Uluru after heavy rain

The state will start from an arrival cap of 800 people per week and scale up to 1,120 people per week subject to capacity and the completion of ventilation works, according to announcement by the state’s Acting Premier James Merlino on Thursday. The state government said the decision was made after independent expert reviews into the management of new, highly-infectious and rapidly changing variants of concern, and an evaluation into how each hotel ventilation system can respond to this ever-changing virus. “The challenges of this virus will be with us for some time to come, that’s why we’ve listened to the advice of experts and made the necessary changes to ensure we’re keeping Victorians safe,” Merlino said in his announcement.

The state also made several improvements to the existing hotel quarantine system, including developing a new Victorian standard for ventilation systems and upgrading hotels where necessary to comply with the standard. Testing of hotel residents will be boosted from two to four times during their quarantine period, with follow up tests recommended after quarantine, based on medical advice. Professional hygienist physician

and a team of engineers and other specialists will conduct room-byroom assessments on quarantine hotel ventilation. According to the state government, more than 4,150 frontline quarantine workers already received jab of the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccination, and the rollout of the second dose is underway. The state has marked 27 days since its last case of local transmission.

Brisbane on alert after rare local Covid transmission

ourists have flocked to Uluru or the Ayers Rock, the sacred Aboriginal site in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT), to get a glimpse of rare waterfalls on the iconic rock after heavy rainfall. The Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park recorded about 50 mm of downpour over the weekend, almost one sixth of its average yearly rainfall, reports Xinhua news agency. The deluge caused waterfalls to cascade down the sacred rock, attracting tourists in droves, according to The Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In a post on social media, national park rangers described the phenomenon as a “unique and extraordinary weather event”. “Rainwater on the rock’s surface causes it to change colour,” it said. “From dark burgundy to shining silver and even black, every side of Uluru takes a different shade, making this spectacle a photographer’s delight. “Following the rain, desert plants bloom and many animals emerge

to mate and feed,” it added. Hundreds of native frogs and insects have emerged from deep in the sand where they seek relief from scorching Outback heat. “There are actually four species of frogs in the park which are well adapted to desert life. They bury themselves deep in the sand at a depth where the temperature is constant,” the rangers said. “When the rain is heavy enough to soak down to where they have burrowed, they know that the waterholes and creeks are full. They will then emerge, often in vast numbers, to breed. After breeding they bloat themselves full of water and bury themselves below the sand again.” Uluru is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site and was named earlier this month as the world’s third best places to see by international travel guide Lonely Planet. It is also considered to be a place of spiritual significance by its indigenous custodians, the Anangu people.

Aus PM’s approval rating falls amid sexism crisis

ustralia’s third-largest city of Brisbane is on high alert following a rare case of local Covid-19 transmission revealed by authorities on Friday.

Palaszczuk said the case shouldn’t cause alarm, but was a timely reminder of the importance of continuing to practice good hygiene and social distancing.

It is the first locally acquired case reported in Australia in over a week, with most states gradually rolling back restrictions to near pre-pandemic levels, reports Xinhua news agency.

“We absolutely want people, especially over the next 2-3 days, to come forward and get tested if you are feeling unwell and you have symptoms,” Palaszczuk said.

A 26-year-old man tested positive on Thursday, and he was potentially infected while in the community since March 19. Queensland Premier Annastacia

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Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said it was not known how the man contracted the disease and that genomic sequencing was being conducted to determine the source.

“We don’t know where this virus is next going to pop up but as I’ve always said if we can find the first case in a cluster, not the fortieth, we’ll be able to get on top of it much more quickly,” Young said. Young urged residents to abide by the Covid-19 restrictions still in place in Queensland including allowing one person per two square meters for indoor venues. “If you are in that vulnerable cohort, maybe stay at home for the next three days until we understand exactly what is happening here,” she added.

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he approval rating of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has fallen to a 12-month low amid allegations of misogyny and harassment in the government, a new poll revealed on Monday.

According to the latest Newspoll published by The Australian newspaper, Morrison’s approval rating has fallen from 62 per cent in midMarch to 55 per cent, while the percentage of voters dissatisfied with his performance rose from 34 per cent to 40 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency. It marks the first time in more than a year that Morrison’s approval

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rating has fallen below 60 per cent. The opposition Labor Party leads Morrison’s coalition 52-48 on a two-party preferred basis. However, Morrison has maintained a comfortable lead over Labor leader Anthony Albanese. Fifty-two per cent of respondents to the poll identified Morrison as the better leader, down from 56 per cent earlier in March, compared to 32 per cent for Albanese. The poll was taken as Morrison faced severe backlash over his response to the sexual assault crisis that has engulfed the federal government.

INDIA

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Desperate for alcohol, 3 brothers SC slams Army for die after drinking sanitiser in MP ‘indirect discrimination’ they thought it would give them a high but they died after drinking it.

of women officers

According to the police, Bhura and Parvat were found lying on the footpath. Bhura was rushed to the hospital where doctors declared him dead while Parvat died on the footpath. The body of the third brother Ram Prasad was found at a room in Jinsi area.

raving for alcohol, three brothers in Bhopal allegedly died by consuming sanitiser, the police said. According to information received by the police, three brothers -Parvat Ahirwar (55), Ram Prasad Ahirwar (50) and Bhura Ahirwar (47) -- were addicted to alcohol. Ram Prasad, who used to paint homes for a living, lived in Jahangirabad, while the other two

brothers used to work as labourers in the same locality. According to the police, there was complete prohibition at liquor shops on Sunday owing to Covid restrictions and the three brothers could not arrange alcohol from anywhere. On Monday, the brothers brought a five-litre can of sanitiser and tried to satiate their craving for alcohol. The sanitiser contained alcohol so

According to Additional Superintendent of Police Rajesh Bhadoria, a case of death involving three brothers has come to light and a five-litre sanitiser can recovered from them. Initial investigations indicate they had died after drinking a hand sanitiser. The police are investigating the case. Earlier, three people had died in state capital Bhopal by consuming sanitiser. In the Govindpura police station area, a minor had imbibed sanitiser along with his sister-inlaw and another relative. All three died in the incident.

‘Burqa’ is an evil custom, says UP Minister

fter objecting to ‘azaan’, Uttar Pradesh Minister Anand Swarup Shukla has now said the Muslim women will be ‘freed’ from the practice of wearing ‘burqa’, which he described as an evil custom and compared it to the banned triple talaq.

A day earlier, the minister had written to the Ballia district magistrate, complaining that he is facing difficulties in discharging his duties due to loudspeakers at mosques and said the volume should be fixed according to the court orders. “Muslim women will be freed from ‘burqa’ like triple talaq. There will come a time when they will get rid of it. There are many Muslim countries where ‘burqa’ is banned,” Shukla told reporters.

Shukla, the Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs minister, said ‘burqa’ is ‘inhuman and evil custom’ and added that those with progressive thinking are shunning it and not pressing for its use. Commenting on his letter to the district magistrate in which he raised objection to the volume of loudspeakers at the mosque near his house, the minister said that those having problems should dial ‘112’ and inform police about it, adding if proper steps are not taken, he will decide further course of action.

“Namaz is offered five times in a day, and throughout the day. As a result of it, I face problems in doing Yoga, meditation, puja (worship)

Mujesh Debbarma (29) and his relative Samaresh Debbarma (41) have cultivated four varieties of apple on a hilly terrain measuring a little over one hectare in Borkur Bari tribal village in western Tripura’s Sepahijala district. Mujesh said that the apples from their gardens are expected to hit the market for the first time in

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A bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud held that Army’s selective ACR evaluation and late implementation of Shape 1 criterion discriminates and disproportionately affects women officers, who have sought PC.

The apex court was directing the Centre to consider granting permanent commission (PC) to women army officers, within a month and allow PC within 2 months after following due process.

The top court criticized the Army for indirectly discriminating against women short service commission officers by denying them PC, and cited that women officers who brought laurels for country in different fields have been ignored.

In February, in a landmark verdict last year, the top court had directed that women officers in the Army be granted permanent commission at par with their male counterparts. Sixty women officers moved the top court stating that they were denied PC in the Army on the ground of failure to adhere to Shape- I fitness. and discharging government duties,” Shukla had said in the letter, referring to the Kajipura Madina Masjid in his constituency.

Pushed by Covid crisis, 2 tribal youths grow apples in Tripura it by the financial crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, two tribal youths in Tripura have scripted a ‘fruitful’ story hither to unheard in the northeastern state -- growing apples of a different variety.

he Supreme Court on Thursday said “the structures of our society has been created by males for males”, and “equality will be farce” if change does not occur and women get equal opportunity.

by the ‘Apple Man’ of Himachal Pradesh, Hariman Sharma, can be grown in low altitudes and is suited to a relatively warm climate. Still, growing apples in the northeast remains a rare phenomenon. According to the officials of the Tripura Horticulture Department, the duo’s efforts have unfolded a new chapter in apple cultivation,

The Army said medical category has been applied by taking age-related factors into account. However, the top court observed that women officers were given symbolic equality and Shape-1 medical criteria cannot be applied to the women officers 10 years later.

not just in Tripura, but in the entire northeastern region comprising eight states. “During the lockdown, we saw some videos on YouTube of growing hybrid varieties of apple in Rajasthan. Then we thought if apples can be grown in Rajasthan in high tropical atmosphere, why not in Tripura?

June-July this year.

“If we are able to do some business, we would extend the apple cultivation to more areas,” Mujesh told IANS. Mujesh and Samaresh first started cultivating the HRMN-99 variety of apple during the lockdown last year. Subsequently, they procured saplings of three more varieties from Kolkata by spending around Rs 2 lakh. Unlike most apples which grow in areas that receive substantial snowfall, the HRMN-99 variety, a special type of apple developed

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INDIA

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Pandavas built a good brand; their Maha’s ‘Lady Singham’ unethical acts during Kurukshetra found dead, suicide note ‘accuses Sr forest officer’ war overlooked: Jaishankar On several occasions in the past, Dipali had complained about Shivkumar to his senior, MTR Field Director, M.S. Reddy (IFS), who reportedly ignored her pleas and ostensibly sided with the accused DCF.

rawing a parallel between the Pandavas in the Mahabharata and brand building as an exercise in statecraft, Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday said that the Pandavas spent their lifetime in building a brand, which enabled them to be perceived as ethical characters despite orchestrating some deviant strategies to win the epic war.

Dipali had highlighted Shivkumar’s alcoholism, using abusive or foul language at her in public and private, making advances and dropping hints to get physical.

Speaking at a virtual discussion related to his new book ‘The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World’ organised by the International Centre, Goa, Jaishankar also said that delivering Covid-19 vaccines to other needy countries, was an act of a good and smart foreign policy on part of India. “A lot of traditions and accounts of politics, focus a lot on outcomes and basically how to kind of play around with the roles, play short cuts, deceive and there is a premium put on deception. You know you are smart, because you fool the others,” Jaishankar said. “Now my point is, that works up to a point. You become a serial deviator from the norms and rules. At some stage people are going to figure it out. The point I make about the Pandavas is... look, they spent their whole life building (a) brand. At the end of the day, finally it is not that they do not do bad things, or did not do things which were not ethically or conventionally or morally correct,” Jaishankar said. The External Affairs minister said

I that many characters in the Sage Vyas’ epic like Dronacharya, Bhishma, Karna and Duryodhana were killed by the Pandavas using devious means, but because of the Pandavas’ overall track-record of being ethical and just, such deviations were overlooked through history. “Dronacharya was killed when he had put down his weapons, Bhishma was killed by putting a woman upfront, knowing that he would not shoot back. Karna was killed while digging out a chariot wheel from the ground... Finally, Duryodhan was killed by being hit below the belt,” Jaishankar said. “At the end of the day, because their record was good, they were

seen as the more ethical party. The deviations... well it’s ok, sometimes you know people do these things, whereas if you make that a practice, you do not get that latitude. The world will not give you the same degree of understanding. That is why I said, being morally good, ethically good, definitely has its own value, but it also is a smarter way of doing politics,” the Foreign Minister said. Commenting on India’s foreign policy initiative of providing Covid-19 vaccines to other countries, Jaishankar said: “I think for a country like ours, to say, ‘I am vaccinating our people, but I will help others who may not have access to vaccines’... I think it is good, it is also smart”.

Man dies after acid attack by girlfriend

n a shocking incident, a young woman attacked her boyfriend with acid after she learnt that he was getting married to another woman.

Thursday when the woman called him home on the pretext of fixing a ceiling fan.

The incident took place on Thursday evening in the Khandari area under Hari Parwat police station in Agra.

The woman, identified as Sonam, also sustained burn injuries while throwing acid on him. She is undergoing treatment in the hospital.

The man, Devendra Rajput, 28, died of severe burn injuries in the hospital. According to reports, the couple fell in love while working in a private lab and were living together in a rented house. The man’s marriage had been fixed elsewhere by his family and this angered the woman. The man had gone to work on

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She threw acid on him when he was fixing ceiling fan in the house.

n a shocking incident, a 28-yearold female Range Forest Officer posted in the Melghat Tiger Reserve (MRT) in Amravati, committed suicide after alleging sexual harassment and torture at the hands of an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, in a purported suicide note, officials said here on Friday. The young woman RFO, (Mrs.) Dipali Chavan-Mohite, 28, shot herself at her official quarters in the Harisal village near the tiger reserve with her service revolver and succumbed on the spot, late on Thursday. Her blood-splattered body with the gun was recovered later by relatives and colleagues. A no-nonsense and tough officer, famous as ‘Lady Singham’ for her dare-devilry against the forest mafias, Dipali’s husband Rajesh Mohite is working as a Treasury Officer in Chikhaldhara, while her mother had gone to her native Satara when she resorted to the extreme step. Earlier Friday, Dipali’s family refused to take over her body for the last rites till the Amravati Police nabbed the accused named in her suicide note, sending shockwaves in the forestry circles across the state. Acting swiftly, the Amravati police went after the Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Vinod Shivkumar, who figured in Dipali’s 4-page suicide note, with an earnest plea that strict action should be taken against him so that nobody else should suffer her ordeal. An IFS officer, Shivkumar, was detained at the Nagpur railway station when he was waiting to board a train to Bengaluru and was being brought to Amravati for further formalities.

Devendra’s family members, who rushed to Agra from Kasganj, alleged that Sonam was behind the acid attack on their son. Superintendent of Police Agra, B.R. Pramod, said that a case has been registered on the complaint of the deceased’s parents.

Among other things, she has mentioned how Shivkumar, abused his position, harassed her sexually and inflicted mental trauma on her continuously since the past few months.

“Investigation is on to find out the reasons behind the acid attack by the woman,” he said.

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However, as she repeatedly rebuffed him, she earned his wrath in the form of difficult assignments, punishing work schedules, abuses, and once even holding back her salary for a month. Married in 2020 and pregnant, in early-February, Shivkumar had compelled Dipali to accompany him on a gruelling 3-day forest patrol, walking or driving hundreds of kms ignoring her maternal condition, a colleague close to her told IANS on condition of anonymity. Consequently, upon return from the forest ordeal, she suffered a miscarriage and was in deep depression and recovered with the loving care of her single-mother Shakuntala Chavan, who rushed to Amravati from Satara, he added. Living up to her honest and upright image, around five years ago, in her official vehicle, Dipali displayed huge courage by chasing a gang of forest smugglers which was escaping by a train to Madhya Pradesh. At the next station she intercepted the gang trying to smuggle out over five tonnes of a valuable jungle produce ‘lac’, arrested them, seized the consignment, and brought them back to Maharashtra. Dreaded by local mafias out to steal forest produce or poach big and small animals, Dipali was known to run after them, often alone in remote areas when they would disappear in the thick forests, said another friend Rohan Bhate. Joining the Maharashtra government service in 2013, she had taken up cudgels against illegal encroachments in the forests for which she faced the ire of local politicians or mafia who instigated such activities for their vested interests or pecuniary gains, said Bhate. When questioned about the tragedy, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that a thorough probe will be conducted into the incident covering all angles and no guilty would be spared.

INDIA

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Why Holi & politics are losing colour in UP

oli, in Lucknow, has lost much of its vibrancy and colour -- and it is not corona alone that is to blame.

UP boy dies after phone battery explodes on his face

The changing political scenario, hardening of lines in various political parties and increasing acrimony between leaders has robbed the festival of its festivity. With Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath away in Gorakhpur, his official residence at 5 Kalidas Marg, on Monday, wore a desolate look. Barring a few security personnel strolling around aimlessly and some peering into their mobile phones, there was almost no activity in the high-security zone. Yogi Adityanath, since he took over in 2017, has chosen to spend all major festivals in his hometown, Gorakhpur. Before him, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had also preferred to spend festivals in his native village Sefai, instead of Lucknow. He left for Sefai on Sunday to celebrate Holi with his extended family. The chief minister’s residence in Lucknow, once upon a time, used to be the epicenter of all celebra-

tions, particularly Holi. Former chief ministers, including Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, Veer Bahadur Singh, Narain Dutt Tiwari and even Rajnath Singh, kept an open house on Holi. Bureaucrats, party workers, leaders and journalists were allowed free access into the chief minister’s residence. Colour flew into the air and snacks were served to all and sundry.

Earlier, during such celebrations, even opposition leaders were seen visiting the chief minister’s residence to exchange greetings. “Those were the days when the chief minister welcomed everyone with open arms. There were no security checks and everyone was treated with respect. In the present times, it is almost unthinkable that politicians would host such events,” said senior journalist Pradeep Kapoor.

12-year-old boy died after his mobile battery exploded on his face. The incident took place over the weekend in Matwar village under Halia police circle.

into a ‘jugaad’ charger. An hour later, he decided to check the power by touching it and the battery exploded immediately, ripping his face.

The tragic event took place when he was testing the battery power after charging it with a ‘jugaad’ charger.

Hearing the blast, the family members rushed to his room and found him lying in a pool of blood. He was immediately taken to the primary health centre in Matwar where he was declared dead.

The class 6 student, identified as Monu, died on the spot when the battery exploded on his face leading to severe facial injuries.

Later, Monu was cremated without his family informing the police.

Monu had put his mobile battery

Suez Canal blockade to cause losses in billions of dollars for insurers W ith a loss of $9 billion per day due to the Suez Canal being blocked by a container ship, global industry is awaiting the enormity of insurance claims.

For India, pressure could mount for certain industries that depend on Europe and the US and it is expected that there could be pressure for a while on the Indian ports on the west coast as many of these vessels may seek berthing together/in rapid succession. R. Balasundaram, Executive Vice-president, Global Insurance Brokers said Suez Canal blockade, a once-in-a-lifetime type of event is estimated to cause losses in billions of dollars for insurers and the loss of trade per day due to the blockage at close to $ 9 billion. He added that the insurance industry is waiting with bated breath at the direction from which claims can arise out of this canal blockage and of course what could be the enormity of the exposure. There are various areas of claims to possibly come up

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such as demand for GA (General Average) and Salvage guarantee from cargo interests, there could be a claim under the H&M policy or damages against the vessel, business interruption losses, etc. There could be losses due to perishable cargo or the cancellation of orders, hence the claim demand. He said the likely impact of this incident on India is minimal for now but if the blockage continued for days/weeks, pressure could have mounted for certain industries that depend on Europe and the US for critical raw materials/parts or for those industries whose turnovers are driven by exports to these countries. “Further, as the blockage is removed, it may still take at least a week for all the piled-up vessels to pass through the canal. Some vessels bound for India are among them and it is expected that there could be pressure for a while on the Indian ports on the west coast as many of these vessels may seek berthing together/in rapid succession,” he added.

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WORLD

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Biden wants immigration reform to speed up green cards for Indians

S President Joe Biden wants Congress to act on an immigration reform that it would allow Indian doctors and other professionals to expeditiously get their green cards, according to his spokesperson Jen Psaki. “He believes that there should be faster processing, that our immigration system is broken at many levels,” she said at a briefing on Wednesday.

oon after Joe Biden was chosen to be the next President of the US, Chinese media wasted no time in calling him “old friend” -- phrase that was used by Chinese head Xi Jinping earlier.

“He is eager to for Congress to move forward with action there.” She was replying to a question about a demonstration by Indian doctors in the US who had been in the frontlines of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic asking for the elimination of country quotas for green cards that would enable them to get permanent residence status faster. Asked about the delays in processing work authorisation for spouses of those holding H1-B and L1 visas, Psaki said: “The reason we want to push for action on immigration (legislation) on the (Capitol) Hill is to move forward with expediting the processing and doing that on several levels, including a number of the visas.a “That’s part of the reason why we think that’s such an important piece to move forward on.” Indian doctors held a demonstration outside Congress last week demanding the removal of the country quotas to expedite their green cards, Last month, Democrats introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill in Congress that would remove the country quotas for green cards. While spouses of citizens are not restricted by the quotas, all other countries except for Canada and Mexico are each allowed only

26,000 green cards each year and this has created a huge backlog for applicants from countries like India, while some nations do not use their full quota. According to the State Department, Indians with advanced degrees whose immigration applications were approved in 2009 and skilled workers and professionals whose applications were okayed in 2010 are still waiting for their green cards. Those wait times are only for those whose applications are already approved, and it could run to centuries for those in the immigration queue. The immigration reform bill faces an uphill battle because Republicans demand that it include stringent restrictions on illegal immigration and the backing of some members of that party would be required in the Senate. Earlier, legislative action to remove country caps failed in the last Congress because the Senate and House of Representatives versions of the bill had differences that were not reconciled in time and it lapsed.

The Senate in December 2020 and the House in 2019 had passed the separate versions of the bill. H-1B visas are for professionals and L-1 visas are for those transferred by their companies to the US. Their spouses had been allowed to work in the US under a regulations introduced by former President Barack Obama, but his successor Donald Trump had tried to ban work authorisation for them. In its first week in office, the Biden administration killed Trump’s effort and continued to make the spouses, most of them Indian women, eligible to get work permits. The San Jose Mercury reported last month that the Citizenship and Immigration Service had attributed the work authorisation “delays to ‘Covid-19 restrictions, an increase in filings, current postal service volume and other external factors’”. The newspaper added that the agency said that it had redistributed workloads and staff were working extra hours to reduce the delays.

NZ to announce date for transTasman quarantine-free travel

he New Zealand government will announce the date for the opening of the “trans-Tasman bubble” on April 6, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday. The “trans-Tasman bubble” will allow visitors from Australia to enter New Zealand without the compulsory two-week quarantine in government managed isolation facilities, Xinhua news agency quoted Ardern as saying following a cabinet meeting. Before the pandemic, there were usually about 6,000 Australian people visiting New Zealand on a daily basis, local media reported.

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Biden for human rights over trade; seeks to counter China in Indo-Pacific region

Currently, New Zealanders can go to some Australian states without being quarantined in managed isolation facilities.

New Zealand’s border has been closed to all but residents and citizens, with a few exemptions, since March 2020. Meanwhile, a two-way quarantine-free travel with the Cook Islands and Niue, both realm countries of New Zealand, is also on the cards.

Biden’s entry must have come as a respite for Beijing then after dealing with former President Donald Trump’s hostile and bitter policies towards China. The initial moves made by Biden administration however are not assuring for Beijing. Biden seems to be continuing with the same Trumpian policies, albeit, without making much noise. He seems to have given political issues such as human rights an upper hand while putting trade -- a major flashpoint between the Sino-US relations -- on the backburner. Besides, shaping up a new order in Indo- pacific region appears to be Biden’s geopolitical course to chart, which aims to create hurdles for Chinese ambitions. The very first high-level US-China talks since Biden took over, which were held in Alaska’s Anchorage, saw top diplomats trading barbs publicly, suggesting no thaw in the turbulent Sino-US relations. Highlighting the issues of human rights violation in Xinjiang province of China and Hong Kong, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China to respect rulesbased global order or face a ‘more violent world’. China too responded in harsh tone and asked the US to address “deep-seated” issues such as racism at home. A seasoned politician, Biden, who has spent 50 years in the active politics was expected to be focusing on improving bilateral relations with China. However, he surprised political pundits by raising the issue of human rights abuses in the very first phone call with Xi Jinping, and later in a television show he claimed that China would pay for its misdeeds. The recently held Indo Pacific QUAD meeting attended my member countries -- the US, India Australia and Japan-- was seen as a step to check China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

Cook Islands residents can already travel to New Zealand without the need to quarantine, while Niueans will be able to do the same from Wednesday onwards.

Ahead of the Anchorage meeting, Chinese state-run newspa-

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per Global Times had said the objection of the US was an excuse to interfere in China’s domestic affairs, which was “unreasonable” and “vicious”. And as expected, ruling out any possibility of cordial proceedings at Anchorage, the US and China ended up publicly rebuking each other in first major talks of Biden era. The Chinese media had expressed optimism reacting to Biden’s election saying relations could be restored to a state of greater predictability and could start with trade. But the Biden’s entry has not proven positive for China on business front either. Despite China’s exports soaring to pre-Covid-19 times, its trade with US has gone down in the recent months. Biden’s strategy not to abandon Trump’s tough tone while dealing with Beijing government is going to keep the US-China trade relations strained. As Biden would not be appearing soft on human rights issue, he may tighten his grip further for the cause. “The Biden administration will link human rights issues to exports [and] sales of technology. Expect to see more export controls and sanctions against Chinese interests,” said Alex Capri, a visiting senior fellow at National University of Singapore. India is a new entrant in the US plan to counter China. The US is channelising India’s rise as a counterweight to Beijing. A week after the QUAD meet, the US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, arrived in India in order to strengthen Indo-US ties, boost bilateral cooperation and discuss Chinese aggression in eastern Ladakh. Austin made visits to Japan and South Korea before concluding his three- nation tour in India. It clearly showed the US is busy forming anti- China coalition in Indo-pacific to beat Beijing in its own backyard. “This signals to India, and to common rivals like China, that the Biden administration values its security relationship with New Delhi in a big way,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director and senior associate for South Asia at the Washington-based Wilson Center.

WORLD

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

You can buy a Tesla with Bitcoin in US: Elon Musk

esla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that people in the US can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoins, and the option to pay with the popular cryptocurrency will be available to other countries later this year. The electric car company announced to start accepting Bitcoin as payment over a month ago. Tesla has already invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoins.

One Bitcoin is currently worth a little over $56,000, which means people need to pay a little less than one coin to buy the entry-level Tesla. The entry-level Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus has a starting price of $37,990. The Long Range starts at $46,990, and the top-of-the-line Performance begins at $54,990.

“You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin,” Musk said in a tweet.

“Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly. Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency,” he added. He further said that pay by Bitcoin capability will be “available outside US later this year”. The option to pay using the cryptocurrency now appears on the company’s US website. The users will have the option of scanning a QR code or copying and pasting its bitcoin wallet address to initiate the payment. According to Tesla’s Bitcoin payment terms and conditions, its vehicles will continue to be priced in US dollars.

Musk has also been sending tweets in support of Dogecoin, leading to a rise in the cryptocurrency’s value.

Biden invites Modi to climate summit

S President Joe Biden has invited 40 heads of state, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to join him for the World Leaders Summit on Climate to be hosted by his administration on April 22-23. The other leaders including Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Prime Ministers Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh and Lotay Tshering of Bhutan have also been invited to the virtual meeting to highlight the urgency of action to combat climate change, the White House said on Friday.

European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson were invited. So were Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “The Leaders Summit on Climate will underscore the urgency, and the economic benefits, of stronger climate action. It will be a key milestone on the road to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) this November in Glasgow,” the White House said. The virtual summit will be livestreamed for people everywhere to watch the proceedings. Biden has made fighting climate change a pillar of both his foreign and domestic policies and one of his first actions on taking office in January was to have the US rejoin the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

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Amazon denies workers ‘pee in bottles’ amid mounting evidence

mid a mounting evidence of allegedly ill-treating its low-paid workers, Amazon has denied exploitative working conditions at its facilities, including forcing exhausted workers to ‘pee in bottles’. Replying to a tweet from US Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI), the ecommerce behemoth said the company’s union-busting tactics allegations are baseless. “Paying workers $15/hr doesn’t make you a ‘progressive workplace’ when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles,” Pocan said in a tweet on Thursday. Amazon replied: “You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one”.

The summit is meant to position Biden, and the US, as the global leader in meeting the climate change challenge and boost his stature. “By the time of the summit, the US will announce an ambitious 2030 emissions target as its new Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement for limiting the damage from climate change, the White House said. Biden has asked all US government agencies to come up with ways to cut greenhouse emissions and harness green energy. He appointed former Secretary of State John Kerry to be his international emissary for climate change reflecting the high priority it has on his agenda. He is reaching out to the leaders of China and Russia, who he has harshly criticised over their human rights record and their international rivalry with the US to work

together on the climate agenda despite their differences. Biden wants countries around the world to take steps to limit emissions to a level that would limit planetary warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius “in order to stave off the worst impacts of climate change”, the White House said. “The President urged leaders to use the Summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries also will contribute to stronger climate ambition.” India will be under US pressure to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by being shown as the world’s third-highest emitter of greenhouse gases after Beijing and Washington. However, that picture is misleading as on a per capita basis the US emissions were nearly nine times that of India. An Indian emitted only 1.96 tonnes of greenhouse gases in a year,

“We hope you can enact policies that get other employers to offer what we already do,” the company further stated. Once the Twitter war started, several journalists and people who have documented such incidents at Amazon facilities began flooding the Web. Journalist James Bloodworth, whose 2018 book titled ‘Hired: Six while an American was responsible for 16.56 tonnes. For all the posturing and preaching, Biden or the climate change activists in the US are not going to bring down the US per capita emissions anywhere near the Indian level while demanding that India cut down its emissions overall. India is already promoting green energy to eventually eliminate fossil fuel-generated electricity. It is reportedly working on a goal

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Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain,’ documented his experience of low-paid work for companies including Amazon. “I was the person who found the pee in the bottle. Trust me, it happened,” Bloodworth responded to Amazon tweet. Lauren Kaori Gurley, a labor reporter with Motherboard tweeted: “As a labor reporter who covers Amazon extensively...I can say Amazon delivery drivers not having a time or place to pee is one of the most universal concerns I hear about.” The Intercept published a report on Thursday citing formal policy documents and emails from Amazon, detailing “more cases of drivers urinating into bottles” and even resorting to “defecating into bags”. “The practice, these documents show, was known to management, which identified it as a recurring infraction but did nothing to ease the pressure that caused it. In some cases, employees even defecated in bags,” the report mentioned, detailing company’s poor working conditions. “We’ve noticed an uptick recently of all kinds of unsanitary garbage being left inside bags: used masks, gloves, bottles of urine,” reads an email from an Amazon logistics manager provided to The Intercept. of achieving a net-zero emissions by 2050. Net-zero emission is achieved by removing all greenhouse gases that are put out by various means ranging from aforestation to technologies to capture the emissions. The Climate Summit will be Modi’s second multilateral virtual meeting with Biden. Earlier this month, Biden and Modi were joined by Prime Minister Yoshihide Sugo of Japan and Scott Morrison of Australia at a summit of the Quad.

OPINION

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

India is key to the Quad and the Indo-Pacific region

Tenth anniversary of Syrian crisis: Home truths from an eyewitness

for the new administration.

he importance attached by the US to the Indo-Pacific, places India at an advantageous position, both in defence and economic sectors. While the world was combating the Covid pandemic, international leaders were also busy in realigning the world as per their country’s priorities and goals. One region, which has emerged on the top of this new realignment, is the region of the Indo-Pacific. The Indo-Pacific comprises the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two oceans around parts of Indonesia. The term “Indo-Pacific” gained usage in geopolitical discourse after 2011. It is also described as a substitute for “Quad” or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, an informal grouping of like-minded democracies in the region, comprising Australia, Japan, India, and the US. Historically, “Indo-Pacific” was first used by the German geo-politician Karl Haushofer in the 1920s in his academic work “Indopazifischen Raum”. But its security aspects emerged in early 2000s, when the analysts began to observe the ‘security’ linkage between the two Oceans. In this context, the term was first used in an article authored by Gurpreet Khurana, carried in the January 2007 issue of the Strategic Analysis journal titled “Security of Sea Lines: Prospects for India-Japan Cooperation”. The author refers to the ‘Indo-Pacific’ as the maritime space stretching from the littorals of East Africa and West Asia, across the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean, to the littorals of East Asia. Former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expanded on the spirit of the term in his speech to the Indian Parliament in August 2007 when he talked about the “Confluence of the Indian and Pacific Oceans” as “the dynamic coupling as seas of freedom and of prosperity” in the “broader Asia”. American push for the Quad Quad was first floated in 2004 to manage disaster relief after the Tsunami. Later, Dick Cheney tried to redefine it as a military club,

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to counter Chinese influence, but was abandoned in 2010 as India and Australia didn’t wanted to ruffle the Chinese feathers. The Trump administration revived the regional grouping in 2017, ostensibly to counter China in the region, particularly in the South China Sea, where the Chinese have continually challenged the Japanese and Americans. US under Trump wanted to shape the Quad into an Asian NATO, a point that has been raised and challenged by the Chinese again and again, as they see it as a potential defence deterrent in the region. The importance being attached to this by the original members, and the recent desire expressed by the British and French to join also underlines both its economic and defence utility. Though the Biden administration wants to position it as an American outreach on trade, immigration, public health, climate change, yet its security aspect can’t be overlooked. To give a boost to the alliance, the leaders of the Quad met on March 12, 2021through a virtual summit. The summit and the joint statement issued highlights the evolution of the grouping and its agenda made clearer and resolve by the member states to sustain the momentum. At a White House press conference following the summit,the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan noted that each of the four leaders present had described the meeting as “historic.” Quad talks were elevated to the ministerial level in 2019 with foreign ministers from all four countries holding a meeting on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York in September that year. Since then, Quad foreign ministers have met twice: in-person in Tokyo in October last year, and virtually last month. President Biden has zealously endorsed the “free and open Indo-Pacific” jargon favoured by his predecessor, contrary to apprehensions that he would seek to adopt a softer line toward China and that the Indo-Pacific paradigm would not be so significant

However, the reality is that the Quad, in essential sense is not a formal alliance, yet. The recent summit concentrated primarily on urgent global catastrophes comprising coronavirus and the climate emergency and tried not to ruffle feathers or cause undue apprehensions in the regional countries, particularly ASEAN member states. A joint statement after the assembly noted that the four nations would collaborate to increase Covid vaccine production, in which India would be helped financially by other members to boost its vaccine production base.But differences remained among the member states on how to handle China. India’s future in the Quad The moot question is whether Quad in essential sense would be transformed into a real regional alliance or will it continue to serve some countries only, to use it as and when required as per their necessity. Though one country, which seems poised to gain most out of Quad is India. Due to its vast market potential and also as a counter to China in the region, most western powers attach great importance to it in the region. Indian leaders also realise this besides the fact that to transform into a regional power it has to pursue a geopolitical strategy, which maximises its economic interests and security. The Indian Prime Minister has spelled out the Indian vision of Indo-Pacific as an enabler for “a common pursuit of progress and prosperity... not directed against any country... (albeit based on) our principled commitment to rule of law.” India’s role at the Quad seems central to the Biden administration’s plans for the region and the quest to counter China. US initiatives so far suggests the Biden administration is serious about its stated intention to counter China through alliances, based on shared values, and that it sees the Quad and India as central to that. At the same time the US seems ready to moderate India’s feeling of insecurity in regard to be part of a binding alliance along with its ambition to emerge as a dominant regional player, while downplaying China. It seems that the US wants to promote bilateral ties by bolstering India at the Quad, and also focussing on more areas of cooperation, which were ignored during the Trump regime. The recent visit of the US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to India demonstrates both these aspects.

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n 1952, like a bolt from the blue, came UP Chief Minister Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant’s order abolishing zamindari (landlordism). The abrupt drop in prestige and lifestyle caused a relative across the Ganga to hide his arsenal of a few rifles and 12 bore shotguns along with boxes of Eley cartridges with LG or Large-Goose loads. Whenever courtiers in rags, with some previous pique, stoked his fragile ego with stories of rampant lawlessness in the villages because “huzoor’s” power had ended, “huzoor” would come out with his preferred shotgun. This sad, fake “dadagiri” (gangsterism) lasted as long as the boxes of Eleys did. This trans Ganga tragic hero came to mind when my eye fell on a bold headline of a piece written by Graham E Fuller, Ex CIA officer, on the aggressive style of Biden-Blinken early outings in Foreign Affairs: “Hell Hath No Fury Like A Superpower in decline” said the headline. Fuller writes: “The US leadership must have set some kind of new record in managing to personally insult the powers of the world within 48 hours of each other in these early days of Biden administration’s Foreign Policy. President Biden called Vladimir Putin a “killer” and lacking “a soul”. Blinken was equally insulting on China. “This country has some grounds for pride in its own-imperfect-democratic order. No such democratic orders are perfect. Still, how much reflection does it take to acknowledge what the Chinese communist party has accomplished in the past thirty years? Is it more worthy to bring half a billion people out of poverty into middle class life in a mere generation? Or more worthy to maintain intact an American electoral system in which mediocre or bad leaders emerge as readily as good ones?” He goes on and on, very readably. Fuller’s invective is focused on the

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Biden-Blinken’s opening salvos at Russia and China. I would have scoured anything he wrote on the tenth anniversary of the Syrian crisis which has been aggressively observed by five western powers. Fuller knows the area backwards. A key policy document advising the Reagan administration in 1983 for military action against Syria for strategic reasons was his handiwork. I have had this document eversince it was released in 2008, having been in secret vaults for 25 years. After visiting Damascus and almost all the trouble spots in Syria’s neighbourhood, I had written a paper for the Observer Research Foundation, “The Storm in the Arab Spring”, eye of the storm being Syria. I feel qualified to take a critical look at the statement the foreign ministers of the US, France, Germany, Italy and UK, issued on the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the tragedy. One allegation the foreign ministers repeat is straightforward: President Bashar al Assad started the ghoulish operation against his own people who were rebelling against misrule, corruption, economic distress. Not true. I was in Damascus at the outset. There were reports fairly early in the proceeding of the Obama administration leading the global effort to deploy “shadow” internet and mobile phone systems which “dissidents can use to undermine repressive governments that seek to silence them by shutting down communications network.” James Glanz and John Markoff of the New York Times described one operation in a fifth floor shop in L Street, Washington, where “a group of young entrepreneurs, looking like a garage band, are assembling deceptively innocent-looking hardware into a prototype “internet-in-a-suitcase.” It was all part of the big push for “Liberation Technology Movement”. And how comprehensively was it applied against the Syrian regime.

INVESTMENT

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Over 500 drones to measure India’s RBI flags major concerns rural assets, end property dispute woes over cryptocurrency

n one of the biggest aerial surveys, over 500 high resolution drones would be deployed soon to map nearly 6 lakh villages in the country to validate the residential properties of more than 83 crore Indians.

The survey, once completed, would enable a large population of India to validate their rural residential property and use it as a financial asset. A big force of drone pilots on the ground to measure the rural land in India stretching from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and Shillong to Somnath, would be deployed by the Survey of India (SOI). “A hi-tech drone takes around 15 minutes to map an average Indian village. We expect that by March 2024, the ‘drone flying’ in the country would be complete,” said Sunil Kumar, the Union Secretary for the Panchayati Raj Ministry, the nodal agency for implementing the massive land survey scheme. Almost all Indian states, except Telangana, have consented to map the entire rural properties in their respective jurisdiction. The mega scheme, promoted by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, enables people in rural areas to unlock their rural assets. “Once the survey would be complete, every owner would be given a property card. This card will enable countrymen to use their residential property as a financial asset... They can further be entitled to seek loans from banks,” Sunil Kumar, also an IAS officer of the UP Cadre, noted. A pilot project of the drone survey has been hitherto successful as more than 40,000 villages have been covered. The country now gears for the full and final survey to map the rural assets of people.

Sources said that in Uttar Pradesh, hundreds of people have got their property cards during the pilot project. In some villages, farmers who got the validation of their houses also sought loans from the banks.

scheme would benefit the entire population,” sources in the government added

Last year, Modi had launched the pilot project for the drone survey which then covered only six states; Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

In fact in most cases, rural residential property has not been validated as it’s not taxed, though agriculture land is well documented. The residential survey of villages will also help the state governments to create accurate land record for a better rural planning.

Later, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh also joined hands with the Centre and consented to go for the land survey, being conducted by Survey of India. Sources said that during one of the meeting of the group of Ministers in late 2019, the idea of land survey of rural properties was picked up by Modi. “The Prime Minister realised that by validation of property, the survey would benefit over 68 parent of population living in rural India. He quickly gave the go ahead. In fact, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who also looks after Panchayti Raj Ministry, has been in touch with a team from Maharashtra which had earlier suggested the benefits of validation of rural property,” the sources said. The government which started the pilot project in April 2020, named it as “Swamitva Scheme”.

One of the key benefits of the scheme is to end disputes over measurement and ownership of rural residential property.

According to a mid-level officer of the Panchayti Raj Ministry, at present 162 drones, mostly imported from Germany, have been been deployed to conduct the land survey. The hi-tech drones have an accuracy of around 5 cm, a condition required to measure land. Efforts are on to encourage Indian companies to manufacture such drones. For every drone, almost two technicians are required to conduct the aerial survey properly. “Once an accurate survey is completed, postal delivery of goods through e-commerce can begin in rural areas too,” said the officer.

eserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said that the central bank has flagged major concerns over cryptocurrency to the government. Speaking at the Times Network India Economic Conclave, the Governor said that digital currency is one thing and the cryptocurrencies which are being traded in the market is something else. The statement from the central bank governor gains significance as the government is set to come up with a Bill on cryptocurrency wherein it is likely to ban all such cryptocurrencies. “Both RBI and government are committed to financial stability. We have flagged certain concerns around cryptocurrencies which are being traded in the market. We have flagged certain major concerns to the government, and it is still under examination in the government and government will come out with a decision or sooner than later,” he said. Das was of the view that there is

no difference of opinion between the RBI and the Centre on cryptocurrency. On the forex market and the Indian rupee, he said that it is a dynamic situation, and there are two objectives of the RBI’s forex intervention -- to prevent excessive volatility of the exchange rate of Indian rupee against the dollar, and the second theme is that emerging market economics need to build up their own buffers. Emphasising that emerging market economies should build up their forex buffers, Das said that the recent framework of International Monetary Fund also recognises that forex intervention has become necessary for emerging market economies to deal with volatile situations and to deal with adverse situations. “We are ready always to keep it (forex rate) stable because certainty and stability is good is good for investors. It is good for importers, it is good for exporters, in fact it is good for all stakeholders in the economics.”

The government has provided Rs 566 crore to expedite the mega land survey project in India.

“Now from the pilot project, the

Govt gets multiples EoIs for privatisation of Neelachal Ispat

entre has received multiple Expressions of Interest (EoI) for the privatisation of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL).

In a tweet on Monday, Secretary for the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Tuhin Kanta Pandey said that the transaction has moved to the second stage as per schedule. “Multiple expressions of interest received for privatisation of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL). The transaction moves ahead to the second stage, on schedule,” it said. Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd is a joint venture of MMTC, NMDC, BHEL, MECON and two Odisha govern-

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ment-owned undertakings -- OMC and IPICOL. In January 2020, the Union Cabinet had approved strategic disinvestment of equity shareholding of MMTC (49.78 per cent), NMDC (10.10 per cent), MECON (0.68 per cent), BHEL (0.68 per cent), IPICOL (12.00 per cent) and OMC (20.47 per cent) in the staterun company. It has set up a 1.1-million-ton Integrated Iron and steel plant at Kalinganagar, Duburi, District-Jajpur, in Orissa. NINL has its own captive power plant to meet the internal power requirement and air separation unit for producing oxygen, nitrogen and argon. The NINL is having own captive iron ore mines

which is under development.

This is yet another development in the government’s ambitious privatisation plan, after disinvestment process of several PSUs got disrupted last year due to pandemic. While presenting the Union Budget for FY22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that all the previously announced disinvestment processes will be completed in the next financial year. During a recent webinar, the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K. V. Subramanian also exuded confidence that the disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore for the financial year 2021-22 was “imminently achievable”.

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BUSINESS

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Aus recovery plan to boost exporters’ online presence

Recruiters echo strong hiring sentiment in the next six months: Naukri Hiring Outlook 2021

he Indian job economy is geared up for an uptick in hiring as corporate houses embrace the post pandemic world.

series of Australian government grants will help exporters ramp up their online engagement with key overseas markets to aid economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Officials in the state of Queensland announced on Tuesday that A$400,000 would be used to help local companies that already had an e-commerce deal and wanted to boost engagement, reports Xinhua news agency. Queensland Premier and Minister for Trade Annastacia Palaszczuk

explained the scheme was part of her state’s COVID-19 pandemic recovery plan.

Queensland exporters to use e-commerce to achieve higher returns,” Palaszczuk added.

“Covid-19 impacted the global economy and has brought substantial challenges to export businesses including increases in air-freight costs and lower availability of those services,” she said.

The state is Australia’s second largest exporter in terms of value, much of which is made up of agricultural products such as meat, fruit and vegetables, which have a reputation for being among the best in the world.

“E-commerce is booming all over the world as more consumers in more markets see value in the convenience of online purchasing and home delivery.

Individual companies will be eligible for grants up to A$10,000 as well as the guidance of Trade and Investment Queensland.

“So there’s an opportunity for

SC sets aside NCLAT order reinstating Cyrus Mistry as Tata Sons chairperson

Naukri.com’s Hiring Outlook survey suggests that 51% of recruiters indicated both new and replacement hiring in their organisations. The appetite for hiring is up as 32% recruiters confirm that they would be hiring for new jobs. Interestingly, recruiters indicating that hiring was on hold are just at 5% versus 11% in a similar survey conducted in September 2020. Many businesses were impacted during the pandemic and as a result, job security was threatened across multiple sectors. However, lay-offs are becoming a thing of the past, with just 1% recruiters indicating lay-offs in their organisation compared to 36% in the earlier survey. Further, almost 40% of the recruiters expect hiring to go back to pre-pandemic levels in the next three months itself which is in contrast with the sentiments from an earlier survey wherein only 20% recruiters expected hiring to return to normalcy within three months. Given the boost to digitisation, IT roles remain the most in-demand with 50% of recruiters indicating strong hiring in this segment. Roles in Marketing and Business Development are also gaining traction with almost 38% recruiters expressing intent to hire for these roles. From an experience standpoint, recruiters expect to hire the most in the experience bracket of 3-5 years, according to the survey.

n a huge victory for Tata Group, the Supreme Court on Friday accepted all contentions of the Tata conglomerate and set aside the order of the NCLAT, which restored Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of the Tata conglomerate.

Tata Sons decision to sack Cyrus Mistry on October 24, 2016.

Shapoorji Pallonji group is liable to be dismissed,” said the top court. The top court said the value of SP Group shares will depend on the valuation by Tata Sons equities and the court will not determine the fair value.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde said all questions of law are in favour of Tata Group and dismissed the appeals filed by Mistry. The top court upheld the

Shapoorji Pallonji Group counsel had argued that Mistry was removed because he was going to place a draft governance structure at the Board meeting on October 24, 2016. “We find all the questions of law are liable to be answered in favour of the appellants (Tata Group) and the appeals filed by the Tata Group are liable to be allowed and

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In December 2019, the NCLAT had ruled that the proceedings of the Board meeting of Tata Sons held on October 24, 2016 removing Cyrus Mistry as chairperson was illegal.

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Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com, said “Hiring outlook showcases an upbeat sentiment amongst the recruiters and consultants. In fact, employers are also positive about extending increments to their employees. This is a strong indicator that businesses are moving towards actioning their growth plans and not just survival or business continuity strategies.” Normalcy on the horizon is foreseen as employers have a positive

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outlook to extend increments to their employees. 27% recruiters plan to rollout increments greater than 15% in their respective organisations while the most opted for increment bracket is 5%-10% as per 35% of the recruiters. Many jobseekers were unsure of switching during the pandemic but as markets have stabilised, onethird recruiters expect attrition in the range of 10 % - 20%, while another 7% foresee attrition levels greater than 20%. The bulk of this is expected from employees with 1-5 years of experience. Given a surge in demand, IT roles can also witness higher attrition. With the jobs market back to its hiring ways, recruiters have predicted that retaining & attracting skilled employees will be a challenge in the coming six months. Aligning with that, 45% recruiters are expecting an intense talent crunch and the experience band of 3 - 5 years is expected to be the most impacted. Campus hiring situation is showing slow, yet steady improvement as one-third recruiters give a green signal to their hiring plans versus a 24% in the Sept’20 survey. India Inc. is now moving back to office with 43% recruiters confirming the same, a significant improvement as compared to 27% recruiters in the survey done during Sept’20. Another 29% recruiters said that they would be working from home as most of them agreed that it has been equally or more productive. Rest of the recruiters are looking at a hybrid model in the future. Naukri Hiring Outlook is a bi-annual survey conducted amongst recruiters and recruitment consultants. The survey covers multiple aspects of job creation trends/ forecasts as well as jobseeker behavior covering areas like job opportunities and increments amongst other areas. 1384 recruiters and consultants representing over 10 major sectors participated in this edition of the Hiring Outlook.

POLITICS

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Amid NCP-Sena spat, Pawar-Amit Shah

Apologies to Palaniswami if hurt by speech: DMK leader parties did not condemn Raja but maintained a frivolous stand on the matter. Earlier, Stalin released a statement urging his party leaders not to use indecent language while campaigning.

s Maharashtra’s ruling MVA constituents NCP and Shiv Sena spar over state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, the Congress is staying a silent spectator even while speculations do rounds on the motive behind the purported meeting between NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. With Amit Shah indicating the meeting with Pawar did take place in Ahmadabad, though he did not reveal any details, the incident has upset the Congress and the Sena at the crucial time when the BJP has launched an onslaught on the Uddhav Thackeray-led state government. Sources within the Congress say that the party is watching the moves closely but will not comment publicly until there is some political development. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) took exception to Sena

spokesman Sanjay Raut terming Deshmukh an “accidental Home Minister” in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamna’, claiming that he was chosen by Pawar for the post after the NCP’s first choices refused. The NCP hit back, with state Minister and party spokesman Nawab Malik refuting claims that Deshmukh was chosen “accidentally” while Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that selecting ministers from the NCP quota was sole discretion of Sharad Pawar. The NCP chief has given a clean chit to Deshmukh, in wake of the serious charges made against him by former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh in an explosive letter, saying the allegations are “vague”. On the BJP’s demand for the dismissal of the Home Minister Pawar, said: “During the period about which the allegations were levelled against Deshmukh, he was

hospitalised. So, the demands for his dismissal hold no substance.” Pawar had also said that this allegation has been levelled to derail the probe into the incident of the SUV laden with explosives found near the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. The Congress, which is silent on these developments and insists that the MVA government will run for full five years, has, however, raised objections on Raut suggesting Pawar as UPA Chairperson. State party chief Nana Patole said that they had raised the issue with Chief Minister Thackeray during their meeting. Meanwhile, the MVA has decided to launch an offensive against a section of powerful serving and retired bureaucrats, allegedly working in tandem with the opposition BJP to topple the Thackeray government.

Vijayan is the biggest liar and most corrupt: Cong

eader of Opposition and Congress veteran Ramesh Chennithala on Monday said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was the biggest liar and the most corrupt person.

Chennithala said this while interacting with the media and pointed out every day numerous evidences are coming out and everything associated with the gold smuggling and the dollar case reveals that the hub of all these activities was Vijayan’s office. “It’s at this point of time, Vijayan goes to town saying that corruption in Kerala under the Left has come down. What many fail to understand is he should thank his good friend, Narendra Modi, who has diluted the Prevention of Corruption Act and today the rule is, any complaint of corruption against legislators, or ex-legislators cannot be taken up unless

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the government approves of it or by the appointing authority,” said Chennithala.

n a damage control measure, A.Raja, the DMK’s Deputy General Secretary and Lok Sabha member, on Monday apologised to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami for hurting his sentiments by the alleged derogatory speech made against the latter’s mother. Speaking to the mediapersons at Ooty on Monday, Raja said he apologised to Palaniswami if his remarks had hurt him. With condemnations for his derogatory speech against Palaniswami and his mother pouring in and to avoid any negative impact on DMK’s electoral prospects, Raja regretted his speech. Recently the DMK leader said Stalin’s slipper is worth Rs one more than that of Palaniswami. Raja had insulted Palaniswami’s late mother saying the Chief Minister was an ‘illegitimate child’ while DMK National President M.K. Stalin was a ‘legitimate child’. On Sunday Palaniswami while campaigning for his party turned emotional citing Raja insulting his mother. Justifying his speech, Raja said he had tried to explain the political leadership capacity of Stalin and Palaniswami citing a baby as an example. However, the DMK and its alliance

In a scathing attack on DMK and A. Raja, Pattali Makkal Katch (PMK) founder, S. Ramadoss, said the former was not ready to respect women and cited the late M. Karunanidhi’s responses to various issues in the past. Ramadoss also said Palaniswami, who rose in the AIADMK rank to become the state Chief Minister has more political acumenship than Stalin, the son of DMK’s late President and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. When there are several decent words to compare Palaniswami and Stalin, the choice of words used by Raja shows his stature and also that of the DMK, Ramadoss added. Ramadoss said it was Stalin’s son and party’s Youth wing leader Udayanidhi Stalin, who started the trend of making disgusting remarks about Palaniswami and V.K.Sasikala. Few days back, one of DMK’s Propaganda Secretary Dindigul I Leoni body-shamed women while campaigning in the Thondamuthur constituency for Karthikeya Sivasenapathy. Leoni had said women have lost their hour-glass figure and have become like a barrel after drinking milk of foreign cows. DMK’s Lok Sabha member, Kanimozhi, said whoever be the political leader, if they are speaking ill about women -- they must be condemned.

Chennithala said that Vijayan is attacking him often because he has been bringing out various corruption issues of this government. “Starting from the distilleries and breweries case, I have been after this corrupt government. Then came the Sprinklr issue and then the most corrupt deal of selling the Kerala seas and state’s fisheries resources to a US headquartered company. Vijayan had to subsequently cancel all these which I raised and he says, he is the biggest fighter of corruption. Vijayan of late has turned out to be the biggest liar and the most corrupt person,” said Chennithala. “The situation today is such that any corruption case that comes up in the name of people like Vijayan are not probed, while if

anyone writes a letter against me or our leaders, it’s immediately probed,” added Chennithala. Chennithala dismissed the often said statement of Vijayan saying that there exists a deal between the Congress and the BJP and said everyone knows that the deal is between the BJP and the CPI-M.

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ENVIRONMENT

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Ecological Literacy: For a Better Planet Odisha women with stick Our nature is an incredible wonder. Not only does it teach us how to live in harmo& undying resolve lead ny within ourselves and other living organisms, it also shows us the way forward for sustainability, writes Apurva Sharma as Green Warriors

S Image shows various terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems functioning in perfect harmony with one another. There are numerous micro as well as macroscopic organisms living in these ecosystems which are in perfect harmony with each other and flourishing despite the resources being limited. A quality that will largely have to be learned by humans for a better future.

he ability to understand the natural systems that make life on earth possible refers to ecological literacy or eco-literacy. The term was coined by American educator David W Orr and physicist Fritjof Capra in 1990s; henceforth, world started gaining education on the well-being of the earth. It is a powerful concept to create a sustainable society that honours natural environment and creates foundation for environmental conservation through an integrated approach. It concerns understanding the principles of organisation of ecosystems and their potential application to learn how to build a sustainable human society. In today’s world where everyone is faced with numerous escalating environmental challenges, including degradation and depletion of natural resources and climate change, etc., this knowledge is indispensable. Therefore, in future the survival of humanity will depend on our ability to understand the basic principles of ecology and to live accordingly. Environmental awareness, is not a recent phenomenon. The relationship between culture and ecology was the integral part of ancient Indian societies. The classical texts of the Vedic period such as the Vedas, the Samhitas and the Aranyaka- Upnishads contain many references to ecological concepts. Early humans adapted themselves to their natural surroundings. They led a very simple life and fulfilled their requirements from nature around them in the most sustainable way possible. Worship of nature-Sun, Moon, Fire, Earth, Air and Water was not merely primitive man’s response to the fear of the unknown but arose from the deep reverence shown to the forces of nature which sustained and pre-

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served human life on earth. Understanding ecology, ecosystems and their various principles, ecosystem services and the current environmental issues is essential to be ecologically literate. This knowledge helps us embrace our relationship with the biotic and abiotic community. It helps grow a generation of people who are informed and can advocate for the environment. Environmental education increases awareness of the ecological challenges we face, develops the ability to elucidate and minimize these challenges and offers information so that everyone can prepare for and adapt to environmental challenges. The vicious circle of humanity’s population growth pressure leads to the depletion of resources leading to falling water tables, drying wells, shrinking forests, collapsing fisheries, eroding soils, grasslands turning into desert and so on. The depletion of resources, aggravated by human triggered climate change, produces failing governments that can no longer provide security for their citizens. The common man is also unaware of the significance of the ecosystem services which we are availing free of cost from nature. All of these problems must be seen as different facets of one single crisis - a lack of ecological literacy.

that they can resolve all outstanding environmental problems in the best possible way. Once we become ecologically literate, we can understand the processes and patterns of relationships that enable ecosystems to sustain life. We can then understand that the major problems of our time cannot be understood in isolation. Nature is a miracle we depend upon. If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If any other species were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos. It is not the nature that needs us, but humans that need the nature. Now is the time to take a lesson and learn to save ourselves. We cannot appreciate what we do not understand. Ecological literacy is the only solution to the present environmental crisis, which will not only helps us mitigate them but also provides us with solutions to a sustainable future. Apurva Sharma is pursuing PhD in Environmental Science from Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India.

everal studies and reports have found that local communities play a big role in conservation, sometimes bigger than the government agencies. A great reminder of this is the Chipko Movement, where women resisted deforestation in Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand). Or, how a tribe in Arunachal Pradesh has prevented the critically-endangered Bugun Liocichla songbird from going extinct. UN Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz explained the effectiveness of community-led conservation in a 2018 study, titled Cornered by Protected Areas: “Many (indigenous people and local communities) share an ethical interconnection with nature through their languages, beliefs and practices, reflecting a commitment to respecting and caring for the natural world.” A case in point will be the tribal women of Odisha, who have been guarding their forests against smugglers for many decades -voluntarily. Armed with nothing but a stick, women go into local forests in groups of three to six to drive the timber thieves away. If they catch one, they issue a warning and confiscate the produce being smuggled. When matters escalate, they either bring these thieves to the village meeting and demand a public apology or fine or involve an NGO to initiate police action. This is thengapalli, a practice where every household takes turns to patrol their community forest with a stick (thenga means stick and palli means turn). ‘Smuggling reduced, forests revived’ Thengapalli started in Odisha’s Nayagarh district in the early 1970s but became popular in the 1990s when women came forward to protect forests alongside men.

It is important to increase public awareness and educate citizens about the impact of environmental challenges on their lives, build knowledge, experiences and values and provide additional skills that would help them to make better decisions. Environmental education is essential for citizens and communities to gain the understanding, skills, values, experiences and willpower to allow them to act individually and in groups so

Cut to the present. Women are solely responsible for keeping vigil on the forests in at least 300 villages in Nayagarh. In the Gunduribadi village of the district, the women-led forest protection committee has rejuvenated at least 500 acres of forest land because the smuggling of timber and other forest produce has reduced.

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“We can spot the Giant Indian Squirrel in the Nayagarh belt, which wasn’t the case a decade ago. Even the soil moisture retention has improved,” Manas Mishra, an environment activist who has studied the forest-dwelling communities of the Nayagarh-Khorda belt, talks of the changes these women have brought. Thengapalli has spread to other districts as well. The presence of women sentinels in smaller pockets of the Mayurbhanj district, such as Punasia, has brought down the menace of smuggling, and with that, the need for patrolling at night and carrying sticks as their weapon. They provide an extra layer of surveillance to the forests within the Similipal Tiger Reserve in Mayurbhanj. Dhaneswar Mahanta, who works with Vasundhara in the Reserve limits, explains, “The forest department deploys two to five guards per forest. On that, these committees send at least three volunteers through the day.” The practice has also crossed over to the bordering state of Jharkhand and has become a case study that is now studied in the schools of Hampshire in England. ‘Women depend on forests more’ According to Y. Giri Rao, executive director of Vasundhara, a non-profit organisation that documents the forest conservation methods in Odisha, natural resources mean a lot more to women than men. “If the forest cover is depleted, the women would have to walk an extra mile to collect fuel for their daily needs,” he gives an example. This dependence did indeed encourage Sudamani Mahakud to take up thengapalli in her village Punasia. “If I need fuel to cook food, I can take leaves and twigs from the forest. If I need food to eat, the forest can give me greens and tubers. Some trees also have medicinal value. They are a source of food for the cattle as well. What more reasons do I need to protect the forest? I exist because the forest does,” shares the 65-year-old, who has been guarding the forests for over two decades.

ARTS-CULTURE

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Live performances are an ‘exhilarating The impact of theatre experience’ : Usha Uthup on its audience

ust like any other performing art, watching theatre - whether live or not - could transform an audience’s thoughts and experiences; it can be a strong, expressive medium for playwright, actor and the director. Asked why the uninitiated should begin to watch plays, India’s top theatre performers and veteran thespians weigh in. Ahana Kumra, ‘Sir Sir Sarla’ on Tata Sky Theatre

tage performance teaches you humility, dignity and honesty and makes you realise that the only reason you are up on stage is because of the audience and their love for you art and entertainment,” says legendary playback singer Usha Uthup. The 1947-born artist tells IANS that performing live for an audience is an “exhilarating experience”. Uthup, in a recent collaboration with Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SaPa) India which was founded in 2007 by violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam and Bollywood playback singer Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam, took a masterclass on the tips and intricacies of stagecraft. The popular artiste and singer broke down the elements of entertaining on stage. In an interview with IANS about life in lockdown and performing on both the real and virtual stages. Edited excerpts: What has been your most prominent learning during the lockdown? Uthup: Throughout the past year, I think I have worked the most through the lockdown. It’s been a huge learning curve for me, I have learned how to set up a small studio at my residence with the help of my recording engineer at the studio. My team has helped me with the nuances of Zoom and other online communication platforms. I have been connected to people through phones and video calls. Another thing that I have learned and what the pandemic has taught us is to be global citizens. It has increased our horizon to think and care for people outside our social circle. To be careful and mindful of our deeds and how we impact people around us. I have also realised having a routine and being disciplined helps and is what

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has kept me going. I start my day by chanting mantras and taking a walk in my home. Post that I continue with my singing work. The concept of the ‘stage’ took on another form during the pandemic, with the computer and mobile screen turning into stage for artistes across genres. Your thoughts on this digital stage? Uthup: During the lockdown, I was able to adapt to the digital stage seamlessly through the help of my team Gautam Basu, Somresh and Rinta. Through the lockdown, even though the stage shows couldn’t happen, I was able to connect with my audience through the 6-7 songs which I recorded in my home studio and released them on the social media platforms. The response has been humongous and shows the kind of love the audience has for you as a singer. It has also helped me to be a Global artist through my work. Plus the digital stage has not only boomed for performances, but also for online learning. Through SaPa India, I am able to conduct this masterclass on Stagecraft where people can learn about posture, stage manners and other nuances which can be used not only for live shows but for virtual shows as well. You had mentioned during the lockdown months that getting on a stage to perform would not be possible for some time. Are you happy that the entertainment and cultural spaces are opening up? Uthup: For 51 years of my career, I have performed on stage for numerous shows. It’s an exhilarating experience of performing for the audience who are right in front of you and the musicians right beside encouraging you with each verse of the song. The stage performance teaches you humility, dignity and honesty and makes you realize that the only reason

why you are up on the stage is because of the audience and their love for you art and entertainment. So yes, it’s great we can go back to such ways of entertainment of course keeping the COVID-19 precautions in mind. I’m looking forward to doing shows again . Please tell us about your association with SaPa India Uthup: Kavita has been a dear friend of mine for years and I have such high admiration and respect for both Dr L. Subramaniam and Kavita Subramanian. And it’s great that they have a brainchild like SaPa, an academy, which is training children as young as 3 years old. And I am so grateful to them for including Stagecraft as a subject. It’s one of the most important aspects of being an artist apart from technical knowledge, regular practice amongst others. And I’m very thankful to them for giving me this opportunity to take the masterclass. It provides an awakening to people that no matter how good of a singer or an artist you are, what would you do if you didn’t have the right kind of stagecraft to perform. Because entertainment is a serious business indeed. Apart from this masterclass, I am also designing and launching a self-paced course with SaPa India to be released shortly. About your upcoming plans.. Uthup: I have released about 6-7 songs with videos. The only difference between me and the other artists is that I don’t actively promote them through digital platforms like Instagram and YouTube because I’m not very well versed with such mediums. And my work is not just in Hindi Films, but I have done songs across Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil as well. My latest project is now with SaPa India.

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Theatre does make you a better person and performer because you put in months for rehearsal. Everything is live, and an artist has to be ready to take whatever challenges come along. I always equate Theatre to Life; just like how life goes on, a play also has to go in flow. Also, considering the time crunch on OTT platforms and film production, the actor is expected to perform and give a perfect shot in one take. But with theatre, the artist gets to prepare for their character. Therefore, theatre makes you a capable actor. Makarand Deshpande, who is also my mentor, says, if you want to be part of a play, first one must watch a play, then watch a rehearsal and then understand backstage, which resonates well with me. I think everyone needs to understand theatre and how much work an actor, director, and the whole crew put into it. You can learn so much from Live plays, and I believe youngsters should experience this. While cinema is an important part of us, we must not forget that plays are an integral part of our culture. Danish Hussain, ‘Aaj Rang Hai’ by Zee theatre Nothing transforms you or touches you more than palpable human contact. To see another human-being conversing, emoting, performing before you can be a very transformative moment. So, I think it is important for people to not just be passive consumers as they are in a cinema hall, but become active participants when they are in a theatre. They should feel the human immediacy and they should see what is the transformative power of a performance when it is being done in front of them on a stage. Joy Sengupta, ‘Dance Like a Man’ and ‘Ladies Sangeet’ by Zee

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theatre I believe, there is no art like theatre for the simple reason that the art of theatre employs every other art. Theatre has visual art, oral art, music, painting, costume, architecture in terms of set design, acting, dancing and singing. So many forms are employed in theatre to create a social and political discourse. Be it the battle of Mahabharata, or the condition of women in the 19th century or the conflict within a family in the context of their social conditions, theatre can accommodate every story, every milieu and every genre and yes, all forms of arts. Therefore an audience who watches a play, appreciates aesthetics, becomes empowered socially and politically and definitely goes back highly entertained. What more do you want as a human being? Mahesh Dattani, ‘Dance like a Man’ by Zee Theatre One thing that theatre offers that cinema and television can’t, is human contact. In theatre, the audience and performer breathe the same air. It’s like falling in love or having a delicious meal or smelling a rose. You can’t do these things without real contact as opposed to virtual contact. To some people this sharing of air means the world and to some it’s insignificant. So discover what it means to you. You won’t know it until you try it. Himani Shivpuri, ‘Hamidabai Ki Kothi’ on Tata Sky Theatre I agree that Theatre helps an actor to perform better. I would give credit to the Theatre Industry that helped me mould into a more competent actor. I honed my acting skills through my training at the National School of Drama. it helped me perform across mediums like TV, serials, or movies. Theatre allows an actor to understand the character with time over rehearsals. A theatre actor gets to perform different characters, which allows them to bring out their emotions as well as perfect their speech and body language. People who do not watch plays need to do so it because there is a big magical world waiting to be explored where stories from different backgrounds are brought together that enriche you.

ARTS-CULTURE

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

META from March 26 to May 1 Audience fatigued by digital concerts: T Smita Bellur he Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) and Festival 2021 announced the 16th edition of META which will be held virtually this year in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Every weekend, for five weeks, starting March 26 to May 1, there will be conversations with the minds behind each of these plays as well as screenings of these award-winning plays. The plays and the conversations will be hosted on META’s official Facebook Page and YouTube Channel. The final weekend of the festival will have workshops and masterclasses curated by Teamwork Arts in partnership with artGYAN. Promoted by the Mahindra Group as part of its cultural outreach programme and produced by Teamwork Arts, META annually rewards and recognises the best theatrical productions and performances of the year, along with their makers and facilitators, providing a major boost to the country’s theatre industry. Over the years it has given voice to diverse themes ranging from contemporary and pressing social issues, mythology, religion, gender, caste and politics through the plays it has showcased. The META award-winning plays that will be staged this year include leading Indian playwright Vijay Tendulkar’s ’A Friend’s Story’, directed by Akash Khurana, one of the first modern Indian plays dealing with samesex attraction; ’Andha Yug’, directed by Joy Maisnam, a verse play set against the backdrop of the last day of the Mahabharata war; ‘Elephant in the Room’, directed by Yuki Ellias, another play inspired by mythology paying homage to Lord

I Ganapati in a quirky and poignant reinterpretation of his story; ’Lassanwala’, directed by Hemant Pandey, a thought-provoking tale of a sixty-year old Brahmin garlic-seller in a present-day rural heartland and the tragic-comic events that shake his firm belief in the caste system; and Nona, directed by Jino Joseph, a socio-political satire set in rural India, which examines subjects like pseudo-nationalism and casteism. Jay Shah, Vice President, Head – Cultural Outreach at the Mahindra Group, said,“Over the last 15 years we have been holding the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards in the national capital. This year

however, we’ve had to think outside the box due to the pandemic. Instead of the usual competitive awards, we are celebrating five outstanding plays that have won accolades at the META platform over the years.” Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director at Teamwork Arts, added, “The Meta Festival is back with a walk down memory lane bringing to you some of the best award winning plays over the past few years! in this new series we delve into the minds of the directors, playwrights, costume and set designers and the actors who bring the play to life.”

KalaGhar empowering Odisha women, reviving handicraft 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per day.

This craft form has also become a source of reform for the prisoners lodged at the Baripada jail in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district KalaGhar works like an e-commerce platform, inspired by the concept of ‘arte util’, meaning ï¿½useful art’ in Spanish. KalaGhar aims to improve the financial capacity of the Sabai artisans in Mayurbhanj district, which homes 45 tribal communities. They not only help the artisans develop the products, but also assist them to understand design and trends.

By Rajnish Singh Starting its journey from a small village in Odisha’s Balasore district with six artisans five years ago, KalaGhar is not only creating employment opportunities for rural

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women artisans, but also reviving handicrafts in Odisha. The craft-based social enterprise has empowered over 200 rural women aged between 19 and 50 years. Now, these women earn Rs

From creating urban tastes and preferences and at the same time retaining the Indian art form’s history and legacy, KalaGhar works with various grass-roots level artists, NGOs and self-help groups and assist them in understanding minimalistic and contemporary

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f there is something that has been constant in Sufi singer Smita Bellur’s life, the first female Hindustani vocalist to have been accepted into a lineage of traditional Qawwaals, it has been change. With a Master’s degree MS (QM) from BITS Pilani and Bachelor of Engineering from Bangalore University, Bellur decided to let go of her cushy corporate job at the German software giant SAP to get back to music full-time. Not just that, the singer belonging to Jaipur-Kirana gharana and trained in Hindustani Classical decided to enter the realm of Sufi. “I have loved this journey of getting out of my comfort zone and trying to go with the flow. It was not really easy, but He has been kind. My corporate job was supposed to be plan B and it played out for a while; the Plan A - of being a full time musician came into fruition after my daughter was born. There has been no looking back ever since,” says the vocalist who was part of the recent ‘The Classic Bagh Festival’ presented by Jodhpur RIFF and the British Council, in association with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Stressing that Sufi music exists in Hindustani classical music, so it wasn’t a transition per se - but more of specialization, she adds, “Many Khayals are based on Sufi poetry. Without the knowledge of ragas, one cannot sing Sufi music. And how can you enjoy Khayal to designs. Covering over 10-15 villages in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts in Odisha, the initiative has been ensuring social and economic empowerment for women by complementing their skills and art of embellishment, and by adding new freshness to the art through training. Started in July 2016 by sisters Megha and Shipra Agarwal (both

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its fullest unless you know about Sufism. In so many ways, they complement each other.” Although Bellur has been listening to qawwali since childhood, but the turning point came when she listened to Ustad Aziz Ahmed Warsi singing ‘Allah Hoo’. “It was so engaging that I was transported to another plane, and thus got hooked onto it. I love Sufi music in its traditional avtar --encased in Hindustani Classical ragas.” Even as the second phase of the pandemic is haunting many states and auditoriums have been asked to operate at reduced capacities, Bellur says that in the early phase of the pandemic, there was a deluge of music through social media. “Poor sound slowly improved, but there is now a fatigue where it concerns digitally served music. Not just artists, even the audiences are missing live music tremendously.” Adding that there needs to be more festivals and platforms for music, especially at heritage centres, the singer feels that the ones organised by Tourism departments of different states should invite more folk, classical artistes, Sufi musicians and Qawwals. Looking forward to some research-based presentations this year, Bellur, besides live performances also plans to work on specially curated digital musical content. in their 30s), KalaGhar is empowering women artisans by creating dignified livelihood opportunities while sending 100 per cent sustainable home decor products nade with natural fibre to the market. “We started our journey in a small village in Balasore district with six artisans. Currently, we are working with over 200 artisans from Mayurbhanj and Balasore,” Shipra told IANS.

FASHION

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Ravishing Fashionistas casting call auditions: “Girls were clothed in confidence and dressed with sass”

The RF judges could not hide their excitement over some of the models who came through for the casting call

Ravishing Fashionistas team members posing together

avishing Fashionistas had their 3rd casting call Auditions for Ravishing Fashionistas Fashion Show 2021 on Sunday 14th March in Brisbane, Queensland where girls from all ages, sizes and colour participated. Judges were Upma Kite (founder of Ravishing Fashionistas, Mrs. Australia Universal 2019 People’s Choice Award winner & Face of Brisbane Mrs. India Global 2017), Francesca Webster (Beauty and Business Expert; Founder, Director & CEO; Skin & Beauty Training Centre, ASI & Brazilian Beauty), Lizzie Wagner (Founder of Lizzie Wagner Group Executive Coach, Business Consultant, International Keynote Speaker, Styling & PR), Thuy Nguyen (Director, CEO at Fashion360; Former Trainer at Australian Institute of Creative Design - RTO 31301), Vera Haddock (Founder of VERAS & Social Media Influencer),

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Unga Folau-Tupou (Model’s Choreographer at Ravishing Fashionistas, Model’s director & judge for various fashion shows in Brisbane for eight consecutive years). Judges were so dazzled by the girls that one judge said “she wanted them all!”. They shared the BTS and pictures of the event on Social media platforms. Finals of the fashion show is to be held on 3rd July at the Royal International Convention Centre from 6pm. The theme of the show is gold and glitter.

Breast Cancer Foundation and Dignifying Women (RF’s NGO to support domestic violence survivors). They have delivered two previously sold-out events, the first at Sofitel in 2019 and the second at Stamford Plaza in 2020.

Ravishing Fashionistas is the Initiative by Upma Kite, Mrs. Australia Universal 2019, to help women to embrace themselves confidently by breaking through stereotype, they are setting a new standard where any woman can be a model in their own right and own their confidence irrespective of body types, background and beliefs. Ravishing Fashionistas has pledged to donate to National

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FASHION

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Beena Kannan launches ‘India’s 1st luxury silk couture’ label

aving spent over forty years in the industry designing sarees for her Kerala-based brand Seematti, designer Beena Kannan is all set to launch “India’s first luxury silk inspired haute couture” label. With this move, Kannan aims to change the notion that Kanjeevaram silk is only for sarees. Her new namesake brand, includes Indian, Indo-western and western outfits – made either of silk or with a touch of it. The designer held a fashion show in Kochi, Kerala, to launch her new label ‘Beena Kannan’. Top models sashayed on the ramp, wearing the collection that comprises sarees, lehengas, crop and long jackets, kaftans, dresses, etc.

very difficult for them to get into innovation, get into new designs because Kanjeevaram has certain limitations. It’s considered very religious and very much attached to the Hindu wedding. So, they thought believe the scope of this weaving is very limited,” she tells IANSlife. “When I talked to them, they asked me who’s going to buy it. If it’s a simple saree, it can be made in five days, and my designs sometimes take three months to be

ready. But we pay them accordingly. Some of our saris even cost more than our selling price. But we do it because it needs to be done. That’s how we think, that’s where we are positioning ourselves,” asserts Kannan, who made into Guinness Book of Records and Limca Book of Records in 2007 for making the longest-ever silk saree. Unlike Seematti, which is a 120-year-old retail brand, every bit of the outfits in the new label is custom-made, she clarifies. “There

are clothes which will be fitting in all occasions in your life.” Label Beena Kannan will see garments made with various silk weaving techniques and technologies in India which will be inspired by her travel across the globe. She says: “The entire silk industry was revolving around modular designs, say X+Y+Z or Y+X+Z. But we are reinventing the procedure of the weaving. Today, customers need light weighted outfits, a particular zari etc. So, we do a lot of

experiments. I have done weaving in organza, linen and raw silk to make sarees. I have combined weaving in silk, printing in silk and embroidery in silk for occasion wear and accessories also.” Kannan, will launch the brand with a 17,500 sq.ft. store in Kerala, and plans to expand it across the world in the next three years. This year, they plan to open five stores in Delhi, Bombay, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, plus two flagships’ stores.

Kannan has used different weaving techniques from across the country to do the label’s first line up, based on three mood boards to cater the likings of Gen Z and millennials, among others. She has combined the Byzantine era with Indian Geometric art; the Art Deco period with Jamiwar and Ottoman art with Mughal styles. She has adopted famous paintings of Vincent van Gogh and S.H. Raza on to her sarees. However, to create such art on weaving is very difficult, she says. “Even machines cannot take the 40,000 hooks and 60,000 hooks that we handle.” Additionally, getting modern designs weaved by artisans who otherwise work on traditional weaves and techniques is also not very easy, she says. “The artisans were never ready to do innovative things, because it’s a very time consuming, money consuming and is a hard process. It’s

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SPORTS

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

3rd ODI: India hang on to win by 7 runs, clinch series 2-1

ndia survived a scare from England all-rounder Sam Curran (95 not out off 83 balls) as they managed to beat England by a slender 7-run margin in the third and final One-day International here at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Sunday night to clinch the 3-match ODI series 2-1.

Curran, who got a couple of lives, including one on 22, had walked in with England looking down the barrel at 168 for the loss of six wickets. They still needed 162 runs in 146 balls and when Moeen Ali was dismissed as the seventh man with the score on 200, it seemed all over. But Curran stitched a 57-run partnership with Adil Rashid (19) for the eighth wicket and then added 60 runs with Mark Wood (14) for the ninth, to bring England within 13 runs of victory. However, England could get just six runs in the last over bowled by T. Natarajan as Curran had, by then, lost all his partners and was the lone man standing looking for boundaries which the field placements by India (most fielders on the boundary line) did not allow. Chasing 330 to win after India were bowled out for 329 in 48.2 overs in their innings, England got off to the worse possible start losing opener Jason Roy in the first over after the opener had threatened to tear Bhuvneshwar Kumar apart. Roy hit Bhuvneshwar for three fours in the first five balls before the right-arm pacer broke through the defences to rattle the stumps. The other opener Jonny Bairstow was dismissed on the last ball of the innings’ third over, Kumar’s second, as he moved across to glance one down to fine leg but was trapped leg-before. England were 28/2 in three overs and it was the first time in the last

three one-dayers against India that their openers couldn’t put up a century stand.

Ben Stokes, who hammered a 52-ball 99 in Friday’s game, was dismissed for 35 off 39 balls to leave England at 68/3 and when skipper Jos Buttler (15) fell leg-before -- through a review by India -- England were looking down and out at 95 for four in 15.1 overs. However, England didn’t give up. Just like India earlier, who had come back from 157/4 to post 329, the visitors’ long batting line-up ensured that India had to face resistance. Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone added 60 in 8.4 overs before Shardul Thakur made double breakthrough, getting rid of both. Ali dazzled for a while before Hardik Pandya, who dropped two simple catches on the day, picked a nice catch to send him back. Curran and Rashid kept English hopes alive adding 57 in less than nine overs before the latter was brilliantly caught at short cover by Kohli. Curran continued the onslaught reaching his half-century, farming the strike and then added 60 with Wood before the latter was run out while looking for a second run as Curran slipped. Earlier, powered by a 99-run partnership between Rishabh Pant (78 off 62 balls) and Pandya (64 off 44 balls) that came in just under 12 overs, India made 329 (in 48.2 overs). The hosts had begun well with openers Rohit Sharma (37 off 37 balls) and Shikhar Dhawan (67 off 56 balls) adding 103 in just under 15 overs. The two began sedately before taking 15 runs off a Curran over, the innings’ fifth. They then took 17 off the eighth over bowled by left-armer Reece Topley.

However, the introduction of Rashid brought England back in. The England leg-spinner, who has made a habit of getting Kohli out in this series, removed Sharma in his second over with a googly that beat the India vice-captain. Rashid picked Dhawan in the next over, having him caught and bowled. Soon, Ali, who was introduced from the other end, got rid of skipper Kohli (7 off 10 balls). The India No. 3 tried to play the off-spinner off the back-foot. However, the ball turned in and hit the leg-stump. Suddenly, from a strong 103 without loss in the 15th over, India were 121/3 in the 18th over. In the five overs between 15-20,

India had scored 18 runs for the loss of three wickets. England’s other leg-spinner Liam Livingstone then removed K.L. Rahul (7 off 18 balls) and India were 157/4 in the 25th over with backs to the wall. From there on, Pant and Pandya took the attack to the England spinners. Pant hit Livingstone for a six and four to take 10 off his one over and then Pandya hammered Ali for three sixes in an over. Both then kept milking runs before the India wicketkeeper was caught behind off Curran. Pandya was bowled down the leg-side by Stokes but by the time the Indian batting duo was dismissed, India

were 276/6 in 39 overs. Thakur (30 off 21) and Krunal Pandya (25 off 34) added 45 runs in seven overs. However, after Thakur’s dismissal, India could only make a further eight runs. Wood picked three wickets for 34 runs. Brief scores: India 329 all out in 48.2 overs (R Pant 78, S Dhawan 67, H Pandya 64, M Wood 3/34) beat England 322/9 in 50 overs (S Curran 95 not out, D Malan 50, S Thakur 4/67, B Kumar 3/42) by seven runs. Man of the match: Sam Curran Man of the series: Jonny Bairstow Series: India won 2-1.

Debutant Krunal Pandya breaks down after record fifty knock and could not speak to the broadcasters at the end of the Indian innings.

Asked about his innings (58 not out off 31 balls), Krunal, the older of the two Pandya brothers, dedicated it to his father who had died recently. The 30-year-old could not bring himself to answer any further question as he struggled to control his tears.

ll-rounder Krunal Pandya, who slammed the fastest ODI half-century by a

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debutant in the first match of the three-ODI series against England on Tuesday, broke down after his

Krunal and Hardik’s father Himanshu Pandya had died on January 16 at the age of 71, when Krunal was busy leading Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. The all-rounder had to leave the Baroda team bio-bubble to be

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with his family.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Hardik Pandya had paid tribute to his dad. “To my daddy and my hero, to lose you is one of the most difficult things to accept in life but you have left us so many great memories that we can only imagine you smiling! Your sons are standing where they are right now is only because of you, your hard work, your self-belief and you were always happy. This house without you would be less entertaining!,” Hardik had written. Earlier, speedster Mohammed Siraj had also burst into tears during

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the national anthem ahead of the third Test against Australia in Sydney on January 7. Siraj had lost his father in November and couldn’t attend his burial or see his family as he had flown straight from the IPL in the UAE to Australia for a full series. Siraj later said his father’s memory crossed his mind which led to the tears. Coming back to Tuesday’s match, powered by Krunal’s 26-ball fifty and his unbeaten 112-run stand with K.L. Rahul (62 not out) for the sixth wicket, India ended their innings at 317 for five in 50 overs.

SPORTS

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

India move to 7th position on ICC WC Super League standings Continued from Page 1

The Super League started on July 30, 2020 with England’s threematch series against Ireland. It includes the 12 full members of the ICC along with the Netherlands, who won the 2015-17 ICC World Cricket League Championship to qualify for the competition.

Teams that finish within the top eight will gain automatic qualification for the 2023 World Cup which is scheduled to be held in India. Since India are the hosts, they have already gained automatic qualification but are a part of the league anyhow.

Shooting WC: India win gold in men’s, women’s team trap

ndia won gold in both the men’s and women’s trap events at the shooting World Cup here on Sunday.

Rajeshwari Kumari, Manisha Keer and Shreyasi Singh won the women’s title while Kynan Chenai, Prithviraj Tondaiman and Lakshay won the men’s gold on Sunday.

Adam Zampa getting married, to miss RCB’s 1st IPL outing

Cricket between Pak and India very important: Afridi

elations between India and Pakistan can improve because of cricket, said former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi.

Afridi’s comments come amid speculation of the two countries playing a short bilateral T20I series this year, which would be the first between India and Pakistan since 2012/13. “Cricket between Pakistan and India is very important. Sports should be kept away from politics. Relations between the two countries can improve because of cricket,” Afridi told Cricket Pakistan. “I have said this before as well, Indian cricketers enjoy coming to Pakistan. You can improve relationships through sports but if you don’t want to improve them then they will remain the same way,” he further said. A report in Pakistan’s Jang newspaper on Wednesday quoted a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official as saying that their cricket board had been asked to “be ready” for a series with India,

“We won’t have our full contingent of overseas players available for the first game. Adam Zampa is getting married. It’s an important time for him and it’s something that as a franchise we are aware of and we respect and we hope he has a great time. So when he joins us, once again he is going to be fresh and make a massive contribution to the rest of the tournament,” Hesson said in a video tweeted by the franchise.

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“A PCB official said that while there has been no direct discussion with anyone from India, indications are there and we have been told to be ready for such a series,” said the report in the Urdu newspaper. However, the Indian and Pakistani boards have said they have no knowledge of any development on the resumption of the bilateral

cricket. A top Indian cricket official on Wednesday told IANS, “No, we have no information on India playing a series with Pakistan.” Pakistan’s Geo TV quoted PCB chairman Ehsan Mani as saying that they have not been contacted by anyone for a possible India-Pakistan series and neither has he been part of any discussion with his Indian counterpart on the issue.

20-member Indian team for Youth World Boxing

20-member Indian contingent has been picked to compete at the men’s and women’s AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships to be held in Kielce, Poland, from April 10 to 24, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) announced on Saturday.

pinner Adam Zampa will miss the first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as he is getting married, the team’s director of cricket Mike Hesson said on Wednesday.

though no one from India has made any commitment to the series.

champion Chongtham Bishwamitra (49kg) is also in the team. Vikas (52), Sachin (56kg), Akash Gorkha (60kg), Sumit (69kg),

Manish (75kg), Vinit (81 kg), Vishal Gupta (91kg), and Jugnoo (+91kg) are the others picked for the World Championships.

For acclimatisation to the local weather conditions, the boxers will also undergo a 10-day preparatory camp in Wladyslawowo, Poland, ahead of the World Championships. The team will be leaving on March 31. Hesson said that travelling has been a challenge for Australian players and staff with head coach Simon Katich yet to arrive in Chennai where the team is under quarantine for a training camp. “Getting people out of Australia has been a challenge. Simon has been ready to go for a long time, it will be probably two days before he is able to jump on a plane and join us. The documentation has been a bit challenging,” said Hesson. The IPL gets underway on April 9 with RCB facing defending champions Mumbai Indians in the opening match.

More than 480 boxers from 66 nations are expected to compete in the World Championships. N. Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg), the 2019 Asian Youth champion, Vinka (60kg), Sanamacha Chanu (75kg), Alfiya Pathan (+81kg) and Khelo India champion Arundhati Choudhary (69kg) are among the formidable women’s team. Gitika (48kg), Arshi Khanam (54kg), Poonam (57kg), Nisha (64kg) and Khushi (81kg) are the other members of the squad. The men’s team will be spearheaded by the Asian Youth Championship silver medallist Ankit Narwal (64kg). Asian junior

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TRAVEL

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Solo woman traveller? Put these activities on your bucket list

hile everybody seems to have been bitten by the travel bug, one particular segment has risen to the occasion in full force – that of women travellers! Women besides outperforming at work, managing their homes and slaying everywhere in general, are now increasingly turning to solo travel. Not only is solo travel therapeutic for the modern Indian woman, but is also an enriching and bold statement of their empowered versions. Reasons to travel vary, from business and leisure to experiencing and exploring local cultures. While there are a lot of destinations offering varied experiences, the stunning combination of captivating surroundings, fantastic year–round weather, thriving wildlife and a wide array of adventure sports to choose from, puts the rainbow nation of South Africa right on top for an unforgettable experience amongst women travellers. Here is a look at some of the most bucket-list worthy activities to include in your itinerary on your next solo trip to South Africa: Shark-cage diving Great White Shark spotting is one of the biggest draws to South Africa. A trip to Rainbow Nation is incomplete without attempting the hair-raising shark-cage dive. In fact, Indians are the top 3rd nationality to undertake Sharkcage diving in South Africa. There are two places in South Africa that promise fantastic shark cage diving experiences: Gansbaai and Mossel Bay. Situated in Gansbaai, Dyer Island is often credited as a hub for shark-cage diving. It also serves as a sanctuary to rare pelagic bird species and the whole of Marine Big Five. The Wild Safari South Africa has to its name, a thriving and glorious wildlife. The major tourist attraction being the Big 5 – African Elephant, Cape Buffalo, Lion, Black Rhino and Leopard. The African Safari promises a myriad of species amid dramatic, unspoiled landscapes. Tourists have

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the option of choosing from a wide variety such as a game drive, a bush walk, or even a horse-ride for an authentic wildlife experience. From gritty experiences in the bush to opulent luxury in a private lodge, they have it all covered. Solo woman traveller? Put these activities on your bucket list Go Hiking Hiking trails are the best way to experience South Africa’s scenery, sunny climate and outdoor culture – it is one of the world’s most popular hiking destinations. Whether you like to hike up mountains, along rivers or through valleys, you’re certain to find a perfect route. In Cape Town you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to hikes – take your pick from Table Mountain’s many routes, Lion’s Head’s popular and spectacular trail, walks in the various forests spread out below the mountain and beautiful coastal trails. Solo woman traveller? Put these activities on your bucket list Dance the night away in CapeTown Nothing quite prepares you for Cape Town – the captivating Mother City is where travellers can feel perfectly in tune with the new South Africa. Cape Town’s energy is unrivalled and the day doesn’t end at sunset. Revel in some of the most happening party places across the city. From old school bars and beerhouses to new cool sports bars and comedy clubs, Cape Town has it all!

Hot Air Ballooning in Gauteng: You rise ever so slowly into the sky and drift gently in the wind. A hot air ballooning adventure is a low-anxiety adventure which will take you to an emotional high as you look down like a bird in flight at the landscape that unravels below. And tradition requires that a hot air balloon flight ends with a toast of sparkling wine. Say cheers to a good time!

Latest entrant in the Indian luxury hotel space, wins coveted travel awards

he Postcard Dewa, Thimpu has been voted as ‘Asia’s Leading Luxury Boutique Hotel’ and ‘Bhutan’s Leading Boutique Hotel’, inspite of being the latest entrant in the Indian luxury hotel space. Within just a year of being operational, the brand has managed to make a mark for itself amongst the top luxury hotels in Asia. The Postcard Hotel walks away

became our priority. Additionally, to ensure that they feel safe and reassured, The One Key Hotel was introduced.” says Chopra. The ‘One Key’ access is a unique service that allows guests to book the entire hotel for themselves, during which the property is completely closed off to non-residential guests with a complete sanitisation of the premises including the pool prior to arrival.

Explore Winelands by the Moonlight Experience the cape winelands from a completely different perspective lit by moonlight! A trail by moonlight on horseback will take you back in time and offer a truly magical experience in the Witzenberg Valley. Just 90 minutes from Cape Town, away from city, lights, and pollution – you will be blown away by the brightness of the moon and be fascinated by your very own moon shadow. Lip-smacking food in Durban Durban is sure to tantalize your taste buds with the deliciously diverse spectrum of cuisines it has to offer. While gorging on the world cuisines, don’t forget to try the South African Bunny Chow. Bunny Chow is the Big Mac of South Africa. It’s a delicious treat unique to Durban that dates back to the 1940s, and your trip wouldn’t be complete without sampling it. Interestingly, the Bunny Chow has Indian origins! The dish consists of a hollowed-out loaf of white bread filled with meat or vegetable curry.

with multiple honours at The World Travel Awards, 2020, with its Cuelim, South Goa property having been voted as ‘India’s Leading Boutique Hotel’ and ‘Goa’s Leading Boutique Hotel’. Its The Postcard Velha, Old Goa, has been voted as ‘India’s Best Wellness Retreat’ . Kapil Chopra and a team of experienced hospitality professionals founded The Postcard Hotel with a vision to open experiential luxury hotels in unique destinations. The immersive hospitality and its unconventional and fluid nature is what truly sets the brand apart. No set breakfast hours, personalised exclusive dining, cocktails on arrival and the flexibility of anytime check-in and check-out are some of the unique offerings that have contributed to the vast recognition and appreciation of the brand. “Evolving rapidly and staying positive in this new environment was the need of the hour. While our hotels continued to provide the highest levels of service and genuine care for our guests, enhancing the procedures and protocols for safety of our guests and team

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Each hotel by The Postcard offers unique experiences that are true to its surroundings, giving guests a sense of the neighbourhood and the destination in a way never seen before. The Postcard Cuelim, is a 350 year old restored estate located in South Goa. This six room hotel overlooking 3500 acres of lush green paddy fields seamlessly blends in with Goa’s rich culture and tropical radiance, providing the experience of seclusion and disconnect. The Postcard Dewa, Thimphu is nestled in a forest on the outskirts of Bhutan’s capital city. The newly built hotel with 15 suites and a minimum room size of 995 square feet is located with a spectacular hilltop view of the Thimphu valley and surrounding forests. Just a 20-minute drive from Thimphu city’s sights and sounds, the hotel aims to provide a sense of splendid seclusion. As the only carbon negative country in the world, 72 percent of Bhutan is forest covered, and The Postcard is a perfect base from which one can explore the magnificent landscape and culture of Bhutan.

LITERATURE

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

My own story relates to evolving global Noted journalist, writer Anil Dharker passes away economy: Indra Nooyi

ell known journalist and writer, Anil Dharker, the Founder Director of the Mumbai International Literature Festival, has passed away, family sources said.

environmental footprint, and empowering its associates and people in the communities it serves.

ndra Nooyi is one of the worlds foremost business visionaries, who broke the glass ceiling in global business as a woman of Indian origin and immigrant leading an iconic American company that operates in 200 countries. Now, she essays her journey in “My Life In Full: Work, Family And Our Future” to be published by Hachette India. A revered corporate strategist, she is also a sought-after advisor to entrepreneurs, executives and governments. As Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2018, she was the chief architect of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo’s mission to deliver sustained growth by making more nutritious products, limiting the company’s

It offers an intimate look inside PepsiCo, detailing how Nooyi steered the iconic American company toward healthier products and reinvented its environmental profile without curbing financial performance -- despite resistance at every turn. “My Life in Full” includes Nooyi’s unvarnished take on the competing pressures on her attention and time, and what she learned as a leader along the way. “As I wrote ‘My Life in Full’, I saw how my own story relates to our evolving global economy and how it may inform our progress on better integrating work and family in the years ahead. I hope this book inspires business leaders, policymakers and all women and men passionate about easing the work-and-family burden to come together and create change”, Nooyi says of the memoir. Thomas Abraham, Managing Director, Hachette India, says: “This is that unusual book that works at so many levels -- as a celebration of an extraordinary life, as an emotional memoir, a riveting business book, a manifesto for women’s empowerment, as a path-finder

He had been hospitalised for a heart ailment and he breathed his last here late Thursday. “Sad to hear about Anil Dharker’s passing. He was briefly my editor at Independent, and represented an age when newspaper journalism used to be what it is meant to be,” noted sports journalist Sambit Bal tweeted. for family and work-life balance -- and, unsurprisingly, given her amazing talent, it is truly inspirational across all those levels.” Poulomi Chatterjee, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, Hachette India, says: “Indra Nooyi’s memoir is that rare book that is at once a thrilling business narrative, an inspirational guide to effective leadership, an empowering treatise for women of all ages and a reflection on the importance of family. It is our privilege at Hachette India to be its publishers in the Indian Subcontinent, where it will be of special significance to a wide range of readers.”

Giving Sita a #MeToo-inspired voice has gained significant strength; millions and millions of people have been protesting in countless cities and towns all over the world against racism and social injustice. In addition, a pandemic was raging on, killing people daily in several thousands, across the continents. Isolation and loneliness. These two words have started to define life for almost everyone on this earth, regardless of their race, age, nationality or faith. In an extremely cruel and punishing manner, these words began to define death too, for millions.

hen Indian American writer Sini Panicker, a trained chemist who is a heroin profiler for the US government, began her research into the Ramayana in early 2018, the #MeToo Movement was extremely popular and highly successful in the United States. And, in her debut novel, “Sita: Now You Know Me”, Panicker was inspired by these MeToo voices to give her protagonist a spirited and resilient voice befitting the present-day affairs that occupy the news cycles and social media. By the time Panicker began her final editing process with Rupa Publications on the novel, the US and the world had been changed considerably. Black Lives Matter

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“I thought the world in the novel is surreal. It is an ancient world, it is an imaginary world, dating back to two millennia or more, where we, the good-natured humans fight the ghastly demons. But no. The world outside - the living, breathing world of ours - is the surreal one,” Panicker, whose normal topics of engagement are organic chemistry, forensic sciences, heroin investigations, and intelligence information on global heroin trafficking, told IANS in an interview. “There has been utter chaos and deadly fear from the virus. There has been torture and pain inflicted upon humans by fellow humans, just because they could. All of this began to make me feel like our world exists on another unfamiliar and abnormal realm,” she added. “The George Floyd video showed

the demons are still here, that they are in us. We are the demons. A microorganism, a simple messenger RNA, is powerful enough to teach us, the egotistical, narcissistic human race, a few tough lessons on nature and humility. I compared and contrasted the world in my novel, to the world we live in, throughout the editing process in 2020. Of course, there were plenty of chances for me to ponder these things, because of the isolated and lonely life under the pandemic,” Panicker explained. Coincidentally, the most continual feelings Sita experiences in the novel are isolation and loneliness. The Dandaka exile is not a series of wonderful and joyful excursions to the hermitages for Ram, Lakshman, and Sita in the book. The three of them are separated from the rest of the world, from fellow humans, and they lead an insulated lonely life in the deep jungle for 13 long years; their struggles and depression are openly discussed in my novel. Then there is a year of loneliness and misery for Sita in Lanka, which is almost immediately followed by her isolated life at Valmiki’s ashram after Ram banishes her. “I could not help but think about our current feelings, under the pandemic vs .the emotions detailed in the novel. “I wrote this novel because of

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“Saddened by the news of @anildharker’s passing. Fellow liberal, activist, author & journalist, Anil Dharker was an institution in MumMeToo. MeToo is still happening. There are several movements occurring as we speak, under the umbrella term Black Lives Matter too. The pandemic is still not over. It seems like everyone and everything on this earth is a work in progress. And a novel, a short story or a poem often provides a great opportunity for us to reflect on this work in progress; on what we are and what we should be, about our past, present and future. I hope ‘Sita: Now You Know Me’ will provide such an opportunity for the readers,” Panicker elaborated. The novel introduces the reader to a conflicted Sita, aged approximately 50, living like an ascetic at Sage Valmiki’s ashram. She is evaluating her prospects for the following day as she has been ordered by her husband King Ram to appear in his court in Ayodhya. Sita suspects that she will be asked to prove her chastity. Overwhelmed by an array of emotions - ranging from agony, resentment, and distrust, about the trial that occurs after long years of her punishment in exile - Sita realizes that in order to secure the future for her young sons, she has no choice but to appear in Ayodhya. The message from Ram, a husband whom she loves very deeply despite their estrangement, begins to torment Sita; and she reflects on her life’s events, a series of misfortunes that led her to the ashram. Sita narrates her turbulent life in extensive detail, revealing her deepest desires, grief and horrors, as well as her profound love for Ram and for scripture. This Sita is deeply rooted in two major elements of her time: the agricultural practices that are further cemented by her connection to the mother earth and the magnificent era of debates on life and the cosmos, of the Vedas and Upanishads. We journey inside Sita’s mind, to the steely core which sustains her through a life of stark privation and abundant emotional riches. As she

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bai. He was also a dear friend & will be sorely missed,” former Union Minister Milind Deora tweeted. “Terrible new about @anildharker. He has been a big influence in Mumbai journalism and was an unfailingly kind man,” writer,” writer Meenal Baghel tweeted. contemplates hymns and the very meaning of life, we see a woman evolved far beyond her time, a woman who speaks to us today, out of the narrative of one of the oldest epics of our world. “While keeping the epic’s storyline mostly intact, I have changed some events and subplots, added new scenes or twists, and altered a few characters as I needed to narrate Sita’s story for contemporary readers,” Panikcer said. Sita journeys to Ayodhya and enters the palace to face her estranged husband and family. Instead of a formal trial, the reunion becomes highly emotional. Ram offers her a public apology and pleads with her to stay with him

and their sons in Ayodhya. Despite her intense joy upon seeing Ram, the agony and resentment over Ram’s deceitful act cannot be forgotten or forgiven by Sita. To Ram’s utter shock and torment, Sita walks away from him boldly, with a plan to convince her boys to stay in Ayodhya, without her. However, the cyclonic storms of emotions that she has experienced lately become unbearable for her already weakened heart. She collapses and dies in the hands of Ram, as he laments, broken-hearted. “Sita: Now You Know Me” is a novel that will stay etched in your mind for ever.

HEALTH

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Golden rules to keep your kidneys healthy

idney disease is a major health concern that many people across the globe are the facing today. However, inculcating a few simple rules in your daily life can help you keep your kidneys healthy and enhance the overall efficiency of your body as well. Dr Sujit Chatterjee, CEO of Dr. L H Hiranandani Hospital, lists down the golden rules to follow to keep your kidney healthy: Avoid Too Much Medicines & Pain Killers Intake of too many medicines is one of the major reasons for kidney failure and other chronic kidney diseases. So, whenever possible, go for natural therapies and if possible, go for Ayurvedic alternatives. Keep Blood Sugar in Control

Having excessive blood sugar is never good for your kidneys as to filter the same your kidneys will have work even harder. This, in the long term, can increase the chances of kidney failure. So, check your sugar levels regularly and take every necessary precaution to keep them under control. Keep Yourself Hydrated The wonders that regular water intake can do for the body are uncountable and keeping your kidneys healthy is one of them. So, ensure that you drink at least 8-10 glasses of water every day, as it helps in removing harmful toxins from the kidney, lowering the chances of harmful kidney-related diseases.

Maintain a Healthy Weight Being overweight means increased pressure on your organs and more toxin accumulation in the body. So, ensure that you avoid the same for better functioning of your body and to lower the chances of any harmful disease. Avoid Excessive Smoking & Drinking Smoking and drinking increase the burden on your kidneys by increasing the number of toxins in the body. This can cause a heavy toll in the long term, so make sure that you avoid both to make sure that your kidneys remain healthy for a long time. Keep a Check on Blood Pressure High blood pressure can cause serious problem for your kidney and in the long run, can even lead to kidney failure. If you face high blood pressure then consult your doctor immediately and get proper treatment. Eat Healthy A healthy diet helps you in keep-

ing every organ of your body at full efficiency and energy levels elevated. For better kidney health make sure that you eat a diet that is low on sodium. Some of the best options that can go for are egg whites, blueberries, fish, whole grains, and cauliflower. Regular Exercise Working out regularly not only help your body loose toxins faster but also help in improving the overall body functioning. So, exercise at least 5 times a week and ensure that you follow this in the longterm with proper consistency. Yoga is a good option for maintaining healthy kidneys. Routine Body Check-ups Having full-body checkups on a routine basis is extremely important as it will help you in knowing about any serious problem in the early stages and eliminating the same before it becomes dangerous for your body. Make sure that you get the checkups done at least 2-3 times in a year.

Johnson urged to start sharing vax with poorer nations

ritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing calls on Sunday to immediately begin donating vaccines to poorer nations or risk hoarding supplies while frontline workers are exposed to coronavirus, the Evening Standard newspaper reported. British health and development charities urged the prime minister to take “accelerated action” and “swiftly clarify” how doses will be shared, according to the newspaper, Xinhua news agency reported. The appeal was contained in a letter to the prime minister by those including British government science advisor Jeremy Farrar and Save the Children UK, among others. With more than half of adults having received a jab, they said Britain is “one of the world’s highest per-capita buyers” of vaccines and is on track to have more than 100 million surplus doses. “There is therefore the high risk that the UK will be hoarding limited supply whilst health workers and the most vulnerable in low- and middle-income countries do not have access,” said the letter. “The UK will be sitting on enough surplus vaccine doses to vaccinate the world’s frontline health workers twice over,” it said.

They also urged Britain to immediately begin donating doses through the COVAX initiative, which is working to provide vaccines for

low and middle-income countries. The British government responded that it will share “the majority of any future surplus” vaccines with the COVAX pool “when these are available,” the London-based newspaper said. COVAX is a global initiative backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure effective and equitable global access to Covid-19 vaccines. Farrar said Britain will still have contractual access to at least 100 million surplus doses once the entire population is vaccinated, which he said “won’t be of use in the UK”. “Now is the time to think beyond our borders,” he said. “The world won’t be safe while any single country is still fighting the virus.” “The prime minister has confirmed the UK will share the majority of any future surplus coronavirus vaccines from our supply with the COVAX pool, when these are available. No one is safe until we are all safe,” a British government source said.

Benefits of fish oil may depend on genotype

hould you take fish oil? It depends on your genotype, say researchers as they have found that taking fish oil only provides health benefits if you have the right genetic makeup. The study, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, focused on fish oil (and the Omega-3 fatty acids it contains) and its effect on triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood and a biomarker for cardiovascular disease. “We’ve known for a few decades that a higher level of Omega-3 fatty acids in the blood is associated with a lower risk of heart disease,” said researcher Kaixiong Ye from the University of Georgia. “What we found is that fish oil supplementation is not good for everyone; it depends on your genotype. If you have a specific genetic background, then fish oil supplementation will help lower

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your triglycerides. But if you do not have that right genotype, taking a fish oil supplement actually increases your triglycerides.” For the study, the team examined four blood lipids (fats) -- high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol and triglycerides -- that are biomarkers for cardiovascular disease.

The data for their sample of 70,000 individuals was taken from UK Biobank, a large-scale cohort study collecting genetic and health information from half a million participants. The team divided the sample into two groups, those taking fish oil supplements (about 11,000) and those not taking fish oil supplements. Then they performed a genome-wide scan for each group, testing for 8 million genetic variants to compare.

After running over 64 million tests, their results revealed a significant genetic variant at gene GJB2. Individuals with the AG geno-

type who took fish oil decreased their triglycerides. Individuals with the AA genotype who took fish oil slightly increased their

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triglycerides. (A third possible genotype, GG, was not evident in enough study volunteers to draw conclusions.)

FOOD & CUISINE

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

For those sweet cravings

tarted in 2016, Zoet is the brainchild of Sana & Geeta Bector. Zoet meaning ‘sweet’ in Dutch, aims to bake and create dessert that is sweet and complex in flavour yet simple and delicious. The inspiration for Zoet came out of Sana’s grandmother’s kitchen who started Cremica when she decided to make and sell ice cream out of her home. Very quickly Cremica managed to grow from a home bakery to a full fledged store and then the food conglomerate followed. But one thing her grandmother always kept going was that home bakery. Growing up around incredible desserts, Sana missed those flavours from her grandmother’s kitchen when she moved to Delhi - and so, Zoet was born! Each dessert either evokes a memory or is so good that it leads to creating a new one which is tied up in a childhood memory in a manner that people would like to eat it today. IANSlife spoke to Sana Bector to get more details.

Netflix on. Are you drooling yet? Flowers, no matter how pretty, just can’t do that. The pandemic has put a focus on healthy eating.. how do you incorporate and prioritise healthy and sustainable ingredients? Sana: Our focus is on fresh ingredients, sourced locally and from our own farms. We believe that dessert should be something you can enjoy every day and feel great after. That’s why our offerings are balanced and not too sweet. The F&B business has seen a number of new entrants and old players go online... why did you go offline with a dessert store in the Capital ? Sana: We started out as a delivery

business with a few shop in shop retail counters so you can order Zoet online. However nothing compares to interacting with people in person. I suppose in a way, the past year made us all realise that. My grandmother started her business by connecting with people and we’ve just come full circle. Your favourite from Zoet and the recipe please Sana: My Favourite from Zoet has got to be our Coffee Tiramisu.

Hello friends,

My name is Lata Modi and this is my first cooking column for the Indian Abroad newspaper. I am very excited to share my cooking skills with you all, which I inherited from my mom. I grew up in north India, therefore my recipes and my cooking style is very much influenced by northern Indian cuisine. Many of the popular dishes like butter chicken, lamb rogan Josh, palak paneer and malai kofta are all originated in north India. I grew up in a big family of five sisters and a brother, and my parents and grand-parents all living together. It was so much fun and cooking was such an important part of our everyday life. My mom wanted us sisters to learn how to cook tasty meals and therefore in our summer vacation, she would put up a roster for us sisters to cook one meal each day. It could so happen that you are cooking breakfast one day and then lunch or dinner the other day.

mom’s efforts at the time, but I truly appreciate it today that she taught us the importance of cooking for family and friends. Cooking plays a big role in bringing the family together. Mom always said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Funny but certainly true. Today’s recipe is my husband’s favourite chicken tikka and we will be serving it with fresh coriander and mint chutney. Hope you all enjoy it.

I don’t think we appreciated my

Ours is complex but in a pinch I make this bailey’s tiramisu that’s made with basic pantry ingredients without compromising too much on flavour. Zoet’s first flagship outlet is now open at Defence Colony Market

Chicken Tikka

Tell us a little about your labour of love Zoet and how it all came about?

(serves 4-5 people) Ingredients - One kilo chicken thigh fillets (cut into bite-sized pieces)

Sana: I grew up with a bakery in my home, I suppose that’s a dream childhood. We always had dessert on the table. Puddings as we used to call them back in the day, were my favourite. Layers of luscious custard, cake, fruit and sometimes chocolate- who wouldn’t love that. When I moved to Delhi ten years ago I really missed those desserts and I really couldn’t find anything like them. So I roped my mom in and decided to start Zoet. We wanted to get more people the experience the dessert we were so fortunate to know and love. Added bonus, I now always have dessert on the table!

- 6-7 cloves garlic crushed or grated - 2” piece fresh ginger peeled and grated - 1/2 cup yoghurt - 2 teaspoon coriander powder - 2 teaspoon cumin powder - Red chilli powder to taste - Salt to taste - 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice - 6 tablespoon Oil for shallow cooking. - Fresh coriander finely chopped for garnishing

It’s the season of love and nothing hits the spot quite like dessert?

Method

Sana: Let’s try this. Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream straight from the tub on a difficult day. A vibrant strawberry tiramisu, made with fresh strawberries and a delightful mascarpone custard in the park on a sunny winter day. Warm up a buttery apple pie and serve it up with some cool custard, in pjs with

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Chicken Tikka Receipe

- Take a big bowl and put chicken pieces in it. - Add grated garlic, ginger, yoghurt, lemon juice and all the spices. - Marinade for at least a couple of hours.

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- Now heat it in a frying pan and shallow fry the chicken pieces until cooked through. - Plate it. - Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with mint and coriander chutney. Bon appetit! Mint And Coriander Chutney This is a very versatile chutney that you can serve with lots of Indian snacks. Ingredients - One bunch fresh coriander leaves (washed and chopped) - 1/2 bunch mint leaves - 2-3 fresh green chillies chopped - 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice - 2 teaspoon cumin seeds - Salt to taste Method - In a blender put all the above ingredients and blend them to a smooth paste. If it is too hot for you, you can add some fresh yoghurt. Enjoy! by Mrs Lata Modi

WHAT’S ON

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

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ASTROLOGY

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

FB astrologer had predicted Rawat’s ouster

A Facebook post from October 2020 that ‘predicted’ the resignation of former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, has catapulted a self-proclaimed astrologer Vibhu Gaur to instant fame.

election.”

In his now deleted post, Gaur had written on October 23, 2020 that “His (Rawat’s) fortunes will favour him till January 20, 2021. But after that Trivendra Singh Rawat’s planetary positions will change and a conspiracy against him will be afoot. There will be strong discontent among the people, legislators will be resentful. It is also possible that the people of Uttarakhand face a disaster.”

Though Gaur could not be contacted, one of his aides said that the post had been deleted after he ‘received a barrage calls and messages on Tuesday.’

He further wrote that after January 20, 2021, it will not be a good time for Trivendra Singh Rawat as “notes of rebellion will grow louder. It is possible that he is forced to resign before the next Assembly

ARIES

The post also refers to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and other Chief Ministers who “are not able administrators but have a good fortune because of their past lives.”

According to the aide, Gaur is a “self-taught man” who has been practicing astrology for over two decades. His Facebook timeline is a series of long posts in Hindi predicting schisms and political feuds -- warning Amit Shah, telling Prime Minister Modi that opposition will unite against him and also answering questions regarding the Covid situation. “He had predicted that Shiv Sena

and BJP would part ways. He had also forecast the turmoil that the Congress faced in Rajasthan,” the aide said. If sources are to be believed, Gaur is regularly consulted by a number of politicians and celebrities but he prefers to keep their names under wraps. His Facebook page, however, carries his photograph with rapper Badshah.

Vastu for Living Room

ries is the first astrological sign in the zodiac. Its zodiac symbol is Ram. And its zodiac element is fire. Its polarity is positive. Ruling planet is mars. Its ruling house is first house. Spirit colour is red. Lucky gem is diamond. Aries are those who born between 21st March to 19th April. Aries belongs to zodiac element fire so they are warriors by birth; they like fighting with others, and are very egoistic. They think that they are superior from others so they behave like superiors and that is why they don’t have many friends. Aries are motivated, full of energy, passionate, winner, smart, hardworking, loyal and impulsive.

A T

he Term Vastu Shastra is derived from Sanskrit language. The Vastu takes the meaning of the “site or foundation of a house, ground, building or dwelling place, habitation, and homestead”. The term Shastra translated as “science, doctrine, teaching.” Vastu shastra refers to the ancient Indian science of architecture, sculpture, town building, fort building, and various other constructions. In every home, the living room is the first place that welcomes everyone so it needs to be bright, comfortable and fresh. Living Area is a place for gathering, be it your family gathering, guests, some entertainment, or kitty party, etc. It needs to be well decorated. It must be comfortable, so that the family

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members feel relaxed in the living room. With the help of vastu shastra you can bring positive energy to the drawing room. Let us discuss some simple tips to improve vastu of your drawing room Main Door -Main door should be North or North East facing. -Don’t keep a dustbin or shoe rack right outside the main door, as it attracts the negative energy. Furniture -Always place square or rectangular pieces instead of circular ones. -Always choose square or rectangular shapes for your coffee table

or side tables. Wall colour: -Some colour brings positive energy to the living room. White, light, yellow, green and blue gives positive energy.

strologer Rita Ratnakar is a celebrated astrologer from past 8 years based in Chandigarh, India, known for her accurate predictions about career, business and finance issues, matchmaking, kundli analysis, life and yearly predictions, etc., through vedic astrology. She is also a renowned astrology teacher and gemologist. Not only that, she has also done MBA. Her analysis is based on planetary positions, and she guides people to do the right thing. She is a certified astrologer. Globally people know her through her live sessions on Facebook. She

Meaning of Aries A for assertive R for refreshing I for independent E for energetic S for sexy Aries represents head in the body parts. Aries are normally afraid of water. They are very active. For an Aries, an iron rich diet can boost confidence and performance. Aries know how to behave with others. Aries are born leaders, they know how to take charge. Famous Aries are: Lady Gaga, Big Sean, Charlie Chaplin, Marlon Brando, Emma Watson and Harry Houdini. by Astrologer Rita Ratnakar does webinars and workshops occasionally. Her clients come back to her because of the easy and realistic upaaye she gave to her clients. She takes every client seriously and actually look into other people’s problems. She works for multiple astrology apps and websites. And now, she is Indian Abroad’s columnist. You can ask questions from her by going to her Facebook: Astro Rita Ratnakar or give a call on +919915160250. Or send us an email on info@indianabroad.news and we will publish your questions in our next fortnightly issue..

-Avoid black and red for living area walls. Paintings in drawing room: -The northeast wall is best for hanging paintings. -Avoid photos of Poverty, crying, old woman, war or picture of people fighting, struggling, angry people, battle scenes, carnivorous animals at your home. This places negative effects in human behaviour. by Astrologer Rita Ratnakar

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NEW RELEASES

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Chehre - 9th April

Saina – 26th March

t is a biographical sports film directed by Amole Gupte and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Sujay Jairaj and Rashesh Shah under the banner of T-Series and Front Foot Pictures. The film is based on the life of Badminton player Saina Nehwal. It stars Parineeti Chopra who will play the titular role as Saina Nehwal. It is in cinemas now.

The big bull - 8th April on Disney Hotstar

t is a mystery thriller film directed by Rumi Jaffrey with production by Anand Pandit Motion Pictures and Saraswati Entertainment Private Limited starring Amitabh

Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi as leads. The film featuring Krystle D’Souza, Rhea Chakraborty, Siddhanth Kapoor, Annu Kapoor, Dhritiman

Chatterjee and Raghubir Yadav in other pivotal roles sees Bachchan playing a lawyer, while Hashmi a business tycoon. The film will release on 9th April in cinemas.

Pagglait - 26th March on Netflix

he comedy-drama film written and directed by Umesh Bist features Sanya Malhotra, Shruti Sharma, Ashutosh Rana and Raghubir Yadav in lead roles. The film was produced by Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Guneet Monga and Achin Jain under the banners Balaji Motion Pictures and Sikhya Entertainment.

immigrants who enter the US unlawfully. It is about people who come in with legitimate papers, yet are forced by circumstances to survive as if their presence is illegal.

The film follows a young widow as she learns how to free her crazy, face the family and find herself. The film is currently streaming on Netflix.

The Illegal: Small film, big impact BY VINAYAK CHAKRAVORTY

he Illegal film on Amazon Prime

Cast: Suraj Sharma, Shweta Tripathi, Adil Hussain, Neelima Azim, Iqbal Theba, Hannah Masi,

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he crime drama film directed by Kookie Gulati, produced by Ajay Devgn, Anand Pandit, Vikrant Sharma and Kumar Mangat Pathak. The storyline of the film is based on the life of Harshad Mehta, a stockbroker, involved in financial crimes over a period 10 years, from 1980 to 1990. Abhishek Bachchan will portray as the protagonist in the film, co-starring with Nikita Dutta, Ileana D’Cruz, Sohum Shah, Ram Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla. It will stream worldwide on 8 April 2021 on the Indian streaming platform Disney+Hotstar.

Jay Ali Direction: Danish Renzu Rating: * * * and 1/2 (three and a half stars)

You’d think you have seen this before. A young boy from middle-class India lands in the United States chasing a dream, and his struggle for sustenance becomes portrait of the grind that almost every immigrant must endure. If Danish Renzu’s film is outstanding despite the note of familiarity, it is because of the sheer authenticity with which the writer-director tells his tale. The film is unflinching in tone, yet sensitive enough while dissecting the reality it presents. Renzu uses his crisp runtime of 86 minutes well, to set up nuanced storytelling. Unlike most films pertaining to the subject, “The Illegal” is not about

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“Life Of Pi” actor Suraj Sharma plays Hassan Ahmed, who is one such character. Hassan’s passion for filmmaking is destined to take him from Purani Dilli to Los Angeles. He gets admission at film school in the US, so his father (Adil Hussain) takes a loan to fund his dream. Renzu sets an endearing picture of the family in the opening minutes, as Hassan records a few parting words from his father, mother (Neelima Azim) and sister Mahi (Shweta Tripathi). He needs such a clip, he tells them, as a pep pill for the days when he might be “ready to give up”. It is a fine sequence, deftly executed, rendering a personal touch to the way the protagonist is imagined. The screenplay sustains that whiff of intimacy as it follows Hassan to America. Before entering films, Renzu spent time in the US studying electrical engineering at UCLA, and he also holds a UCLA Writers’ Program certification in screenwriting. Thematically, he would have drawn from real instances that he may have encountered during that stint as a student. It would have let him create Hassan with greater assuredness.

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Hassan’s existence in the US becomes a picture of irony. On the one hand, he is doing well in film school. Yet, there is trouble back home financially, owing to a down turn in his father’s health. His plans to stay at his maternal uncle’s home in the US come to naught, and Hassan must take up the job of a waiter. Renzu uses Hassan’s dual life well, to portray two sides of an immigrant’s existence in the US. On one hand, he is impressively learning his ropes in the world of American cinema, which has lately conversed with great relish about inclusivity. Yet, moonlighting at an Indian restaurant as a waiter throws up a dreary, diametrically opposite picture of exploitation. The essence of the film lies in that dichotomy. It is Suraj Sharma’s film all through, and the actor does impressively to bring alive Hassan, although you would spot a few winning performances among the prop cast, too. Iqbal Theba leaves an impact as the restaurant supervisor fondly called Babaji by his colleagues. Adil Hussain, Shweta Tripathi and Neelima Azim actually get minimal footage, but leave a mark. “The Illegal” is well-scripted, executed and acted out. It is a small film that scores big.

ENTERTAINMENT

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Sanya Malhotra decodes what ‘Pagglait’ means Radhika Apte to star in spy

ctress Sanya Malhotra has decoded the title of her new film “Pagglait”. She says for her a person who listens to their heart and does not seek external validation is a Pagglait.

“Pagglait is a person who listens to the heart and does what the heart says. Someone who does not seek external validation. That person (for me) is a Pagglait. The person who listens to themselves and not the outside world is a pagglait,” Sanya told IANS.

entertainer ‘Mrs. Undercover’

In the film, Sanya is Sandhya, a young woman who becomes a widow within a few months of marriage. While the family grieves, Sandhya is unable to bring herself to mourn the death of her husband.

ctress Radhika Apte will be seen playing the role of an undercover agent in upcoming film “Mrs.Undercover”.

The film marks directorial debut of writer Anushree Mehta.

The dramedy, directed by Umesh Bist, also features Sayani Gupta, Shrutii Sharma, Ashutosh Rana, Raghubir Yadav, Sheeba Chaddha, Meghna Malik and Rajesh Tailang, and dropped on Netflix on March 26.

The poster indicates the interesting dichotomous combination of an Indian housewife holding a gun.

Said yes to ‘Quran’ immediately: Salim Diwan

ctor Salim Diwan, who was last seen in the film “Bollywood Diaries”, is now part of the short film “Quran”. The short film talks about grave issues faced by the Islamic community across the globe. It talks about racial attacks against the community. Salim said he was on board as soon as he heard the story.”When I first heard the script, I immediately said yes! The stigma faced by Muslims has always been a collateral damage of the actions performed by the terrorists in the name of Allah, but that is not the truth,” he said. The actor said violence is not propagated in the Quran. “No religion would teach violence

and nowhere in the Quran, is it written that those who do not follow Islam should be killed. Therefore, I’d like to emphasise on this fact that these terrorists who call themselves the protectors of Islam actually do not have any religion and they certainly do not preach Islam,” he said. Salim adds that he wants to change the way the community is perceived through the film.

The film also stars actor Sumeet Vyas alongside Radhika.

“Through this short film, I want to desensitise the toxic perception that people have about Islam and Muslims because believe me, I’m a Muslim and I hate violence,” he said. “Quran” is now streaming on YouTube on the official channel of

Mehta is happy to direct the film for the first time with Radhika taking the lead as the character.

Rehab Pictures Pvt. Ltd.

Kriti Sanon shares Mumbai-Itanagar journey

ctress Kriti Sanon is currently shooting for her upcoming film “Bhediya” in Arunachal Pradesh. She took to social media to share a reel showcasing her travel from Mumbai to Itanagar. The reel starts with her falling asleep in the fight to her travelling by road to Itanagar. “#ArunachalTravelSeries Episode 1: Mumbai to Itanagar,” she wrote. Kriti has been keeping her fans updated with her shoot schedule through regular posts and stories on Instagram.

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan has tested positive for coronavirus, shared his spokesperson on March 24. A statement by the actor’s spokesperson read: “Mr. Aamir Khan has tested positive for Covid 19. He is at home in self quarantine, following all the protocols and he’s doing

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“It is surreal to take this initial step and share the first look of our film with the world. We believe in giving quality content to the viewers and have tried very hard to achieve that with ‘Mrs. Undercover’. The title, the poster, the imagery is a long-thought process to make people excited. I am so glad that I found an actor like Radhika Apte to play the titular character,” she says. “Mrs. Undercover” is produced by Ishan Saksena, Abir Sengupta, Sunil Shah, and Varun Bajaj.

Nick Jonas posts adorable selfie with wife Priyanka

The actress will be sharing the screen with actor Varun Dhawan in the film. Bhediya is directed by Amar Kaushik and also stars Deepak Dobriyal. The film is slated to release on April 14, 2022.

Besides “Bhediya”, Kriti has multiple films in her kitty. She will be seen in the film “Mimi”, which is based on surrogacy. She is also a part of the film “Bachchan Pandey” that also stars actor Akshay Kumar. She will be seen alongside Tiger Shroff in the “Ganpath”. She also has “Hum Do Hamare Do” with Rajkummar Rao and “Adipurush” with Prabhas and Saif Ali Khan.

Corona Hit Bollywood: Aamir Khan tests Covid positive orona hit Bollywood once again. Last year big celebs like Amitabh Bachhan, Neetu Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Rakul Preet to singer Kanika Kapoor came positive. This year it again hit Bollywood.

Talking about the film, Radhika says: “Anushree came to me with this film some time back and the novelty of the story had me excited. When I saw this first look, it was that same excitement I felt and it was not only as someone who is a part of the film but also as a member of the audience. I think we all wanted to show the essence of the film through this first poster and I must say that we have captured it well. Now, I am waiting to see what the audience has to say about this special film of ours.”

fine. All those who came in contact with him in the recent past should get themselves tested as a precautionary measure. Thank you for all your wishes and concern.”

In the sunkissed picture, Priyanka looks absolutely radiant in a sweater while Nick teamed up a sweatshirt with a cap. He wrote: “My” with a heart emoji.

Aamir has lately been busy with his upcoming film “Laal Singh Chaddha”. It is directed by “Secret Superstar” maker Advait Chandan, and co-stars Kareena Kapoor. Before that actor Kartik Aryan who is shooting for his upcoming horror comedy movie “Bhool Bhulaiya 2” also shared a post on social media of mathematical ‘plus’ sign with caption “Positive ho gya, Dua Karo”

inger Nick Jonas took to Twitter to post an adorable picture with wife actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

on 22 March.

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Both Priyanka and Nick often treat their fans with their pictures. A few weeks back, Priyanka also took to social media to promote Nick’s new album “Spaceman”. The

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album is Nick’s first solo release since 2016. The couple also announced the Oscar nominations on March 15. Priyanka’s film “The White Tiger” was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay at the upcoming 93rd Academy Awards. Nick and Priyanka tied the knot in an elaborate three-day wedding celebration at Jodhpur in December 2018. They followed Christian and Hindu marriage customs and traditions.

ENTERTAINMENT

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

Fresh legal soup for screen stories Kangana Ranaut: I aim for light interaction but L get extreme reactions egal hassles and controversies never leave our filmmakers. Even as cinemas open and the biggies gear up for release, and OTT spreads its base, a host of new legal woes have emerged for various film and web series makers. The latest to face the fire is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Gangubai Kathiawadi”, starring Alia Bhatt. The film has got into a legal mess. One of the four children of Kathiawadi, Babu Rawji Shah, has filed a criminal defamation case against the film.

Trade analyst Komal Nahta says that such cases just add to the publicity of a project.”Such stories and reports just increase the talk around the film. In fact, more awareness is created about the film. There is no one who doesn’t go to watch a film because of this. In fact, footfalls can increase because of this. It all depends on how big a controversy is,” he told IANS. Indeed, Bhansali is no stranger to controversies. His last release “Padmaavat” faced legal problems before release in 2018. However, the Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone-Shahid Kapoor starrer went on to become a huge hit. “More people might come to watch the film, but that will only happen if the content is good. Nothing can save a bad film,” he says. Here are some of the projects that are embroiled in legal controversies lately: Jhund Hyderabad-based filmmaker Nandi Chinni Kumar has accused the makers of copyright infringement. However, the makers of Jhund have denied the allegation. Kumar claimed he had bought the rights in November 2017 for his film titled Slum Soccer, which was based on the life of slum soccer player Akhilesh Paul, the Indian captain at the Homeless World Cup. The story of Jhund is based on Paul’s coach

Vijay Barse. Kumar claims that the makers of Jhund told him that they bought the rights from Kumar, although Kumar gave him three no-objection certificates which clearly say that he did not sell the rights to the makers. The Telangana High Court has stalled the release of Jhund and the Supreme Court has refused to lift it. Gangubai Kathiawadi The Alia Bhatt-starrer is in legal trouble, and the actress and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali have been summoned by the court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate in Mumbai. One of the four children of Kathiawadi, Babu Rawji Shah, have filed a criminal defamation case against the actress and director. Shah says that the movie is defamatory. Alia and Bhansali are scheduled to appear in court on May 21. Karnan Filmmaker Mari Selvaraj recently

posted a statement on social media regarding the song Pandarathi Puranam in the film Karnan, starring Dhanush. A resident of Madurai filed a petition in Madurai High Court regarding the word ‘Pandarathi’. He said that the word can be insulting to a certain section of people. He requested the court to either have the song removed from the film and ban the film till they remove the song. Bombay Begums The show got into trouble with the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights. The NCPCR issued a legal notice to Bombay Begums to stop airing the show due to its inappropriate portrayal of children. It also claimed that a show like this would pollute young minds and result in the exploitation of children. In the show, a 13-yearold was shown snorting cocaine. There was also an issue about girls sending inappropriate pictures of body parts to boys.

Kapil Sharma announces new season calling for new talent

ctor-comedian Kapil Sharma’s comedy chat show The Kapil Sharma Show, which went off air, is all set to come back with a new season. As the host of the show, Kapil says that he plans to add new people to the creative team. The show already stars Krushna Abhishek, Kiku Sharda, Bharti Singh, Sumona Chakravarti, Chandan Prabhakar and Archana Puran Singh. More actors and writers are expected to feature in the upcoming season. The show will be co-produced by Salman Khan Television (SKTV) and Banijay Asia. Nadeem Koreishi, CEO, SKTV said: “While Kapil Sharma and rest of

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the ensemble cast are household names in the country, we are trying every day to give the audience something new and exciting. This opportunity here for additional cast and team members has the same objective.”

ctress Kangana Ranaut says her aim is to have light interaction with people but she gets extreme reactions for her comments and things spiral out of control. “I feel a lot of things I do or I say is to have light-hearted interaction. At times people take it seriously because they are dead serious in their lives, and that way things just roll into one event, into another. But having said that, people that I may criticise, I find it absolutely easy to meet and interact with them again because my intentions have always been very light,” she said. “Somehow, people aren’t very comfortable with anybody being clear and honest in their interaction. I feel I get extreme reactions which sometimes take me aback also. When you do not have any agenda in your heart and if you’re not doing it for your personal ulterior motives you will always win. There are no two ways about it,” she added. Asked if politics is her future plan, Kangana replied: “If today, I talk about the country, nationalism, farmers or laws that directly affect me, I am told that I want to become a politician. It is not like that. I react to everything as an ordinary citizen. I have no connection with politics. So, people get angry when I speak on these issues. They feel they can talk or say anything

about any one issue but feel how dare Kangana talk about these issues? So, they are doing tamashas, which I am sure everyone has seen.” The multiple National Award-winning actress had launched the trailer of her upcoming film “Thailaivi” in Mumbai and Chennai on the occasion of her birthday on Tuesday 23 March. Winning the National Award for “Manikarnika” and “Panga” this year, launching “Thalaivi” Trailer and her birthday celebrations have happened one after the other, and Kangana said “it is a very overwhelming time for me”. “Thailaivi”, directed by AL Vijay and penned by KV Vijayendra Prasad, is set to release in Hindi, Tamil, and Telegu on April 23.

Katrina Kaif’s mantra: Eat, sleep, train, repeat

ctress Katrina Kaif shared her recipe for being fit, on social media. She shared a stunning picture of herself where she spells out what she does in the day to be in shape. Katrina posted the picture on Instagram on Thursday, 25 March. She can be seen dressed in athleisure. The actress has her hair in a braid and has sports gloves on. “Eat, sleep, train, repeat,” she captioned the image, which currently has 1,23,000 likes on the photo-sharing website.

by Rohit Shetty will hit the screens on April 30. She also has the horror-comedy “Phone Bhoot” lined up. It has been directed by Gurmeet Singh and also features Ishaan Khatter and Siddhant Chaturvedi.

Recently, Katrina announced on social media that she has started working on a new film. However, she did not give out any details of the upcoming project. Fans spotted the actress with superstar Salman Khan a few days back and rumour mills were abuzz that they have started shooting for “Tiger 3”. Katrina’s next release is “Sooryavanshi”, opposite actor Akshay Kumar. The film directed

“Over the years, The Kapil Sharma Show has created its loyal set of fans. Kapil, with his comic timing and screen presence, has become a household name. We look forward to expanding our team, making a fresh start and entertaining the audience once again,” added Deepak Dhar, CEO and Founder, Banijay Asia.”The Kapil Sharma Show” went off air in February.

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ENTERTAINMENT

Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

OTT actresses are the new action queens

Pooja Bhatt: Mask up people!

rom jumping off the fifth floor to doing action sequences in high heels, actresses on OTT are coming of age as action queens.

Sunny Leone, who makes her debut in the fiction OTT space with the show “Anamika”, is training for heavy-duty stunts in the series, along with Sonnalli Seygall. Sonakshi Sinha gets to engage in cop action in her web series debut “Fallen”. Poulomi Das recently jumped off the fifth floor of a building for a stunt and Priya Banerjee filmed an action scene where she was required to fall from a height in the show “Bekaboo 2”. Ruhi Singh has performed action sequences in the show “Bang Baang”. Talking about shooting for “Bekaaboo 2”, Priya said: “It was quite fun, although it was my first time. I had to put a harness on and had to fall from a height. It was difficult as you have to know how to balance your body the right way or else you can hurt yourself. It wasn’t easy at all,” she says. Says Ruhi: “Doing the stunts on my own was indeed a thrilling experience for me. The fun part of my role was doing stunts wearing heels that made me feel empowered, and I am grateful that the audience thoroughly enjoyed the series.” Sonnalli plays a trained assassin in “Anamika” and she trained in action for the series.

“I play Rhea, a trained assassin who has a killer instinct. She is sharp and intelligent. There are a lot of running, fight and shooting sequences in the series. So, I went through gun training. I had basic fitness training,” she told IANS earlier. Here are some of the shows featuring actress doing action sequences on OTT: Sunny Leone and Sonalli Seygall in “Anamika”. The series will see Sonalli play an assassin. The actress underwent special training for the action sequences in the film. Sunny has been shooting for action sequences, too, for the show that marks her debut in the fiction OTT space. Sonakshi Sinha in “Fallen”. Sonakshi will be seen playing the role of a fierce cop in Reema Kagti’s series.

She put out her first look on social media earlier this month where she strikes an intense pose in uniform and stands on a rail track. Poulomi Das and Priya Banerjee in “Bakaaboo 2”. Both Poulomi and Priya have been performing stunts in the series. While Poulomi jumped from the fifth floor of a building, Priya also posted a video of her falling from a height in a harness. Ruhi Singh in “Bang Baang”. Ruhi plays the role of an undercover agent. She has trained in kickboxing and Shaolin Kung Fu. Jennifer Winget in “Code M”. The series was Jennifer’s debut on OTT and she performed action sequences and stunts on the show. She played the role of the Indian Army lawyer named Monica Mehra.

Ranveer Singh is a ‘brawn’ munda

ollywood actor Ranveer Singh is bitten by the “Brown Munde” bug, going by his latest post on social media.

Ranveer posted a picture on Instagram, where he is flaunting biceps dressed in a white vest teamed with electric red glasses and a black baseball cap. He looks away from the camera. The actor gave a quirky spin to the popular Punjabi track “Brown Munde” in the caption. He wrote: “brawn munde”. Ranveer’s friends from the industry have commented on the post. On the work front, the actor is now gearing up for the release of “83”, which was pushed due to the global outbreak of Covid last year.

“Mask up people and please follow #COVID19 safety protocol. The virus is far more resilient than we would like to believe. Help the concerned authorities to help us please! Too many people have

been working tirelessly to keep us safe. Yet we behave so irresponsibly. Simply not done!” Pooja’s tweet comes just a day after Maharashtra and Mumbai saw steep spike in Covid-19 cases. There were over 5,000 new Covid-19 cases reported in Mumbai on Wednesday, 24 March. The city recorded 5,185 cases -- up from the previous high in 2021 on March 21 when 3,779 cases were reported.

Priya Banerjee took baking classes for ‘Bekaaboo 2’

ctress Priya Banerjee took special classes to master the art of baking for her series ‘Bekaaboo 2’. The actress plays the role of Kashti who owns a cupcake shop in the show. “Baking is extremely therapeutic, so when the role required some baking skills, I decided to stop with the procrastination and get up and do it,” she says. Priya adds that she was very inspired by looking at the work of bakers and chefs during the lockdown. “Due to the lockdown, I was already very inspired by all the bakers and chefs out there. I just needed that tiny push that came in the form of the role of Kashti in Bekaaboo 2. I finally put my foot down and said it was time and enrolled in a couple of classes, and got myself a couple of cookbooks to help the process along,” she says.

Poulomi Das, Taha Shah Badussha, Smaran Sahu and Tushar Khanna. It streams on ALTBalaji.

The actress enjoyed the process of learning to the extent that she even invested in baking equipment. “My dedication to the art grew so much, I even started investing in baking equipment. Baking has now become such an important part of my life. I am so glad Bekaaboo 2 happened for me,” she says. The series also features Subha Rajput, Taher Shabbir,

The film tells the tale of India’s victory in the 1983 World Cup and Ranveer plays Kapil Dev, who captained an underdog Indian team at the tournament. “83” has an ensemble cast that includes Deepika Padukone, Pankaj Tripathi and Saqib Saleem among others.

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ollywood actress and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt post on social media to remind fans that the Covid-19 pandemic was not yet over amid highest spike in Maharashtra as India recorded over 53,000 cases in a day.

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Vol 1, Issue 4, April 1-15, 2021

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