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India records over 92K Covid cases, 2,219 deaths in 24 hrs
Photo Courtesy: BBC
Aus police use app to pull off biggest-ever sting operation
Photo Courtesy: IANS
cases, lowest since April 2 when the country logged 89,129 new cases. In the past 24 hours, 2,219 more people succumbed to the pandemic. India’s overall tally of Covid-19 cases now stands at 2,90,89,069 with 12,31,415 active cases and 3,53,528 deaths so far.
New Delhi, June 9 (IANS): India on Wednesday logged 92,596 new Covid infections in 24 hours, less than one lakh cases for the second
straight day and 6,098 cases more than Tuesday, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry said.
After battling a brutal second wave for weeks, fresh Covid cases came down below the three lakhmark for the first time on May 17 after touching record high of 4,14,188 on May 7. Continued on Page 3
Canberra, June 8 (IANS): The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have used a smartphone app to pull off its biggest-ever organised crime sting operation.
On June 8, India recorded 86,498
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), AFP officers around the world on
Monday carried out hundreds of search warrants, arresting and charging more than 200 alleged criminal underworld figures and seized more than 3,000 kg of illicit drugs and A$45 million ($34 million) in cash and assets.
Defence reforms will make India global powerhouse in coming times: Rajnath Choksi slips away from New Delhi, June 7 (IANS): Expressing confidence about the reforms in defence sector, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday that these reforms will make India a global powerhouse in the times to come.
efficient,
the booklet is a reflection of the resolve of the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to make the defence sector stronger and more
transformation.
The e-booklet, titled ‘20 Reforms
boost defence exports, measures to accelerate defence acquisitions with greater transparency, digital transformation, strengthening of border infrastructure, increased participation of women in armed forces, transformation in research and development to boost innovation, expansion of NCC to remote locations, and aid extended to the civil administration in fight against Covid-19.
India's clutch again
Student Visas I Skilled Visas I Tourist Visas in 2020’, provides a brief New Delhi, June 4 (IANS): overview of defence reforms After a Dominican High Court Temporary Graduate undertaken in the year by the Visas I Business Migration adjourned the hearing in fugitive Ministry to bring about greater businessman Visas Mehul Choksi's case, Family stream Visas I Partner Visa Specialist I Sponsored cohesion and modernisation of the eight member team of CBI, Addressing a gathering during the armed forces through policy ED and MEA are now en route launch of a e-booklet, he said Ready changes,I innovation and digital Job Skill Assessments I AAT representation to India, without the diamond Reforms also focused on ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’, increased collaboration with industry to
jeweller that duped millions in the PNB multi-crore fraud. The next hearing has been
adjourned in the matter to June Continued on Page 3
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Continued on Page 3
14.
According to agencies sources, the private Qatar jet left from Dominica on Thursday along with the eight member team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate, Ministry of External Affairs officials and two CRPF commandos. Continued on Page 3
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Aus PM backs dedicated quarantine facility in Victoria
Suvendu Adhikari updates PM Modi about Bengal situation
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June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
Defence reforms will make India global powerhouse in coming times: Rajnath
Continued from Page 1
Photo Courtesy: IANS
October 2020. Zojila pass, situated on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway, was opened almost a month ahead of schedule in April 2020. In 2020, the Defence Ministry took some historic decisions to increase participation of women in the armed forces. Ten streams of Indian Army were opened for giving Permanent Commission to Short Service Commission (SSC) Women officers, while women pilots of Indian Navy were operationalised for the first time. All Sainik Schools were thrown open for girl students from academic session 2020-21.
Rajnath Singh also mentioned the appointment of India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and creation of Department of Military Affairs (DMA) as one of the major decisions taken by the government. The post of CDS was created to increase efficiency and coordination among the armed forces and reduce duplication, while the DMA was established to ensure improved civil-military integration. To promote 'Make in India' in defence sector, a list of 101 items was notified in August 2020, a 52,000 crore budget earmarked for indigenously-made defence equipment in 2020-21, and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) approved in May 2020 for greater efficiency and productivity, the ministry stated. It also said that there was an unprecedented push towards new technology developments. Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) developed a ventilator in record time to meet Covid-19 requirements in May 2020. In November 2020, the Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile, indigenously designed & developed by the DRDO, hit bullseye at medium range and medium height, while indigenously built Pinaka rocket system cleared test of 45-60 km range. The increased partnership with the private sector has led to a substantial rise in defence exports, with their value rising from Rs 1,941 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 9,116 crore in 2019-20. Also, for the first time, India figured in the list of defence equipment exporting nations, as the exports expanded to more than 84 countries. In highest-ever thrust towards modernisation in last 10 years, there was 10 per cent budget increase in 2020-21 over the
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previous year. Policy reforms for increased transparency included launch of new Defence Acquisition Procedure in September 2020 and revision of DRDO Procurement Manual in October 2020. To encourage start-ups, a provision was introduced for procurement as Buy Indian-IDDM, while leasing for non-mission critical requirements was introduced for the first time. First five Rafale fighter aircraft arrived in India in July 2020 and several more since then, adding firepower to the arsenal of the Indian Air Force. Despite the Covid-19 challenge, the aircraft were delivered timely and inducted into IAF. To promote innovation by young minds, five Young Scientists Laboratories of DRDO were launched in 2020 in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad. The DRDO has joined hands with the private sector in design and development and identified 108 systems and subsystems for the industry to design, develop and manufacture. For the first time, several organisations of Ministry of Defence went digital. Directorate General Quality Assurance (DGQA) started online PreDelivery inspection in May 2020 to address security threats, while tge Armed Forces Tribunal began digital hearing for the first time in August 2020. The Defence Estates, Canteen Stores Department, services in Cantonment, MoD Pension and National Cadet Corps (NCC) also went online providing faster and transparent services. Reforms of processes and work flows within Border Roads Organisation (BRO) enabled it to achieve targets ahead of schedule, in some instances. World's longest Atal tunnel above 10,000 feet, at Rohtang on the Leh-Manali Highway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in
Expanding the reach of NCC to remote locations was a major announcement made by Prime Minister Modi from the ramparts of Red Fort on Independence Day on August 15, 2020. More than 1,075 schools and colleges in border and coastal areas were identified and the enrolment began in November 2020. In another decision, it was decided to give preference to NCC cadets in employment in Central Armed Police Forces from May 2020. Youth Exchange Programme Allowance for NCC cadets was increased from Rs 100 per day to Rs 750 and the number of countries was increased from 10 to 15. Ministry of Defence and the armed forces have mobilised resources to aid the civil administration in fight against Covid-19. The Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) provided all emergency support to tide over the situation. They have mobilised doctors, health professionals and set up Quarantine facilities at several locations across the country. The DRDO has set up several hospitals to treat Covid patients across the states, passed on technology expertise to manufacture ventilators, oxygen plants, medicines, test kits and PPE kits to private sector for mass production. The armed forces also extended a helping hand to the countries in distress. Indian Navy mounted eight relief missions during 2020-21. Besides evacuating stranded Indians from Iran, Sri Lanka and Maldives under Vande Bharat Mission, Indian Naval ships provided Covid-19 medical relief, including medicines and doctors, to five countries. INS Airavat provided 270 MT foodaid to Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea, struck by natural calamities. The Indian Coast Guard led the rescue operation to save Sri Lanka coast of its biggest oil spill. Indian Air Force carried out over 800 relief missions during 2020-21.
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COVER STORIES
Choksi slips away from India's clutch again Continued from Page 1 The team of Indian officials had landed in Dominica on Saturday with a set of documents relating to the case of Choksi.
Photo Courtesy: IANS
On Thursday, Dominican High Court Judge Bernie Stephenson adjourned the habeas corpus hearing of Choksi, who is wanted in India in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. According to Antigua News Room, a news outlet based in the Caribbean island, it was adjourned to allow lawyers for Choksi and the Dominican government to agree on the language to be used with respect to the injunction filed to prevent his removal from Dominica. It said that both parties are expected to meet to discuss the matter and to inform the judge, who will set a new court date. Choksi, who is wanted in India by the CBI and the ED in connection with the PNB fraud case, had gone missing on May 23 from Antigua sparking a massive manhunt. He was captured in Dominica on May 26. Choksi and his lawyers had claimed that he was forced on a vessel and was abducted. On June 2, Choksi pleaded not guilty to illegal entry at his court
appearance and was denied bail. He appeared before the magistrate on a wheelchair in a blue T-shirt and black trousers. According to Dominica News Online, the magistrate's court denied bail to Choksi after the government prosecutor argued that he was facing 11 offences in India and extradition proceedings in Antigua and could be a flight risk. The 62-year-old left India in January 2018, days before the CBI registered a case. On May 27, first pictures of Choksi emerged online, showing several signs of bruises on his arms and a swollen eye.
India records over 92k Covid cases, 2,219 deaths in 24 hrs Continued from Page 1 In the last three weeks, India has recorded over 93,000 deaths. India registered record fatalities due to Covid-19 on May 21 with 4,529 deaths -- the highest from Covid infection in any country in a day since the coronavirus outbreak was reported in China's Wuhan in December 2019. It surpassed 4,468 deaths in the US on January 12, 2021, and 4,211 in Brazil on April 6, 2021.
According to the Health Ministry, a total of 1,62,664 people have been discharged in the last 24
hours, taking the total discharge to 2,75,04,126 till date. The Health Ministry said that a total of 23,90,58,360 people have been vaccinated so far in the country, including 27,76,096 who were administered vaccines in the last 24 hours. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 37,01,93,563 samples have been tested up to June 8 for Covid-19. Of these 19,85,967 samples were tested on Tuesday.
Aus police use app to pull off biggest-ever sting operation Continued from Page 1 It marked the culmination of a three-year surveillance operation, dubbed Operation Ironside, whereby AFP agents secretly monitored criminal activities on AN0M, a messaging app that users thought was encrypted.
assault against organized crime." The AFP alleged that criminal syndicates in Australia, Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East have been exposed by the sting operation.
"This is a watershed moment in Australian law enforcement history," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters on Tuesday.
Reece Kershaw, Commissioner of the AFP, said 21 murder plots and the trafficking of billions of dollars of illegal drugs and firearms were disrupted by Operation Ironside.
"Our investments to back in our law enforcement agencies, in particular the Australian Federal Police, has enabled them to work as part of major partnerships all around the world and take a leading role to spearhead this
Raids on AN0M users were carried out across Australia as well as in the US and Europe.
“Today, Australia is a safer country because of this unprecedented AFP-led operation,” he said.
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ADEVRTORIAL
Brookwater poised to become south-east Queensland’s next million-dollar suburb
B
rookwater on Brisbane’s doorstep is fast approaching the status of becoming a milliondollar-suburb, with almost half of the houses sold in the first four months of 2021 fetching more than $1 million.
“In the first four months of 2021, the Brookwater suburb recorded 16 house sales worth more than $17.1 million, with seven of those each bringing in more than a million dollars, or a total of $9.35 million.”
Brookwater Residential Senior Sales Executive, Irena Marasea said seven of the 16 houses sold between January and April resulted in million-dollar-plus totals.
“People tend to think the suburbs where the median house price is a million dollars are concentrated in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane’s booming suburbs like Norman Park and Yeronga – however we’re extremely confident Brookwater is on track to join this elite club later this year,” Mrs Marasea said.
These included a record $2 million for a luxury architectdesigned five-bedroom golf frontage home on a 1100 square metre block in Augusta Point, which was $420,000 above the previous Brookwater record of $1.58 million achieved last November. “This is a wonderful achievement for our team, with the increase in homes being sold for more than a million dollars becoming the norm not the exception as the suburb continues to ride Queensland’s red-hot property boom,” Mrs Marasea said.
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One of the suburb’s newest million-dollar buyers are the Wilson family, who describe their purchase “as a long-term investment in our future”. Greg, a doctor, and his wife Nadia, a nurse, and their two teenage children upgraded in March to a $1.4m house fronting the GregNorman designed golf course in Birchwood Crescent – the same street they’d been living in since
2007 when they bought there after returning from the US. “We’d always had our eye on this particular three-level house, and when it come onto the market we were ready to move-in – the timing was right. We didn’t even look at any other properties,” Greg said. ”We knew we just had to buy it, and I know it’s a cliché but we absolutely love living here. We don’t see ourselves leaving anytime soon – we plan on retiring in this home. “Apart from the absolutely stunning setting, completely surrounded by green open space, we’re part of a friendly community which includes plenty of families.” New figures reveal the median house price in the blue-chip suburb – which celebrates its 20th anniversary later this year – jumped from $857,500 last year to $961,500 in the first four months of 2021. Median price of houses fronting
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the 18–hole golf course increased from $979,000 in 2020 to $1.21million – with the median price for non-golf course frontage houses increasing from $789,000 to $940,000 in the first four months of 2021.
as there isn’t a lot of opportunities for people to purchase premium land so close to the CBD and have the confidence to build their architecturally design forever home, so we definitely fill that gap.”
Mrs Marasea said the surge in top-shelf sales signalled tremendous confidence in the exclusive owner occupier golf community.
Around 3000 people now call Brookwater home since the community began in 2001. Within a 10-minute drive of Brookwater are 11 schools, a hospital, universities, a shopping centre and multiple shopping villages, Queensland’s number one golf course, and abundance of restaurants and entertainment choices.
“The bar has well and truly been raised to a whole new level by reaching these record price points, which certainly aligns with our vision of ensuring Brookwater remains a premium destination for homeowners.” Mrs Marasea – who has been part of the Brookwater story for more than 14 years – said most of the recent sales were to “local buyers from the Brisbane area”. “Brookwater has become a major draw card for aspirational families and empty nesters,” she said. “The scarcity of land is also a big issue in the Brisbane market –
Brookwater stands out from typical suburbia through its strong focus on Design, Landscape Architecture, the Brookwater Homeowners’ Club, forty-five per cent of open green space with walking trail networks which surround the suburb, and a strong sense of community where owners take pride in their homes and surrounds.
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INDIA NEWS
LOCAL NEWS
Springfield welcomes Queensland government’s announcement of new public hospital Hospital and Health Service for their cooperation in servicing the current demand from this region.” Mr Sinnathamby recognised that Greater Springfield had been a large contributor to the population growth with 48,000 residents now calling it their home. He expects the Greater Springfield population will be 60,000 by the time the new hospital opens.
“The region has experienced a population explosion with new frontiers such as Ripley, and Greenbank and Flagstone adding significantly to the population of the region,” he said.
Springfield, May 31: Springfield City Group Chairman, Maha Sinnathamby today welcomed the State Government’s announcement of a new public Hospital to service the fast growing population between Brisbane and Ipswich.
Assistant Treasurer (the Member for Jordan Charis Mullen) have been on the ground, seeing firsthand the rapid growth of this corridor and we appreciate their support that will now guarantee the delivery of further health services for the region.
postcode.
Speaking at a media conference at the Mater Private Hospital Springfield, Mr Sinnathamby said: “We know the Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Health and the
“This expansion will not only service the 585,000 people who live within a 22-minute drive, but also the parents of the 1000 plus babies born every year in the 4300
“The new public hospital will help address the increasing demand for public hospital services in South East Queensland. We also extend our thanks to Metro South
“We also thank the West Moreton Hospital and Health Service for the work they have done across this rapidly growing corridor, which has enabled health providers to step up and service the population.
“Being the master planner for this corridor, we always knew that health had to be an integral part of the services offered. “Nearly 15 years ago, we engaged Harvard Medical International to work with us to plan “Health City” – a 50-hectare precinct that will provide for the health and wellness of this rapidly growing region. “This isn’t just about hospital care, but seniors living, respite, purpose built residential accommodation for people with
special needs, a medi hotel, research, a medical innovation precinct, specialist care providers and health education. This precinct will also provide 19,000 full time jobs on completion.”
Mr Sinnathamby welcomed the important role played by Mater, a not-for-profit health care provider, in the Greater Springfield community since 2015. Hospital Fast Facts: The Mater Public Hospital Springfield will deliver: ➡ 174 public overnight and sameday beds ➡ Intensive Care Unit and Maternity Services ➡ A much-needed Emergency Department in the region ➡ Increased interventional spaces, such as operating theatres and endoscopy suite ➡ Increased clinical capability of the service, meaning more complex care can be treated locally ➡ Increased private bed capacity and services in the region Work on the new Hospital will begin immediately and is expected to officially open in 2024.
Luxury, lifestyle, location — welcome to Dress Circle Located in the heart of one of Australia’s fastest growing regions, Brookwater is Brisbane’s best kept secret for luxury living. Crafted around the Greg Norman designed golf course, Brookwater provides a rare combination of prestige golf-side living and natural bushland beauty. With over 800 families already calling Brookwater home, we are pleased to introduce the next stage of this exclusive community — your own architecturally designed piece of paradise — Dress Circle.
We welcome you to experience Brisbane’s best kept secret when it comes to luxury living, and choose from our leading architectural collaborators to design your dream home — with all architectural fees complimentary with your Dress Circle land purchase.
READY TO BUILD ON LARGE PREMIUM HOMESITES FROM $566,000
Life on Brookwater’s Dress Circle is within 10 minutes of everything you need — commuter rail to the city, private and public schools, childcare centres, a university, a private hospital, shopping centres and a thriving commercial precinct.
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June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
INDIA NEWS
NEWS FROM INDIA
admin Suvendu Adhikari updates PM Lakshadweep imposing Sangh Parivar Modi about Bengal situation agenda: Congress Photo Courtesy: IANS
national capital. Sources said that Adhikari had apprised Shah and Nadda about the sentiments prevailing in the saffron cadre after the unsuccessful attempt to dislodge the Mamata Banerjeeled government in the Assembly polls conducted in March-April this year.
The BJP's central leadership had called Adhikari to Delhi following which he had reached the national capital on the night of June 7.
New Delhi, June 9 (IANS): The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on June 9 and discussed the political situation in the state along with other issues. It is believed that the meeting lasted for around 45 minutes, during which Adhikari had a detailed discussion with the Prime Minister on the political
situation in the eastern state, including the latest developments, among other issues, sources said. As per the sources, Adhikari briefed the Prime Minister about the violence ‘unleashed' against the BJP workers and the ‘atmosphere of fear' created for the saffron cadre in West Bengal. On June 8, Adhikari had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J.P. Nadda in the
After the meeting with Shah, Adhikari had tweeted: "Discussed several matters and sought blessings for Bengal. Honourable HM assured, he was and he will be there for Bengal always." Later on June 8 evening, Adhikari met Nadda at his residence. "Glad to meet the Honourable National President of BJP JP Nadda Ji. Discussed critical issues of Bengal and their solutions. Be rest assured that the party is beside each and every karyakarta all the time," he had tweeted after the meeting.
Huge shock for Congress as Jitin Prasada joins BJP Photo Courtesy: IANS
New Delhi, June 9 (IANS): Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh Jitin Prasad on June 9 joined BJP in presence of Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni at party headquarters, giving a big jolt to the Congress party. Welcoming Prasada, Goyal praised his commitment to serve the people and said that he (Prasada) will play an important role in Uttar Pradesh. "He will have a major role in Uttar Pradesh politics in the future. He is someone who is connected to the ground realities and is a popular leader in the state," Goyal said. Prasada thanked BJP president J.P. Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah for accepting him in the saffron fold. Prasada said, "The question is not why I'm leaving a party but why I'm joining another party. If there
is a party in the real sense today, an institutional party, then it is the BJP. Other parties are either regional or person specific." After joining BJP, Prasad said, "I feel there is no purpose of your doing politics or staying in a political party if a person is not able to serve or protect the interest of its people. I realized being in Congress and not being able to do the same. So, I joined BJP and my work will only speak for itself." His father Jitendra Prasada was a prominent 'Brahmin' face in Uttar Pradesh, who had challenged Sonia Gandhi's leadership in 1999 and had contested against her for the post of party chief. He died in 2002. The saffron party believes that Prasada joining BJP will help it pacify Brahmins in Uttar Pradesh, where the Assembly poll will be held early next year. A party insider said that Prasada could be projected as the Brahmin face
Photo Courtesy: TOI
Thiruvananthapuram, June 9 (IANS): Lakshadweep Pradesh Congress Committee president Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed has slammed the Union Territory administrator Praful G. Patel for his acts in the island, accusing him of implementing the agenda of the Sangh Parivar. He said, this will be opposed tooth and nail. Sayeed said this while taking part in a webinar organised by a pro Congress social organisation in north Kerala.
"Also, it was the Kerala High Court which was looking after the legal issue of the island. Now an attempt is being made to delink the Kerala High Court and link the island with the Bengaluru High Court. Moreover, the Goonda Act is now being floated at a place where the crime rate is very low and is being done to terrorise the peace loving islanders and suppress any sort of democratic protests," said Sayeed.
Sayeed pointed out that this is being purposefully done by the administrator to spoil the long standing excellent relations between the island and the state of Kerala.
Sayeed said, he is deeply thankful to Kerala which is supporting the people there against the present acts of the administrator, who is out to crush the culture and traditions of the island.
New Delhi, June 9 (IANS): The procurement of wheat this year has gone up by 12.12 percent so far in comparison to the corresponding period in 2020, at 418.47 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) against 373.22 LMT, an official statement said on June 9.
Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir at MSP, as was done in previous seasons and till now (upto June 8), a quantity of over 418.47 LMT of wheat has been procured (which is all time high, as it has exceeded previous high 389.92 LMT of RMS 2020-21) against the last year's corresponding purchase of 373.22 LMT, it said.
12.12% more wheat procured in India this year so far
About 46 lakh farmers benefited from the ongoing wheat procurement from the ongoing RMS procurement operations with an MSP value of Rs 82,648.38 crore, a Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry statement said. of the party which is completely missing in Uttar Pradesh. Prasada, once close to Rahul Gandhi, was part of Group-23 (G23) signatories who had written to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi demanding for sweeping reforms in the party. Despite being a dissenter, he was tasked with the Congress campaign in West Bengal, which turned out to be a disappointment. Taking a stand against the party, he opposed Congress's alliance with the Indian Secular Front in West Bengal.
"Among the things that the administrator is now trying to undo is all along the port of call for all goods and services to the island, was Kochi and Kozhikode. Now things are being worked out to stop that and connect the island to the Mangalore port," said Sayeed.
Also, over 816.65 LMTs of paddy was procured on MSP for ongoing KMS 2020-21 and RMS, it said. According to the statement, government agencies also procured 7,80,432.88 MT of pulses and oilseeds on Minimum Support Price (MSP). Procurement of wheat in ongoing RMS 2021-22 is continuing smoothly in the procuring states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal
Paddy procurement in the ongoing Kharif 2020-21 season is continuing smoothly in the procuring states with purchase of over 816.65 LMTs of paddy (includes Kharif crop 706.96 LMT and Rabi crop 109.69 LMT) upto June 8, against the last year's corresponding purchase of 736.50 LMT. About 120.89 lakh farmers have already benefited from the ongoing KMS procurement Operations with an MSP value of Rs 1,54,184.14 crore. Paddy procurement has also reached at all time high level, surpassing previous high of 773.45 LMT in KMS 2019-20.
Srinagar: Gupkar alliance Eastern Naval Command inducts meeting in progress
ALH Mk III helicopter Visakhapatnam, June 7 (IANS): The indigenous ALH Mk III helicopter was formally inducted into the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) here on June 7, in the presence of Vice Admiral A.B. Singh, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of ENC. Three helicopters flew into the Naval Air Station, INS Dega, to
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signal their induction as '322 Dega Flight'. The ALH MK III helicopter is equipped with an array of systems, making it an allweather, multi-role helicopter of the Indian Navy. The first helicopter was commissioned in the Indian Navy in April this year. The acquisition of these Maritime
Reconnaissance and Coastal Security (MRCS) helicopters gives the Eastern Naval Command a major boost towards enhancing the capabilities of the force, in pursuit of the maritime interests of the nation, a statement said. Built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, these state-of-the-art helicopters symbolise a major step in the country's quest for 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.
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Srinagar, June 9 (IANS): Amid speculations about any possible changes to the status of Jammu and Kashmir, the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a conglomerate of Kashmir based political parties, is currently holding a meeting at PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti's residence at the Gupkar road in Srinagar on June 9. Among others, the meeting is being attended by PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti, National
Conference President Farooq Abdullah, Awami National Conference leader Muzaffar Shah and CPI-M leader Yusuf Taragami. The PAGD was floated for the reversal of constitutional changes made to Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019. National Conference President Farooq Abdullah was appointed as the President of the alliance, PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti is its vice president.
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Ex-IAS officer Anup Chandra Pandey UP Anganwadi workers appointed as Election Commissioner to be given smartphones New Delhi, June 9 (IANS): Indian President Ram Nath Kovind had appointed Pandey as Election Commissioner on June 8. He fills the vacancy arising after Sushil Chandra succeeded CEC Sunil Arora, who retired on April 12.
Photo Courtesy: IANS
Pandey has held diverse portfolios during his deputation at the Centre, serving as Additional Secretary, Defence, and Joint Secretary, Labour and Employment.
The poll panel has to oversee the next set of crucial Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur, and Uttarakhand next year. The 62-year-old will demit office in February 2024 on attaining the age of 65 years, according to the age criteria for Election Commissioners, just ahead of the likely announcement of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Born on February 15, 1959, Pandey was a 1984 batch, UP cadre Indian Administrative Service officer. During his 37 year service, he has held key posts at both the Centre and the state level. Prior to joining the Election Commission, Pandey was serving as a member of the National Green Tribunal Oversight Committee, Uttar Pradesh. Pandey was handpicked by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to head the state
of the state's Farm Loan Waiver Scheme.
bureaucracy as Chief Secretary on June 28, 2018, and retired in August 2019. Under his watch, the state organised the Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj, and the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas at Varanasi in 2019. Earlier, Pandey served as Industrial Development Commissioner and successfully organised a mega Investors Summit at Lucknow in 2018. He also introduced various policy reforms in the industries and business sector, including single window Nivesh Mitra Portal. As the state's Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, he oversaw the successful designing, planning and implementation
He also represented the country at various international forums like G20 and International Labour Organisation. He was also Director in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Department of Consumer Affairs. Holding a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Punjab Engineering College and a master's degree in Materials Management from the Panjab University, Pandey, who has had a keen interest in study of history, also holds a Ph.D in Ancient Indian History from the Magadh University. Pandey has a keen interest in writing and has authored a book titled "Governance in Ancient India", exploring the evolution, nature, scope, functions and related aspects of Indian civil service from the Rig Vedic period to 650 AD.
60% students not in favour of using internal marks for Class XII score: Survey Photo Courtesy: IANS
Lucknow, June 9 (IANS): About four lakh Anganwadi workers in Uttar Pradesh will get smartphones to improve their efficiency and the state government will also train them to use the devices.
A training plan has already been prepared for this. According to the government spokesman, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed the officials concerned to ensure their distribution in order to help those crucial in implementation of women and child welfare schemes in rural areas. The Anganwadi workers, working in the field facilitating women and children issues related to health and nutrition, have been an important tool in the chief minister's scheme of things, including effective
The online survey, led by the study abroad platform The WorldGrad, was conducted among more than 4,000 users who registered on the platform in the last two months. It showed that 60 per cent of the students do not think that it is a good idea to use pre-boards and internal school marks to calculate their Class XII results. On June 1, the Centre had decided to cancel the CBSE Class XII board exams for 2021 in view of the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country. The Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has also scrapped the ISC (Class
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XII) exams for this year, saying that a scheme for evaluating the students will be announced soon.
modality. Students and parents have little confidence in the internal assessments conducted.
Many state boards have also cancelled the Class XII board exams in their respective states.
"Secondly, the students always use the final examinations to prepare and improve their performance and maximise their results, which will not happen this time," he added.
Following the cancellation, speculation is rife on what would be the methodology to calculate the Class XII board scores. "CBSE and CISCE may ask the schools to submit their internal scores and most likely combine them with class X and XI results. This process is likely to take another month, maybe more, which means the results will be announced by July or August," Abhinav Mital, Co-Founder, The WorldGrad, said in a statement. "However, based on the survey, it is likely that the students will not be happy with this methodology. There are two reasons for it. Firstly, this year all the internal examinations have been conducted online with most schools struggling with the
The survey also showed that 80 per cent of the students have given pre-board exams, but only 55 per cent have received the results. However, regardless of whether they have received the results, 60 percent of the students are not in favour of using these for their final scores. "Nearly half the students haven't even gotten formal results from the schools, which suggests that schools haven't really formalised anything. We have heard from some of our students that schools have just 'shown' them marks online during Zoom calls," Mital said.
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All data related to women and children's schemes will now be in the hands of Anganwadi workers. This, according to the spokesperson, will result in maximum transparency in implementation of the schemes. Decisions related to the schemes will be taken on the basis of real-time data, without delay, and the scope for corruption will be minimized. "After being equipped with smartphones, the various schemes in rural areas, including nutrition and child welfare, will be implemented in a more effective manner," he stated. There are 1.89 lakh Anganwadi centres in the state with about four lakh workers available.
'Ek Saath India Will Rise Again' concert held to aid Covid victims New Delhi, June 8 (IANS): The Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD) in collaboration with I Am Buddha Foundation and Anupam Kher Foundation hosted a mega online Covid relief fundraising concert on June 5 – ‘Ek Saath India Will Rise Again. The event was supported by Sewa International Foundation, Kashyap Seva Foundation, the US India Pragati Foundation and Federation of Indian Physician Associations.
New Delhi, June 8 (IANS): While 80 percent of Class XII students are relieved and pleased that the board examinations have been cancelled, nearly two-third of them are concerned about the use of internal school assessments to calculate results, a survey revealed on June 8.
implementation of Corona control.
The concert was in aid of thousands of victims of the Covid pandemic that has struck India. Widows and orphans have been left behind to fend for themselves and the refugees, migrants, indigenous people, artistes and minorities have borne the brunt of having lost their livelihood and earnings. Following the successful concert, on June 7, the members of the organising teams met the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar, to apprise him of the Covid initiatives taken by the teams, including organising the fundraising concert. The delegation comprised Utpal Kaul, GKPD International Coordinator, Parikshit Kaul, Media Coordinator, Sanjay Kachru, KSF member of Governing Council, Siddarth Zarabi, KSF trustee, Bhawna Pandita and Dimple Kaul from I Am Buddha Foundation, and Rashmi Sachdeva Shukla from Anupam Kher Foundation. The minister acknowledged that the citizens of the country had come together at a crucial time and worked jointly to extend a helping hand. He appreciated the
various initiatives.
Anupam Kher stated, "In spite of being refugees in their own country, the compassionate Kashmiri Pandits heard the cry of agony of those orphaned or widowed, those migrants and refugees, those who have lost all hope. They rose to meet the challenge and demonstrated by their actions that India will rise again.. Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar stated, "Covid has hurt everyone physically and economically. Covid came to India and the second way has traumatized India for which I am filled with sorrow. Anupam ji is working with the organisations which is extremely beneficial. I pray to God that the world is freed from this disease, and we can once again lead our normal lives. Everyone should do good work and inspire others to do good." Utpal Kaul said, "We are immensely grateful to all the legendary artistes, including Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, who supported the event and gave us the honour of listening to their melodious voices, poem renditions that uplift our spirits with their encouraging words." Director and Producer Vivek Agnihotri stated, "It was an honour for Pallavi Joshi to anchor the programme and for the I Am Buddha Foundation to produce it on behalf of Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora. We are filled with gratitude at how the artist community responded to the call. We are deeply appreciative to the audience from across the world who joined live in thousands on all online platforms. It continues to be watched across the world."
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Aus researchers call for pandemic-proof education system Canberra, June 10 (IANS): Australian researchers have provided a roadmap for addressing educational deficiency in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic-induced disruptions to improve the country's dealing with educationally disadvantaged young people. Researchers from Australia's University of Queensland (UQ) and Paul Ramsay Foundation explored the impact of the national lockdown on educational disadvantage, saying on June 9 it was the first study to present evidence-based solutions to help inform policy, reports Xinhua news agency. The study adopted 16 recommendations for decisionmakers and sector stakeholders, which was divided into four priority areas for action, including improving student mental health, wellbeing and hope, building up the future roles of teachers, schools, and communities, setting up protections for most vulnerable students and digital equity. Professor Mark Western, UQ's Institute for Social Sciences Research director, said that compared to other countries, Australia lacks the same evidence-based support services, leaving Australians exposed to
Photo Courtesy: IANS
Researchers analysed large data sets and conducted interviews with focus groups with underprivileged children and young people, as well as service providers, government, and academic experts to capture and understand which elements of the system of educational disadvantage were directly impacted by Covid. "More needs to be done to invest in the future of Australia's children and young people by deploying evidence-based programs that address four priority areas for action," Western
said. "Our report gives decisionmakers, service providers, and potential funders a toolkit for implementing a range of guiding principles for school-based programs that would provide more support services tailored to students during the next potential lockdown or disaster," he noted. Paul Ramsay Foundation Chief Executive Officer, Professor Glyn Davis AC said few Australianbased programs are supporting vulnerable students with rigorous evidence of effectiveness now, so they hope these findings will guide the implementation of school-based and communitybased programs that meet the needs of Australia's vulnerable young people.
PM Morrison’s approval rating declines
minister rose two points to 32 per cent. The poll was conducted after Victoria's fourth coronavirus lockdown triggered a political brawl, with Albanese joining state and territory leaders in criticising the federal government over the slow vaccine rollout and failure to build dedicated quarantine facilities.
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Morrison recently announced A$200 million ($154 million) in funding for a quarantine facility in Victoria but Albanese said it was too late, telling Sky News on June 6 that Australians "can't afford to keep having these lockdowns". Canberra, June 7 (IANS): Popular support for Prime Minister Scott Morrison has fallen amid disputes with states over the Covid-19 vaccine rollout and quarantine. According to the latest Newspoll published on the night of June 6, Morrison's approval rating has fallen from 58 per cent in midMay to 54 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency. It coincides with a rise in the
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Two-week long lockdown lifted in Melbourne
Melbourne, June 10 (IANS): The two-week lockdown in Melbourne, the second most populous city of Australia, ended on June 10 midnight as the state of Victoria recorded only one new confirmed Covid-19 case. Health authorities in the state have been battling a new outbreak, since the first new locally acquired case was recorded in late May, reports Xinhua news agency.
Speaking to reporters here, Acting Premier of the state James Merlino said Melbourne would "move to most of the same settings currently in place across regional Victoria, and regional Victoria will move further towards further easing".
widening the educational divide, although more than 60 programs already existed to support children and young people experiencing disadvantage.
proportion of voters dissatisfied with his performance from 38 per cent to 43 per cent, reducing Morrison's net approval rating from plus 20 in May to plus 11, the lowest it has been since April 2020 after Covid-19 restrictions were first introduced. The net approval rating for opposition Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese also fell but the proportion of voters who chose him as their preferred prime
Despite Morrison's personal approval falling, Newspoll found that his governing Coalition has made up ground on Labor. On a two-party preferred basis, the two major parties are deadlocked at 50-50 with a general election set to be held by May 2022. It marks the first time since February that the government has not trailed Labor.
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The easing of restrictions meant that from June 11, Melbourne residents no longer have only five reasons to leave their homes and
their travel radius increased from 10 km to 25 km. "The regional/metro divisions have come down and we can travel more freely around the state again," Merlino said. Masks are no longer required indoors unless people cannot maintain a 1.5-metre social distance, and restaurants and cafes have reopened for seated service with up to 100 people per venue and a maximum of 50 people inside.
"Everyone should be absolutely proud of what we have all achieved together, but we know this isn't over yet, and until we have widespread vaccination across Victoria and across our country, the virus will still be with us," Merlino said. "We'll continue to assess the data each day and provide more detail as soon as we can," he said.
AIBC calls for drastic changes to Australia’s immigration policy to attract young skilled migrants
Mr Jim Varghese, National Chair of the Australia India Business Council
A
ustralia must revamp its immigration policy as an urgent national priority to invite more numbers of young and skilled migrants to Australia to sustain the economic growth during the Covid recovery period,” said Mr Jim Varghese, National Chair of the Australia India Business Council. “The Government must review the drastic capping of migration program announced in the Federal budget,” stated Mr Jim Varghese. “Such a capping and limiting the skilled visa categories will stall the economic growth and impact bilateral trade relations.” Elaborating the AIBC concerns on the current immigration policy, Mr. Jim Varghese said: "Australia needs to look also at the Canadian model or identify immediate strategies to attract international students and, importantly, utilise their skills for the benefit of the Australian economy. The large population of the skilled younger generation in India provides a huge opportunity. Skilled young international students need to have a smoother, faster, and easier pathway to migration in Australia." He further stated that the border closures have also adversely impacted universities’ efforts in international research collaboration and student exchange programmes and contribute to bilateral programs. "It will take time for universities to regain the international
students even after the borders open. Hence Australia needs to also look a different model or identify immediate strategies to attract international students and, importantly, utilise their skills for the benefit of the Australian economy," he said. Quoting the Grattan report on permanent skilled migration after the pandemic, Mr Jim Varghese said he totally agreed that “Australia should ‘unashamedly’ prioritise younger migrants for their earning potential." “Australia India Business Council (AIBC) as a Premier Industry body engaged in many years in Australia India trade, understands and appreciates the Federal government’s priority for Health in the current Covid-19 scenario and hopes that the reduction of skilled migrants is only temporary. AIBC believes that Government will take a pragmatic approach moving forward,” said Mr. Varghese. Mr. Varghese further stated that “India is an especially important economic powerhouse for Australia and is part of the Quad. We must deliver on the Modi/ Morrison Virtual Summit. We would like to see Prime Minister Morrison's outcome from the virtual summit held last year effectively implemented. AIBC through its ongoing engagement Federal and State Governments, its industry partners including Business Council of Australia, Export Council of Australia, will continue identify strategies to minimise the impact on Australia India Trade." AIBC considers that alignment of Australia’s immigration policy to its trade and economic policy will be one such strategy and a key to success of bilateral trade relations.
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ISB announces partnership with PM 'leaning' towards University of Sydney Business School compulsory vaccines Hyderabad, June 9 (IANS): The Indian School of Business (ISB) on June 9 announced that it has signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with the University of Sydney Business School (USBS) for five years.
The two world-class business schools signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote research collaborations, academic exchange, and student mobility. This is expected to provide a major impetus in fostering new and futuristic paradigms in management education. Joint initiatives being planned include a dual master's degree, which would be delivered both at the University of Sydney and the Indian School of Business, executive education programmes, as well doctoral student mobility and co-supervision. Both schools see international immersion as a core requirement for developing future-ready graduates. In 2019, the University of Sydney was ranked the largest student mobility programme in Australia for the second year in a row. Cooperation between the two schools will be explored in academic research, doctoral research, coursework education, corporate engagement and
Photo Courtesy: IANS
in contributing to policy development in and for a postCovid world, ISB said. The partnership is ISB's first comprehensive partnership with an Australian School in the business and management field. This was formally launched on June 9 at a webinar. "The need of the hour is to forge new academic partnerships that will enhance ISB's global insights and presence through exchange of ideas and people. I am confident that ISB's comprehensive partnership with University of Sydney Business School will usher in new insights based on multidisciplinary research that will contribute to management thought leadership and in designing new trajectories in management education globally," said Professor Rajendra Srivastava, Dean of the Indian School of Business. "In the face of what seems an increasingly divided world since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must seize
opportunities to deepen our partnerships with international institutions. Despite the challenges of distance, we are delighted to celebrate this new partnership with such a prestigious institution and look forward to many more collaborations with the Indian School of Business," said Professor Greg Whitwell, Dean of the University of Sydney Business School. Speaking at the event, Brett GaltSmith, Counsellor (Education and Research), Australian High Commission, New Delhi, said that the partnership fits very well with India - Australia bilateral ties and augurs well for both the countries. He called on the need to capitalise on the soft power of education and further build on its untapped potential. He underlined that India's new national education policy will go a long way in internationalisation of education and it will bring in more value to the educational set-up. Ruchika Jain, First Secretary, Press Information & Culture, High Commission of India, Canberra, Australia hoped the partnership will facilitate new opportunities and interactions between both the countries.
Aus can't wait for quarantine facilities: Oppn leader Photo Courtesy: IANS
Arrivals to Australia have been forced into quarantine for 14 days in hotels, but the system has repeatedly been breached.
Canberra, June 6 (IANS): Leader of Australia's opposition Labor Party Anthony Albanese on June 6 said the country cannot wait until 2022 to open dedicated quarantine facilities for international arrivals. Albanese criticised the federal government for waiting to build quarantine facilities, saying construction should have begun in 2020, reports Xinhua news agency.
"That was the best time to do this, the next best time is right now," he told Sky News Australia. The government recently announced A$200 million ($15 million) in funding to build a 500bed facility in Victoria state to help repatriate more Australians stranded overseas amid the pandemic. However, construction on the site
these lockdowns."
Leader of Australia's opposition Labor Party Anthony Albanese
will not start until September and it will not be operational until 2022. The New South Wales state government on June 6 confirmed it is also seeking funding for a dedicated facility. "This needs to be fixed now, not wait until after the next federal election which will occur perhaps as late as May of next year," Albanese said. "We can't afford to keep having
According to Albanese, there have been many Covid-19 outbreaks in Australia linked to hotel quarantine breaches, including the current outbreak in Victoria that had thrust the greater Melbourne area into its fourth lockdown. "We know that the facilities at the moment, in hotel quarantine, the outbreak in Victoria has come from Adelaide and we know that 21 separate outbreaks have occurred," Albanese said. He said that the problems have been exacerbated by Australia's troubled vaccine rollout. As of June 6, more than 5 million doses have been administered in Australia.
for aged care workers Canberra, June 5 (IANS): Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that he is "leaning heavily" towards making Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for aged care workers.
Following a meeting of the National Cabinet on June 4, Morrison said that inoculating the aged care workforce was key to preventing further outbreaks and deaths from Covid-19 in Australia, reports Xinhua news agency. "We are leaning heavily into this as leaders of governments and myself as Prime Minister, to see us move towards a mandatory vaccination for aged care workers," he told reporters in Canberra. The National Cabinet, which consists of the Prime Minister and state and territory leaders, on June 4 agreed to "encourage" workers to get inoculated while awaiting further advice from the Australian Health Protection
Principal Committee (AHPPC) on how a system could be implemented.
The government asked the AHPPC to reconsider mandatory vaccines on May 31 after Covid-19 reemerged in Victoria and its capital city Melbourne, plunging the state into its fourth coronavirus lockdown. Victoria, the second-most populous state, also the hardesthit state by the pandemic in the country, recently had in total more than 60 cases linked to the current outbreak. "There are 72 active cases in Victoria, 64 are locally acquired and eight are overseas acquired cases," said the Victorian Department of Health in a media release on June 4. As of June 4 afternoon, there have been 30,150 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Australia, with 910 deaths.
Morrison and Ardern meet 1st time since pandemic Wellington, May 31 (IANS): New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met her visiting Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on May 31, marking their face-toface meeting since the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic last year.
continue cooperation on Covid-19 vaccines, including research and development.
They came together for the annual Australia-New Zealand Leaders' Meeting in Queenstown, Xinhua news agency reported.
They noted opportunities to collaborate on initiatives to extend travel options for Pacific neighbours when safe to do so, including through the transTasman quarantine-free travel zone, so as to reconnect with the wider world, the statement said.
The two leaders discussed a range of issues from trade, climate change to Covid-19 response and cooperation. "The Australia-New Zealand relationship is unique in its closeness; we are partners and allies, and we share a relationship of family, of 'whanau' (community). "Through our single economic market, our people-to-people ties and our shared interests in the region and the world, Australia and New Zealand stand together," said a joint statement released by the two Prime Ministers. Ardern and Morrison agreed to
The premiers undertook to support efforts to ensure the free international movement of medical goods, including vaccines and vaccine components.
Ardern and Morrison agreed to sustain close and valuable cooperation on climate change, including in the Pacific and on agricultural emissions. They reiterated their support for the multilateral trading system, and the importance of a well-functioning World Trade Organization in promoting sustainable global economic growth and prosperity, including as part of the Covid-19 recovery, it added.
Disaster payments announced for lockdownaffected workers Canberra, June 3 (IANS): The government on June 3 announced a new disaster payment scheme for workers affected by the coronavirus lockdown.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Emergency Management Minister
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David Littleproud said in a press conference that people aged 17 and over who lose work as a result of lockdown will receive the "temporary Covid disaster payment" made on a week-byweek basis, reports Xinhua news agency.
In order to be eligible, people must prove that they have lost income because of a lockdown, have used all of their pandemic sick leave and that they have less than A$10,000 ($7,742) in "liquid assets".
Eligible recipients who work more than 20 hours per week will receive A$500 or A$325 if they
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work less.
support they need."
"We are talking about somebody getting through the next week," Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
It came after the Victoria state government called for federal financial aid after extending the restrictions for the Melbourne area by a further seven days.
"Someone who would normally be in an economic situation where every dollar counts. What matters is that businesses get the support they need and households get the
Victoria, Australia's second-most populous state, has been the hardest-hit state by the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
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Domestic and Family Violence event organised in Sunny Bank
T
o raise awareness on domestic and family violence, an event was organised at the White House in Sunny Bank on May 29. “As we wrap up the month of May, we would like to give a recap and acknowledge the event about Domestic and Family Violence. On the 29th of May at the White House, we had a great turn up from all our guests who joined us on the day at such a great venue, which was outdoors by the lake. We were happy that everyone was able to comply with the Covid-19 restrictions,” said Mr Ashish Chadha, Relationship Manager, Sunny Bank Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of this event was to raise awareness on Domestic and Family violence and how people can help each other to overcome such a societal issue. “We were so grateful to have such strong individuals to be able to join us and be able to stand together to #saynotodomesticviolence,” said Mr Chadha “We would like to say a huge thanks to our special guest speakers, Annette Hurley, Sonia Hakim, Ashwarya Somal, Fahima Ahmadi, Lema Hamid, Leila Loei, Nasrin Vaziri, MP Shannon Fentiman’s representative who talked upon the issue and gave us great insight and experiences that expressed the seriousness of domestic and family violence. “We would also like to say a huge thanks to our distinguished guests, MP Jim Madden, Habib
Jamal, Galila Abdelsalam, Christine Harman, representative of Dr Kay Danes, Dr Tanya Unni, Aunty Peggy Tidyman, representative of MP Mindy Russell who attended our summit
on that evening. “We would also like to acknowledge other events that Women Empowerment and Leadership has been part of such as conferences, webinars, working
with clients and attending events. This month has been a month full of great achievements on Women Empowerment and leaderships behalf. We want to acknowledge
that the purpose of Women Empowerment and Leadership is to empower individuals to better themselves and to support those who are in need,” Mr Chadha said.
The Salvation Army appeals to multicultural Australians to donate to the Red Shield Appeal 2021 June 8: The Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal, the biggest door knock appeal in Australia, is marking its 56th year on 29-30 May 2021 and asking multicultural Australians to give generously to its annual Red Shield Appeal 2021 especially after the devastating impact of COVID-19 in 2020-21. Volunteers will be going door-todoor on 29-30 May 2021 as they raise vitally important funds to support their work around the
country. The Red Shield Appeal aims to raise $32 million this May to fund over 2,000 centres and a suite of essential community services which support people across Australia - including multicultural communities – who are affected by homelessness, financial hardship or family and domestic violence or struggling with addiction amongst others. Last year, The Salvation Army across Australia provided over 1 million sessions of care to those in need, supported more than 40,000 people experiencing homelessness, distributed 1.5 million meals through homelessness services, gave over 43,000 sessions of care to those experiencing family and domestic violence, and handed out almost $100 million worth of financial assistance to people doing it tough. “We cannot do the work that we do without the consistent generosity of multicultural Australians. Generous donations from multicultural Australians help fellow Australians in need
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who are living through bushfires, floods, drought, COVID-19, and tough times,” said Major Bruce Harmer, The Salvation Army Public Relations Secretary. Donations to the appeal are welcome up to 30th June 2021. Leading multicultural marketing agency MultiConnexions is
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partnering with The Salvation Army to raise awareness of The Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal among multicultural Australia, with CEO, Sheba Nandkeolyar confident that, ‘multicultural communities look forward to the opportunity to contribute back to Australia
as we have seen through their commitment over the years to The Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal.’ To donate to The Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal, or if you need support, visit salvationarmy.org. au or call 13 SALVOS.
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Telstra launches new Best of Business Awards June 3: Telstra announced the launch of its new awards program, the Telstra Best of Business Awards, which celebrates small and medium sized businesses who are using innovation and expertise to drive the nation forward.
The new program continues Telstra’s long legacy of awards programs that recognise exceptional leaders and small and medium businesses, providing a platform to further their success and inspire others. Telstra Consumer and Small Business Group Executive, Michael Ackland said the past year gave Telstra an opportunity to reflect and reimagine a program of the future. “We are proud of the support we have shown the small business community over the past 25 years through the Telstra Business Awards and the Telstra Business Women’s Awards, where we have recognised over 5,000 finalists from both city and regional areas across each state and territory of Australia,” Mr Ackland said. “The Telstra Best of Business Awards builds on the success and learnings of these award programs and is a reflection of our desire to continue to lead positive change for all Australians. “It allows us to celebrate the businesses and people making a positive impact within their community, industry, across the country or perhaps the world. “We know the past year has been challenging for everyone, particularly small to medium sized businesses. We hope by creating this new program, we will lead a national conversation and shine a light on businesses that are making a meaningful
contribution to Australia and provide them with the recognition they deserve.” Central to the new awards program is the addition of a new, annually-changing awards category – Progressing Australia. The new category will highlight businesses that are best responding to the most pressing issues the nation faces. To identify this category, Telstra will conduct extensive research each year with the Australian public and business experts to gain a pulse check of the nation, and the issues that matter most. This research will be used to set the ever-changing national agenda for the awards. This year’s topic is Local Leadership - a category that champions small businesses who are excelling in their role of building a thriving community of the future. This comes after research showed 96 per cent of consumers said they considered small businesses an important part of their community.* Diversity and inclusion is also at the heart of this revamped program, from improved accessibility to the entry process, to the creation of new categories. This includes Indigenous Excellence for Indigenous-owned businesses, Accelerating Women for businesses challenging exclusion and inequality, and Building Communities for businesses working to make a positive impact on their communities. “We are committed to embedding diversity and inclusion and ensuring all business owners from a cross-section of industries, sizes, categories and locations are able to enter and
Shelly Horton, Sally Obermeder, Mark Olive, Grace Brennan & Eamon Sullivan
are judged fairly. We want to give everyone across Australia the opportunity to be on the main stage,” Mr Ackland said. All businesses under 200 employees are invited to nominate and enter across eight categories. Entering the Telstra Best of Business Awards will help business owners take their business to the next level. The rigorous judging process will seek to identify those who are having an impact in the areas and industries most important to Australia’s growth. Anyone can nominate an exceptional business by heading to the website today: www. telstrabestofbusinessawards.com
Michael Ackland, Group Executive, Consumer & Small Business Telstra
-endsMedia contact: Steve Carey, 0413 988 640 E: media@team.telstra.com Agency contact: Info@ multiconnexions.com.au Reference: 038/2021
Jeremy Nicholas, Chief Marketing Officer Telstra
beautiful and bright daughter was abducted in broad daylight,” said Mr Gill.
incredible strength and resilience post Covid, and I am so proud to be one of the few culturally and linguistically diverse(CALD) creative directors in Queensland to helm an inclusive and diversity-driven production company committed to presenting CALD stories to the mainstream in Australia," said Ms Bajaj.
Dramatic new theatre production to highlight missing persons’ epidemic in Australia June 8: Groundbreaking Gold Coast theatre company, Wild Dreamer Productions has risen from the ashes of Covid by relaunching its highly-anticipated new original stage show, VOID. The dramatic two-person production was set to make its world-premiere on the Gold Coast just weeks prior to the Covid lockdown in March last year. Starring Wild Dreamer Productions’ founder and creative director, Aarti Bajaj, VOID aims to highlight the impact of missing persons on families, relationships and society as a whole. Ms Bajaj, who was honoured with a Cultural Achievement Award at the City of Gold Coast 2020 Australia Day Awards, said the show‘s message had touched her when she first read the script. “What really attracted me to
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the show is that it’s needed in society,” she said.
“It’s about a missing child. A daughter goes missing on her fourth birthday and now we go forward to her 18th birthday, with everything that’s happened in the last 14 years. “It’s about how that one incident has affected (the parents’) entire lives, their family, their relationships.” VOID has been written and directed by former Bond University professor Chamkaur Gill, and also stars actor and barrister, Lance Jones in the role of the father. “All any parent wants is nothing but the best for their child. To grow up joyous, to grow happy, to grow filled with the best parts of life. And for two parents, that was exactly how things were, until one unforgiving afternoon at the local park changed everything. Their
“Fourteen years have passed, but a parent never gives up hope. Never on their own children. Longing once again to see their beloved, this is a story of how a helpless mother and father grapple with one of the most heartbreaking situations any parent could face. The void created by the loss of their child.” The production was proudly hosted by Home of the Arts (HOTA), and was also a recipient of the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF). The RADF is a partnership between the Queensland Government and the City of Gold Coast Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland. "Wild Dreamer Productions as a company has displayed
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VOID is a far cry from Ms Bajaj’s previous production, the dance spectacular MEERA, which debuted to a full-house of 1,100 attendees at Home of the Arts in 2018, followed by a six-date New Zealand tour in 2019. VOID played three shows on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of June, 2021 at 6pm at HOTA at Bundall on the Gold Coast.
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NEWS FROM VICTORIA
Australia joins international alliance Dedicated quarantine to conserve planet's biodiversity facility in Victoria Photo Courtesy: IANS
June 14: Australia has joined an international coalition of countries committed to forging a global deal to conserve 30 percent of the world’s land and sea, in order to halt the loss of biodiversity. Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the G7 Summit that Australia will join the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, an intergovernmental group of 60 countries. The HAC is a global pact to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and sea, to halt the loss of species and ecosystems. G7 leaders have championed global biodiversity targets and with a view to supporting these global targets, Australia is committed to protecting a combined 30 percent of domestic land and ocean by
2030. “Australia is a frontrunner when it comes to taking action to conserve our biodiversity,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. “Currently, Australia has more than 29 per cent of its land and sea in protected areas, compared to 15 per cent of land and 7 percent of seas globally. We are well placed to make a strong contribution to a global ’30 by 30’ target and encourage other countries to do the same. “Australia should be proud of our world-leading environmental credentials, including our actions to manage the impacts of climate change. “We support the aim of an ambitious post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, to be agreed under the Convention on Biological Diversity when the
Travel vouchers to support regional tourism businesses June 6: The Victorian Government on June 6 announced a new round of travel vouchers as part of a package of support to boost tourism recovery right across regional Victoria.Tourism operators in regional areas have been hit particularly hard by the effects of the pandemic. The latest round of regional travel vouchers will encourage Victorians to support attractions and accommodation providers across the state once it is safe to do so. Victorians will have access to 80,000 regional travel vouchers valued at $200 each to help operators affected by the current restrictions recover strongly. The $32.2 million Regional Tourism Support Package will also provide accommodation, attraction, and experience providers with grant top-ups worth up to $4,500 per business, while alpine businesses will receive up to $15,000 to help them provide a COVIDSafe ski season. A $16 million investment will fund a fourth release of popular regional travel vouchers – 10,000 new vouchers and 70,000 vouchers allocated through previous rounds but not claimed. A release date for the vouchers and travel windows will be advised in due course. Victorians snapped up 160,000 regional
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travel vouchers during the first three rounds of the Regional Travel Voucher Scheme and 40,000 for the Melbourne Travel Voucher Scheme. More than 88,000 regional vouchers have been claimed so far, with those travellers injecting an estimated $130 million into local economies. The travel period for round three of the Regional Travel Voucher Scheme will be extended by three weeks so people whose plans have been affected by the current restrictions can still experience the best of Victoria at a subsidised price. The Regional Tourism Support Package also provides $11.8 million to support eligible Victorian tourism businesses with grant top-ups for the current Business Costs Assistance Program. This means that all eligible tourism businesses in Victoria will receive a payment of $7,000 under the program. The Alpine Support Program invests $4.4 million to support Victoria’s alpine resorts as they prepare for the return of skiers and snowboarders. Grants of up to $15,000 will be available for more than 300 businesses including hire outlets, shops, pubs, restaurants, cafes and adventure companies at Falls Creek, Mt Hotham, Mt Buller, Mt Stirling,
parties meet in Kunming China, in October this year.” Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley highlighted the importance of countries working together to protect the resilience of natural systems that support climate stability, food supply and water. “Being part of the HAC will allow Australia to play a leadership role in managing oceans, the Convention on Biological Diversity negotiations, and to promote the positive environmental outcomes we are achieving through our National Reserve System and Indigenous Protected Areas,” Minister Ley said. “Australia has one of the world’s largest representative systems of marine protected areas, covering 37 per cent of Australian waters, and we are looking to extend that to up to 45 per cent. With one of the world’s largest maritime jurisdictions and measures already in place to protect the biodiversity of our land, we have demonstrated the ‘30 by 30’ target is achievable. “We look forward to working with like-minded countries in finding the best ways to implement the details of the 30 x 30 targets.” The HAC is co-chaired by Costa Rica and France, with the United Kingdom as ocean co-chair.
Joint statement by President Biden, PM Johnson and PM Morrison
Photo Courtesy: IANS
June 13: President Biden, Prime Minister Johnson and Prime Minister Morrison met on the margins of the G7 summit in Carbis Bay on June 12, 2021. They discussed several issues of mutual concern, including the IndoPacific region. They agreed that the strategic context in the IndoPacific was changing and that there was a strong rationale for deepening cooperation between the three governments. They welcomed the forthcoming visits and exercises in the Indo-Pacific by the Carrier Strike Group, led by HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH. Lake Mountain, Mt Baw Baw and Dinner Plain. The grants will help businesses cover the costs of re-opening and implementing COVID safe measures, including buying equipment and supplies, developing COVID safe plans and training staff, as well as defraying everyday costs such as utility bills and rent.
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Photo Courtesy: IANS
Melbourne, May 28 (IANS): Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated support for a dedicated quarantine facility in Victoria after the state was placed under a seven-day coronavirus lockdown. The state government of Victoria in April asked for federal government funding for a proposed 500-bed facility for returning travellers 30 km north of Melbourne CBD, reports Xinhua news agency. Morrison on June 3 gave the strongest indication yet that support will be forthcoming, flagging an earlier start to construction than the September date set by the state government. "We are working with the Victorian government," he told reporters. "They've put forward a few weeks ago, I think a very useful proposal. I discussed this yesterday with (Acting Premier) James Merlino. We are highly favourable towards this. We think it can be done actually quicker, that's one of the things we're working through with them now," he added.
Covid outbreak that started with a hotel quarantine breach in South Australia (SA) grew to more than 20 cases. It is the fourth time that Victoria, the state hit hardest by the pandemic, has been placed under a lockdown. Morrison has faced strong criticism throughout the pandemic over his failure to establish a specialized quarantine facility for returning travellers. Since March 2020, citizens and residents returning to Australia from overseas have been subjected to 14 days of mandatory quarantine in hotels. However, flaws in the system have been exposed with, according to the Guardian Australia, 16 leaks across the country linked to breaches. Victoria's second wave of infections, which caused more than 800 of Australia's 910 Covid-19 deaths and triggered a 112-day lockdown in Melbourne last year, began with a hotel quarantine breach.
The announcement came hours after Merlino announced that Victoria, Australia's second-most populous state, would go into lockdown for seven days after a
Morrison has repeatedly rejected criticism of the system, saying it has been "99.99 percent effective" at stopping the virus from entering the Australian community.
June 14: Victorians from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to join one of the Regional Advisory Councils that help guide the Victorian Government’s work supporting multicultural communities. Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ros Spence and Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) Chairperson Vivienne Nguyen on June 14 announced the opening of nominations for the Victorian Multicultural Commission’s Regional Advisory Councils. There are eight Regional Advisory Councils from across the state, which provide critical, on-theground insights into issues that matter to multicultural communities – including migrant and refugee settlement services, employment, education, housing, citizenship and connection to culture. The Councils also help identify potential solutions and
strategies for achieving change and provide a forum for other organisations and government bodies to engage with local multicultural communities. Their work helps the VMC influence policy and improve government and community services. The Commission is seeking community members, business and local government representatives and service providers to achieve a balance of experience, diverse backgrounds, and expertise. The Commission strongly encourages people from culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse backgrounds, including established and new multicultural communities, refugees and people seeking asylum, and people over the age of 16 to apply. Members are appointed for two-year terms. Nominations must be submitted online and close Friday 23 July.
Multicultural Advisory Council nominations open
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INDIA NEWS
NEWS FROM THE ACT
Hall Village Park to unveil new mural Bhoomi Pooja ceremony held Photo Courtesy: IANS
Canberra, May 27: Growing up as a “shy young girl”, art was always a way of expressing emotion for Wiradjuri artist Kristie Peters. “Growing up in a small town, I found it difficult to make friends,” Kristie said. “Mum and Dad always gave me the strength to be proud of where I was from. I started expressing my emotions through Aboriginal art and since then art has been a major part of my life.” Today, Kristie’s colourful Indigenous murals can be seen all around Canberra, including the Narrabundah shops and Amaroo and Arawang Primary Schools. Her art is so popular she is booked out for any further
mural work until March 2022. The latest location set to feature Kristie’s work is the Hall Village Park. Kristie was commissioned by Transport Canberra and City Services to refresh the park with three murals, including at the Hall Park bus shelter. Featuring native animals such as a kangaroo and sulphur-crested cockatoo, the murals will incorporate traditional Indigenous songlines to reflect the surrounding landscape once completed. "The kangaroos in the artwork represent looking forward with a leap of faith," Kristie said. “A lot of the plants and gum leaves represent the song lines that
are embedded in Ngunnawal country, and represent cultures coming together with a respectful appreciation of each other. We’ll also feature handprints from the community which represent inclusion and coming together. “The elements are all an important part of our cultural identity.” Through her business, Yarrudhamarra Creations, Kristie has been selling her artwork and giftware for the past three years. The idea for the business formed after tragedy struck her family. “Three years ago my Dad was diagnosed with cancer, and everything around us was changing day by day,” she said. “One day at the hospital, Dad looked at me and said, ‘don’t let your talent go to waste.’” The Wiradjuri word for ‘dream,’ Kristie said Yarrudhamarra provides opportunities for people to learn and appreciate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and culture. “With my art it’s a healing journey, and a lot of people who look at my murals say it’s healing for them too,” Kristie said. Kristie hopes the murals at the Hall Village Park will be a healing and inclusive experience for those viewing them. “We hope these murals will incorporate core values and help to move forward together in reconciliation,” Kristie said. “We also hope it will mean visitors can have a place to connect and spend time with family and friends.”
Baringa ELC awarded community grant Photo Courtesy: IANS
Canberra, May 26: Baringa Early Learning Centre in Spence has worked hard over the past two years to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and perspectives throughout their curriculum for children aged up to five. Educational Leader Carley Adams says the centre’s reconciliation journey began a couple of years ago when they started to develop a Reconciliation Action Plan and working group with a focus on staff professional development and the education program. “We recognised something we really wanted to do, which was embed Aboriginal and Torres www.indianews.com.au
Strait Islander perspectives into our educational program and build our relationships with our local elders,” Carley said. Baringa is being supported to continue this important initiative as a successful applicant in this year’s ACT Government 2021 Reconciliation Day community grants. Carley says the centre will use the funds to commission an Indigenous mural and run creative art workshops, both to be completed by Ronnie Jordan from Culture on the Move. “The mural will be painted by Ronnie on the walls incorporating other native plants and animals. We
have had Ronnie come out and do weaving workshops with the older children, which they loved, and are looking forward to having her come back to do some more exciting experiences,” Carley said. Baringa partners with the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to participate in their educational program and has incorporated culture into their daily experiences. For example, each room now starts the day with an Acknowledgement of Country, incorporating hand movements so that children of every age can participate. “When we started it last year, it took a little while for the children to understand, but now the older kids love that part of the morning and know all the words off by heart,” Carley said. “Even the babies can participate, the hand movements that they can do like touch the ground and touch the sky, helps them build that strong connection to the country”. “We also have annual Welcome to Countries and Smoking Ceremonies. It was great for the children to see the connection between the Acknowledgement of Country that we do each morning and the Welcome to Country.” Baringa is marking Reconciliation Day 2021 with their annual ‘camping day’, where children bring a camp chair and spend the day learning in the country.”
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for new temple in Gungahlin Photo Courtesy: IANS
Canberra, June 5: The Canberra Hindu Mandir (CHM)Executive Committee organised a Bhoomi Pooja ceremony for a new temple in Gungahlin. The day commenced with a Smoking Ceremony, performed by Duncan Smith, Wiradjuri Echoes and his blessing for cleansing the temple land to ward off bad spirits, to welcome and promote the wellbeing of guests of the country. The Smoking Ceremony was followed by the Bhoomi
Pooja which was performed by Shri Pradeep Panditji in accordance with Hindu traditions and rituals. This event was joined by many community members from Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and New Zealand and surrounding regions. They also had the pleasure of having several dignitaries and local faith leaders gracing the occasion with their presence, all of whom congratulated the community for this significant milestone and wished the community success for the building of the temple. The entire event was live-streamed on YouTube to the world. CHM raised nearly $30,000 on the day through the generous participation in the services by the community showing their support to the making of the temple.
Low-income Canberra households to receive immediate utilities financial support Canberra, June 7: With electricity prices due to rise in the ACT from 1 July 2021, the ACT Government is providing immediate financial support to Canberra households who need it most. The recent decision by the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to allow a maximum increase in standing offers for retail electricity prices for the 2021-22 financial year is likely to have a direct impact on the cost-of-living for many Canberra households. Canberra’s lowincome households will receive support to pay their electricity bills, and the community will receive advice and information on how to better understand their bills. The ACT Government is also investing close to $1 million over four years to work with community partners to improve the community’s understanding of available energy assistance measures. Under these measures, electricity retailers must regularly tell their customers if they have a better offer, ask customers to contact them for information and give clear advice to them. Canberrans are encouraged to
shop around for better market offers, and recent amendments to the Utilities legislation will make this even easier.
“Next week will be the first time we will be able to use our new fire pit and yarning circle that we built last year officially with the children. The children will explore Aboriginal stories written by a local Ngunnawal Aboriginal elder, make lemon myrtle tea and explore how to build a fire,” Carley said. “We feel very strongly about not being tokenistic. While it’s important to recognise significant days like Reconciliation Day and NAIDOC Week, we plan and embed
cultural perspectives throughout the year. We want to make sure we’re being authentic with the children and it’s wonderful having them share experiences with their families.” Carley’s advice to others working in education who are thinking about incorporating more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in their work is to “just go for it”. “The Aboriginal community is so supportive and we are grateful to be involved, as educators we are all learning alongside the children,” Carley said.
The full $10.5 million support package announced includes: A permanent increase to the annual utilities concession by $50 to $750 from 1 July 2021 An additional one-off $50 increase to the utilities concession for 2021-22 A $1 million contribution to the Utilities Hardship Fund over four years, designed to assist those Canberrans who need the greatest level of support in paying their utility bills Expanded access to the Utilities Concession to all those who hold an ACT Service Access Card This new funding is the latest in a range of measures available for Canberrans to save on energy costs. 74,000 households and businesses have already participated in the ACT Government’s Energy Efficiency Improvement Scheme and are saving an average $300 per year for households and $5,200 per year for businesses.
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INDIA NEWS
NEWS FROM QUEENSLAND
$2 billion investment to provide more jobs and more industries through cheaper, cleaner energy Brisbane, June 10: The Palaszczuk Government will invest $2 billion into renewable energy and hydrogen jobs as part of our COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan. The $2 billion investment will provide cheaper, cleaner energy to power more jobs and more industries in Queensland. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the announcement of the $2 billion ‘Queensland Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund’ was a watershed moment in the economic development of Queensland. “Queensland is positioned better than anywhere in Australia to capitalise on the jobs and industries that will flow from this cheaper, cleaner energy,” the Premier said. “This $2 billion Queensland Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund is all about more jobs and more industries. “It will also support the further development of Queensland’s resources sector while at the same time helping to deliver on our 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030.” Bringing the entire Queensland Jobs Fund, announced on Sunday, to a new total of $3.34 billion, this investment will make sure Queensland capitalises on economic development opportunities for more jobs and more industries through cheaper, cleaner energy.
This $2 billion blue-collar jobs investment will support a transformational cycle of Queensland investment by:
Providing cheaper, cleaner energy: investment in local manufacturing of renewables and hydrogen delivers lower cost energy and frees up gas as an industrial input for manufacturing. Powering more jobs and more industries: developing projects in our hydrogen and renewable industries means cheaper energy powering more Queensland manufacturing. Supercharging our resources sector: an increased demand for cleaner energy will drive the expansion of our resources sector, including the North-West Minerals Province, providing the cobalt, copper, scandium, nickel, vanadium, bauxite and alumina needed for batteries, electric vehicles and solar panels. Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the Palaszczuk Government’s Queensland Jobs Fund was encouraging investment in Queensland and focusing on job-creating industries like renewable energy, hydrogen, and manufacturing. “The Queensland Jobs Fund, which now includes $2 billion for renewable energy and hydrogen jobs, is the government’s next step toward Queensland’s continued economic recovery,” Mr Miles said.
“It’s not just about helping businesses get back on track, it’s about making sure we leverage the opportunities that we’ve created in Queensland off the back of our world-class pandemic response and recovery.
renewables supply chain.
per cent
“Companies from around the world are looking to Queensland to expand and we want to help them.
“By 2050, the world will be looking for more than 500 million tonnes of hydrogen every year, and we want to make sure Queenslanders get decent, secure jobs supplying it,” Mr de Brenni said. “There is no reason why solar panels, electrolysers, batteries, wind farm components and new technology can’t be manufactured right here in Queensland.
Delivering a Queensland Hydrogen Industry Strategy ahead of the National Hydrogen Roadmap and committing more than $60 million to support hydrogen projects and training facilities
“Encouraging investment in jobcreating industries like renewable energy and hydrogen is part of Queensland’s economic recovery plan.” Treasurer and Minister for Investment Cameron Dick said the certainty provided by access to affordable, reliable energy would underpin Queensland’s economic recovery from COVID 19. “Queensland has long been the backbone of Australia’s national Electricity Market through our combination of the nation’s youngest and most efficient fleet of coal-fired generators, our willingness to open up more gas reserves for industry and our increasing strength in renewables,” the Treasurer said. “This investment will ensure we have the energy supply necessary to be home to more heavy industry and more manufacturing, with the secure, skilled long-term jobs they create.” Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen Mick de Brenni said the Fund would drive local manufacturing jobs in the
Inquiry into social isolation and loneliness in Queensland Brisbane, June 9: On 27 May 2021, the Queensland Legislative Assembly agreed to a motion that the Community Support and Services Committee (Committee) inquire into: the nature and extent of the impact of social isolation and loneliness in Queensland, including but not limited to: a. identification of and consultation with vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals or groups at significant risk across the life course b. the interplay of COVID-19 with this issue 2. the causes and drivers of social isolation and loneliness, including those unique to Queensland 3. the protective factors known to mitigate social isolation and loneliness 4. the benefits of addressing social isolation and loneliness, examples of successful initiatives undertaken nationally and internationally and how to measure social isolation and loneliness in Queensland to determine if implemented strategies are effective
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5. how current investment by the Queensland Government, other levels of government, the non-government, corporate and other sectors may be leveraged to prevent, mitigate and address the drivers and impacts of social isolation and loneliness across Queensland, including: a. services and programs such as health and mental health, transport, housing, education, employment and training, sport and recreation, community services and facilities, digital inclusion, volunteering, the arts and culture, community development, and planning for accessible, inclusive and connected communities
b. targeted support to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and those most at risk 6. the role, scope and priorities of a state-wide strategy to address social isolation and loneliness, considering interactions with existing Queensland and national strategies. The Committee is required to report to the Legislative Assembly by Monday 6 December 2021. Call for submissions
The Committee invites written submissions on the inquiry from interested stakeholders and members of the public. The Committee would appreciate you passing its call for submissions on to anyone you believe might be interested in the inquiry. The closing date for lodging written submissions is 5:00pm on Wednesday 18 August 2021. An information sheet which provides guidelines on making a submission can be found here. Please ensure all submissions meet these requirements. Written submissions should be emailed to CSSC@parliament.qld. gov.au or can be sent to: Committee Secretary Community Support and Services Committee Parliament House George Street Brisbane Qld 4000 Other information Documents relating to the Committee’s inquiry can be found on the inquiry webpage. The Committee will also hold public hearings following the close of submissions. Details
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Committing $145 million to develop renewable energy zones connecting up the 157-megawatt Kaban wind farm
“This Fund will create a pipeline of demand for local manufacturing across the entire value chain, and that means more jobs for Queenslanders.”
Providing $147 million to build the transmission line to support the Genex Kidston 250 megawatt pumped hydro project to financial close
Minister for the Environment and Great Barrier Reef Meaghan Scanlon said the Palaszczuk Government was working hard to support renewable energy, drive down emissions and create jobs.
Installing solar panels at more than 800 state schools to generate over 60 megawatts of solar power
“Under the Palaszczuk Government we’ve seen more than 40 large-scale renewable projects built in this state and this $2 billion investment will supercharge even more renewable projects and jobs, and help us reach our targets,” Ms Scanlon said. The Palaszczuk Government has a strong record, including: Supporting investment in over 5,100 megawatts of renewable generation with over forty wind and solar farms built and 7,000 construction jobs supported through our 50% renewable energy target Taking renewable generation from 7 per cent to more than 20
Delivering Australia’s first electric vehicle superhighway; and Entering into an implementation agreement with CopperString 2.0 on a proposal to connect the North West Minerals Province with the National Electricity Market. The $3.34 billion Queensland Jobs Fund includes the $2 billion Queensland Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund, increasing the existing $500 million Queensland Renewable Energy Fund by $1.5 billion. The Queensland Jobs Fund also includes the $350 million Industry Partnership Program and programs that support investment in manufacturing, catalytic infrastructure, resource recovery and investment attraction.
Former Queensland Labour MP Duncan Pegg loses battle with cancer
Brisbane, June 10: The Stretton Electorate Office has announces the passing of Duncan Pegg, on the morning of 10 June 2021. The office said, “Our community will remember Duncan as a tireless fighter for our local area. Others will remember him as a passionate legal advocate for injured workers. And his family will remember him as a beloved son and brother.
In his final months, Duncan spoke repeatedly of his great pride in the trust that the Stretton community placed in him over three separate elections. He often said that, in his role as Parliamentarian, his greatest support was from our local community. His greatest wish was that you would think the same of him”.
He battled cancer with incredible bravery and grace. I know this news will be felt particularly in Duncan’s electorate of Stretton. He was the common thread that united so many groups in his community. He loved them. And they loved him. Duncan’s work in the parliament earned respect across the political divide.
Tributes have poured in from all quarters expressing shock and grief at the news. Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said, “I join with Lindsey, Graham and the Pegg family in expressing my deep sadness over the loss of my friend, Duncan Pegg.
He showed politics could be a force for good.
will be provided on the inquiry webpage as they become available.
this inquiry, please contact the Committee Secretariat on (07) 3553 6623.
It was an honour to call him my friend”. Late Duncan Pegg had announced his retirement in April from politics and resigned from the Parliament owing to battle with cancer.
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INDIA NEWS
WORLD NEWS
1 in 2 Indian-Americans discriminated BSF returns Bangladesh teenager who wandered in past year, suggests new study into India Photo Courtesy: IANS
Meanwhile, partisan polarisation, linked to political preferences both in India and the US, is rife, within the community.
"However, this polarisation is asymmetric: Democrats are much less comfortable having close friends who are Republicans than the converse. The same is true of Congress Party supporters visa-vis supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)," says the study. Washington, June 10 (IANS): A new study has revealed that one in two Indian-Americans have reported being discriminated against in the past one year. The study titled, 'Social Realities of Indian Americans: Results from the 2020 Indian American Attitudes Survey', was conducted jointly by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Johns Hopkins-SAIS, and the University of Pennsylvania.
of 1,200 Indian-American residents in the US. It was conducted between September 1 and September 20, 2020, in partnership with the research and analytics firm YouGov. The report also found that Indian-Americans exhibit very high rates of marriage within their community.
Released on June 9, it is the third in a series on the social, political, and foreign policy attitudes of Indian-Americans.
"While eight out of 10 respondents have a spouse or partner of Indian origin, US-born IndianAmericans are four times more likely to have a spouse or partner who is of Indian origin but was born in the US," it said.
"One in two Indian Americans reports being discriminated against in the past one year, with discrimination based on skin colour identified as the most common form of bias.
Religion also plays an important role in the community. While 40 percent of respondents pray at least once a day, 27 per cent attend religious services at least once a week.
"Somewhat surprisingly, Indian Americans born in the US are much more likely to report being victims of discrimination than their foreign-born counterparts," the study says.
The study also revealed that roughly half of all Hindu IndianAmericans identify with a caste group.
The findings of the study were based on a nationally representative online survey
"The overwhelming majority of Hindus with a caste identity, more than eight in 10, self-identify as belonging to the category of General or upper caste."
The report further showed that Indian-Americans, especially members of the first generation, tend to socialise with other Indian-Americans. "Internally, the social networks of Indian-Americans are more homogenous in terms of religion than either Indian region (state) of origin or caste."
presence in Afghanistan," the Ministry added.
"Based on the international laws and conventions, and within the framework of agreements with friendly countries, the Afghan government remains obligated to ensure the security of diplomatic missions and the safety of diplomatic and consular representatives," the Ministry said in a statement.
The government said Australia would revert to diplomats using visiting accreditation for relations with Afghanistan, as was the case before the Kabul embassy opened in 2006, dpa news agency reported.
The statement came after Australia decided to close its embassy in Kabul amid an increasingly uncertain security situation. "We hope, as mentioned in the Australian government statement, that this measure will be temporary, and Australia will soon resume its permanent
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Australia's embassy building closed on May 29, with officials in future visiting Afghanistan from a post elsewhere in the region, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a joint statement.
"It is Australia's expectation that this measure will be temporary and that we will resume a permanent presence in Kabul once circumstances permit," the statement read. Canberra cited the "increasingly uncertain security environment" that has come with the imminent departure of international forces and said the government had been advised security
The BSF, which is responsible for guarding the 4,096 km IndiaBangladesh border, handed over the 12-year-old boy to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on June 8, the paramilitary force. The Bangladeshi youth, identified
as Hasanur Jamal Abhik, was handed over to BGB during a flag meeting between the two border guarding forces of India and Bangladesh at BSF Border Outpost Dawki and BGB Border Outpost Tamabil.
Resident of Savar area of Dhaka district, the Bangladeshi teenager was found roaming in the area of village Dawki on June 6 this year by locals who handed him over to Dawki police station who further handed over the 12-year-old to BSF on June 7.
UN: 100,000 fleeing violent persecution in eastern Myanmar Photo Courtesy: IANS
The study goes on to say that while only a minority of the respondents were concerned about the importation of political divisions from India to the US. But those who were, identified religion, political leadership, and political parties in India as the most common factors. Indian-Americans currently account for the second-largest immigrant group in the US. According to data from the 2018 American Community Survey (ACS), which is conducted by the US Census Bureau, there are 4.2 million people of Indian origin residing in the country. Although a large proportion are not US citizens (38 per cent), roughly 2.6 million are (1.4 million are naturalized citizens and 1.2 million were born in the US).
Afghanistan pledges to ensure safety of foreign missions Kabul, May 25 (IANS): The Afghan government is committed to ensuring safety and security of foreign organisations and diplomatic missions, the Foreign Ministry here said on May 25 following Australia's announcement to close its embassy in Kabul.
New Delhi, June 9 (IANS): In a gesture of mutual cooperation and emphasis on well-being of border population of both the countries, the Border Security Force (BSF) has returned a Bangladeshi teenager who strayed into Indian territory.
arrangements could not be provided to support an ongoing diplomatic presence. The move "does not alter our commitment to Afghanistan or its people", Payne and Morrison said. Afghanistan is in a state of uncertainty after US President Joe Biden announced that American troops will pull out from the country by September 11, 2021 after almost 20 years. NATO agreed to follow suit. Almost 10,000 NATO soldiers from the Resolute Support training mission, including 2,500 soldiers from the US and around 1,100 from Germany, the two biggest contingents, are due to leave the country. Australia has 80 troops remaining in Afghanistan as part of the NATO mission. Since the withdrawal officially began on May 1, the Taliban have intensified attacks on provincial capitals, districts, bases and checkpoints.
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Bangkok, June 9 (IANS): At least 100,000 people in eastern Myanmar are on the run because of violent "attacks" by the army, the United Nations estimates.
The effort to deliver aid to these people had been hampered by "ongoing insecurity, travel restrictions imposed by security forces, and poor road conditions."
Kayah state, on the border with Thailand, is particularly badly affected, according to a statement by the UN mission in Myanmar, dpa reported.
Since the military coup in early February, Myanmar has been mired in chaos and violence.
The people fled after "indiscriminate attacks by security forces against civilian areas," read the statement, which was dated from June 8. "This crisis could push people across international borders seeking safety, as already seen in other parts of the country," it said.
The generals ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest ever since. According to estimates by the prisoners' aid organisation AAPP, more than 850 people have been killed in ongoing protests against the junta.
Fauci warns of new Covid variant dispersing rapidly in UK Washington, June 10 (IANS): US top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci has warned of the risks of a new Covid-19 variant, first identified in India, which is now spreading widely in the UK.
The Delta variant, known by the scientific name B.1.617.2, has spread from where it was first discovered in India to over 60 countries, according to the World Health Organization, Xinhua reported. More than 6 percent of the
sequenced Covid-19 infections in the US trace to the highly transmissible Delta variant, Fauci said on June 8. The variant has become the dominant strain in the UK, accounting for an estimated 60 per cent of new cases, replacing the B.1.1.7 strain, according to Fauci. He called on more Americans to get vaccinated to keep the new variant from proliferating across the country.
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June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
More than 100 internships in Australia for JGU students academic and professional roles and impart training to build research skills in academic writing including data collection and management, preparing hypothesis, abstracts and conclusion and presentation skills among other skills. The internship programme will also impart key leadership skills to the students.
From Left_ Shaun Star, Director, Centre of India Australia Studies, JGU, Dr Ashutosh Misra, CEO, IAIE and Prof. C. Rajkumar, VC, JGU
New Delhi, June 3 (IANS): More than 100 students of International Relations, Public Policy, Humanities, Business and Law from the O.P. Jindal Global University ( JGU), have been awarded internships in leading Australian organisations. Despite the constraints presented by the global Covid-19 pandemic, 103 students have been selected for internships at CyberEQ and IAIE in 2021. JGU has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with Australia-based Institute for
Australia India Engagement (IAIE) and Cyber EQ to create opportunities for students to undertake internships in Australia. With IAIE, students will participate in the Student Mentoring and Research Training (SMART) program over a period of 1-2 months. For those students interning with Cyber EQ, students will conduct important research on regulatory and technological issues around cyber security. The internships will mentor students for future research,
C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University said: "At a time where travel is limited, the virtual engagements with Institute of Australia India Engagement and Cyber EQ will allow students from different disciplines at JGU to undertake unique internship opportunities in Australia. These international internships are another example of JGU's focus on ensuring that students have opportunities to meaningfully engage with institutions from around the world during their studies. In the future, our students will be able to pursue these internships by travelling to Australia and experiencing it in a more engaged manner." CyberEQ Founder, John
Mackenzie has been impressed with the entrepreneurial and forward-thinking innovation of JGU in supporting emerging start-ups.
The partnership between JGU and CyberEQ enters its third intake with more than 64 virtual interns, now expanding the research focus to existing and emerging inconsistencies between the traditional and technological challenges facing Cybersecurity. "The virtual internship program is student-centric research that provides a unique learning environment. An objective is to ensure each student receives quality coaching and mentoring so that each intern has the greatest experience and opportunity to learn. JGU students have a unique opportunity to explore a deeper understanding through higher education by bridging the gap from a legal, business, and psychological perspective to technology. A particular focus of the internship program is how students relate to the emerging challenges through real-world experience working on real-world projects, while also
EDUCATION preparing for the future of work, and the new jobs of tomorrow. Key areas have included privacy, data protection law, AI, and behavioural science, particularly as we face the growing difficulties in cyberspace." "I am extremely delighted to observe and be a part of O.P. Jindal Global University's partnership with numerous organizations and multiple platforms in Australia. This partnership is an outcome of global perspective and JGU's collaborative. JGU's association with Australia has evolved over a period of time. Even during the pandemic, the virtual internships by Cyber EQ and the Institute of Australia India Engagement have been a catalyst. I am certain of an enriched and prolific growth of this partnership in times to come," said Pankaj Gupta, Dean of the Office of Career Services. Ashutosh Misra, CEO and Executive Director of IAIE said: "IAIE is committed to strengthening Australia-India ties by nurturing future thinking leaders, professionals and academic experts in collaboration with JGU.
How India sparked Jennifer Star's passion for empowering teachers across the Asia-Pacific
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“founded on the premise that I, as a teacher, could teach 30 children and change 30 lives, or I could teach 30 teachers, who would each teach 30 children and change 900 lives.”
sia Education Foundation (AEF) at Asialink, The University of Melbourne has observed time and time again that the shared bonds that happen through immersive school exchanges are the glue that sustain long-term school, teacher and student connections. While Australia and India still grapple with the ongoing implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, AEF has continued to enhance ways schools can support one another through digital engagement. With closed borders and limited travel, the impact on international education partnerships has been significant. It is precisely for this reason that empathy, commitment and fresh thinking are needed. One such encompassing response is AEF’s internationally recognised Building Relationships through Intercultural Dialogue and Growing Engagement – BRIDGE - School Partnerships Program. Since 2008, the BRIDGE Program has integrated and promoted the skills needed to utilise digital technologies as part of school partnerships. Alongside the development of tools, resources, and ideas so has the tenacity and network of educators. In 2020, the Australia-India chapter of this program evolved further moving completely to digital learning. The AEF’s newly appointed Manager of International Education Partnerships, Jennifer Star OAM, says the BRIDGE School Partnerships Program speaks to her ambition of empowering teachers – and was a natural next step.
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Jennifer Star OAM in a classroom in Jaipur
“The beauty of the BRIDGE Program is that much of the training is now undertaken online, using opensource technologies, which means it can reach more teachers across Australia and India,” said Jennifer. Using a suite of digital tools, leading facilitation and support from education specialist organizations including Google for Education in India and the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), the Australia–India chapter of the BRIDGE School Partnerships Program offers an immersive professional learning experience for partcipating educators to develop collaborative plans to support thier on-going relationships. Welcoming Ms Star, AEF’s Executive Director, Hamish Curry, said “Jennifer is a fantastic educator, leader, and innovator. Her passion for learning and endless curiosity are a perfect fit for AEF in shaping the opportunities and seeing the need for greater international education partnerships.” With nearly 30 years' experience, AEF is known for its expertise in intercultural learning and collection of teacher capacity building programs. This paired
with AEF’s long-standing work with online learning uniquely positions it to prepare teachers to develop vital digital and intercultural skills in their classrooms. “If we want educators to appreciate and elevate connections between Australia and its diverse AsiaPacific neighbourhood – then mindsets, skillsets and attitudes matter” said Mr Curry.
This work resulted in the training of 680 teachers and provided close to 21,000 students in rural India with access to sustainable, quality education. Jennifer says this “was largely as a result of the collaborative nature of the program in which Australian and Indian teachers came together to learn, support and grow.” “These central tenets—a focus on the teacher and collaboration between Australia and India— are still drivers of my passion and are key to the work of the AEF, specifically international education partnerships.”
Jennifer has been working with India since 2006.
“I realised you don’t need a classroom,” she said “all you need is a capable and passionate teacher. 2020 Global Teacher Awardee, Ranjitsinh Disale, is a perfect example of this.”
“I first went to India as a 21-year-old university student … It was through my work as a volunteer, teaching in an NGO school in the city of Jaipur that I realised the way we approach development education is almost outdated.”
“In my opinion, the best way to improve the quality of education and provide access to education is to train, support and empower teachers – they are at the forefront of education, and they hold the future of their students in their hands.”
Upon returning to Australia, Jennifer qualified as a teacher, undertook a Master of Education at Oxford University, UK, and in the years that followed moved to India and launched her NGO Tara. ED.
Jennifer first engaged with the AEF in 2010, when she spoke about her work in India as Founding Director of Tara.Ed, at the AEF Global Educators Conference.
Cooperation, Collaboration and Communication
Tara.Ed was a leading NGO dedicated to building sustainable, quality education in rural parts of South Asia. Jennifer said Tara.Ed was,
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“The focus on growing peopleto-people links and supporting and empowering teachers in both Australia and India meant that there have been many touch points (with AEF) since, including my involvement in the inaugural
Australia-India BRIDGE School Partnerships Program in 2015-16.” When she returned to Australia in 2020, she says, “AEF seemed to be a natural fit for both my professional work as an educator and personal passion for India.” There’s a clear line that can be drawn between Jennifer’s work founding Tara.Ed to the AEF. Her passion for engaging and empowering educators in Asia-Pacific is a major part of her professional identity. Driving forces
Jennifer’s experience at Tara. Ed taught her a key lesson about what’s needed to drive intercultural understanding and cross-cultural collaboration: “success only happens when the learning and benefits flow both ways.” “People-to-people links and twoway engagement” are paramount to creating long-lasting success. This is at the heart of why she believes the BRIDGE School Partnerships Program is so valuable to empowering both students and educators alike. Armed with this passion, it is the vison of Ms Star to see the AEF’s International Education Partnerships reach new heights in the coming years and expand to include more countries, and empower more teachers, across the Asia-Pacific. To learn how to lead change in your school, please visit the Asia Education Foundation website. Ms Jennifer Star OAM was appointed Asia Education Foundation’s Manager, International Education Partnerships at Asialink, The University of Melbourne in April 2021.
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June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
INDIA NEWS
WORLD THIS WEEK Contributed by the National Institute for Advanced Studies, Bengaluru
Compiled by Dincy Adlakha, Keerthana Rajesh Nambiar, Vibha Venugopal, Udbhav Krishna P, Joeana Cera Matthews, Sukanya Bali and Avishka Ashok
China: Following the census, a new three-child policy Photo Courtesy: South China Morning Post
What happened? On June 1, President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting with the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. The meeting resulted in a major policy shift, marking an end to the two-child policy and raising the limit to three children per couple. On June 2, Xinhua, the official state-run media agency, conducted an online survey asking "#AreYouReady?" to which more than 90 per cent of the respondents replied they were "not ready to consider" having three children. What does it mean? This decision is two decades too late. The desired growth rate of the population seems a distant reality. But the policy may lead to a rural-urban divide in terms of birth rate, employment pressures, and poverty. The failure of the two-child policy makes the success of this new policy suspicious. However, the immediate question is, how far will the state go to make the policy appealing to young couples?
The US: President Biden bans American investments in Chinese companies Photo Courtesy: The Straits Times
What happened? On June 3, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order sanctioning investments in Chinese companies with alleged ties to defence and surveillance technology firms. In this order, the US government expressed
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concerns over Chinese technology companies both inside and outside China facilitating "repression or serious human rights abuses" and "unusual and extraordinary threats" - of religious and ethnic minorities. Biden prohibited US investors from investing in 59 Chinese companies, originally 31 in former President Donald Trump's list. On June 4, at a press briefing, China strictly opposed Washington's move and declared the US had 'unscrupulously suppressed' and restricted Chinese companies. The ban will take effect from August 2, 2021, giving investors one year to withdraw. What does it mean? First, the new order is one of the most aggressive moves against China that the Biden administration has adopted. It advances many of the tactics used by the Trump administration in its efforts to stay competitive with China.
will be distributed directly to countries suffering surges, those in crisis, as well as other allies and neighbours such as Canada, Mexico, India, and the Republic of Korea. What does it mean? Biden's administration has surely put across something on the table by initiating this program but is it too late, or too little for them to do so? However, it falls well short of meeting the entire world's immunization requirements. Rather than risking the world's health at the mercy of the coronavirus's mutant whims, more countries must step forward to ensure equal access.
Israel: End of Netanyahu era Photo Courtesy: The Times of Israel
Second, this order takes the world a step closer to strategic decoupling with significant implications in the global financial sector. Third, political clashes have already soured tensions between the two countries. American financial firms are going to face difficulties while they sort out the ties to these Chinese firms in the coming future.
The US: Biden extends support towards the global COVAX program What happened? On June 3, US President Joe Biden issued a statement on the Global Vaccine Distribution, published by the White House. He said: "My administration supports attempts to temporarily waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines because, over time, other firms will be needed to produce life-saving doses of proven vaccines that are distributed fairly." He further provided details about the allocation of the first 25 million doses of the vaccines that look at global coverage and the needs of the most vulnerable countries. At least 75 percent of these doses—nearly 19 million— will be distributed through COVAX, with about 6 million doses going to Latin America and the Caribbean, 7 million to South and Southeast Asia, and 5 million to Africa. The remaining doses, totalling little over 6 million,
What happened? On May 31, far-right party leader Naftali Bennett threw support behind a 'unity government' in Israel to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On June 2, Israel's opposition cobbled together an eightmember coalition of right-wing, leftist, and centrist parties with a thin majority in a bid to end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year run. On June 3, after his rivals reached an agreement on forming a new government in Israel, Netanyahu signaled that he would not go down without a struggle. He called the proposed new diverse coalition that would oust him a "dangerous, left-wing government."
ALSO IN NEWS
China: Economic and trade talks begin with the US On June 2, the Chinese Vice Premier and the US Treasury Secretary held a second virtual discussion on trade and the economy. Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said the talk had a "smooth start." After the long-imposed trade restriction, the US and China once again started negotiations, in the field of trade and economy. According to the Xinhua News Agency statement, the economic relationship between the US and China is "very important" and "the two sides had broad discussions over the macroeconomic situation and multilateral and bilateral cooperation with an attitude of equality and mutual respect and candidly exchanged views on each other's issues of concern." Hong Kong: Tiananmen Park blocked to prevent gathering on 32nd anniversary On June 4, Hong Kong police blocked a former British colony's Victoria Park, to prevent people's gathering for the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. The police also arrested the vigil organizer. Across the city, thousands of police were deployed over the concerns of the unrest. The Vicechairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China was arrested over concerns for promoting an unauthorized assembly. Reuters reported, an executive member of the alliance said: "She only wanted to go to Victoria Park, light a candle and commemorate." Authorities warned the arrested citizen could face five years of imprisonment Japan: Tokyo Olympics gets a green signal amid COVID-19 On June 3, the Japan Olympic organizing committee ruled out the suspension of the Games. The Committee President said: "We cannot postpone again." So far, the postponement had already cost an extra USD 3.5 billion. Recently, on June 2, more than 10,000 volunteers for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games had quit. In a series of polls conducted, the majority of citizens had opposed hosting the Games. India: Hosted BRICS Foreign Minister virtual meeting
Photo Courtesy: The Hindu
What does it mean? Will the coalition succeed? The coalition is diverse, and Netanyahu's likely response. While it is easier to build a coalition against a single person, it would be difficult to sustain. On the other hand, Netanyahu will try to break the fragile coalition government and remain in power because losing his constitutional position would be troublesome due to the corruption charges against him. He would want his country to go for a fifth election to gain more right-wing votes after the recent Gaza conflict.
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WORLD THIS WEEK States, and respects their territorial integrity while displaying mutual respect for the interests and concerns of all." The meeting discussions focused on reforming the multilateral system, counter-terrorism cooperation, and enhancing people-to-people cooperation. Leaders also shared concerns over the COVID-19 situation in India. India: World Bank report of melting glaciers in the Himalayas On June 4, The Hindu reported, according to the World Bank's new research "Black carbon (BC) deposits produced by human activity which accelerates the pace of glacier and snowmelt in the Himalayan region can be sharply reduced through new, currently feasible policies by an additional 50% from current levels." The report titled, "Glaciers of the Himalayas, Climate Change, Black Carbon and Regional Resilience," extensively covers the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush Mountain ranges which are melting faster. The report said: "BC is a short-lived pollutant that is the secondlargest contributor to warming the planet behind carbon dioxide (CO2). Unlike other greenhouse gas emissions, BC is quickly washed out and can be eliminated from the atmosphere if emissions stop." Afghanistan: UN report says "Taliban and Al Qaeda remain closely aligned" On June 1, the UN Monitoring Team released a report which highlighted, "the Taliban and Al-Qaeda remain closely aligned and show no indication of breaking ties." The report stated that "While the Doha agreement has set some expectations for a break in the longstanding relationship between the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the publicly available text of the agreement does not define expectations, and its annexes remain secret." It also said: "Member States reported that a significant part of Al Qaeda leadership remains based in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the core is joined by and works closely with Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent." Tolo News reported: According to UN member state information, "Al Qaeda is resident in at least 15 Afghan provinces, primarily in the east, southern and south-eastern regions, and are led by Al-Qaeda's Jabhat-al-Nasr wing under the direction of Sheikh Mahmood." About the authors
On June 1, India hosted the virtual meeting of BRICS Foreign Ministers. In the meeting, India's Foreign Minister emphasized the key principles guiding the grouping. India's Foreign Minister said: "We strive for a fair, just, inclusive, equitable, and representative multipolar international system. It is one based on international law and the UN Charter, that recognizes the sovereign equality of all
Dincy Adlakha, Keerthana Rajesh Nambiar, Vibha Venugopal, Udbhav Krishna P and Joeana Cera Matthews are research interns with the Global Politics course in the School of Conflict and Security Studies at the National Institute of Advanced Studies. Sukanya Bali and Avishka Ashok are Research Associates at NIAS. The report has been modified by India News due to space considerations.
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June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
GIRMIT REMEMBRANCE DAY
Fiji Girmit Foundation celebrates Girmit Remembrance Day
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he inaugural event was organised by Fiji Girmit Foundation Australia which is working towards recognition of the Girmityas. The aim of the foundation is to create awareness amongst the Fijian Indian community at large and special attention given to younger generations so they can carry this forward. The foundation aims to join hands with other such organisations worldwide for recognition and enhancing the awareness amongst the younger generations. The Foundation also wishes to request the government and local governments to provide a memorial grounds/place in recognition of our Girmityas and such a place where memorabilia is kept for the future generations. Amidst other important tasks the focus shall be observing of the Girmit Remembrance Day and creating chapters throughout the Australian cities specially Sydney and Melbourne and observing the day concurrently. The free event was attended by 200 people and performances included presentation, panel discussion and cultural items such as dance, Lokgeet, Birha, poetry and Girmit songs. A three course meal was served and it was a sensational evening.
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Nirla Pandey Group song
The Fiji Girmit Foundation Australia is proudly supported by Deo Family Charitable Trust and Radio Brisvaani. The Deo Family Charitable Trust was also launched and to enhance Indian language and culture the charity pledged $1000 each to the Hindu Society of Qld and Sanatan Qld for teaching of language and culture such as drama, dance and music at their centres.
Deo family at the launch
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June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
INDIA NEWS
EDITORIAL
India rallies ‘one-world’ A “Smart” way to nurture future Australian and cry at the G-7 summit Indian leaders
Photo Courtesy: Mint
Dr. Pankaj Gupta
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ollaboration between India and Australia is growing by leaps and bounds in all major areas including academics, research, policy advocacy, cyber security, sports management, virtual internships, games & sports, culture, trade, energy, capacity development, strategic issues, media, international affairs, and culture among others. Several new agreements are being signed and the earlier agreements are being further strengthened. It is indeed very heartening. Thanks to efforts of organizations such as the Australia-based Institute for Australia India Engagement (IAIE).
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he most powerful and influential of global groupings, the Group of 7 (G-7), comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States met at Cornwall, the hub of green technology in the UK. The group was previously known as G-8 until Russia was suspended in 2014 over the annexation of Crimea. This year apart from the European Union representatives, India, South Korea and Australia were invited as well. The choice of the invitees is noteworthy, as the 2021 summit is being portrayed as the Coalition of Democracies to “counter and compete” with China. The US National security Advisor Jake Sullivan minced no words when he said that “China represents a significant change to the world’s democracies”. Following the Covid outbreak, the world’s leading democracies have been demanding a more transparent and rule-based order, in a veiled attack on China’s authoritarian ways in engaging with neighbours, specially in the Indo-Pacific, and inability to provide a convincing explanation to the origins of the virus. India, as the world’s largest democracy, has been deepening its ties with the West in recent years, including the G-7 members. As a natural ally for the West, India defends “shared values from authoritarianism, terrorism and violent extremism, disinformation and infodemics and economic coercion,” said P. Harish, MEA Secretary (economic relations). As a special invitee, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his address in the “Open Societies and Open Economies” session championing the “One Earth, One Health” approach aimed at forging global unity and solidarity to counter the pandemic. He also emphasized on the need to keep raw materials for vaccines easily accessible. India’s vaccine production was impeded in the
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middle of the third wave due to shortage of raw materials from the US, causing misgivings between the two sides briefly. It is important to underline here that India, which currently battles with the third wave, had supplied PPEs, medicines and vaccines to over 135 countries—driven by its Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (world is one family) global philosophy. The shortage of vaccines in the wake of the third wave has been widely criticised by Modi’s critics and the opposition, but in his G-7 pitch, PM Modi again upheld these ideals. PM Modi also said, “tech companies and social media platforms” to ensure a “safe cyber environment”, triggered by his government’s deepening differences over regulatory issues with Facebook, Twitter and other social media and technology companies. PM Modi reminded that for preventing future pandemics a lot rests on the shoulders of ‘democratic and transparent societies’, which conforms to the G-7 approach towards building a new, transparent, rule-based and peaceful post-Covid world order. In the Cornwall G-7 summit, China has been reprimanded over human rights violations in Xinjiang, crackdown on the prodemocracy protestors in Hong Kong and tensions in the Taiwan Straits. Taiwan, which could not become a member of the World Health Organization owing to China’s opposition, is quite pleased with the Taiwan-friendly sentiments characterising the G-7 summit.
Recently, the O P Jindal Global University ( JGU) has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with IAIE and Cyber EQ to create opportunities for students to undertake internships in Australia. With IAIE, students will participate in the Student Mentoring and Research Training (SMART) program over a period of 1-2 months. For those students interning with Cyber EQ, students will conduct important research on regulatory and technological issues around cyber security. The internships will prepare students for future challenges and possibilities and will also be mentored for future research, academic and professional roles and impart training to build research skills in academic writing including data collection and management, preparing hypothesis, abstracts and conclusion and presentation skills etc. The internship programme will also impart key leadership skills to the students. These skills and exposure to our students along with an opportunity to working with other international students (though virtually), will make them better professionals and open newer global possibilities for them and making them better human beings. During this period of pandemic where travel and physical internships are not possible, this engagement for virtual internships is opening newer possibilities for effective India Australia collaborations and making a difference towards fostering innovation, creativity and new ways of doing business Photo Courtesy: ANI News
and managing organizations globally among others. These internships are likely to enrich our students and at the same time, our students are also very excited to start this journey and making a significant contribution. We look forward to build JGU’s partnership with numerous organizations and multiple platforms in Australia such as this one which is an outcome of our institution’s global perspective. JGU’s association with Australia has evolved over a period of time. Our Founding Vice Chancellor Professor Raj and Professor Shaun Star have played a key role in this regard. Even during the pandemic, the virtual internships by Cyber EQ and the Institute of Australia India Engagement have been a catalyst. I am certain of an enriched and prolific growth of this partnership in times to come. Dr. Ashutosh Misra, CEO and Executive Director of IAIE committed to nurturing bilateral ties and future leaders shared his vision in a media release,“IAIE is committed to strengthening Australia-India ties by nurturing future thinking leaders, professionals and academic experts in collaboration with JGU. The Student Mentoring and Research Training (SMART) program is an important part of this vision, encouraging meaningful contributions from the next generation of leaders in the bilateral relationship”. IAIE is a not-for-profit policy institution which aims to strengthen Australia-India Strategic Partnership through evidencebased research, exchange of new knowledge, targeted policy dialogues and innovative business solutions for the government, corporate and community stakeholders. Another organisation, CyberEQ Australia provides a business intelligence solution for workforce and supply chain risk mitigation. CyberEQ has developed a self-learning AI autoimmune system that detects workforce threats, vulnerabilities, risks and anomalies faster, and before they occur. This allows for the deployment of early interventions to kill cancerous cells by stopping them from growing and multiplying. Such opportunities were not
possible in the pre-corona world as the concept of online internships was not very popular. But now, these are becoming like a new normal. But the virtual internships also need to be managed in a different manner. New ways of engagement, enrichment, performance evaluation and monitoring are needed like the way the systems have been redesigned for preparing our employees for ‘work from home’ (WFM) environment. With a view to make these internships more effective, what is required is a joint online/ digital onboarding. Training and Handholding is very much required. During online process, sometimes a young mind loses focus and interest. Efforts should be made for creative engagement and continuous enrichment of heart capital, then only it can be a symbiotic and win-win association. Effective mentorship will also play a very important part to make this initiative successful. These days, we have tools such as digital cloudbased collaboration and sharing platform, digital interactive tools, virtual meeting and sharing apps, team virtual groups on Team/ WhatsApp etc. – all this will foster efficiency and speed. If a small core team of faculty and industry advisors from both the countries can be created towards goal setting, mentoring and performance monitoring, it will enhance the performance multifold. In similar ways, students and professionals from Australia are very much welcome in India. Any relationship, which is healthy and vibrant, is always on the foundation on mutual respect, contribution and is on equal footing. India also has so many things to offer- new and innovative ways of doing business, newer possibilities, the ‘jugad’ (getting things done somehow inspite of lack of resources -a type of ‘desi’ solution), yoga, meditation, mindfulness, wellness, inner journey, ‘money to meaning’, ‘true meaning of success’, inner peace and bliss’, ‘restfulness with highly productive frame of mind’ etc. This new beginning is very exciting…miles to go towards great, successful, symbiotic and nurturing relationship between Australia and India…
The G-7 members have proposed a minimum of 15% of tax at place of sales, and not where the multinational companies are physically based. In sum, the summit is significant for addressing issues related to international security, global economic recovery, covid 19 recovery and tax avoidance by big multinational companies.
The author is a Fulbright Fellow, Professor and Dean OCS and Executive Director, Centre for Ethics, Spirituality and Mindfulness at the O P Jindal Global University. He can be contacted at pgupta@jgu.edu.in
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June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
INDIA NEWS
MAKE IN INDIA
Global Value Chains and their implications for India in the post-COVID-19 world
By Amit Manohar
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lobal value chains (GVCs) refer to international production sharing, a phenomenon where production is broken into activities and tasks carried out in different countries. GVCs are highly efficient, specialised, and interconnected, but they are also highly vulnerable to global risks. The Covid-19 pandemic has been a stark demonstration of this point. The staggered shutdown and re-opening of manufacturing hubs around the world has multiplied supply chain issues. The combination of tradepolicy shocks and COVID-19 has created uncertainty about the future of free trade and sparked a rethinking of global value chains. When the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the world will look markedly different. The supply shock that started in 2020 and the demand shock that followed as the global economy shut down exposed vulnerabilities in the production strategies and supply chains of firms everywhere. Going forth, firms will need to diversify their supplier base and look at expanding their production centres. The current events will force businesses to re-engineer their global value chains. These chains were designed to maximise efficiency and profits. And while just-in-time manufacturing may be the optimal way of producing complex products, the pandemic has exposed weaknesses inherent in a system that requires all of its parts to work together. Global value chains will undergo a drastic transformation postCOVID-19. The change will be driven by a push for greater supply chain resilience due to COVID-19, which adds to existing pressures from the technology revolution, growing economic nationalism, and the Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG)/ sustainability imperative. Firms will need to diversify their supplier base to protect against disruptions affecting a particular producer or a particular geographic location. There may be some reshoring, especially as automation has already reduced the importance of labour costs. Some sectors in the economy will be much more impacted by COVID-19 than the manufacturing industries operating in GVCs. Governments have often played key roles in promoting
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GVC participation in the past decades. Governments shape key elements of GVCs through their macroeconomic policies, infrastructure building, enabling regulatory environment, and human capital development. Government policies can assist domestic firms with internationalizing and integrating into GVCs through continuous learning from engagements with foreign firms.
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to GVCs worldwide. Global trade is projected to fall by 9.5 percent in 2020, a 10.6-percentage-point decrease from 2019. Although trade is expected to recover in 2021, the timing of this recovery depends on the duration of the outbreak and the effectiveness of policy responses to it. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been the primary driver of GVC expansion in the past several decades. Mutually reinforcing dynamics occur between FDI and GVC participation. Trade with foreign markets could induce initial FDI from firms by lowering entry costs, firms tend to bring their suppliers with them, and a herd effect triggers more FDI inflows. FDI stimulates further GVC entry and upgrading through spill overs and cluster effects. Various approaches that government can take to leverage foreign direct investment to integrate into global value chains by combining policy instruments are as follows: 1. Using linkages between multinational corporations and suppliers to help local firms meet global product standards. The fastest way to integrate existing local firms into GVCs is to create pathways into international markets for them. Supplier linkages to foreign firms help local firms meet global product standards by stimulating the three L(s): linking (providing local firms with supply channels and necessary information on global standards), learning (supporting them as they train to meet those standards), and labelling (facilitating the process of certifying their ability to meet the standards). Example – Export of food products from India to other countries. To boost value addition in agriculture and allied products and their exports, the scope of ‘Operation Green Scheme’ under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada was enlarged to include 22 perishable products in Budget 2021.This will help food companies in India to form links with global food supply chains. 2. Using targeted investment promotion, incentives, and facilitation to attract global firms. Governments may also target specific global lead firms in a select GVC and use promotion
efforts to attract them to the country. The government sometimes may offer these firms temporary tax incentives and firm-specific support to entice them to come. Such lead firms can help establish a new GVC cluster in the country that will help upgrade domestic suppliers and attract additional FDI over time.
Example – The Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) introduced by government has been a game changer for various sectors in India especially for large-scale electronics manufacturing. The scheme proposes a financial incentive to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in the electronics value chain including electronic components and semiconductor packaging. 3. Partnering with foreign firms to help expand and upgrade an existing, viable industry. Another approach aims to expand and upgrade an existing, viable industry into a highervalue GVC segment. Local firms may seek out partnerships with foreign firms to access their technology, international brands, and managerial techniques. Multinational corporations may choose to partner with such local firms to access their complementary capacities and knowledge of the domestic market. Facilitating such collaborations (through joint ventures, franchising, or licensing) can help a country’s existing industries shift into higher-value tasks and segments within their GVCs. Example – Multinational corporations began by offshoring basic service activities to India in the early 1990s, but now core activities have begun to move to India as well, and many of global firms now look to drive product development, research and development (R&D) and other knowledge-intensive activities in partnership with Indian companies. Policy makers need effective strategies to preserve and improve countries’ investment climate through the COVID-19 pandemic and to expand the private sector’s role in driving productive jobs and economic transformation during the recovery. GVCs have rendered important productivity gains in the last decade. The main concern for post-COVID-19 scenarios based on the shortening of GVCs and re-shoring of activities is how to deal with a shock on productivity, while finding ways to recover from one of the biggest economic crises in history. Businesses will now focus more on reshoring to simplify supply chains and decentralizing their manufacturing capacity by moving it closer to the markets
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where products will be sold. The Covid-19 pandemic poses severe risks for India’s economy too, but it also presents opportunities for Indian domestic firms as the global trade and investment landscape will be reshaped by the restructuring of global chains, build-up of new regional chains, and distributed manufacturing. Domestic firms must plan early to scale up globally, tailor business models to new markets, get to know new competitors, develop global talent, and prepare for shocks and volatility in an increasingly interconnected world economy. Businesses that focused mainly on cost effectiveness in global supply chains now need to consider how value chains may evolve—who the participants may be, which regions could play a role, and how value could shift along the value chain. While these will present daunting challenges, they will also offer ample opportunities for Indian firms to catapult themselves into global value chains. Opportunities in States MANIPUR India’s ‘Gateway to the East’ through Moreh town, which is the only feasible land route for trade between India and Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries More than 70% of Manipur’s geographical area falls under forest cover. Major forest products of the state include timber, firewood and bamboo. Manipur is primarily an agriculture-based economy and has scope for commercial plantation of a variety of horticulture crops such as figs, olive and mandarin. It is the largest producer of passion fruit among Indian states. Handloom, handicraft and sericulture-based industries are most-developed in the state and contribute significantly to state income. Manipur shares its border with Nagaland, Cachar district of Assam and Mizoram in India and the international border with Myanmar - Chin Hills and Chindwin. Imphal, the state’s capital, is well-connected with an international airport having air cargo services and four national highways. The railway line on the Manipur-Assam border is being constructed on a priority basis. MEGHALAYA The state receives the highest amount of rainfall in India, 12m annually. Meghalaya has a hydroelectric
power potential of approximately 3,000 MW. The state has abundant deposits of coal, limestone, granite, quartz, kaolin feldspar, industrial clay and uranium. Meghalaya, located in NorthEast India, shares its border with Assam and Bangladesh. The state is endowed with abundant natural resources in terms of flora, fauna, coal and limestone. Of the 6,000 medicinal plants in India, 834 plants including the famous Himalayan Yew, are found in Meghalaya. The state is home to 8 of the top 20 medicinal plants that are traded in India and are in high demand. Meghalaya, one of the most picturesque states in India, has two national parks and three wildlife sanctuaries. It offers many adventure tourism opportunities like mountaineering, rock climbing, water sports, and hiking and trekking, among others. The state receives the highest rainfall in India and Cherrapunji is the wettest region in the world. Agro-processing, horticulture, tourism, minerals, electronics and IT have been identified as thrust sectors for development and promotion. The state provides excellent institutional support through various central and state government agencies such as North-East Council, Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region and Meghalaya Industrial Development Corporation. MIZORAM The state has the second highest literacy rate in India. Mizoram is among the four high growth States with its economy continuously growing at high rate of more than 8% during 2013 to 2016 The state where the potential area of 101,000 ha has been identified for oil palm cultivation, has seen growth in investments with offered state incentives. Mizoram lies in the NorthEastern part of India and shares 722 km of the international border with Myanmar and Bangladesh. Major rivers flowing through the state, such as Tlawng and Tiau, provide hydroelectric power potential of 4,500 MW that is sufficient to meet the energy requirements of the state. The state is well connected to the rest of the country with an airport in Lengpui and has an 8,500 km long road network. SOURCE: Invest India, National Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency, Government of India
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INDIA NEWS
DRDO's 500-bed Covid hospital inaugurated in Srinagar Photo Courtesy: IANS
from Europe in a short span of three weeks, substantially enhancing the medical oxygen availability in the region. The Lt Governor also lauded the DRDO for playing a key role in India's fight against Covid-19. "I acknowledge the hard work of DRDO officials, who have completed both the hospitals in a short span of time, adding 1,000 additional beds to serve the people of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
Srinagar, June 9: The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, on Wednesday inaugurated a 500-bed Covid hospital set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Khonmoh in Srinagar. After constructing a 500-bed Covid hospital in Jammu, the DRDO completed the 500-bed hospital in Srinagar in just 17 days. Housing all the requisite modern facilities, the centrally air-conditioned facility has the capacity for 125 ICU beds,
out of which 25 are reserved for children, and 375 beds with 24-hour oxygen connectivity. A 10-bed Triage area has also been built in the hospital premises. The Covid care facility will fully start its operations once the trial run of all the medicare facilities is completed. Sinha noted that it was only due to the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that J&K has witnessed such large scale capacity enhancement of medical infrastructure. Recently, the UT received 16 medical oxygen generation plants
Speaking about the UT government's initiatives to transform J&K's health system in view the pandemic, Sinha said that the strategy has been to implement a host of interventions in response to the evolving situations and then quantifying the impact of those initiatives in providing relief to the patients and strengthening the overall healthcare delivery system. Some notable interventions include continuous augmentation of ICU and oxygen supported beds, deployment of former medical staff and fast-track deployment of newly qualified staff, decentralisation of health system through the Panchayat Covid Care Centres and starting an accelerated vaccination drive, he noted.
Nilgiris admin seeks to make it India's first 100% Covid vaccinated Chennai, June 9: The administration of Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris is on an ambitious plan to make it the first totally Covid inoculated district of the country. The district administration said that of the 5.28 lakh adult population above the age of 18 in the district, 2 lakh adults have been administered the first dose of the vaccine, amounting to 34 per cent of the population. In a press statement, the administration said that its plan is to procure enough vaccines and to inoculate the entire adult population of the district to become the first district in the country to vaccinate its entire adult resident population. The administration is aiming at this milestone as the district
has comparatively a smaller population and hence, the target is achievable.
State Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian was on a visit to the district and it was decided that steps to be taken to vaccinate the entire tribal population of the district before June end. The district administration is planning to vaccinate the entire tribal community once enough vaccines arrive. Tea workers of Nilgiris are an another priority group which the administration is aiming to inoculate and according to the district health officials, almost 80 percent of them were given at least a single dose of the vaccine. Talking to IANS, Nilgiris Collector
Innocent Divya said: "Our first priority is to vaccinate the total tribal population and we expect to achieve it by June end. Health Minister Thiru Ma Subramanian was in the district and he has promised to provide us the total vaccines required to inoculate the entire adult population of the district." "Nilgris is a small district and if we could achieve 100 percent vaccination of the adult population in this district, then it will be a major achievement and the state government will be considering this as a model for the state to be replicated. If a third wave comes up, we could monitor whether the virus is eradicated after 100 percent vaccination of the adult populace in the district," she added.
Foreign-bound students, Olympic participants to be vaccinated in Goa Panaji, June 8: Students and job seekers heading abroad and Tokyo Olympic Gamesbound sportspersons in the 18-45 years age group will be allowed vaccination in Goa from Wednesday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday.
In a tweet, the Chief Minister said the fresh set of relaxation is in
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sync with the government of India guidelines. "From tomorrow, we are opening up the first dose of vaccination for the 18-45 age group who need to travel internationally for employment, education and sporting events as per Govt of India guidelines," Sawant tweeted. The Chief Minister said that
persons who qualify for the three categories should make themselves available at the vaccination centres across the state with copies of their admission offers (students), interview call records or job offer letters (job seekers) and nomination documents for participation in the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games.
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HEALTH
Efficacy of Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik V more or less equivalent: Guleria New Delhi, June 8: Data available till now shows clearly that efficacy of all vaccines -- whether Covaxin, Covishield or Sputnik V -- are more or less equivalent, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria said amid rumours about differentiated abilities of Covid-19 vaccines available in India in terms of production of antibodies or higher seropositivity rate.
"We should not hence say take this vaccine or that vaccine, whichever vaccine is available in your area, please go ahead and get yourself vaccinated so that you and your family are safe," Guleria said while addressing various doubts of people regarding Covid-19 vaccines. Responding to commonly raised question about enough antibodies after getting vaccinated, Guleria said it is important to understand that we should not judge the efficacy of vaccines only by the amount of antibodies getting generated. The AIIMS Director said that vaccines give many types of protection such as through antibodies, cell-mediated immunity and memory cells (which generate more antibodies when we get infected). Moreover, Guleria said, the efficacy results which have come so far are based on trial studies, where the study design of each trial is somewhat different. NITI Aayog Member (Health) V.K. Paul said some people seem to be thinking of getting an antibody
test done post vaccination but that is not required to be done for the simple fact that antibodies alone do not indicate the immunity of a person. "This is so because of T-cells or memory cells; these undergo certain changes when we receive the vaccine, they become stronger and gain resistance power. And T-Cells are not detected by antibody tests as these are found in bone marrow. "Hence, our appeal is to not fall in the tendency of doing antibody tests either before or after getting vaccinated, take the vaccine, which is available, take both doses at the right time and follow COVID Appropriate Behaviour," Paul said. He also said that the people should not be under the false notion that the vaccine is not required if he or she has had Covid-19. Currently, specifically three Covid vaccines, including Russia's Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V -- the first first foreign vaccine given approval in India-- are being administered across the country. The other two are Serum Institute of India's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin -- two "Made in India" vaccines who got the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approval for restricted emergency use this year that led the beginning of the world's largest vaccination drive here from January 16.
Karnataka gives Rs 2,000 subsidy to Covid-hit street vendors Bengaluru, June 8: As part of the economic relief package to the Covid-hit, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Tuesday released Rs 2,000 subsidy each to over 2 lakh registered street vendors across the state under the Deendayal Antyodaya (national urban livelihood) scheme.
The scheme has been formulated under skill development, entrepreneurship and livelihood development. "The subsidy is a gesture to thousands of street vendors whose livelihood was affected by the pandemic's second wave and the extended lockdown imposed since April 27 across the state to contain the virus spread," said the Chief Minister in a statement. The state Social Welfare Department has identified 2,16,439 street vendors in a survey by the urban local bodies across the state. "The vendors have been given an identity card, certificate and amenities to carry their business in their respective places," said Yediyurappa. The subsidy amount is credited to
the bank account of each vendor under the social security scheme. "During the pandemic's first wave last year, the vendors were given Rs 10,000 each as micro credit under the Prime Minister Street Vendor's Atmanirbhar Nidhi scheme, which amounted to Rs 107.92 crore," said the statement. Cumulatively, Rs 38.33 crore was credited into the bank accounts of 1,91,684 vendors through the direct benefit transfer mode during the first Covid wave, Yediyurappa said. The state government has also directed banks not to adjust the subsidy to loans availed by the vendors for investing in their business. As the pandemic devastated life and livelihood of lakhs of people, the state government granted Rs 1,700 crore relief package last year to daily wagers, construction workers, farmers, teachers, Asha workers, priests and others. The Chief Minister has also directed the urban local bodies to vaccinate all street vendors on priority as they are prone to contracting the virus and spreading it.
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June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
ENERGY & RESOURCES
India needs to look at all angles to spur a blue economy Photo Courtesy: IANS
September last year, but work on it is yet to begin. At a time, when a belligerent China is increasing its activities on the South China Sea and elsewhere, India's marine policy that looks at all angles would be key, experts said. "With such expanded coastlines, we need to think of the economy along with security. But unlike many other countries with coastlines, India has not leveraged its maritime position as much as it should have," Nirupama Soundararajan, Senior Fellow and Head of Research, Pahle India Foundation told India Narrative.
By Mahua Venkatesh New Delhi, June 9: Indians blue economy "essentially the ocean economy" is making a healthy 4 per cent contribution to India's gross domestic product. Yet, this a proverbial drop in the ocean. Unfortunately, India's marine policy has remained fragmented, notwithstanding the ambitious Sagarmala project. But as India prepares for a post Covid phase with a focus on economic revival, reliance on the
blue economy, which has not been leveraged fully, will inevitably be amplified. India, with a 7517 km long coastline and1382 islands, has a unique maritime position but it is yet to carve out a well thoughtout holistic marine strategy encompassing issues pertaining to economic opportunities and security while maintaining ecological balance. The draft policy on the framework of the blue economy, taking a 360-degree view was submitted in
The draft framework noted that about 1400 million tonnes of cargo is handled by 12 major and 187 non-major ports every year. The Sagarmala project Though the Sagarmala project, touted as the "port-led development," aims at increasing connectivity through waterways and reduce logistics costs, the draft policy has underlined the need to develop similar "port led maritime clusters" with government support on the West and East coasts. Marine tourism is another important sector. The Energy and
Sustainability: McCain India ups renewable energy use, lowers sodium content in products New Delhi, June 8: Moving ahead with its sustainability goals, McCain (India) increased the share of renewable energy in its overall energy consumption and in terms of food quality has lowered the sodium content in its products.
Photo Courtesy: IANS
In another major achievement, the report showed 100 per cent recovery of B2C plastic materials from April 2020. "Our corrugated packaging has 99.7 per cent recycled content, up from 98.2 per cent in 2019. 99.7 per cent FSC certified paper sourced materials," it said.
As per the '2020 Global Sustainability Report - Together, Towards Planet-Friendly Food', the company purchased electricity from wind turbines in 2020 and securing the environmental certificates to be able to claim 20 per cent renewable electricity in 2021. It has also reduced sodium content by 13 per cent in its 'Veggie Nuggets' and 10 per cent in the product 'Smiles'. The report also noted that preparations are underway to move from palm oil to alternative oils by 2025.
Speaking to IANS, Vikas Mittal, Managing Director - South Asia, ASEAN, South Korea, Taiwan at McCain Foods, said that the company is committed to sustainable operations in India and across the globe. It also noted that 3 per cent improvement in carbon dioxide emission intensity (Scope 1 & 2) during 2017-20. However, there was 6 per cent increase in absolute CO2 emissions during
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2017-20, with Covid impact on volume.
He also stressed that the company that also supports the farmers in sustainable agriculture in terms of skills, technology and infrastructure. On the company's operations in India, he said that the company has plans to expand the existing capacity, which has been delayed due to the pandemic, but the plans are on. Mittal said that McCain remains committed to India. Globally, as per the report, McCain has decreased its absolute carbon dioxide emission by 6 per cent since 2017 and use of renewable energy has increased to 4 per cent from 1 per cent in 2020.
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Resources Institute (TERI) in its research -- Blue economy: An ocean of livelihood opportunities in India--pointed out that India's marine tourism is one of the fastest growing in the world though it has been brutally hit by the Covid 19 pandemic. In states like Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, marine tourism contributed largely to both the state economies and livelihood creation before the pandemic hit, it said. "In Kerala, the total number of jobs created directly and indirectly by the sector between 2009 and 2012 turned out to be around 23 per cent of the total employment. In 2016, the total share of tourism in Tamil Nadu's employment was more than 22 per cent and 23 per cent in Karnataka's," TERI said. Maldives: how the country used its oceans for economic growth? Many countries in the world have relied on marine tourism to boost their economy. The Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) in March highlighted that Maldives, an archipelago state "embarked on the blue economy paradigm to shape its development strategies in order to put the economy on the high growth path."
"As a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), Maldives advanced its development journey from a poor state of less than $100 per capita income in the early 1970s to an Upper-Middle income country of $12,500 per capita income in 2020 on account its strong adherence to blue economy sectors," the study said. Importance of protecting marine life Analysts underlined the need to ensure that the ecological balance is maintained while economic activities are increased. "The ocean framework is not very well regulated and therefore it can easily lead to imbalance. Ocean life is critical and the need to balance the benefits of the blue economy without damaging the ecological balance is crucial," Soundararajan said. The government's draft policy noted that marine pollution is the greatest threat to the health of the oceans. About 80 percent of marine pollution emanates from land based sources specially from coastal cities and communities. Therefore, it is the need of the hour to expand the approach and implementation of Swachh Bharat to the concept of ‘Swachh Prithvi, Swachh Sagar' it said.
India can save logistics fuel worth Rs 311 lakh cr in next 3 decades: Report New Delhi, June 9: A report has claimed that India can save logistics fuel worth Rs 311 lakh crore between 2020 and 2050.
Bharat and Digital India," Sudhendu J. Sinha, Adviser (Transport and Electric Mobility), NITI Aayog, said.
‘Fast Tracking Freight in India: A Roadmap for Clean and CostEffective Goods Transport', a report prepared by NITI Aayog, RMI and RMI India, presents key opportunities for the country to reduce its logistics costs.
As India's freight activity grows five-fold by 2050 and about 400 million citizens move to cities, a whole system transformation can help uplift the freight sector.
Due to the rising demand for goods and services, freight transport demand is expected to grow rapidly in the future. While freight transport is essential to economic development, it is plagued by high logistics costs and contributes to rising CO2 emissions and air pollution in the cities. According to the report, India has the potential to reduce its logistics cost by 4 per cent of GDP and save 10 Gigatonnes of cumulative C02 emissions over the next three decades. India can reduce nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions by 35 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively, until 2050, it said. "Freight transportation is a critical backbone of India's growing economy, and now more than ever, it's important to make this transport system more cost-effective, efficient and clean. Efficient freight transport will also play an essential role in realising the benefits of existing government initiatives such as Make in India, Aatmanirbhar
"This transformation will be defined by tapping into opportunities such as efficient rail-based transport, the optimisation of logistics and supply chains, and shift to electric and other clean-fuel vehicles. These solutions can help India save Rs 311 lakh crore cumulatively over the next three decades," said Clay Stranger, Managing Director, RMI. The report outlines solutions for the freight sector related to policy, technology, market, business models and infrastructure development. The recommendations include increasing the rail network's capacity, promoting intermodal transport, improving warehousing and trucking practices, policy measures and pilot projects for clean technology adoption, and stricter fuel economy standards. When successfully deployed at scale, the proposed solutions can help India establish itself as a leader in logistics innovation and efficiency in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
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INDIA NEWS
Defence Ministry approves Rs 498.8 cr for startups, innovation New Delhi, June 9: The Defence Ministry on Wednesday approved Rs 498.8 crore to support startups and innovation in the defence manufacturing sector.
Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar said that the step is a big boost to startups in defence. He stated that the approval will give a big boost to become self reliant in the defence manufacturing sector. Sanjay Jaju, Additional Secretary heading Defence Production, stated on social media "The Scheme with budgetary support of Rs 498.8 crore for iDEX aims to support 300 startups and 20 partner incubators over next five years to produce functional prototypes and foster innovation in Defence."
Photo Courtesy: IANS
stakeholders have been brought together to push for innovations in the defence sector. In 2018, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had introduced the "Innovations for Defence Excellence" (iDEX) initiative.
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the iDEX initiative stands out as one of the most effective and well-executed defence startup ecosystems created in our country and it would be a decisive step towards achieving self-reliance in the spirit of the "Atmanirbhar Bharat" campaign.
iDEX is aimed at creating an ecosystem which fosters innovation and encourages technology development in Defence by engaging research and development institutes, academia, industries, start ups and even individual innovators.
Singh said for the first time an atmosphere has been created in the country when different
iDEX will function under the aegis of the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) (formed as a 'Not For Profit' company under Section 8 of the Companies Act,2013), as its executive arm.
recently established a presence in Bonn.
countries, though not in low and middle-income countries.
The global-level results run contrary to early expectations, says Kees Balde, a UN University Senior Programme Officer, who co-authored the report with UNU SCYCLE and UNITAR colleague, Ruediger Kuehr.
A small silver lining is the reduction of e-waste flows, though likely temporary, he notes in regions where e-waste mismanagement leads to large environmental and health damage.
Home offices and schooling, online hangouts and shopping, movie streaming and other activities driven higher by Covid-19 lockdowns had many experts predicting a sizeable increase in electrical and electronic equipment consumption as well as an increase in e-waste disposal as people went house-cleaning and shopping to replace near broken electronic equipment.
The report urges that nations use this breathing space to improve e-waste management.
Covid-19 dents global electronics sales: UN New Delhi, June 9: In the first three quarters of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a 30 per cent fall in electronic and electrical equipment sales in low and middle-income countries but only a five per cent decline in high-income countries. This highlights and intensifies the digital divide between north and south, said a new United Nations (UN) report on Wednesday.
Worldwide, sales of heavy electric appliances like refrigerators, washing machines and ovens fell the hardest -- six to eight per cent -- while small IT and telecommunications equipment decreased by only 1.4 per cent. Within the latter category, sales of laptops, cell phones and gaming equipment rose in high-income countries and on a global basis but fell in low and middle-income countries. The report by UN e-waste researchers predicts an overall 4.9 million metric tonne (Mt) fall in future 2020 sales-related e-waste, nearly 6.4 per cent less than a "business as usual" scenario. "The Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on e-waste in the first three quarters of 2020," is published by the UN University's Sustainable Cycles Programme (SCYCLE), Bonn, and UNITAR, the United Nations' Institute for Training and Research, which
Applicability of New Investment Policy 2012 extended to RFCL New Delhi, June 9: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its approval for the extension of applicability of New Investment Policy (NIP)-
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Worldwide, however, all major categories of electronic and electrical equipment -- screens and monitors, large equipment, temperature exchange equipment, small equipment, and lamps -- decreased by six to eight per cent. By weight the largest decrease in consumption was in the large equipment category, down by 1.7 Mt, followed by small equipment and lamps. Impacts were largest in 2020's first and second quarters. Consumption rebounded in the third quarter in high-income 2012, read with its amendment dated October 7, 2014, for the Ramagundam Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd (RFCL). The RFCL is a joint venture company consisting of National Fertilisers Ltd (NFL), Engineers India Ltd (EIL) and Fertilisers Corporation of India Ltd (FCIL) which was incorporated on Febuary 17, 2015. RFCL is reviving the erstwhile Ramagundam (Telangana) unit of FCIL by setting up a new gas-based green field neem coated urea plant with the installed capacity of 12.7 lakh metric ton per annum (LMTPA). The cost of the RFCL urea project
Balde adds that Covid-19 has accentuated global inequality in other ways causing half a billion people to be underemployed or out of work, with women twice as detrimentally-affected as men. And workers in low-income countries suffer most, losing 23 per cent of their working hours and causing social disasters, as people fall into debt, skip meals, and keep their children home from school. Five countries and Hong Kong had complete datasets for analysis (China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Maldives, India, and Pakistan), which showed a mildly fluctuating but upward trend in consumption from 2018 until the third quarter of 2019. From the fourth quarter of 2019 through the first two quarters of 2020, consumption decreased while the third quarter of 2020 showed an increase. is Rs 6,165.06 crore, and gas to the plant is supplied by GAIL through the MBBVPL (MallavaramBhopal-Bhilwara-Vijaipur Gas Pipeline) of GSPL India Transco Ltd(GITL). The state of the art gas-based RFCL plant is part of the initiative taken by the government to revive the closed urea units of FCIL/ HFCL in order to achieve selfsufficiency in the urea sector. The start of the Ramagundam plant will add 12.7 LMTPA indigenous urea production in the country and help to realise the vision of the Prime Minister to make India 'Aatmanirbhar' in urea
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BUSINESS & TRADE
Patanjali's Coronil lands in row in Nepal, faces distribution ban Kathmandu, June 8: Coronil, the so-called immunity booster kit manufactured by yoga guru Ramdevs Patanjali group in India, has landed in a controversy in Nepal after the Himalayan nations Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine imposed a ban on its distribution. The Health Ministry of Nepal, however, has remained silent over the ongoing controversy regarding the distribution of Coronil kits, which have also landed in controversy in India and Bhutan. The controversy erupted in Nepal after the Patanjai Yoghpeeth on last Thursday handed over Coronil kits, sanitisers, masks and other immunity booster medicines worth crores of rupees to outgoing Health Minister, Hrydesh Tripathi. The day after he received the
support from local officials of the Patanjali Yogpeeth Nepal, Tripathi was removed as the Health Minister. "The Coronil kits provided by the Patanjali Yogpeeth did not receive permission from the Department of Drug Administration, so we have decided not to distribute it," Basudev Upadhyay, the Director General of the Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine, said in a press conference. "The Coronil kit could be beneficial for the treatment of respiratory disorders, but it has not taken permission from the Department of Drug Administration, so we cannot distribute it," Upadhyay added. As per the Nepali law, any drug can be imported only after obtaining permission from the DDA.
Efforts on to comply with new norms, details in a week: Twitter to govt
New Delhi, June 9: Days after the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) sent its final notice to Twitter over the microblogging platforms compliance to the new IT norms, the US-headquartered company has told the government that it is making efforts to comply with the regulations and will share the details for the same in a week's time.
Compliance Officer and we plan to provide additional details to you in the next several days and at the latest within a week," Twitter said.
In a letter to the ministry, the company has said that it remains committed to serving the people of India by providing a platform to facilitate public conversation in the country.
The notice sent by the ministry noted that in view of Twitter Inc's non-compliance with the rules which came into effect on May 26, 2021, "consequences follow".
Twitter noted that as per the new guidelines, it has appointed a Nodal Contact Person and a Resident Grievance Office on a contractual basis, and the company is making recruitments to fill the positions on a permanent basis. "In addition, we are in advance stages of finalising the appointment to the role of Chief production. It will be one of the largest fertiliser manufacturing units of south India, said an official statement.
On June 5, the MeitY had sent its final notice to Twitter over noncompliance of the new IT rules, warning it again of penal action in case the US-headquartered social media platform fails to comply with the norms.
"However, as a gesture of goodwill, Twitter Inc is hereby given one last notice to immediately comply with the rules, failing which the exemption from liability available under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000 shall stand withdrawn and Twitter shall be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India," it had said. RFCL shall be marketed by the NFL.
The project shall not only improve the availability of fertiliser to farmers but also give a boost to the economy in the region including development of infrastructure like roads, railways, ancillary industry etc. besides ensuring food security to the nation.
The Centre is reviving five closed units of FCIL/HFCL by setting up new ammonia urea plants of 12.7 LMTPA capacity each at Ramagundam, Talcher (Odisha), Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Sindri ( Jharkhand) and Barauni (Bihar) through formation of joint ventures of leading PSUs with an investment of about Rs 40,000 crore.
The statement said that the facility integrates the world's best technologies aiming to meet the demand for urea in Telangana as well as in the other southern and central states of India, namely Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra among others. The urea produced at
On operationalisation of these plants, indigenous urea production will be increased by 63.5 LMTPA which will reduce the import of urea to that extent and will save huge amount of foreign exchange and will lead towards self-reliance in urea sector, the statement said.
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INDIA NEWS
June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
BUSINESS & TRADE
Thermal coal prices reach decade high as demand for high quality Australian coal remains strong
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rom post COVID-19 lows of $US50/tonne, spot prices for high quality Australian thermal coal (6,000 kcal/kg) have climbed back above $US122/tonne, the highest prices seen for the commodity in almost a decade. The driver for the price increase has been strong demand from Asia, the main buyers of highgrade Australian thermal coal, amid supply constraints from thermal coal exporters across the world. As Beijing's unofficial ban on Australian coal imports continues to be in effect, prices for 5,500 kcal/kg grade thermal coal have also increased to $US70.26/tonne in June - about double August's $35.62 - as India emerges as a key buyer of Australia's mid-grade coal in China's absence. For years now we have been talking about the growing demand in Asia for thermal coal in order to provide safe, affordable and reliable baseload power, as renewable generation also increases. According to the United Nations, India’s population will grow by 287 million people between 2018 and 2050, and by 2025 one-fifth of the world’s working population will be India. That population growth means there will be a growing need for
affordable energy. When it is operational, the Carmichael Project will provide high-quality Australian coal for baseload electricity generation that supports India’s advancement, social progress and energy security. With that national drive and ambition comes opportunities for countries like Australia to help India deliver new products, infrastructure, resources and improved living standards for its people, while also creating a growth catalyst for our own national economy. As the world’s number one international solar company and India’s largest private electricity generator, Bravus’ parent company, the Adani Group, has a unique view of the market and we see there will be a need for both coal and renewables in the energy mix to meet growing energy demand in Asia as people there emerge from poverty. As renewable technology improves there is no doubt that it will supply more energy, however this will take significant time as thermal power stations won’t be retired until they reach the end of their lives which is decades away. That is why we are committed to both coal and renewables. It is important to address the
Covid put conventional methods to test, innovation came to rescue: Modi Photo Courtesy: The Indian Express
New Delhi, June 16 (IANS): Inviting investors to the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that innovation came to the rescue during Covid as he highlighted India's major benefits for both investors and innovators. Delivering his keynote address at the 5th edition of VivaTech, one of the largest digital and start-up events in Europe, he said: "Covid-19 put many of our conventional methods to test. However, it was innovation that came to the rescue. By innovation, I refer to: Innovation before the pandemic. Innovation during the pandemic." "When I speak about innovation before the pandemic, I refer to the pre-existing advances which helped us during the pandemic. Digital technology helped us cope, connect, comfort and console. Through digital media, we could work, talk with our loved ones and help others," he said.
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Modi stated that the second part, innovation for the pandemic refers to how humanity rose to the occasion and made the fight against it more effective and in this, the role of the country's start-up sector, has been paramount. "India's strides in the world of tech and start-up are wellknown. Our nation is home to one of the world's largest start-up eco systems. Several unicorns have come up in recent years," he said. The Prime Minister said: "India offers what innovators and investors need.I invite the world to invest in India based on the five pillars of Talent, Market, Capital, Eco-system and Culture of openness." Citing reforms in different sectors, he said: "We, in India, implemented huge reforms across sectors, be it mining, space, banking, atomic energy and more. This goes on to show that India as a nation is adaptable and agile, even in the middle of the pandemic." Stressing India's extensive relation with France, he said: "India and France have been working closely on a wide range of subjects. Among these, technology and digital are emerging areas of cooperation."
realities of climate change, and we are demonstrating on a daily basis that this can be done in a measured way that involves
both renewables and highquality thermal coal, while also improving the lives of people living in energy poverty, and
ensuring our own nation is well positioned to capitalise on opportunities in the process..
ICICI Bank launches 'ICICI STACK for Corporates'
Photo Courtesy: IANS
Mumbai, June 16 (IANS): The ICICI Bank on Wednesday announced the launch of 'ICICI STACK for Corporates', a comprehensive set of digital banking solutions for corporates and their entire ecosystem including promoters, group companies, employees, dealers, vendors and all other stakeholders. The wide range of 360-degree solutions enables corporates to seamlessly meet all banking requirements of their ecosystem in an expeditious and frictionless manner. With this launch, ICICI Bank aims to be the preferred banking partner for companies and their entire ecosystem. The environment in which corporate customers operate is becoming increasingly dynamic and competitive with accelerated digital adoption transforming every business. In this everchanging environment, a banking partner, which can serve not only the corporates but also the entire ecosystems where they operate in, adds significant value to corporate customers, the bank said in a statement.
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With this backdrop, the Bank has created 'ICICI STACK for Corporates' to serve the companies and their ecosystem by bringing the full bank to the customers, it added. A first-of-its kind initiative, the 'ICICI STACK for Corporates' provides customised digital banking services to companies in over 15 leading industries-such as financial services, IT/ ITES, pharmaceuticals, steel to name a few-- and their entire ecosystem. Armed with the Bank's digital platforms, these services can further be tailor-made for companies within an industry. The four main pillars of the 'ICICI STACK for Corporates' are: digital banking solutions for companies; digital banking services for channel partners, dealers and vendors; digital banking services for employees and curated services for promoters, directors and signatories. In order to supplement these digital efforts, ICICI Bank has opened eight ecosystem branches --- five in Mumbai and three in the National Capital Region (NCR). It plans to launch another
four in this financial year. Vishakha Mulye, Executive Director, ICICI Bank said, "In an increasingly competitive and dynamic environment with rapid digital transformation impacting every industry, corporates look towards a banking partner, which can offer the breadth and depth of solutions for the entire ecosystem. With an objective to cater to the ecosystem of every corporate, we have launched a digital 'ICICI Stack for Corporates' with many industry first features. It offers banking solutions to corporates with backward and forward integration for their entire network of employees, dealers, vendors and all other stakeholders. We look forward to partnering with our customers for the banking needs of their entire ecosystem and unlock the full potential."
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June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
INDIA NEWS
ART & CULTURE
Indian-American Noted Dravidian artist joins California's Elayaraja succumbs to Covid artist anti-Covid campaign Photo Courtesy: IANS
Chennai, June 7 (IANS): Noted artist S. Elayaraja, who became famous for drawing realistic paintings of Dravidian women, died at a private hospital in Chennai on Monday morning due to Covid-19 related complications. He was 43. A recipient of several state and national awards, Elayaraja was the youngest of 11 siblings. He had often said that he drew inspiration for his paintings from his large family. S. Sivabalan, artist and mentor of Elayaraja in his earlier days, told the media, "Elayaraja's paintings were so realistic that they were often mistaken for photographs. He broke the tradition of artists being known only among the art circles, art curators and buyers, as his creations were popular
Photo Courtesy: IANS
San Francisco, June 4 (IANS): Indian-American artist Sunroop Kaur has joined California's "Your Actions Save Lives" campaign aimed at providing information about how to curb the spread of Covid-19, the media reported.
The program which was launched in April features 14 original artworks which are currently displayed via various mediums in public places across the US state, The American Bazaar reported on Thursday.
among the common people also." Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and several other celebrities condoled the untimely demise of the artist.
In his last interview, Elayaraja had said, "Death is inevitable. Only artists elude it. The artworks we leave behind ensure that we live beyond our stay in this world."
'Toycathon 2021' to introduce Indian culture in toys
Photo Courtesy: IANS
Kaur's 20 feet tall and 75 feet wide mural titled "Basant" (which means spring in Hindi), is located in the corner of Stockton city's East Main Street and Grant Street. Speaking about the campaign to the Sacramento-based FOX40 news channel, Kaur said: "I wanted the colours to be inviting, welcoming, just uplifting overall. "Sort of the blooming after a long winter which is sort of what Covid has been like." The mural features a masked man and woman separated by a Mughal miniature-inspired floral border and arches. "I wanted to capture the moment, that sort of universal longing that
we felt for our loved ones where, you know, we want to be close to them. We want to be near them but we can't because, in fact, we want to keep them safe. "The arches act as a window to the outside world. These �windows' symbolise the light we are all working toward by continuing to wear masks and watching our distance in public to help stop the spread of Covid-19. There is hope," the American Bazaar quoted the artist as further saying. The campaign also features Latino, Black/African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Native American/Indigenous and LGBTQ artists.
Earliest surviving Hindu painting unveiled in Mumbai
Varanasi, June 7 (IANS): Efforts are being made to introduce an element of Indian culture in toys and games. Training will be given by design professionals on topics like introduction of Indian culture in toy and games, improving the play factor in toy and games, developing and manufacturing; marketing and intellectual property etc. Dr Manish Arora, an assistant professor of the faculty of Visual Arts in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), is one of the trainers of the 'Toycathon 2021', for which an online nationwide training camp was recently organised. Arora, who is also the convener of Institute's Innovation CellBHU, said that faculties from the leading institutions of the country including Austin Davis of National Institute of Design, Bikram Pal of Shrishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology will train the participants. Apart from the faculties, participants will also be trained by industry experts and
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independent artists, he said.
Broadcasting.
Arora said that today India's toy market is estimated to be of around $1.5 billion, however, a large part of it is dominated by imported toys.
Its main objective is to develop the concept of games and toys based on Indian civilisation, history, culture, mythology and ethos, to challenge the innovative minds of the young citizens of India for innovation in the production of games and toys.
Despite India being the originator of the world-renowned games like Chess, Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, India is not one of the leading manufacturers of toys. Most of the toys sold nationally, and globally, do not represent the Indian heritage, civilisation and value systems. Keeping this in mind, 'Toycathon-2021' has been conceived under the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Toycathon-2021 is an interministerial initiative organised by the Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education in collaboration with All India Council for Technical Education, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of MSME, Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Information and
He said that in order to make India self-reliant in the field of toys, Toycathon-2021 is providing an opportunity for students, teachers, start-ups and toy experts/professionals of India to present their innovative toys and game concepts. A provisional prize money estimated up to Rs 50 lakhs has also been designated for this scheme. Arora said that the Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education has planned to accelerate the manufacture and production of sports toys in the country, in which the faculty of Visual Arts of Banaras Hindu University would be involved in training the participants from all over the country.
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Mumbai, May 29 (IANS): In an epochal event marking the revelation of the lost traditions of ancient Indian art, the earliest surviving Hindu painting, photographed and digitally restored by Benoy K. Behl, was unveiled before a global audience here, the organisers said here on Saturday. Behl enlightened top international dignitaries including over two dozen global ambassadors, historians and experts, the significance of the Badami Cave Temple 6th century painting - Queen and her attendants - in what is a UNESCO World Heritage site in northern Karnataka. Behl explained how India has a continuous tradition of paintings, coming through ancient and medieval times and he himself had documented Indian paintings from the 2nd BC till 13th AD, and the lost ancient Indian mural painting styles. The online event on Friday evening saw a galaxy of personalities like ICCR President Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and India's Sherpa to G7 and G20 Suresh Prabhu, ex-Cabinet Minister of Guyana Manniram Parshad, Guinea Bissau Minister Rajeshwar Prasad, UITV Chairman Balkrishna Choolun in London, Sapio Analytics CEO Ashwin Srivastava, authors, corporate and media bigwigs, among others.
Photo Courtesy: IANS
According to Behl, the ancient murals are the foundations of the manuscript paintings and miniatures of the medieval period which was significant as until now the world has been studying the tradition of Indian paintings starting from the medieval era. Prabhu discussed "the dependence of the progress of a nation on its culture, and art being the manifestation of its culture", while Sahasrabuddhe pointed out that "one can know who we are through ancient Indian art", and the need to create academic courses to prepare experts in digitization and ancient art preservation. Behl said much of the Badami paintings, as described in the 1950s, was lost when he went to photograph it in 2001, and seven years later, the National Geographic magazine could hardly even see anything in 2008 when its team went there for a major story. "Therefore, this photography (of Badami) and the restoration are of considerable importance in the documentation of the tradition of Indian paintings," Behl pointed out.
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June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
INDIA NEWS
Of interpersonal relationships and science fiction Photo Courtesy: IANS
By Siddhi Jain
BOOKS & LITERATURE
Arvind Panagariya pens his father's extraordinary life
Photo Courtesy: IANS
Photo Courtesy: IANS
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rom poetry on the vibrance of 'letting go', a reference guide on married lives and a sprinkle of self love and even mythological fiction, these five books by forthcoming authors are on our bookshelf this summer. 'Ceasing to Disown' by Sunny Ramesh Sadnani 'Ceasing to Disown' is the very persona of the similar antithesis that life is. It is a collection of poetries that serve as a reminder of what we have found solace in or maybe continue to hopelessly endure, not for a few moments or days, but for perhaps years and decades and what we choose to not let go regardless of the consequences. Maybe even feel vibrant about it! In this book, Sunny has attempted to relay his emotions with respect to family, parents, romantic alliances, failure, redemptions, loneliness, anger, sex, the natural environment, diversity. And then some more. 'The Rape Trial' by Bidisha Ghosal 'The Rape Trial' begins with the revelation that, many years ago, Rahul Satyabhagi had indeed raped Avni Rambha. Rahul has long since been acquitted and Avni had left the country for her peace of mind. Now, it looks like he's about to get away with it again. Rhea, Amruta and Hitaishi are beyond furious. What unfolds is a thriller worth a read. 'The Last War and Other Stories' by Sambhit Daspatnaik 'The Last War and Other Stories' is a collection of science fiction stories written by Sambit
Daspatnaik. In the main story "The Last War", the author takes his readers back to a time of post Mahabharata War era, featuring the descendants of the Pandavas, a mammoth invasion by the Gandharvas and a desperate attempt by the protagonists Senapati Agrasen and princess Charulata to save the city of Moenjo and Hariapa. The rest of the short science fiction stories cover different genres of sci-fi from space travel, solar systems to alien planets. 'Love Your Wife' by Soumitra Singh Thakur An insightful reference manual to have a joyous married life. This companion of love and devotion will invoke deep thoughts in you. It will reveal the true husband inside you, a husband, who you don't show to anyone, not even to your wife, maybe. This book will share such an insightful perspective of human relations between a husband and a wife that will give you an outcome
of joyous married life in this materialistic world. If used effectively, this book will serve as a lifelong practical reference manual and a workbook for all the world's erring husbands and all eligible bachelors to efficiently handle all the difficult phases of their married lives. 'Self Love -- The Power Within You' by Aaira Kaurr This book makes you aware of a miracle ingredient necessary for your flowering and becoming the best version of yourself, self love. If you don't love your own self first, you can't love anyone else, be it a person , a profession or anything else. No matter, how much effort you put in or how good or brilliant you are, you will be disappointed in the end in all your ventures, in spite of your high achievements. Without self love, others will enjoy and exploit your talents, you won't. This book not only explains the concept of self love, but gives you a systematic framework for imbibing it in your life. In fact you already have it in you, you just need to turn it on.
Cartographer of Agha Shahid Ali's longings Photo Courtesy: IANS
of Shahid's evocative verses, which mapped various cultures and geographies, and mourned injustice and loss -- both personal and political. Drawing on various unpublished materials and interviews with the poet's family, friends, students and acquaintances, Kapoor narrates the riveting story of a major literary voice.
New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) When at the age of 15, Manan Kapoor discovered Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali, something hit him with a force. "It was as if his poems spoke to me. His work was so different from what we had been reading at school. That was the moment my voyage of discovering Shahid began -- with the poetry collection 'The Veiled Suite'," says Kapoor, whose biography of Agha Shahid Ali, 'A Map of Longings'
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(Penguin Random House), recently hit the stands. In the book, Kapoor explores the concerns that shaped Shahid's (1949-2001) life and works, following in the footsteps of the 'Beloved Witness' from Kashmir to New Delhi and finally to the United States. Charting the poet's friendships with figures like Begum Akhtar and James Merrill, Kapoor looks at the lives he touched and also traces the complex evolution
The 27-years-old author, who studied at the Ambedkar University, did most of his research papers and assignments on Shahid's poetry. "Eventually, I realised, there is this wonderful world-renowned poet, who led an extremely interesting life. But there was not a lot written about him, apart from a few essays. The first essay on Shahid that I read was Amitav Ghosh's 'The Ghat of the Only World'. "The more I read about Shahid, I realised that his life is worth being celebrated and written about. It was basically a book that I wanted
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New Delhi, May 30 (IANS): In 1946, Baloo Lal Panagariya, then 25 years old, arrived in Jaipur to join the editorial staff of the newspaper Lokvani, devoted to exposing the excesses of the British and princely rulers of Rajputana. Though unremarkable in itself, the story behind this event is one of the triumph of human spirit over adversity.
Arvind Panagariya's "My Father: The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary Man" (HarperCollins), adds a new dimension to the history of India. It is a reminder that post-independence India was built not just by a handful of leaders working at the top but numerous ordinary citizens who shaped its many contours from below.
Baloo Lal was born in a remote village in Rajasthan, in a family that could not scrape together two full meals a day. He lost his father at five and mother at fourteen. The village lacked even a primary school. Yet, thanks to the wisdom and sacrifice of his mother and his own perseverance, he completed his education, went on to serve with distinction as a civil servant in the newly formed state of Rajasthan and, after retirement, wrote the first definitive book on the history of the freedom movement in Rajasthan.
"A simple, charming, oldfashioned tale of a decent man who struggles to rise from poverty into the middle class, from a pre-modern life to a modern life. Such a person's life, honestly captured, is not only unique but the only certain data of history we possess," says author Gurcharan Das of the book.
In a very real sense, Baloo Lal's journey from the village of Suwana to the city of Jaipur was a long and arduous one, much more so than that of his own son, decades later from Jaipur to Washington, DC. His success led to more milestones in the next generation, with two of his children being honoured with Padma awards and another with a presidential award. to read. So I did research, got in touch with his family and friends and worked on it," Kapoor says. Stressing that the poet's family was generous and forthcoming, inviting him to their homes, Manan also went to Kashmir a couple of times to meet the poet's late father Agha Ashraf Ali besides other family members. Although Kapoor wanted to go to the US to do some more research on the poet who died of brain cancer, he was denied a visa by the American Embassy. "That was a setback as I could not visit the archives. But the people there shared some of the documents I required. All those I had to meet in the US, I got in touch on Skype. However, I feel that a visit to the archives would have turned out richer," he says.
Arvind Panagariya is Professor of Economics and Jagdish N. Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He is also the Director of the Deepak and Neera Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at Columbia. He served as the first vice chairman of NITI Aayog from January 2015 to August 2017. He holds a PhD in economics from Princeton University. He is the author of 20 books, among them "India Unlimited: Reclaiming the Lost Glory". He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2012. Stressing that Shahid's poetry is one of the biggest examples of what Indian English can be, Kapoor feels that it enriches the language in multiple ways. "There is that transaction, right. During the time he was writing, a lot of new poets started to emerge, working in English. Their concerns were deeply rooted in the Indian sub-continent. The circle of people choosing to write in English was growing. For him, there was no question of 'this is not my language'. That was the language spoken at home and he started writing in it from the age of nine or ten," Kapoor says. Kapoor, who took four years to complete the book, says that he is yet to decide on his next. "However, it is going to be fiction," he concludes.
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June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
INDIA NEWS
FRENCH OPEN 2021
Djokovic wins French Open, Barbora wins his 19th Grand Slam trophy maiden French
Open women's title
Photo Courtesy: Tennis365
Photo Courtesy: IANS
Era to win all four majors twice. It was Djokovic's 19th Grand Slam trophy.
Paris, June 12 (IANS): World No.33 Barbora Krejcikova on Saturday became the first Czech Republic woman in 40 years to win the French Open women's title as she registered a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
Paris, June 13 (IANS): World No.1 Novak Djokovic on Sunday rallied to win the French Open men's title, beating fifth seed Stefanos
Tsitsipas 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in four hours, 11 minutes, and become the first man in the Open
Paris, June 13 (IANS): No.2 seeded Czech pair Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova on Sunday clinched their second French Open women's doubles title, beating No.14 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA and Iga Swiatek of Poland 6-4, 6-2 in the final here.
won three Grand Slam women's doubles titles in their careers. In 2018, they had triumphed here for their first doubles title and won the Wimbledon title the next month.
in 2000.
than yesterday," said Barbora.
On Saturday, Barbora won the women's singles title, beating Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, to become the first player to sweep the Roland Garros singles and women's doubles titles since Mary Pierce
The last time a woman won the singles and doubles titles at any Grand Slam tournament was in 2016, when Serena Williams bagged both Wimbledon crowns. Now, Barbora will become world No.1 on WTA doubles rankings on Monday.
"I'm just really happy that we have another title, and looking forward we're going to continue with our cooperation in Wimbledon and also for the Olympics. I hope there's going to be a bright future for us."
win over No.31 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in the final. Hana Mandlikova was the first Czech woman to win the French Open title in 1981.
Barbora-Katerina clinch French Open women's doubles title
The final lasted one hour and 14 minutes at Court PhilippeChatrier. Barbora and Katerina have now
"I'm just really happy. I'm really thankful to [Katerina] that she was there, that she was standing next to me. It felt a little bit easier
Could have cried, but did not as I tried my best: Tsitsipas
Photo Courtesy: IANS
today, I have faith in my game. I very much believe I can get to that point very soon. I see no reason for me not to be holding that trophy one day," he said further. The Greek player, who will next play the Noventi Open in Halle as the grass season gets underway, said he has to ensure he wins three sets not two in case he is faced with a similar situation. "What I learned today is that no matter what, in order for the match to be finished, you have to win three sets and not two," added Tsitsipas.
Paris, June 14 (IANS): World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost the French Open final on Sunday said he does not have any regrets as he gave it all against Novak Djokovic who won his 19th Grand Slam title. Tsitsipas had threatened to cause an upset as he won the first two sets before the Serb world No. 1 bounced back after a break from the court to win the next three sets.
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"I do not think I have regrets. I could have easily cried, but I see no reason for me crying because I tried everything. I could not come up with anything better," said Tsitsipas, who believes he can win a Grand Slam title one day with the way he is playing. The French Open final was the Greek's best performance in a Grand Slam tournament. "I believe that I am able to play for titles like this. Despite my loss
"Two sets does not really mean anything. It is still one away of winning the entire match. "I do not think I relaxed. I do not think I changed much. I just kept the same pace. I kept the things that were working for me. He left the court after two-sets-to-love down, but he came back to me like a different player suddenly. "He played really well. He gave me no space… I kind of felt like he could read my game a bit better suddenly."
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Katerina echoed the feelings of her partner. "Of course, I feel amazing. I'm really happy that we did it. I think we played great. We're really communicating really well. I think it's working," Katerina said at the post-match press conference.
Break after first two sets helped me bury self-doubts: Djokovic
Paris, June 14 (IANS): World No. 1 Novak Djokovic attributed his comeback in French Open final from two sets down to winning the title to a small break that helped him bury self-doubts.
After losing the first two sets 6-7(6), 2-6, the Serb left the Court Philippe-Chatrier for a break and returned a changed player as he downed fifth-seed Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to win his second title at Roland Garros as well as his 19th Grand Slam title. Djokovic won the last three sets -- 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. "To be honest, I was never really vocal when I speak to myself. I keep those internal conversations internally in my head," Djokovic said in his post-match media conference. "There is always two voices inside: one is telling you that you cannot do it, that it is done, it is finished. That voice was pretty strong after that second set. "I felt that that was a time for me to actually vocalise the other voice and try to suppress the first one that was saying I cannot make it. I told myself I can do it and encouraged myself. I strongly started to repeat that inside of my mind, and tried to live it with my entire being." Djokovic said that slowly he got into his groove and started playing well. "Once I started playing in that third set, especially in the first
few games, I saw where my game was at, it kind of supported that second voice that was more positive, more encouraging," he added. "After that there was not much of a doubt for me."
Djokovic, who also won Australian Open, is the only player in Open Era to win every Grand Slam title at least twice in his career. He is also the third player in tennis history to do it after former Australian stars Roy Emerson and Rod Laver. "Of course, I am thrilled and very proud of this achievement. Being part of the history of the sport that I love with all my heart is always something that is very inspiring and very fulfilling for me," Djokovic said. He called Sunday's final victory, that he secured in over four hours, as one of the three best achievements of his life. "This probably ranks at the top three all-time achievements and experiences that I have had in my professional tennis career: going through a four-and-a-half hour battle with Rafa Nadal on his court, then bouncing back after not practising yesterday, just coming in today with as much as recharged batteries and energy regained to fight another battle of four-and-a-half hours against Tsitsipas," he said.
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INDIA NEWS
June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
SPORTS
Vinoo Mankad, 9 other stalwarts New Zealand win 2nd inducted into ICC Hall of Fame Test, clinch series in England after 22 years Photo Courtesy: IANS
Photo Courtesy: IANS
Dubai, June 13 (IANS): The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday announced a special edition intake of 10 cricket icons -- including former India cricketer Vinoo Mankad -- into the ICC Hall of Fame to celebrate the prestigious history of Test cricket, coinciding with this month's maiden World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand. The stalwarts, who have made great contribution to the game and were inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame are: Aubrey Faulkner of South Africa and Monty Noble of Australia (Early Cricket Era, prior to 1918); Sir Learie Constantine of West Indies and Stan McCabe of Australia (InterWar Era, 1918-1945); Ted Dexter of England and Vinoo Mankad of India (Post-War Era, 19461970); Desmond Haynes of West Indie and Bob Willis of England (ODI Era, 1971-1995); and, Andy Flower of Zimbabwe and Kumar
Sangakkara of Sri Lanka (Modern Cricket Era, 1996-2015). These 10 legends have all made a significant contribution to the history of Test cricket, and join an illustrious list of ICC Hall of Famers, taking the total number to 103 as a result of this intake, said the ICC. The ICC announcement comes just five days before the first WTC final, between India and New Zealand starting on June 18 in Southampton. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who holds Mankad in high esteem, said he learnt the greatest cricketing lesson from him. "Vinoo Mankad's legacy has been to tell the aspiring Indian cricketer to believe in oneself. He was a great proponent of selfbelief," said Gavaskar, also an ICC Hall of Famer. "He was the one who kept saying to me that 'you need to keep
scoring runs and keep at it. When you get a 100, let that be the knock on the selector's door. If it is unheard, then score that double hundred and let that knock be even louder. You can have the best technique, but if you do not have the temperament to support it you will not succeed, you have to keep hanging in there and have that self-belief.' That was the greatest lesson I learnt from him," he recalled. The ICC Hall of Fame Voting Academy, comprising active Hall of Fame members, a FICA representative, prominent cricket journalists and senior ICC figures, vote online to identify their selections for induction in each of the five eras. The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame was launched on January 2, 2009, in association with the Federation of International Cricketers Associations, as part of the ICC's centenary year celebrations.
Birmingham, June 13 (IANS): New Zealand defeated England by eight wickets in the second Test on Sunday and won the two-match series 1-0 - their first series triumph in England in 22 years. The win pushed New Zealand back to the No.1 spot in Test rankings. The win is New Zealand's first at Edgbaston in five attempts, and is only their sixth out of the 56 Tests they have played in England. Set a target of 38 to win on the fourth day, after England were all out for 122 in their second innings, the Kiwis reached the target losing just two wickets, with opener and stand-in skipper Tom Latham scoring an unbeaten 23 off 32 deliveries. Devon Conway and No.3 Will
Although the Kiwis lost Conway early for three, Latham ensured they reached home without much drama. This was the first Test series defeat for England at home since the 2014 series loss to Sri Lanka. It was also New Zealand's first series in England in 22 years. They had last won a Test series in England in 1999, under Stephen Fleming's captaincy.
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She was 85 and is survived by her husband, a son, and three daughters. “We are deeply saddened to inform you that Mrs Nirmal Milkha Singh passed away after a valiant battle against Covid at 4 p.m. today,” a statement from the Milkha Singh family said. Milkha Singh himself is being treated for Covid-related complications at the PGIMER here. “Milkha Singh’s health is fine and
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Earlier, England were bowled out at their overnight score of 122 when they lost the last wicket of Olly Stone off the first ball of the day, with the pace bowler edging a Trent Boult delivery to wicketkeeper Tom Blundell.
Wife of legendary Olympian Milkha Singh succumbs to Covid
Chandigarh, June 14: Former Indian women volleyball team captain Nirmal Kaur, the wife of legendary Olympian Milkha Singh, died at a Mohali hospital on Sunday due to complications related to Covid-19 infection, doctors said.
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Young, who replaced injured captain Kane Williamson for this Test, were the batsmen dismissed.
improving, but he is still in the ICU,” said a spokesperson for the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) on Saturday. Milkha Singh has been under the observation of a medical team comprising senior doctors of the institute since his hospitalisation on June 3. “Our heart felt condolences on the sad demise of Mrs Nirmal Milkha Singh after battling with Covid-19,” said PGIMER Director Jagat Ram in a statement. “Widely known for her multiple achievements in the sports arena and her extensive philanthropic works, she will be fondly remembered for her accomplishments on and off the field,” he added.
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Island-hopping getaway guide to Seychelles
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island life. With no cars on the island, the best way to explore the wonders of La Digue is with electric buggies, bicycle rentals or the traditional oxcart. Traverse the changing landscapes of stunning ocean views in the North to dense rainforests in the South.
eychelles, the Indian Ocean destination has more to it than meets the eye. From enchanting beaches to terrestrial national parks, extraordinary flora and fauna to friendly islanders, the small island nation is the perfect reason for a holiday like no other.
to Seychelles and was crafted as a toast to the Islands. Before bidding adieu, hop aboard the Semi-Submarine, an underwater observatory at Eden Island to cruise along the spectacular reefs serving epic views of corals and a variety of marine life.
Tucked away between India and Africa, Seychelles makes for an ideal island-hopping experience.
Praslin:
Here is a guide to help plan your vacation to the Seychelles Islands once the travel corridor reopens. Mahé: Mahé is the largest of the 115 islands in the archipelago and home to the world’s smallest capital Victoria. Although small in size, Victoria has a lot of character making a visit worthwhile. Take a walk around Victoria Market or Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market for a unique display of creole culture while shopping for handicrafts & souvenirs. Wander along the streets sampling local produce or savour Seychellois delicacies. Also, do not forget to keep a lookout for Victoria Clock Tower, a replica of London’s Big Ben. Away from the main city, Mahé also offers an abundance of lush greenery making it ideal for hikes and nature trails. Explore the historical Venn’s Town Mission Ruins and Mission Lodge Tea Factory or the popular Copolia trail that promises aweinspiring views of Mahé Island from the top. A trip to Mahé is incomplete without a visit to the Takamaka Rum Distillery housed in the 200-year-old La Plaine St. Andre estate. Takamaka rum is authentic
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Praslin is the second largest island and home to pictureperfect beaches and an enchanting prehistoric nature reserve. One can opt for a 20-minute short flight or a scenic 75-minute ferry ride from Mahé. Take a guided tour of the primeval forest of Vallée-de-Mai, a UNESCO World Heritage site and explore the ‘Garden of Eden’. Surround your senses with the sights & sounds of towering palm trees and the call of wild birds fleeting through the Vallée. Learn about the endemic Coco-de-Mer, the largest seed in the world and spot the endangered black parrot among other indigenous gems hidden in the botanical wonderland.
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Take a step back in time and visit L'Union Estate. Visit a traditional copra mill, watch the antics of the estate’s population of Aldabra giant tortoises or stroll around the majestic Plantation House framed by giant granite boulders in landscaped gardens. The estate is also home to the cemetery of the original settlers of La Digue and to one of the most pristine beaches in Seychelles, the legendary Anse Source d’ Argent. Known for being one of the most photographed beaches on earth, Source d’ Argent is a spectacular sight to behold with crystal clear waters and unique granite rock formations. Other mustvisit beaches include Anse Coco and Petit Anse. In a mood for adventure? Trek to the island’s highest point with a mountain tour of the Nid D'Aigle or ‘The Eagle’s Nest’ for sensational views of La Digue and its neighbouring islands. Photo Courtesy: IANS
Having trailed the Vallée, soak in the breath-taking, powdery sand beaches of Anse-Lazio, ranked as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Include a visit to Cote d’Or or Anse Volbert for an incredible variety of activities such as snorkelling, sailing or fishing. Cote d’Or also houses Praslin Museum, a small informative gallery about art and popular local traditions. La Digue: A 15-minute ferry ride from Praslin, La Digue paints a beautiful picture of the perfect
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ITC Grand Bharat reopens As cities start to unlock, those who have been cooped up in their apartments with little to no privacy and families who have not been able to go for a vacation can finally get an outing. For those living in the NCR region, a short staycation at the ITC Grand Bharat comes as a welcome break in the sweltering heat.
national symbol that pays tribute to India’s several thousand years of uninterrupted history. The 104 all-suites retreat is set to be the ultimate expression of ‘Unhurried Luxury’. It combines grandeur with intimacy and operates according to the highest principles of environmental stewardship.
seeks to create a better and secure world, the retreat opens its doors with the assurance of the chain's path breaking ‘WeAssure’ initiative. Experience unhurried luxury at its best contact light dining, digital check in & check out, safe distancing, stringent sanitisation protocols, QR codes and safe staycations .
With DNV Platinum Certification, its a great spot for a safe staycation and safe dining. Cradled in the lap of the ancient Aravalis in the region of Mewatat the crossroads of many civilizations -the property is a
As part of a phased re-opening, ITC Grand Bharat will welcome guests with the assurance of stringent health, safety, and hygiene measures. Reinforcing its globally acknowledged Responsible Luxury ethos that
‘WeAssure’ initiative provides discerning guests a worry free stay, with the added assurance of the recent ‘Platinum Level Certification’ under DNV’s ‘My Care’ infection risk management programme
Photo Courtesy: IANS
TRAVEL Photo Courtesy: IANS
for WeAssure. DNV gave the certification for the rigorous health, hygiene and safety protocols being implemented to ensure the safety of guests and associates at the property. “The consistent support of our guests has been the bedrock of our strength. Keeping in mind the present circumstances, we have strengthened our safety standards even further through the ‘WeAssure’ initiative. The DNV platinum level certification brings a great sense of confidence to our discerning guests as we look forward to welcome them,” said Rajat Sethi, General Manager – ITC Grand Bharat. Moreover, ITC Hotels also provides guests the option of ‘The Safe Car Promise’ under which all vehicles undergo stringent daily deep-cleaning protocols with
accredited surface antimicrobials, hand sanitiser and face masks are offered to guests at the time of pick-up, chauffeurs undergo regular temperature checks and wear prescribed PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) at all times among other precautions. A manifestation of ITC’s philosophy of creating hotels that showcase the rich and varied cultural heritage of India, ITC Grand Bharat is an embodiment of ITC Hotels’ ethos of ‘Responsible Luxury’; enabling luxury experiences that are planet positive. Guests can book the various safe staycation packages by visiting the ITC Hotels website - https:// www.itchotels.com/in/en/ itcgrandbharat-gurugram and choosing the staycation which suits their needs best.
Weighing in on the post-pandemic scenario of luxury hospitality
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indful travel, that is, meaningful connections enhanced by personalisation, wellness treatments and a lean, contactless hospitality model will set the stage for environment and health conscious travellers in the new world.
The unfolding pandemic, specifically the tenacity of the second wave, has fundamentally altered our relationship with space and human interaction. Luxury travel, as one of the world’s most experiential industries, stands to be permanently transformed by an emerging redefinition of retreat: one that prioritises the restorative rather than the indulgent. Bespoke Experiences
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Customisation is among the most long standing attributes of all luxury experiences. However, for the well-informed and highly selective post pandemic traveller, a one-of-a-kind offering is not about novelty but rather about crafting a memorable, even altruistic exchange. This includes establishing a connection with local history, landscape and culture.
This offers hoteliers the option to reinvent experiences across the board. Bespoke dining options could include harvesting fresh produce on the property and learning how to prepare traditional meals with local chefs. Volunteering opportunities, such as tree planting, could pair
Health and Wellness Treatments With a heightened awareness of mental and physical health, luxury tourism will see an uptick in wellness travel. Individualised and curative treatment plans will be increasingly popular among those who seek both retreat and integrated healing. Nature-centric experiences such as outdoor yoga, treks, dives and more will feature heavily into meditative as well as physical routines that are immersed in the local landscape. India, particularly, will see a rise in demand for Ayurveda focused facilities with personalised and long-stay treatment plans that include curative treatments, tailored meals and exercise plans to guide sustainable lifestyle changes for holistic and long term well being. Tech-Savvy Operations The preference for seclusion and the need to responsibly navigate space will give rise to a leaner and more tech-savvy operating model among travel ventures. Both in terms of internal
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Photo Courtesy: IANS
with outdoor experiences. Spa facilities, similarly, might offer consultative sessions and multisensory, traditional treatments that benefit each guest through the duration of their stay.
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operations and client facing services, travel businesses will need to reconfigure process and culture to balance the warmth of hospitality with the efficiency of tech-enabled features. A positive by-product of this trend will include human capital building and organisational agility. Tech driven operations increase information symmetry - giving more and equal access to employees across departments. In addition to the skill-building required to train teams to utilise tech tools, the ease of communication also catalyses internal knowledge sharing; thus,
making the entire organisation more flexible, efficient and resilient to change. The pandemic makes foundational changes eminent for industries across the globe. Its impact on luxury tourism - a sector that is intensively interactive and human-centric - remains among the most significant. As an impending beneficiary of pent-up demand and fresh consumer preferences, the already inventive market for luxury travel will adapt to become more individualised and comprehensively sustainable.
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Lauren Gottlieb: Digital creation Shlokka Pandit's cat keeps her busy amid lockdown is fun explorative, challenging Photo Courtesy: Instagram
Photo Courtesy: Instagram
Mumbai, June 8 (IANS): Dancer and actress Lauren Gottlieb has been keeping her fans entertained with her social media content. She finds creating digital content explorative, fun and challenging.
"Digital creation is super fun, explorative and challenging because you end up wearing lots of hats. Coming up with concepts, casting, producing, choreography, set and costume design, editing -- the list can be endless," she tells IANS. "These are all parts of the filmmaking process that I love. Through creating digital content, I am becoming a better director, producer, and choreographer," the actress added. Among Lauren's several collaborations, the leading ones include the Madhuri Dixit-Nene tribute with choreographer Joya Nandy Kazi, her "Kamariya Lachke Re" reel with digital creator Ruhee Dosani, and those with King Bach, Matt Steffanina, Phillip Chbeeb, Montana Tucker, Crissa Jackson, Tanishq Joshi and Yai Ariza. Lauren added: "Being able to collaborate with established as well as new artistes in Bollywood and Hollywood has been creatively fulfilling," she signed off.
Neha Kakkar thanks hubby Rohanpreet for gifting her 'life' Photo Courtesy: Instagram
life. "My 1st Birthday after getting Married to My Prince Charming @rohanpreetsingh I can't tell you all whaaaaat he's given to me. Rohu ne Mujhe LIFE di hai.. Life.. Zindagi It was Indeed My Besttttest Birthday EVER!!!!! Thank you almighty God!" she wrote on Instagram.
Mumbai, June 8 (IANS): Actress Shlokka Pandit has been spending a lot of time with her pet cat Luna during lockdown. "Luna has brought a lot of changes in my life. I can understand things without being told. Unlike most, he is a very affectionate, calm and good-natured cat. The unconditional love he gives has enabled me to be a more compassionate and caring person," Shlokka says. She calls her pet an "obedient kid", adding: "I literally can't imagine a day without him. We are two cool
buddies in a way." Shlokka makes a pitch for vaccination, saying: "Let's all follow guidelines and protocols. The pandemic is far from over. Let's get vaccinated whenever the opportunity arises." "We are facing an uphill task against the virus but I'm sure if we follow the protocols and take care of ourselves and others, we will definitely be able to overcome it," added the actress, who was recently seen in the film "Hello Charlie", co-starring Jackie Shroff, Elnaaz Norouzi and Aadar Jain.
When Shilpa Shetty was in for a pre-birthday surprise Photo Courtesy: Instagram
"And now about the people who've invested their precious time in creating Posts for Me. My Friends, My Family, My Wellwishers and Specially My Everything MY #NeHearts. Just wanted to let you all know that it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to leave a Comment on Everyone's post and I DONT let my team reply on my behalf coz that would be cheating," the singer added.
Mumbai, June 7 (IANS): Singer Neha Kakkar on Monday thanked family, friends and fans for wishing her on her birthday,
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which she celebrated on June 6. She was particularly grateful to husband Rohanpreet Singh for giving her the special gift called
Neha also explained why she had kept her phone switched off on her birthday. "Also people who tried calling, I had switched my Phone Off since everybody was calling But You Must know that I've been seeing all My Birthday Posts, Messages and I have No words how much love you all shower on Me. Thank you bahut chota word hai aapke Pyar Ke liye. But since that's the only word to express our Gratitude, I Must Thank Each one of YOU. Khoob Saraaaa Pyar Aap Sabko," she wrote.
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Mumbai, June 8 (IANS): Actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra celebrates her birthday on Tuesday. She was in for a surprise when the cast and crew of the dance reality show "Super Dancer: Chapter 4" organised a surprise bash for her. Shilpa is a judge on the show. "It felt so nice to see this sweet gesture from everyone present on the set. Super Dancer is my
extended family, and there is this unseen bond that ties us. I am glad I could celebrate my birthday with the entire team," Shilpa told IANS. "Little moments like these is what one treasures in life, and I count my blessing each day," she added, about her experience on the show that airs on Sony Entertainment Television.
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Vidya Balan: I did not set out to break stereotypes New Delhi, June 11 (IANS): Vidya Balan has time and again challenged Bollywood stereotypes with her roles, living out her characters with power-packed performances. The actress says it was not something that she did consciously. Ever since she made her Bollywood debut with "Parineeta" in 2005, Vidya has wowed the Hindi audience with her work in films such as "Bhool Bhulaiyaa", "No One Killed Jessica", "The Dirty Picture", "Paa", "Kahaani", "Ishqiya", "Mission Mangal", "Tumhari Sulu" and "Shakuntala Devi". She will next be seen in "Newton" maker Amit Masurkar's "Sherni", which casts her as a forest officer. "I did not set out to break stereotypes but I think through my experiences in life, especially as an actor, I have realised I am not going to let anything come in the way of me being an actor," said Vidya, who has been feted with a National Award and a Padma Shri. The 42-year-old actress added: "So if you tell me, I am too short to be an actor, too fat to be an actor, I am too bold to be an actor, I am too brazen or too intelligent or whatever, I am just saying random things, I cannot change who I am but I can still find my way." "My passion for what I do has seen me through because I really
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How Jessica Alba and Cameron Diaz inspired Payal Ghosh Photo Courtesy: Instagram
Photo Courtesy: Instagram
can't change anything about myself, so I did not set out to break stereotypes. I just said if it doesn't work, too bad it has to work, because I am going to make it work. It has to work because I want to be an actor," she added. The actress, who at the age of 16, starred in the sitcom "Hum Paanch" and essayed the role of the bespectacled Radhika in the sitcom, "did not challenge the stereotype with a conscious mind". "So, I think those stereotypes were challenged not consciously but probably unconsciously," she said. Currently, she awaits the release of "Sherni", where she plays an upright forest officer battling social barriers set by the patriarchal society and lackadaisical attitudes within her
department. "Each of us is a Sherni, but it feels wonderful to be called one!" she smiled, and added: "They are all women who derive their identities from the work they do. They are very passionate about the work they do, because I feel I am that woman, too. So, therefore, I steer towards these characters. I like women with purpose and therefore I tend to choose them." Vidya added: "The more I look around me, more and more of us are finding that purpose, are living out our dreams. I think it is also a reflection of what's happening in the world around us because cinema is a reflection of reality." "Sherni" is scheduled for a digital release on June 18 on Amazon Prime Video.
Mumbai, June 8 (IANS): Payal Ghosh is honing a lot of skills for her upcoming role in the film "New York To Haridwar", it seems. After recently saying that she was taking lessons in pole dancing for the film, she now claims she is trying a hand at taekwondo for the role. If she claimed she watched Jennifer Lopez in "Hustlers" to fine-tune her pole dancing skills, she says she would watch films like "Charlie's Angels" and "Fantastic Four" and draw inspiration from Cameron Diaz and Jessica Alba and Cameron Diaz to ace the stunts. "Taekwondo is refreshing. It's
a great way to keep in shape. I would watch movies like Charlie's Angels, Fantastic Four and was so inspired to see the likes of Jessica Alba and Cameron Diaz ace their action moves. I have got an opportunity now and I jumped onto it," Payal declared. She added: "I read their interviews and I understood that they learnt a form of martial arts and mostly Taekwondo. It's a great mix of strength and agility and involves movement of both hands and feet. (I am) Absolutely loving it." She has been taking online sessions and would take sessions in person once lockdown lifts for the Rajeev Chaudhari directorial.
Shubhangi Atre: Covid shows how Taapsee Pannu posts disastrous loss of ecosystem can be 'Haseen Dillruba' teaser Photo Courtesy: Instagram
Photo Courtesy: Instagram
reminds us that it is high time to understand the importance of the environment. "The Covid-19 emergence has unleashed some drastic consequences and revealed how disastrous the loss of the ecosystem can be. We cannot attain sustainable development goals in the absence of ecosystem restoration," she said. She added: "Preventing the biodiversity loss is the key to our survival post the pandemic. If we need the old normal days back then we must change ourselves to new normal beings, who not only keep their homes clean, but also the environment pollution free."
"The environment provides us with life-sustaining resources, and it is essential to preserve and protect them. It is a home for many living species and maintains the balance in the ecosystem," said Shubhangi.
Mumbai, June 7 (IANS): Television actress Shubhangi Atre, popular
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as Angoori in the sitcom "Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain", feels Covid-19
"There are many threats to the environment, such as deforestation and pollution, which affect not only us but all living beings around us. We have already created a lot of damage to nature, now it's high time to start being responsible," she added.
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New Delhi, June 7 (IANS): Taapsee Pannu on Monday evening posted a teaser of her upcoming film "Haseen Dillruba", co-starring Vikrant Massey and Harshvardhan Rane. The film is pitched as a mystery thriller, and the gritty trailer set against the backdrop of a smalltown runs a fast-moving collage of sequences highlighting "Lust", "Obsession" and "Deceit". "Pyaar ke teen rang, khoon ke chheeton ke sang (three colours of love, served with droplets
of blood)," Taapsee wrote, hastagging #HaseenDilruba and #TheUltimateKaunspiracy with the post. "Haseen Dillruba" is directed by "Hasee Toh Phasee" maker Vinil Mathew and the film tells the story of a young woman who is a prime suspect in her husband's murder. As the investigation reveals details of her marital past, the truth starts getting even more baffling. The film is scheduled to drop on July 2, and will stream on Netflix
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ENTERTAINMENT
Yami Gautam ties the knot with 'Uri' director Aditya Dhar
Photo Courtesy: Instagram
Mumbai, June 4 (IANS): Actress Yami Gautam announced on Friday that she has tied the knot with "Uri" director Aditya Dhar in a private ceremony.
The wedding took place on Friday. Yami shared a picture from their wedding venue and said they were both private people and preferred to get married in presence of family and close friends. "'In your light, I learn to love Rumi'.With the blessings of our family, we have tied the knot in an intimate wedding ceremony today. Being very private people, we celebrated this joyous occasion with our immediate family. As we embark on the journey of love and friendship, we seek all your blessings and good wishes. Love, Yami and Aditya," Yami said in an Instagram post. The actress was flooded with congratulatory messages in the comments section from friends and fans alike. Among Bollywood colleagues who greeted the actress were Vaani Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Dia Mirza and Vikrant Massey. On the work front, Yami has "Dasvi", "A Thursday", and "Bhoot Police" coming up, besides a few yet-to-be announced ventures.
Evelyn Sharma surprises fans with wedding photos from Australia Photo Courtesy: Instagram
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odel-actress Evelyn Sharma took to social media on Monday to surprise fans with photographs from her wedding. Evelyn tied the knot with longtime beau Tushaan Bhindi in Australia, reportedly last month.
Evelyn chose a white lace bridal gown and minimal makeup while Tushaan wore a blue suit.
The actress shared photographs on Instagram on Monday where she is dressed as a bride with groom Tushaan posing beside her.
Evelyn also shared a photo embracing the groom, which she captioned: "Forever".
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"Mr & Mrs Bhindi.. Big big thank you to everyone who made this small wedding the very best day of our lives!" the actress wrote.
Tushaan is an Australia-based dental surgeon and entrepreneur. Evelyn and Tushaan had got engaged in 2019 and tied the knot last month in an intimate ceremony in Brisbane. A lavish wedding was avoided owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. On the work front, Evelyn, who was last seen in Telugu superstar Prabhas' 2019 film "Saaho", will next be seen in the upcoming film "X Ray: The Inner Image".
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INDIA NEWS
Luxury, lifestyle, location — welcome to Dress Circle
June 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 24
Located in the heart of one of Australia’s fastest growing regions, Brookwater is Brisbane’s best kept secret for luxury living. Crafted around the Greg Norman designed golf course, Brookwater provides a rare combination of prestige golf-side living and natural bushland beauty. With over 800 families already calling Brookwater home, we are pleased to introduce the next stage of this exclusive community — your own architecturally designed piece of paradise — Dress Circle.
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Life on Brookwater’s Dress Circle is within 10 minutes of everything you need — commuter rail to the city, private and public schools, childcare centres, a university, a private hospital, shopping centres and a thriving commercial precinct.
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