India News – Nov 16-30 2022, Vol 3 Issue 8

Virtus Oceania Games in Brisbane 2022, a spectacular display of inclusive Sports!

The Virtus Oceania Games 2022 in Brisbane promised to be an event where solidarity, modesty, and grit converged for a common goal of inclusion for all through Sports. Robyn Smith CEO of Inclusion Australia and Virtus Asia President, Partick Chan from Hongkong were the driving forces to make this event a success. The opening ceremony was one of the best ceremonies of all that we ever saw. It was displayed on the big screen outside of City Hall in King George Square for the community to support and be part of this event. The athlete also walked in a parade for Virtus Oceania Asia Games 2022 at City Hall

Brisbane. People who attended the ceremony were Maldives's Minister of Youth, Sports, and Community Empowerment Ahmed Mahloof. Cr Angela Owen - Councillor for Calamvale Ward represented Lord mayor and Jess Pugh MP for Mount Ommaney represented the Premier for the event. Christopher Chelliah and Amrita Deshpande who always volunteered for the sports events supported the India Team at these games. India sent a team of 12 players and 5 coaches along with the head of Delegate Mr. Aron Richard Benjamin. It was a good opportunity to meet Varsha Sannuthi, World Para Athletics Classifier.

The Indian Team secured 1 gold and 2 bronze medals this year.

Hon. Indian Consul. Mrs. Archana Singh was in attendance at a dinner event organized for the India team by the Indian Diaspora. She interacted with each and every player, giving high fives to all of them.

It was a good opportunity for community leaders to interact with the players at a dinner event, where they felicitated the players with a small token of appreciation from the Indian community in Brisbane.

What are the Virtus Oceania Games?

The Oceania Virtus Games 2022 are organized by The Virtus (3/12) was impressive upfront and in death overs, while Adil Rashid (2/22) was stunning in the middle overs as England's meticulous planning and tactics, especially in the second half of the innings, meant they never let Pakistan get away at any stage to restrict them to a below-par 137/8 in 20 overs.

In the chase, England lost three wickets, including captain Jos Buttler, in the Power-play. But Ben Stokes showed calmness and poise in his typical gritty style to slam an unbeaten 52 off 49 balls, also his first T20I fifty, to take England over the line with an over to spare.

Melbourne, Nov 13 (IANS) As Ben Stokes finished off the chase of 138 with a single through the gap at mid-wicket off Mohammad Wasim Jr. on the final ball of the 19th over, it clinched the deal for England to be the winners of

New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS)

Following Team India's humiliating defeat in semifinal against England, it is believed that that the national T20 squad will undergo a major transition in the next few months.

According to sources, senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik and Ravichandran Ashwin would be gradually eased out from the shortest format of the game.

The next T20 World Cup is still two years away and it is learnt that a new team will be picked with all-rounder Hardik Pandya being the captaincy choice.

Men's T20 World Cup 2022

a five-wicket victory over Pakistan in front of 80,462 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament, Sam Curran

This was the second time Stokes played a pivotal role for England in the final of a global tournament after his Player of the Match effort in the 2019 ODI World Cup final victory at the Lord's. The win also makes England the first team in

Earlier on Thursday, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has also said that he is expecting a few retirements from the current team in near future.

The former India captain said that he expects several changes in the

‘Some senior players will be dropped from T20 format, Hardik may lead’

with

T20 World Cup: England players soak in the feeling of being crowned as tournament winner

EDITORIAL TEAM

Dr Ram Mohan, Chairman

Dr Ashutosh Misra, Editor-in-Chief

Ms Priyadarshini Rana, Bureau Chief, Victoria

EDITORIAL BOARD

Amrita Deshpande, Community News Editor

Paras Sharma, Assistant Editor

Dr Uttam Kumar Sinha, Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, India

Mr Shaun Star, Director, Centre for Australia India Studies, Jindal Global University, India

INDIA NEWS TV

Mr Karthik Pratap Singh, News Director

Mr. Agastya Yeturi, Cinematographer

Mr Nishit Chandan, Special Correspondent

WRITERS

Mr Rabindra Mukherji

INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS Institute for Australia India Engagement Australia India Business Council

WEB: www.indianews.com.au FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/indianewsaustralia

Virtus Oceania Games in Brisbane 2022, a spectacular display of inclusive Sports!

Continued from Page 1

Australia member organization, and Sports Inclusion Australia (SIA), is managing the delivery of the games. All players participating in competitive games have intellectual impairment.

Around 15% of the world’s population has a disability. Approximately 2-3% of the world population have an intellectual impairment. That’s between 178 – 256 million people worldwide! — WHO Disability Report, 2011 It is a proud moment to see the support of the Australian Federal Government, Queensland State Government, and Brisbane City Council together hosting this world-class event in Brisbane being inclusive in Sports for athletes with intellectual impairment in the region.

Imagine a world where everyone is included. Sports is one such avenue where we can bring everyone together, respect each other, and give muchneeded opportunities to athletes regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, and ability.

The following sports were included in the OA Games 2022 sport competition

Athletics

Badminton (Demonstration sport) Basketball Cycling

Judo

Rowing

Sailing Swimming Table Tennis

Taekwondo Tennis

Triathlon (Demonstration sport)

The OA Games 2022 offers two demonstration sports: badminton and triathlon.

Virtus is also developing an II-3 eligibility group for athletes with Autism who do not have intellectual disabilities.

The OA Games 2022 offers players in the II-3 competition the following sports: Athletics, Badminton, Cycling, Judo, Rowing, Swimming, Table Tennis, and Tennis.

This new group developed by Virtus provides a life-changing opportunity enabling those people with autism who have no intellectual disabilities to compete at the highest levels.

T20 World Cup: England players soak in the feeling of being crowned as tournament winner

Continued from Page 1

the history of men's international cricket to hold both 50-over and 20-over World Cups at the same time.

"This is one of the best days of my cricketing career. I feel as a team we deserved it, over a long period of time we have played some amazing cricket, and obviously fell short but the semis and then today to win against a brilliant Pakistan side is an amazing feeling, especially in front of fans and family."

"It was just about keeping my intent, if I get out I get out, being positive and it was the right balance to Stokesy, he played some great shots and put in a crucial partnership," said of-spin all-rounder Moeen Ali, who hit a crucial 13-ball 19 and was an able ally to Stokes in taking England to the target in a pressure scenario. Rashid, who became just the fourth bowler to bowl a maiden over in the final of the T20 World Cup, said he would enjoy the feeling of being double World Cup champions for a very long time.

"So proud of the boys, the position from the early tomorrow to now... we were nervous in the runchase, but we knew we've got the firepower to get over the line. This doesn't happen often, so we'll cherish this for a long time. Thank you (to Eoin Morgan) for picking me (in the white-ball side since 2015)!"

Opener Alex Hales, who was a late addition to the side after nearly three-and-a-half years once Jonny Bairstow was ruled out due to a freak leg injury, was happy over being a part of the championship-winning team after missing the 2019 ODI World Cup win in the eleventh hour.

"I definitely didn't think it (my time) would come around again. Incredibly great feeling. The last 6-8 weeks have been so special and enjoyable, but this puts the icing on the cake. I did take my time, they (Pakistan) were a highquality bowling attack and it took me a while to find my feet.

"I have really enjoyed this tournament and have played well in the important games. Not a bad one, my feet were caught nowhere and it was a decent ball (from Shaheen Shah Afridi to get me out)."

Pace all-rounder Chris Woakes felt it was great for England to win the final after being on the losing side while playing matches in Australia on numerous previous occasions. "We have lost a lot of games in Australia so to actually win this game at the MCG, a World Cup win, it's amazing.

"The wicket offered a little bit to the quick bowlers. The occasion played a part as well, the occasion gets the better of people and rightly so. But we got over the line and that's all that matters."

Young batter Harry Brook concluded by saying he had the belief in the side to win the T20 World Cup. "A lot of people would say they wouldn't expect to win the World Cup at 23 (years of age) but being in this squad with the players we've got, I always thought we were going to win it, and we've shown the world how good we are tonight."

"I thought the wicket would be a little bit better. I haven't played Test cricket here but I'd imagine it would be similar to that. It was a phenomenal day and obviously, the crowd have been fantastic."

Continued from Page 1

line-up, adding that Pandya will be taking over the Indian team after the World Cup.

"Having won the Indian Premier League on his first assignment as the captain, they would have marked Hardik Pandya out as the next captain. Hardik Pandya will definitely take over the team in the future and there will be some retirements, you never know. Players will be giving it a lot of thought. There are several

players in their mid-30s who will be reconsidering their position in the Indian T20I team," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

England openers Jos Buttler (80 not out from 49 balls) and Alex Hales (86 not out from 47) made a chase of 169 look like a walk in the park in the semifinal of the Men's T20 World Cup 2022, powering their team to the final with a convincing 10-wicket win over India.

‘Some senior players will be dropped from T20 format, Hardik may lead’

Local Students In The Fast Lane As Bowen Rail Launches New Partnership Program

Program.

BRC General Manager Brendan Lane said the Bowen State High School students’ experience was an example of the community outcomes the business wanted to deliver through the program.

“This is something the BRC team has been wanting to do for a while, and, now that we’ve moved into operations, we’re really excited to be able to give back to our community in a new way,” Mr Lane said.

Lincoln Thicker’s dreams of being an aerospace engineer are one step closer thanks to a balsa wood scale model of a Formula One car, and Bowen Rail Company’s new Community Partnership Program.

The Year 9 student was one of 27 budding engineers, mathematicians, and roboticists from Bowen State High School to travel to Brisbane recently to put their car design and general Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) knowledge to the test in the 2022 F1 in Schools Challenge.

Lincoln, who had the role of car manufacturer on the team, said the opportunity was invaluable as he geared up to pursue a career in aviation engineering

specialising in drones.

“The learning curve with new things like creating a car in (computer-aided design software) Inventor and having engineers come in and talk to us about Computational Fluid Dynamics was so much fun,” he said.

“I think we collaborated well as classmates with our strengths helping cover each other’s weaknesses and the experience definitely made me think engineering is right for me. I’d love to do it again.”

Lincoln and his F1 in Schools teammates were able to build their car and make the trip to race it after receiving the inaugural grant from Bowen Rail Company’s (BRC) Community Partnership

“The program is purposefully designed to help with the purchase of the small assets that can make a big contribution to what makes Bowen such a great place to live and work in.

“Tangible things like a new oven for the P&C tuckshop, kickboards for swimming training, or new football jerseys to help players get on the field and make new friends are what we’re looking to support.”

Mr Lane said the annual program would be awarded bi-annually in May and November with applications for the first round open now.

For more information about Bowen Rail Company’s Community Partnership Program, or to apply, head to www. bowenrail.com.au/sustainability/ community/

ABOUT BOWEN RAIL COMPANY

• The Bowen Rail Company (BRC) is a Queensland rail freight business launched in August 2020.

• Headquartered in Bowen, North Queensland, BRC combines worldleading technology with clever solutions to transport Queensland’s high-quality resources for export to the world.

• BRC’s GT46C-ACe Gen III locomotives help its local workforce work more efficiently, safely, and with a smaller environmental footprint.

• BRC’s first customer was Bravus Mining and Resources’ Carmichael mine.

• BRC operates on the Carmichael Rail Network, a 200km railway connecting the Carmichael mine 160km northwest of Clermont in central Queensland to the Newlands Rail System.

• BRC transports high quality coal from Carmichael to the North Queensland Export Terminal north of Bowen. Here, Carmichael coal is exported to nations around the world where it is used alongside renewables to help lift people out of energy poverty while at the same time reducing emissions intensity as the world transitions over coming decades to a low carbon future.

• The Carmichael Rail Network was built as part of the Carmichael project, through which more than A$1 billion was paid to regional Queensland contractors and businesses.

• Both Bowen Rail Company and Bravus Mining and Resources are Australian businesses of the Adani Group

Justice DY Chandrachud sworn-in as 50th Chief Justice of India India rejects references to J&K in China-Pak joint statement

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS)

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday administered the oath of office to Justice D.Y. Chandrachud as the 50th Chief Justice of India.

Justice Chandrachud took the oath at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which was attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, former Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit, Supreme Court

judges’ and other dignitaries.

On October 11, former Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit named Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, the senior most judge in the Supreme Court, as his successor. Justice Lalit retired on November 8.

Justice Chandrachud is the son of former Supreme Court judge Y.V. Chandrachud, who was the longest serving CJI for being in office for about seven years and four months between 1978 to 1985.

During his tenure, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud overturned two judgments of his father -- which were related to adultery and the right to privacy.

Justice Chandrachud obtained a PhD from Harvard Law School and is known as a non-conformist judge. He has played a key role in introducing virtual hearings during the Covid time, which has now become a permanent feature. He has been part of the landmark judgments on Ayodhya title dispute, decriminalisation of homosexuality, adultery, privacy,

entry of women into Sabarimala, etc. Justice Chandrachud practised in the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court. He passed BA with honours in economics from St Stephen’s College, New Delhi and completed LLB from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University. He also served as the Additional Solicitor General of India from 1998 till 2000. He was first appointed as a judge of the Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000. On May 13, 2016, he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Justice Chandrachud has also served as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court since October 31, 2013 until his elevation as an apex court judge.

Justice Chandrachud has been a visiting Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law at the University of Mumbai and at Oklahoma University School of Law, US. In June, 1998, he was designated as the senior advocate by the Bombay High Court.

‘Not receiving any instructions from Vijay Mallya’, lawyer to SC

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya's lawyer, facing extradition, told the Supreme Court on Thursday that he has been incommunicado for a long time and requested the court to discharge him from representing Mallya in the matter. A bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli asked the lawyer to provide Mallya's email and residential address in the UK to the court registry. Counsel submitted that he wants to be discharged from the case since he is not receiving any instructions from Mallya. The top court permitted the lawyer to initiate the procedure for withdrawing his legal representation for the fugitive.

The bench was informed that the top court had also directed the central government to take steps to secure the presence of Mallya in India. The apex court was considering a plea filed by Mallya in relation to a monetary dispute with the State Bank of India.

In July, the Supreme Court sentenced Mallya to four months' imprisonment for contempt of court in 2017, as he suppressed information from the court. The top court also ordered Mallya to deposit USD 40 million -- which he had transferred to his family members in violation of the court orders -- failing which attachment of his properties will begin. The top court had said: "In the circumstances, in order to maintain the majesty of

law, we must impose adequate punishment upon the contemnor and must also pass necessary directions so that the advantages secured by the contemnor or anyone claiming under him are set at naught and the amounts in question are available in execution of the decrees passed in the concerned recovery proceedings." The bench noted that Mallya never showed any remorse nor tendered any apology for his conduct, as it imposed a sentence of four months and fine of Rs 2,000 on him. It added that in case the amount of fine is not deposited within the time stipulated, Mallya would undergo a further sentence of two months.

9 in 10 Indians believe hybrid job improves work-life balance

need better technological tools to thrive in the hybrid working model, according to global study by PC and printer major HP.

New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) More than 9 in 10 (92 per cent) Indian employees believe that a hybrid work environment improves work-life balance and over 7 in 10 (72 per cent) say that the hybrid work model is more productive, a report showed on Tuesday.

About 88 per cent said hybrid work is increasing employee retention. However, employees

Most employees are unwilling to go back to the office full-time as they are relishing the hybrid work model, which became a necessity in the last two years due to the pandemic. "Organisations need to re-evaluate a hybrid workplace culture that offers flexibility and work-life balance while encouraging inclusivity, engagement, and a sense of well-being among employees. Most importantly, monitor employee satisfaction to boost

productivity at large," said Ketan Patel, Managing Director, HP India Market. Employers too have something to cheer about as Indian employees indicate a higher probability of staying in their current job if given a hybrid work option. "The hybrid model is seen to amplify employees' chance to prioritise personal well-being. Most of the respondents prefer working from office for two-three days a week," the findings showed. "Additionally, promoting a culture of trust within the workplace leads to inclusivity in a hybrid work environment," it added.

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS)

References to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in a ChinaPakistan joint statement issued on Thursday during Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's visit to Beijing has been rejected by India.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the references were "unwarranted".

Adding that India has consistently rejected such statements, Bagchi said that the union territories of J&K are and will remain India's

How three

integral part.

The joint statement was issued after talks between Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Commenting on the ChinaPakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said India has consistently conveyed "protests and concerns" to China and Pakistan as it includes projects in the "sovereign territory" of India.

"We resolutely reject any attempts to utilise such projects to change the status quo in that area," the spokesperson said.

young informants

made tech giant Google cough up Rs 1,338 cr fine

Srinagar, Oct 31 (IANS) Three young informants, Umar Javeed, Aaqib and Sukarma Thapar finally forced the tech giant, Google to cough up a whooping fine of Rs 1,338 crore for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets with its Android mobile operating system. While Umar Javeed and Sukarma Thapar were then working as research associates with the CCI, Umar's younger brother Aaqib was then a law student in the University of Kashmir. The CCI, the national competition regulator, is responsible for promoting competition and preventing activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on market competition in India. Umar and Aaqib belong to the Valley. That Google was abusing its dominant position in multiple markets was the complaint filed by the three young informants in 2018. The three young informants are all lawyers now, with Umar working at a public sector undertaking, Aaqib a practicing advocate in Delhi and Sukarma an independent consultant for law and policy. Umar said that compiling evidence was a tough task because they only had access to consumer-facing information to support their cause. "We can look at an Android phone and say there are some Google-owned apps that cannot be deleted even if we wanted to, but besides that, as consumers, we have little information on how exactly Android smartphone manufacturers and app developers are affected by the role Google plays in the Android ecosystem," he explained.

Aaqib said that the three of them were already interested in how the digital market was shaping up in India and how the policies and laws governing technology were influencing consumers and tech companies. "There were many late nights and early mornings where we would just work throughout

the night.

"I was still a law student then and helping these guys meant I was juggling research along with studying for exams and assignments," Aaqib said. The process of compiling a comprehensive dossier of information was not easy and took about two months.

"We had to focus on our day jobs and then research for this later in the day. That is when we would have some free time," Sukarma said. Then, events related to Google in Europe caught the trio's attention. "In July 2018, the European Commission (the EU's competition watchdog) imposed one of its largest fines on Google of 4.34 billion Euros for violating EU antitrust rules," Umar said.

After considering this information submitted by the three informants, the CCI launched an investigation in April 2019 into Google's conduct in the Android mobile device ecosystem which eventually resulted in the October 20 CCI judgment and fine.

In its response, Google had said it would review the competition watchdog's decision. "CCI's decision is a major setback for Indian consumers and businesses opening serious security risks for Indians and raising the cost of mobile devices for Indians."

Thanks to the whistle blown by these three informants, CCI has now tightened its noose around other big tech companies like Apple and Facebook after they were hauled up by European and Australian regulators. CCI has, however, not been successful in going all out in such anticompetitive activities by these companies. Apart from the current penalties, Google also faces a probe from CCI in two other cases. CCI hopes that these cases will serve as a 'guidance note' for other companies which may be flouting competition rules.

Better infrastructure, development will boost J&K’s tourism sector

by the Central government to promote employment and selfemployment.

"Under this campaign, more than 10 lakh appointment letters will be given by the Central government in the next few months in the first phase. The government has expanded the scope of the business environment in the state to boost employment," he added.

Karmayogis," he added.

PM Modi further said that the new industrial policy and business reforms action plan has paved the way for Ease of Doing Business. "It has given a tremendous impetus to investment in Jammu and Kashmir. The pace at which work is being done on developmentrelated projects will transform the entire economy here."

Seema Devi shatters glass ceiling, becomes Jammu’s first female e-rickshaw driver

Srinagar, Nov 2 (IANS) Better connectivity led by infrastructure development has boosted tourism sector in Jammu and Kashmir multifold besides bringing in various other developments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed out.

"Government is working comprehensively in the manufacturing and tourism sectors as both have huge employment potential," he said.

"The government is committed to taking benefits of development to all sections and citizens. Efforts are underway to strengthen the health and education infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir with the launch of 2 new AIIMS, 7 new medical colleges, 2 state cancer institutes and 15 nursing homes," PM Modi said.

The government had recently organised Rozgar Mela (Jobs Fair) in Jammu and Kashmir, as a part of the steps taken

He said that for a fast-paced development, the work has to be done with a new approach and thinking. "Thirty thousand government post recruitments have been done since 2019, out of which twenty thousand jobs were handed out in the last one and half years. The mantra of 'Employment through competence', is instilling new confidence in the youth of the state. Jammu & Kashmir is the pride of every Indian. Together we have to take Jammu & Kashmir to new heights. We also have a huge goal of a developed India of 2047 and to fulfil it we have to engage in nation-building with strong determination."

He said that completion of the process of selection for lakhs of vacancies in a few months and issuing appointment letters is an indication of the change that the government system has undergone in the last seven-eight years. "Today, work culture is changing," he said. "The efficiency of government departments has increased due to the efforts of our

The Prime Minister said that international flights from Srinagar to Sharjah have begun. "Farmers in J&K have benefited a great deal from increased connectivity as it is now easier for apple farmers to send the produce outside of the state. The government is working towards promoting transport through drones."

The Prime Minister highlighted the aspect of employment generation through infrastructure creation. He informed that thousands of kilometres of National Highways have been constructed across the country in the last eight years and work is being constantly done across the country on doubling, gauge conversion, and electrification of railway lines. He further added that new airports are being built in the country, railway stations are being modernised, and new waterways are being built. "More than three crore houses have also been built under PM Awas Yojana," PM Modi added.

Delhi Police grill ex-reporter of ‘The Wire’ in ‘fake news’ case

Sidharth Bhatia, editor M.K. Venu, deputy editor and executive news producer Jahnavi Sen, Foundation for Independent Journalism and other unknown persons.

Jammu, Nov 1 (IANS) In today's world, women are shining in every field of life, be it flying aeroplane, driving trains or securing the country's borders. However, there are still some places where the role of women is limited to a few tasks, feels Seema Devi, Jammu's first female e-rickshaw driver. "Especially in small cities, towns and villages, if a woman does something that most men do, she has to face a lot of criticism. Such thinking is common even in Jammu, but I still chose to do this job," said Seema, a resident of Nagrota, a suburb in Jammu district, who is quite popular on social media these days. Seema is married and has a son (15) and two daughters aged 14 and 11. She drives an e-rickshaw and is the first woman from the region to do so, for which she is getting a lot of appreciation on social media.

"While my husband also works,

given the rate of inflation, I also decided to work for better education and training of my children. I drive an e-rickshaw. My family members had to listen to a lot of taunts for my choice of profession but they have always stood by me, Seema said.

Seema, who feels no job is small, doesn't subscribe to the thought of limiting women to only a few jobs. "Women today drive trains, fly aeroplane, so why can't I drive an e-rickshaw," she asked, adding, "I was in 9th grade when my parents got me married. I was fond of reading, but I couldn't pursue my studies. Now I want to give my daughters higher education." On December 2020, a woman named Pooja Devi from Kathua had become the first woman from Jammu and Kashmir to drive a bus and a truck. Now Seema has added another feather to the list of women breaking the glass ceiling in the region.

Two teachers booked for punishing student who raised ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogan

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS)

Delhi Police's Crime Branch is questioning Devesh Kumar, ex-reporter of the news website The Wire, in connection with its fabricated story related to BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya.

Sources said that he is being questioned for the last four to five hours. 'The Wire' had also filed a complaint with Delhi Police against its former consultant Devesh Kumar. "The complaint was filed by the news website late Saturday evening through email," said a senior police official.

Earlier on Monday, the Delhi

Police had conducted raids at The Wire office and the house of its editors M.K. Venu, Jahnavi Sen, Sidharth Bhatia and founder Siddharth Varadarajan, and seized electronic devices including mobile phones and tablets.

Police had on Saturday registered an FIR against 'The Wire' and its senior editors based on a complaint filed by Malviya, alleging that the portal forged documents with a view to malign and tarnish his reputation.

The complaint was filed against 'The Wire' founder Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor

"I am filing the complaint for the offences of cheating, forgery for the purpose of cheating, forgery for the purpose of harming reputation, using forged document or electronic record as genuine, and defamation, among other provisions of IPC ('The Wire', Siddharth Varadarajan, Sidharth Bhatia, MK Venu and Jahnavi Sen shall be collectively termed as 'Accused')," Malviya stated in his complaint.

'The Wire' had in a series of reports alleged that Malviya had certain privileges to take down posts from Meta-owned Instagram, a claim which was later denied by Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook. "The posts in question were surfaced for review by automated systems, not humans. And the underlying documentation appears to be fabricated," Meta's director for policy communications, Andy Stone, had said in a tweet.

Bhopal, Nov 3 (IANS) The police in Madhya Pradesh have booked two teachers of a private school for allegedly punishing a student for raising 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' slogan during the school assembly.

The incident happened at Christ Senior Secondary School in Guna on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the family members and a few social organisations staged a protest in front of the school campus. A group of right wing members also joined the protest and organised 'Hanuman Chalisa Path' at the school premises.

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Thursday intervened in the matter and directed Guna district police to lodge an FIR against teachers who punished the student for raising slogans. Mishra said that as soon as the matter came to his notice, he immediately spoke to the officials.

Teachers -- Justin and Jasmeena Khatun, have been booked under sections 323, 506 and 34 of the IPC, and Section 75 in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of

Children) Act, according to the police. In his complaint, the student -- Shivansh Jain, told the police that after the national anthem, he raised the slogan of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.

"In the meantime, Justin sir came and he took me out of the line and said, 'what are you saying, go to the Father'. After that, my Hindi teacher came and said to go to your class teacher. When I met the class teacher, she said that I should raise it at home.

"After that, I reached the classroom. One of my classmates has been chosen as vice-captain of the Red House on which my class teacher Jasmeena Khatun said that 'one boy is making the class proud and I am tarnishing the class's name'. After that Madam made me sit on the ground for the next four periods," the student wrote in his complaint. Reacting on the issue, Congress spokesperson Abbas Hafeez said a school should not be a "den of politics".

"I think it is not right to lodge an FIR. Slogans are being raised for the support of the country, it should not be stopped.

Onus of creating new world order on us, PM tells world leaders at G20 summit

G20 meets in the holy land of Buddha and Gandhi, we’ll agree to convey a strong message of peace to the world.”

New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday underlined the need to ensure collective peace, harmony and security in the world.

Addressing the G20 summit in Bali, which got underway ealier in the day, Modi said, “The responsibility of creating a new world order for post-Covid lies on our shoulders. The need of the hour is to show concrete and collective resolve to ensure peace, harmony and security.”

Referring to the next G20 meet which is scheduled to be held in India, the Prime Minister further said, “I am confident that when

Referring to the Ukraine conflict, Modi emphasised that the world has to find a way to ensure ceasefire and return to diplomacy.

Citing the example of the second World War and the havoc created by it, the Prime Minister said that world leaders then had made serious efforts to ensure peace “and now it is our turn”.

Global supply chains are in ruins, the Prime Minister noted due to the prevailing geopolitical situation, which has led to a crisis of essential goods globally.

“Today’s fertilizer shortage is tomorrow’s food crisis, for which the world will not have a solution. We should build a mutual agreement to maintain the supply

chain of both manure and food grains,” Modi said in his address in Bali.

“By 2030, half of our electricity will be generated from renewable sources. Therefore time-bound and affordable finance and sustainable supply of technology to developing countries is essential for inclusive energy transition,” he noted further.

Highlighting the significance of India’s energy-security, Modi said that it is important for global growth, since it’s among the world’s fastest growing economies.

“We must not allow any restrictions on supply of energy and therefore stability in the energy market should be ensured,” he said, adding that India is committed to clean energy and environment.

G20: Modi, Sunak to confirm new bespoke route for young professionals

to experience all that life in the UK has to offer, and vice-versa, making our economies and societies richer.”

The scheme will be reciprocal.

“The launch of the scheme is a significant moment both for the bilateral relationship with India and the UK’s wider commitment to forging stronger links with the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen both the economies,” the statement added.

Nearly a quarter of all international students in Britain are from India, and Indian investment into the UK supports 95,000 jobs across the UK.

PM Modi shakes hands, exchanges pleasantries with Chinese President Xi in Bali

New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak will meet on Wednesday at the G20 Summit in Bali during which the two leaders will confirm “a new bespoke, reciprocal route” which will open in early 2023 to give young professionals a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in a professional and cultural exchange.

Hours after Sunak and Modi met on the sidelines of the summit on Tuesday, the British Prime Minister announced that 3,000 Indians will be granted visas annually to come to the UK.

Under the new UK-India Young Professionals Scheme, the country will offer 3,000 places annually to 18-30 year-old degree educated Indian nationals to come to the UK to live and work

here for up to two years.

According to a statement issued by the UK Prime Minister’s Office, India is the first visa-national country to benefit from such a scheme, highlighting the strength of the UK-India Migration and Mobility Partnership agreed last year.

“The Indo-Pacific is increasingly crucial for our security and our prosperity. It is teeming with dynamic and fast-growing economies, and the next decade will be defined by what happens in this region,” Sunak said in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office.

“I know first-hand the incredible value of the deep cultural and historic ties we have with India.

I am pleased that even more of India’s brightest young people will now have the opportunity

The UK is also negotiating a trade deal with India, which would build on the UK-India trading relationship, already worth 24 billion pounds, and allow the UK to seize the opportunities presented by India’s growing economy.

Besides Modi, Sunak is also scheduled will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, becoming the first British Prime Minister to meet the latter in almost five years.

He will be clear on the need for China and the UK, as permanent members of the UN Security Council and major global economies, to establish a frank and constructive relationship.

New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met Chinese President Xi Jinping and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a G20 dinner hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Indonesia’s Bali.

In a video uploaded on social media, both Modi and Xi could be seen smiling and shaking hands and later the Prime Minister is also seen interacting with Blinken during the dinner.

The Prime Minister is in

Indonesia to attend the G20 summit, where earlier in the day, he called for creating a new world order during his address.

On the Ukraine conflict, Modi urged world leaders to ensure ceasefire and return to diplomacy.

On the sidelines of the summit, the Prime Minister met a gamut of world leaders including US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Modi, Biden meet in Bali, review ties

Sydney, Oct 20 (IANS) A new law aimed at better protecting frontline health and emergency services workers from assaults and violence has come into force in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). Assaulting these workers will be met with tough new penalties, ranging from up to 12 months in prison and/or a fine of A$2,200 ($1,378), to a maximum of 14 years in jail for the worst offenders, Xinhua news agency reported.

"These new laws reinforce the NSW government's commitment to strengthening frontline services and supporting those who selflessly serve in these critical roles," the state's Premier Dominic Perrottet said in a statement released on Thursday.

NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman said the new legislation is part of the state government's response to the report of the Assaults on Emergency Services Workers from NSW Sentencing Council, which had found a range of offences against emergency services workers across the state.

"The NSW government has ensured that firefighters from the NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, pharmacy staff, community health workers and NSW State Emergency Service frontline workers are covered by the new offences, in recognition of the significant work they do for our community," Speakman added.

‘We are 90 nautical miles close’, Modi tells Indian diaspora in Bali

2014 and post-2014 India, with the country now moving ahead at an “unprecedented speed and scale”.

In a display of wit and humour, the PM said: “There is a huge difference between pre-2014 and post-2014 India, and that is not Modi.”

Bali, Nov 15 (IANS) India and its diaspora in Indonesia is not 90 nautical miles far, but 90 nautical miles close, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said addressing the Indian community in Bali on Tuesday.

Modi, who is here to attend the G20 Summit at the invitation of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, said that the accomplishments of the Indian diaspora makes him proud.

“There may be a difference of 90 nautical miles between India and

Indonesia, but I want to say that we are not 90 nautical miles far, but 90 nautical miles close,” Modi said amid thunderous applause.

“Indonesia has lovingly accepted the Indians who came here, accepted them as a part of this society, which is why the diaspora is contributing towards the development and prosperity of Indonesia,” Modi said.

Asserting that India is a beacon of hope for the world in the 21st century, the PM said that there is a huge difference between pre-

“Today Indian is working at an unprecedented speed and scale. Indian of today thinks big,” Modi said, adding that India today holds numero uno position in digital transactions, global fintech, IT outsourcing, smartphone data consumption and vaccine manufacturing.

“Since 2014, we have opened more than 320 million bank accounts. More than the population of the USA,” said the BJP leader, who again stormed back to power in 2019 general elections after 2014.

The leader added that post 2014, India has built houses for three crore citizens for free of cost.

As per the Ministry of External

G20: Partnership to mobilise $20bn for Indonesia’s clean energy transition

operations of the multilateral development banks.

A successful partnership is expected to help shift Indonesia’s power sector peaking date forward by approximately seven years and result in a cumulative reduction of more than 300 megatons in greenhouse gas emissions through 2030 and a reduction of well above 2 gigatons through 2060 from Indonesia’s current trajectory.

Affairs data, there are 120,000 (1.20 lakh) Indians residing in Indonesia.

Indians were brought to Indonesia by the Dutch in the 19th century as indentured labourers to work on plantations located around Medan in Sumatra. A significant majority of these came from South India.

The Indian diaspora in Bali also includes several thousand Sindhi families who constitute the second wave of Indian immigrants who made Indonesia their home in the first half of the 20th century, according to an MEA report.

“A lot of Sindhi families from India live here, and they have immensely contributed to the textiles and sports goods sector,” Modi said, asserting that India has a lot to give to Indonesia, in terms of talent, technology, innovation and industry.

He also said that a lot of people

here with roots in Gujarat are involved in gems, diamond, mining and farming sectors, while artistes from the Tamil community are contributing towards Indonesian arts and culture.

He also invited the Indian community for the upcoming Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be held in Madhya Pradesh on January 9 next year.

“Get Indonesian families along with you too when you come,” Modi said.

“I believe that your contributions towards strengthening relations between India and Indonesia will continue,” Modi said, amid chants of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.

Earlier, Modi played the drums as a huge crowd of people dressed in Indian attire welcomed him upon his landing in Bali.

Modi meets WHO chief, IMF head during G20 summit

Bali, Nov 15 (IANS) At the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) event at the G20 Summit, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and leaders of the International Partners Group (IPG) of like minded countries, co-led by the US and Japan, on Tuesday launched a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) developed with Indonesia during its G20 Presidency.

The landmark partnership, comprising Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Britain, pursues an ambitious and just power sector transition in Indonesia, supporting a trajectory consistent with keeping 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming limit within reach.

Indonesia will work, with support from international partners, to develop a comprehensive investment plan to achieve significant new targets and policies to reduce GHG emissions and support impacted communities by: Peaking total power sector emissions by 2030, shifting its projected emissions peak forward; Capping power sector emissions at 290 megatons of CO2 in 2030, down from baseline value of 357 MT CO2;

Establishing a goal to reach net zero emissions in the power sector by 2050, bringing forward Indonesia’s net zero power sector emissions target by 10 years; and Accelerating the deployment of renewable energy so that renewable energy generation comprises at least 34 per cent of all power generation by 2030, which would roughly double the total renewables deployment over the course of this decade compared to current plans.

To achieve these targets, this long-term partnership intends to mobilise an initial $20 billion in public and private financing over a three-to-five-year period, using a mix of grants, concessional loans, market rate loans, guarantees, and private investments.

Contributions to the JETP include $10 billion in public sector pledges, and a commitment to work to mobilize and facilitate $10 billion in private investment from an initial set of private financial institutions coordinated by the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), including Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Macquarie, MUFG, and Standard Chartered.

The partnership will also leverage the expertise, resources, and

Over the next six months, the parties will work together to develop a concrete plan for investments, financing, and technical assistance to support these ambitious goals.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said: “Indonesia is committed to using our energy transition to achieve a green economy and drive sustainable development. We are grateful for the cooperation and the support from our international partners to realise its full implementation that will accelerate this transition.

“This partnership will generate valuable lessons for the global community and can be replicated in other countries to help meet our shared climate goals through concrete collaborative actions.”

US President Joe Biden emphasised the importance of this partnership, saying: “Indonesia has shown tremendous leadership and ambition throughout the development of this partnership. The resulting new and accelerated targets demonstrate how countries can dramatically cut emissions and increase renewable energy while advancing a commitment to creating quality jobs and protecting livelihoods and communities.”

“Happy to have met you in Bali, @DrTedros! India is committed to doing everything possible to build a healthier planet,” the Prime Minister tweeted from his personal Twitter handle.

The WHO chief on his part tweeted, “Thank you #India Prime Minister @narendramodi for your collaboration with @ WHO on hosting and building the

global traditional health centre. Together for #HealthForAll! #G20.”

The Prime Minister

“Earlier today, PM @ narendramodi met @KGeorgieva and @GitaGopinath at the @ g20org Summit in Bali,” the PMO tweeted.

Georgieva on her part, thanked Modi for the interaction.

“Thank you @narendramodi for sparing time at the margins of @g20org! Great talking with you - and to be joined by @ GitaGopinath”, she tweeted.

New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali and said that India is committed towards ensuring a healthy planet.

also met IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva and Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath.

Taliban crackdown on Afghan universities to curb women’s protests

of women were barred from entering the campus because of their appearance, RFE/RL reported.

Weeks after seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban had imposed a new dress code and gender segregation for women at universities and colleges across the country.

The Taliban's Education Ministry ordered that all female students, teachers, and staff must wear an all-encompassing burqa or an Islamic abaya robe and niqab that covers the hair, body, and most of the face.

Madrasas in Assam asked to submit details of teachers

While the move drew criticism, the state government had defended its action.

The latest deadline was set during a meeting attended by Director General of Police (DGP), Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta, on Wednesday.

Guwahati, Nov 9 (IANS) Assam government has asked all the madrasas in the state to provide information about the teachers employed by them latest by December 1, an official said on Wednesday.

A senior government official said that the madrasas have been directed to furnish the details to the Directorate for Secondary Education.

Kabul, Nov 9 (IANS) Afghanistan's universities have become a hotbed of resistance to the Taliban, with female students staging protests against the militant group's sweeping restrictions on women. In response, the Taliban has cracked down on several university campuses across the country, violently breaking up

demonstrations and expelling students accused of political activism, RFE/RL reported.

In the latest incident, the Taliban beat dozens of female students who staged a rally on October 30 outside their university in the northeastern province of Badakhshan.

The incident came after a group

Classes must also be segregated by gender -- or at least divided by a curtain. Female students must be taught only by other women.

The order was condemned by activists, who said it would create fear and a culture of discrimination against women and girls.

Calcutta HC threatens to cancel fresh primary teachers’ recruitment exam

The madrasas came under government scanner after a few teachers were arrested for alleged terror links. The state administration even demolished three madrasas, while another such institution was razed by the general public.

Notably, 47 people, including some madrasa teachers, have been arrested for suspected terror links with Al-Qaeda in India Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) modules in the last six months.

IMA extends support to MBBS students protesting against bond system in Haryana

Kolkata, Nov 9 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday issued a strong note of caution to West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) and even threatened o order cancellation of the fresh primary teachers' recruitment examination scheduled on November 14 if the board does not follow uniform rules for those qualifying in the 2014 and 2017 examinations. Recently, as the merit list of those appearing in the 2017 examinations were released where candidates securing 82 out of 150 in the written examinations were shown as qualified. However, the same principle was not followed in the case of the merit list for 2014.

The bench of Justice Avijit Gangopadhyay observed earlier

that the candidates securing 82 out of 150, which means 54.7 per cent, should be taken as 55 per cent, which is the scheduled qualifying marks for the recruitment examinations.

However, on Wednesday, Justice Gangopadhyay observed that although this principle was observed in case of those appearing for the examinations in 2017 but not for those appearing in 2014. As this was brought to his notice on Wednesday, he got irked. "Previously I said that I will not pose any hurdle for fresh examinations. But now I will be forced to withdraw that statement. If I see that the board is flouting norms I will have to order for cancellation of the examination," he said.

The WBBPE counsel then informed the court that announcement by the board declaring those securing 82 out of 150 in examination will be declared as qualified will be done by November 10.

Justice Gangopadhyay is also unhappy over the board's approach towards fresh recruitments for 269 posts which became vacant after termination of service of those procuring the job illegally as per order of the Calcutta High Court. Although WBBPE challenged that decision of the Calcutta High Court at the Supreme Court, the board's petition was dismissed by the apex court. Thereafter the board issued a notification for recruitments for those 269 posts, only for it be withdrawn later.

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) The Indian Medical Council (IMC) has extended its support to the MBBS students at PGIMS Rohtak who are protesting against the bond policy for MBBS admission in Haryana. As per the bond policy, an amount of Rs 40 lakh has to be deposited by an MBBS student which will be refunded only after seven years of service and if the student fails to serve for this period, he or she will have to forfeit the bond amount.

"IMA stands with the protesting doctors of Haryana and denounces the state's harshness and oppressive actions," IMA said in a statement on Wednesday. The medical body has also requested Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar that a constructive discourse must be established to consider the legitimate demand, and that the bond system be scraped/ modified to suit the government

and the students alike. The MBBS students of PGIMS Rohtak are protesting against the state government's bond policy for taking admission in government medical colleges.

"The nation is in shock to note that while exercising the democratic rights to oppose such moves, students became a victim of barbaric police action, where female doctors were manhandled and detained by the state police and the gathering was showered with water cannons on a cold night," the IMA satement read. Such treatment by the state government is deeply discouraging, reprehensible and reflects an insensitive and callous attitude and is disrespect to democratic, peaceful protest, the statement added.

MAKE IN INDIA

As world economies restart their engines in a bid to regain lost ground due to the Covid-19 pandemic, India too shows signs of economic buoyancy and promise. India’s Make in India initiative holds a key to the global economic revival, something that should interest Australian government ministries, corporate sector, entrepreneurs, institutions seeking R&D collaborations and Australia Inc in general, among others. India assumes greater importance as several major world economies including American, Japanese, German, British and South Korean look to move out and diversify their businesses from China. India has jumped to 63rd rank in the World Bank’s Ease of Development 2020 report, and has also been ranked as the 9th largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment destinations in 2019 by the World Investment Report 2020 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Country’s largest, most powerful wind turbine commissioned in Gujarat

hub height of the wind turbine generator is 120 meter, about the height of a 40-storey building.

Ahmedabad, Nov 3 (IANS)

Standing 200 meter tall, towering over the Mundra coastline, is India's largest Wind Turbine Generator (WTG) commissioned in Gujarat, India. With the final blade in place, the 5.2 MW WTG is the first addition to ANIL's (Adani New Industries Ltd) product portfolio. This prototype by Mundra Windtech Limited (MWL) is taller than the world's tallest statue, the Statue of Unity (182 meter), with blades bigger than the wingspan of a Boeing 747. Size certainly matters, at least when you're generating wind energy. The larger and more powerful a wind turbine, the more efficient it will be at producing renewable power. This prototype wind turbine by MWL is pushing the boundaries of what is possible. At 78 meter, its blades are bigger than the wingspan of a jumbo jet making it the longest in the country. It is the biggest wind turbine in terms of power and has a rotor diameter of 160 meter. The

Milind Kulkarni, COO, MWL, said, "The proto assembly was completed in a record of 19 days. It is installed, commissioned, and we shall soon go for a type certification now. This prototype has laid a foundation stone for us to go for another prototype which shall be even taller than the 140 meter hub height. Going forward, we shall manufacture our own blades, while we have already started the assembly of Nacelle, and Hub in our own upcoming facility in Mundra."

Wind turbines have had a growth spurt over the last couple of years.

Turbines of the capacity above 4 MW are typically associated with offshore installation - where the machines have gone as big as 14 MW. But an onshore turbine of 5.2 MW is a rarity and certainly not seen in India. This machine is a first and has been built with technology from W2E (Wind to Energy) of Germany. It will work at wind speeds as low as 3 metres per second (mps) and up to 20 mps, reaching its optimum power production at around 12 mps wind speeds. In continuation to strengthen quality and validating new configurations

and components to develop even larger and more efficient turbines, this wind turbine is both an example of and a reason for the success of wind power.

Conforming to IECRE 16400 standards, the turbine model will power approximately 4,000 homes. The capacity to produce more energy from a single turbine means fewer turbines need to be built at each wind farm. This means simplified operation and maintenance processes, increasing the accessibility and affordability of Renewables for both companies and end-users.

It is a great move as MWL is foraying to carry on business as manufacturers of wind turbine generators and its other auxiliaries in Mundra. It shall drive down logistical costs by enabling blade assembly onsite and reduce the costs for permitting equipment and road work required for transporting longer blades.

Dennis Schultz, plant head of Blade Production Unit at MWL, shares, "We have partnered with two European leaders in technology advancements -WINDnovation for rotor blade designs and W2E.

New Delhi, Oct 25 (IANS) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has refused to hear a plea seeking directions from the Centre to test the efficiency of a device claiming to capture ultra-fine particulates, including PM1 and PM2.5-1, and to declare it as a part of the “Make in India” and “National Clean Air Programme” initiative, if it qualifies for the requisite test and guidelines.

“We are unable to entertain such application. Role of the Tribunal is to adjudicate on substantial question of environment and not to test devices of commercial enterprises,” the tribunal bench headed by its Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said in a recent order while disposing of the plea.

According to the applicant Mirza Mohammad Arif, he is an expert on the subject of control of

air pollution and has invented ‘POLRED’, a device to control air pollution.

Arif claims POLRED is the first device in the world to capture ultra-fine particulate matter such as PM1 and PM2.5-1 and has been granted patent by more than 50 countries in addition to India.

The petitioner sought directions to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s National Physical Laboratory to monitor and test the efficiency of the installed POLRED devices in the pilot project for four to eight weeks and submit a report to the NGT.

He also sought to direct the respondents to conduct a pilot project using the required number of POLRED units and direct if it qualifies the requisite test and guidelines.

C-295 aircraft facility big step to become truly ‘Aatmanirbhar’: Chandrasekaran

aircraft manufacturing plant here, expressing hope that soon passenger aircraft will be manufactured in India with the 'Make in India' tagline.

The C-295 transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be manufactured by Tata-Airbus with an investment of Rs 20,000 crore.

Speaking on the occasion, TATA Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran said, "With the setting up of the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Vadodara, the Tata Group will now be able to take aluminum ingots at one end of the value stream and turn it into am Airbus C295 aircraft for the Indian Air Force. This is a historic moment not only for the Tata Group, but for the entire country, as it embraces the Prime Minister's vision of being truly 'Aatmanirbhar'."

Guillaume Faury, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus, said, "It is a moment of pride and honour for the company to be part of the aerospace in India and the company's airbus teams are committed to support the modernisation of the Indian Air Force with the C295 programme, which will also contribute to the development of the private defence manufacturing sector in India."

In September 2021, India had formalised the acquisition of 56 Airbus C-295 aircraft to replace the Indian Air Force's (IAF) legacy AVRO fleet.

It is the first 'Make in India' aerospace programme in the private sector involving the development of a complete industrial ecosystem -- from manufacturing to assembly, testing and qualification to

delivery and maintenance of the complete lifecycle of the aircraft. The first 16 fly-away C-295MW aircraft are scheduled to be received between September 2023 and August 2025. The first 'Make in India' aircraft is expected from September 2026.

C-295MW is a transport aircraft of 5-10 tonne capacity with contemporary technology that will replace the IAF's ageing Avro aircraft. It has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and para dropping of troops and cargo. Short take-off/landing from semiprepared surfaces is another of its features. The aircraft will strengthen the logistic capabilities of the IAF.

NGT junks plea to promote ‘anti-air pollution device’ under ‘Make in India’

Vadodara, Oct 30 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid the foundation stone for a C-295 transport

Severe storm leaves thousands of Australians without power

30-meter-tall tree had fallen on her neighbor’s car. “I was pretty shocked - I didn’t think it was going to be anywhere near as bad as it is,” she told News Corp Australia.

“The neighbour’s car is almost cut in half. I’ve never seen a storm like it, it’s definitely the worst storm I’ve experienced,” she said.

Noted Australian professor slams western media for anti-India bias

Canberra, Nov 13 (IANS) Tens of thousands of people in the Australian state of South Australia (SA) have been left without electricity after a severe thunderstorm hit the state.

SA recorded more than 423,000 lightning strikes on Saturday as a storm system brought winds exceeding 100 km per hour and flash flooding, Xinhua News Agency reported.

As of Sunday morning, there were about 76,000 SA Power customers

without electricity, with some areas advised they will have to wait until Monday until service is restored.

The state emergency service (SES) received more than 1,000 calls for assistance between Saturday and Sunday morning.

A “mini cyclone” was reported to have hit the Adelaide Hills, knocking down trees and damaging houses.

Resident Kristen Stevens, 33, said she returned home to find a

The hills and Adelaide’s southern suburbs were hit hardest by the storm, which forced the cancellation of a music festival and delays to sports events.

In the town of Middleton on SA’s south coast flash flooding inundated businesses and homes after the creek burst its banks at approximately 5:00 p.m. local time.

The weather was expected to ease on Sunday, with Adelaide, capital city of SA, forecast to receive about 10 mm of rain.

Australian immigration system in state of disrepair: Minister

Responding to a series of reports about organised crime exploitation of the visa system, she revealed she had been advised that “tens of thousands” of people could be in Australia illegally.

“The migration system is in a state of disrepair. There are systemic problems. Criminals are coming into our country operating with impunity and no one’s doing anything about it.”

minister between 2014 and 2021 in the former coalition government.

O’Neil said the expert evidence does suggest that during that nine years that the coalition was in power, literally tens of thousands of people came into the country. They might be exploited farm workers.

They might be women who are trapped in sexual slavery.

Canberra, Nov 7 (IANS)

Australia’s Home Affairs Minister, Clare O’Neil on Monday said the country’s immigration system is broken and being exploited by criminals.

O’Neil, who has served in the key ministerial portfolio since the Labor Party won May’s election, blamed her predecessor, Peter Dutton, for the issues, reports Xinhua news agency.

Nine newspapers have revealed how global human trafficking syndicates have exposed flaws in Australia’s border security and immigration for sex trafficking, worker exploitation and drug crime.

O’Neil flagged an independent inquiry into the revelations.

Dutton, now leader of the opposition, served as the minister for immigration and border protection, or home affairs

“The human consequences of these problems are enormous, and we’ve got to change the way that this system operates so we can have a properly run migration system,” she said.

In a statement, Dutton said he had “zero tolerance when it comes to any attempt to exploit our visa system and vulnerable individuals” and would support government proposals “to combat visa fraud within the Australian migration system”.

Australian housing prices drop for 6 months in a row

Canberra, Nov 1 (IANS) Housing price in Australia have recorded a sixth-month slump in a row, according to the latest data released on Tuesday.

Property analyst firm, Corelogic's national 'Home Value Index' monthly report revealed that across the nation dwelling values fell by a further 1.2 per cent in October from a month earlier, with every capital city and nearly every region recording a drop in housing values, reports Xinhua news agency.

Among the capital cities, Brisbane saw the most pronounced fall of 2 per cent, while the pace of falls continued to ease across Sydney

and Melbourne.

New South Wales (down 1.7 per cent) and Victoria (down 1.4 per cent) fell the most, although prices rose slightly in South Australia (up 0.1 per cent).

Corelogic's Research Director Tim Lawless said it is probably still too early to claim the worst of the decline phase is over.

"Despite the easing in the pace of decline, with Australian borrowers facing the double whammy of further interest rate hikes along with persistently high and rising inflation, there is a genuine risk we could see the rate of decline re-accelerate as interest rates rise further and

household balance sheets become more thinly stretched," he said.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has increased rates six times from May to 2.6 per cent.

It is scheduled to unveil the monthly monetary decision on Tuesday with a further 0.25 percentage point increase widely expected.

"With borrowing capacity being hit hard as interest rates rise, it's likely more housing demand has been diverted towards more affordable sectors of the market," Lawless said.

New Delhi, Nov 11: Australian professor Salvatore Babones has slammed the western media for grossly misrepresenting the astounding success of Indian democracy. "I would like to be the bhakt (disciple) for the world's most successful democracy," Babones said at a Delhi event on Wednesday. Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, Babones is touring India for the past one week sharing his views about Indian intellectuals and democracy. Babones, who has suddenly risen to prominence because of his pro-India observations, said that he has been carefully researching India for the last three years while being in Australia. Wading into an acerbic international debate, where the Western media has categorised India as a 'fascist nation', and international surveys have criticised India for a 'falling democracy', Babones said that he finds Indian democracy unique. Comparing India with other democratic countries globally, Babones said that democracy in eastern European countries is buttressed by European Union (EU) rules. South Korea and Taiwanese democracies are just about 30 years old. Therefore, "you have to look at the world's best democracies to compare India's 70-year-old democracy. India is the only post-colonial country to have retained its democracy all these years".

In an event organised by the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation (SPMRF), Babones said: "I am not here to defend Indian democracy. That is to be done by the Indians themselves. I am here to expose those who criticise Indian democracy". He added that India is an "extreme outlier" in the democracy sweepstakes. "It is the world's most extraordinarily successful democracy. Yet it has been placed just two levels above post-coup Myanmar," he observed, adding that India is in a tough neighbourhood and yet it has maintained its democratic tradition. He stressed that India has seen peaceful elections and transfer of power. Talking about journalism and India's ranking in the world, the Australian professor said that once again India has been placed close to China over the number of deaths of journalists. Trying to explain these contradictions, he said that people "are cherry-picking

data and sharing it selectively. Many journalists function more as activists and end up misrepresenting information about India". Former CEO of Prasar Bharati Corporation, Shashi Shekhar Vempati said that even the global media is pushing geopolitically sponsored narratives. He said that it is possible because of India's hostile neighbours, a lot of the information that is against India could be State-sponsored. Vempati said that a large body of scholarly research has to be conducted to counter the false narratives on India.

Former ambassador to the US, Kanwal Sibal said that as part of the foreign service, he has always been fighting negative perceptions about India.

He said that after the book The City of Joy was published, the European countries retained an enduring image about poverty in India. Another perception in comparison to China was that India never generated enough intellectual capacity. Sibal added that after the poverty perception, the foreign service had to defend India over its non-aligned status, followed by the nuclear issue, proximity to the USSR and now the country has to defend itself over "strategic autonomy". Talking about his time in Washington as India's ambassador in the nineties, Sibal said: "The West's obsession with Pakistan brought onslaughts on India regarding Kashmir and human rights. NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) was against us. HRW Asia had direct proximity in the US State Department." Replying to a question, Sibal said that a lot of damage has been done to India's and the BJP's image by our own people and the Western media.

"This 'business of fascism' has taken root among people in the Western nations which is unfortunate." He pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has excellent relations with world leaders like Vladimir Putin of Russia and Emmanuel Macron of France. Sibal said that the leaders of the Nordic countries meet Modi and similarly the leaders of the Central Asian Republic (CAR) also have good relations with Modi. "There is a lot of respect for Modi among many countries and leaders," Sibal said.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

Canada, Australia govts’ advisories ‘expose’ Pakistan as a hub of terrorism

wars, extortions, explosions, kidnappings, and political demonstrations. Moving near military areas is risky and should be avoided at all costs. The Pakistani Military arrests civilians and can keep them in custody indefinitely, the advisory further explains.

States of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh are dangerous to move around. The former has a fervent insurgency going on as natives are demanding a separate country.

$1 mn reward to nab Indian suspect in Australia murder case

and are working with authorities to find Rajwinder Singh, 38, who worked as a nurse in Innisfail, but fled the country two days after the murder, leaving behind his job, wife and three children in Australia, news.com.au reported. An investigation centre has also been established in Cairns and police officers from across the state who can speak both Hindi and Punjabi have been flown in, according to the police.

Chandigarh, Nov 9: In a scathing indictment of Islamabad, the Canadian and Australian governments have warned their citizens to be alert in Pakistan as the country is marred by “terrorism, civil unrest, sectarian violence, and kidnappings”.

“Several terrorist groups operate across the country (Pakistan)... incidents attributed to extremism, ethnic divisions, sectarian strife, political disputes, bombings, shootings, kidnappings, suicide bombings...directed at a wide range of targets... have caused many deaths,” says the Canadian document available with indianarrative.com.

The government of Australia has asked its citizens to reconsider their plans to travel to Pakistan as the security situation there is volatile and a high threat of terrorist attacks, kidnappings and violence exists.

The Canadian government’s lengthy warning-cum-advisory issued to its citizens on November 7 states: “The terrorists could target public places frequented by foreign tourists, minority groups, airports, western-style shopping arcades, hotels, and restaurants. The riskiest days in Pakistan are Eid, Muharram, Independence

day, August 14 and the national day, March 23.”

The attack on former Prime Minister Imran Khan and others on November 3 has created a volatile situation in Pakistan.

Demonstrations, roadblocks, use of teargas by police, and frequent firing of gunshots have been reported from major cities. The Army deployed troops and tanks to assist the local security forces, it explains.

On Women’s safety, the Canadian document says, “travelling alone you may be subjected to verbal abuse, harassment, gender-based violence or even molestation,” warning White women. Further, the document says, “Forced marriage affecting foreigners occurs. It sometimes occurs without the affected person’s prior knowledge or consent.”

Hence keep your passports safely in your possession and immediately report the matter to the Consulate.

The capital city of Islamabad and the port city of Karachi in Sindh province are also not free from violence and crime. Visiting Lal Masjid is avoidable, in case you must, maintain a low profile, Canada’s advisory states.

Karachi is a city of gang

The Army is carrying out counterinsurgency operations leading to the violation of the human rights of the Baloch people. The ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor project is under Baloch fire leading to the killings of Chinese engineers and technicians, it adds.

Conservative people inhabit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beside the majority of poor tribals who often come into conflict with Westerners. Again, kidnappings, extortion, honour killings, and drug smuggling is the order of the day here, observes Canada.

In Sindh, a large number of Hindu families lived who did not move to India after the partition in 1947. In this state, many women are kidnapped and forcibly married off to Muslim men. Incidents of honour killings are common in this state.

Indianarrative.com has been regularly highlighting the issue of women’s safety and rights in Pakistan, especially that of minority Hindus who are often abducted, converted to Islam and married off to Muslim men.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

Elderly travellers ‘coerced’ into trafficking drugs into Australia

their money, some unwittingly working as drug mules for the criminal syndicate."

Among the 18 arrests were some elderly U.S. nationals who were caught with 15 kg of methamphetamine and 1.5 kg of cocaine in their luggage and two Germans who were carrying 18 kg of methamphetamine.

Melbourne, Nov 3 (IANS) A $1 million reward has been announced to help nab an Indian man, who according to police may have murdered an Australian woman on a beach before fleeing to India.

Pharmacy worker and animal shelter volunteer Toyah Cordingley, 24, was killed while walking her dog on Wangetti Beach in October 2018. Her body was found the following morning by her father, the Guardian reported.

Three Queensland police detectives have travelled to India

Police have also released images of Singh at the Cairns Airport on October 23, 2018, from where he flew to Sydney before travelling to India.

In March 2021, Australian authorities made a request to extradite Singh, who is originally from Buttar Kalan, Punjab.

His brother-in-law Harpreet Singh previously told The Courier Mail that the timing of his return to his hometown of Amritsar in Punjab was a coincidence.

"Raj is not capable of murder... He is too quiet, too afraid. He was under a lot of tension from his work," Harpreet Singh had said.

Australia amidst new Covid wave: Chief Medical Officer

Canberra, Nov 7 (IANS) Elderly travellers are being tricked into trafficking drugs into Australia, the federal police have warned.

In a recent statement, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) revealed it has identified a new trend whereby organised criminals are targeting the elderly with online scams to coerce victims into working as drug mules to pay off their debts, Xinhua news agency reported.

Over the last 12 months, the AFP has arrested 18 alleged drug mules on arrival in Australia, with some of them claiming they were

traveling under the direction of international crime syndicates after falling victim to online financial scams.

"Criminal syndicates, by their very nature, exploit vulnerable communities and will undertake whatever tactics necessary to import drugs into our country," AFP Commander Kate Ferry said in a media release on Sunday. "We have unfortunately seen instances where people have not only fallen victim to classic inheritance or investment scams and lost their money, but they are then offered false hope to regain

In both cases the travelers told police they had flown into Zimbabwe where the suitcases were allegedly provided to them.

"These criminals prey on the vulnerable and, at times, naive and further victimize them by banking on the fact that they will do whatever it takes to recover their funds. The consequences for these victims can be severe, including lengthy terms of imprisonment," Ferry said.

"Our message to these organized criminal syndicates is clear -- we are aware of your methodologies in your attempts to bring harmful, illicit substances to our country -- and they will not work."

Canberra, Nov 8 (IANS)

Australia's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Paul Kelly on Tuesday said the country is in the midst of another wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Kelly urged Australians to take additional precautions against Covid-19 infection, including wearing masks, staying at home if experiencing symptoms and staying up to date on vaccinations, reports Xinhua news agency. In a statement, the CMO said the government was closely monitoring the spread of Omicron variants XBB and BQ.1.

In the week to November 4 Australia recorded an average of 5,300 new Covid-19 cases every day, representing an average increase from 4,891 cases per day in the previous week ending on October 28.

"All indications are that this is the start of a new Covid-19 wave in Australia. This was to be expected and will be part of living with COVID-19 into the future," Kelly said in a statement.

"The overseas experience is that these new variants have driven increases in case numbers, and hospitalisation at a rate proportionate to these increases, because of their ability to evade the immunity provided by prior infection and vaccination," he added. Some vaccination experts believed that the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) should recommend a fifth vaccine dose.

Currently all Australians aged 30 and above are eligible for four doses.

G20 summit begins; economic recovery, climate change high on agenda

other issues including digital transformation and food and energy security will also be discussed, reports Xinhua news agency.

Bali, Nov 15 (IANS) The 17th G20 Summit kicked off on Tuesday in the Indonesian resort island of Bali, with issues pertaining to world economic recovery, world health systems and climate change taking the centre stage.

During the two-day summit under the theme “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”,

Addressing the opening ceremony of the summit, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he hopes that the summit can be a catalyst for inclusive global economic recovery.

Being responsible means respecting international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter consistently, and creating win-win not zero-sum situation, the President stressed.

“We should not divide the world into parts,” Widodo said, calling on the world to act wisely, shoulder the responsibility and show their leadership.

The summit comes as the world is facing multiple challenges such as the fragile economic recovery, the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic, an inflation higher than seen in several decades, tightening financial conditions in most regions, among others.

Established in 1999, the G20 is a central forum for international cooperation on financial and economic issues.

China bans celebrities with ‘lapsed morals’ from endorsing products

Taipei, Nov 2 (IANS) China has banned all celebrities from endorsing a range of products and banned those with "lapsed morals" from endorsing anything, as part of an ongoing drive to align society with "core socialist values", the media reported.

The regulations, announced by state regulators this week, bar Chinese celebrities from publicly endorsing or advertising health, education and financial commodities, including e-cigarettes and baby formula, The Guardian reported.

Regulators said the push was to ensure China's society was

"guided by Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era", referring to the sweeping ideology underpinning the rule of the Xi-led Communist party, The Guardian reported.

"Celebrities should consciously practise socialist core values in their advertising endorsement activities, and endorsement activities should conform to social morals and traditional virtues," the new regulations said.

It is the latest regulatory move in a crackdown on the entertainment industry, in which celebrities have effectively been

blacklisted over scandals and interventions into online fandom. The rules also banned companies from hiring celebrities found to have "lapsed morals" or engaged in illegal behaviour including tax evasion, drunkenness, drug addiction and fraud, and from using images of Communist party leaders, revolutionary leaders and heroes in their advertising, The Guardian reported.

The authorities said the regulations had been introduced in response to celebrities illegally or falsely endorsing “bad ideas”.

Report says Canada exploiting Indian students for ‘cheap labour’

New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Some Indian students in Canada are accusing the country of using them as a cheap source of labour and discarding them once they're no longer needed, a media report said on Tuesday.

Amid labour shortage and high unemployment rate, which fell to 5.2 per cent this September, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced a new temporary measure aimed at reducing severe labour shortages in Canada, a Bloomberg report said.

According to the report, PM Justin Trudeau's government introduced the permit extension move to over 5,00,000 international students already in Canada to potentially work more hours, and stay for 18 months after graduation to seek employment.

However, after more than a year, some of these permanentresident hopefuls have been left without status to work or remain in the country.

"I'm basically sitting at home and living off of my savings...

Canada should appreciate foreign students more, not just use them as a form of cheap labour," Daniel D'Souza, an accountant and

former student at Seneca College near Toronto, told Bloomberg.

With 1.83 lakh Indian students pursuing education at various levels in the country, Canada is the second most popular destination for Indians pursuing academic degrees at foreign shores.

Canada has processed more than 4.52 lakh study permit applications since January -- a 23 percent increase compared to the 3.67 lakh processed over the same period last year, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said.

In 2021, Canada had over 6.20 lakh of which one-third were from India.

Many graduates who were part of the 2021 program, had to leave their jobs when their work permits expired with no guarantee they'll gain permanent residency.

Even if their applications are eventually successful, students face months in limbo with no job, income, or health and social benefits, Bloomberg reported.

"When they needed us, they exploited us. But when we need their help or support, nobody shows up," Anshdeep

Bindra, a former consultant at Ernst & Young in Toronto, told Bloomberg.

Indian graduates, who hoped that the permit extension would give them more time to gain Canadian work experience, got mired in a backlog of applications that led to a 10-month shutdown of the system to allow the government to process them.

Once the system was activated, the students found themselves competing with pools of immigrants with much higherthan-normal scores, reducing their chances of gaining permanent residency, the report said.

International students contribute more than C$21 billion ($15.3 billion) annually to the Canadian economy, according to the government data.

Canada is a popular choice among students moving abroad due to its quality education, friendly visa and immigration rules, and better life prospects.

Most Indian students are interested in remaining in Canada as permanent residents after completing their studies.

According to Statistics Canada,

Indian-Americans secret weapon for economic growth: Rep Jim Himes

generated $103 billion in revenue in the United States last year, and provided direct employment to 207,000 people, according to a NASSCOM study released this year. In 2021, there were nearly six job postings in the US for every one available computer and math worker. That number has risen to 11 open postings per available IT worker in 2022, the study said.

According to the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), there is an average of over 900 days wait time for appointments for visitors' visa (B1/B2) and an average of 400 days wait time for students (F, M, J).

New York, Nov 2 (IANS)

Indian-Americans are a "secret weapon for economic growth", Congressman Jim Himes said showering praises on the thriving community, which is the highestearning ethnic group in the US.

With a population of more than 4.5 million, Indian-Americans make up 1.4 per cent of the US population and are the largest lot of South Asian Americans.

"You are a secret weapon for economic growth... the future of US innovations," Rep Himes, a Democrat representing the 4th district of Connecticut, said during an interactive session with members of Global Organization of People of Indian OriginConnecticut Chapter (GOPIO-CT).

Speaking about the IndianAmerican contributions towards creating a hub of tech innovation in Stamford, Connecticut, Himes said the US must find quicker ways to address Green Card backlog and visa issues.

"The brains of tech innovations are here... We have so much to do on immigration" to enable these tech-savvy and entrepreneurial Indian-American community to have a smoother and faster way to have Green Card and job visas, a GOPIO statement quoted Himes as saying.

The Indian tech industry directly

Petition-based temporary workers like H, L, O, P and Q have to wait for an average of 300 days for visa appointments across US consulates in India.

"We need to advocate with local representatives in every state to solve this backlog," said Himes, who serves on the US Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans.

He told GOPIO members that the visa issue is "a solvable problem", and that the right intention and motive is essential to address it.

According to US-based Cato Institute, the employment based green card backlog for skilled Indians had reached 7.19 lakh in September 2021, with an expected wait time of 90 years.

More than two lakh Indians who are mired in this backlog are likely to die before they can conceivably receive a green card (absent a change in the law), the Cato Institute report said.

In a move that could help hundreds of thousands of immigrant families, especially those from India, the White House is looking into a presidential commission's recommendations to cut the processing time for Green Card applications to just six months and to clear the backlogs by April 2023.

Punjab-origin lawmaker addresses Canadian legislature in Punjabi

Timbers who is the daughter of a renowned Punjabi scholar Raghbir Singh Sirjana, made a brief introduction in the house in her mother tongue on Tuesday. The occasion was the Punjab Day, when the present day state of Punjab came into being on November 1, 1966.

She not only thanked the Canadian government for giving opportunities to the Punjabi language to grow in a foreign land, but also expressed her support to the indigenous peoples, who have been struggling to keep their mother languages alive since the time of colonialism in the country.

Chandigarh, Nov 2 (IANS)

Rachna Singh, a Punjab-origin Parliamentary Secretary for anti-racism initiatives in Canada's British Columbia, has made history by addressing the legislature in Punjabi.

The MLA from Surrey-Green

Russia resumes largest charter airline to SL, Putin orders ‘more flights to friendly states’

Colombo, Nov 3 (IANS) Amidst the resumption of flight of Russia's largest charter airline, Azur Air on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered "the Government of Russia to increase the number of flights between Russia and friendly states". Russian Embassy in Colombo tweeted after Sri Lanka welcomed the first Azur air flight with 335 passengers onboard at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, "IMPORTANT: Russian president Vladimir #Putin ordered the Government of Russia to increase the number of flights between #Russia and friendly states!@ LKARSGOV." In early June, Russia stopped flights to Sri Lanka after an A330-300 operated by Russian flag-carrier Aeroflot was detained post Colombo commercial court issued an order over a legal

dispute with an Irish leasing vehicle Celestial Aviation Trading. However, Russian airlines were reluctant to return to Sri Lanka until October 10 when an Aeroflot flight resumed flights between Moscow and Colombo. Resumption of Russian flights has brought much hope for Sri Lanka's tourism for the year's biggest season as Russia holds the record of second highest tourism arrival to the island nation after India. Tourism Minister Harin Fernando tweeted: "Russian charter @azurairline touched down today at BIA with 335 passengers on board. The airline will operate 4 flights a week and Aeroflot with 3 flight a week which will make upto 7 flights weekly. Most seats already sold out upto end Jan 2023." Reviving hopes for the return of European tourist arrival, Sri

Lanka's Tourism Ministry also has announced that Air France, the flag carrier of France is to resume its flights to Sri Lanka from Friday (November 4). Tourism Minister Harin Fernando in a Twitter message announced that Switzerland's national airline, Swiss International Air Lines, is scheduled to resume operations with weekly flights starting from November 10 to May. Burdened by the worst-ever financial crisis since 1948 independence, Sri Lanka awaits the revival of tourism, one of main foreign currency earner, which was dashed by 2019 Easter Sunday terrorism attack, two years of Covid-19 pandemic and political crisis started early this year with violent street fights following shortages of most essential items including food, fuel and medicine.

Immigrants successful at finding jobs in Canada: Survey

of full-time employment by 3 per cent over October 2021, and job rise for both genders occurred mainly in the core working age group of 25-54 years old.

Most new employment occurred in Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, the survey showed.

US risks losing talented H1-B visa holders to Canada: Study

New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS) The US risks losing talented foreigners, particularly those married to other skilled professionals, to Canada, which grants work authorisation to spouses of all skilled foreign workers, says a new study.

But granting employment authorisation to all spouses of H-1B visa holders would encourage more skilled migrants, including Indians, to choose the US over Canada, the study by National Foundation for American Policy revealed.

working in a STEM field,” she noted.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulation published in 2015 allows spouses who hold an H4 visa to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD).

Currently, H4 spouses can only apply for an EAD after their H-1B spouse is in the queue for a permanent visa.

Toronto, Nov 7 (IANS)

Immigrants in Canada, including Indians, have been successful in finding jobs, and are filling up gaps in the country’s labour force, according to a new survey released by the national statistical agency.

Immigrants who arrived in Canada over the past five years had an employment rate of 70.7 per cent, a higher rate than October 2019, pre-pandemic, the

Labour Force Survey data 2022

released by Statistics Canada said.

It found that over 62 per cent of immigrants aged 15 and over are employed. According to the 2021 census data on immigration, 23 per cent of Canada’s population is an immigrant. Between 2016 and 2021, immigrants accounted for about 80 per cent of Canada’s labour force growth.

At least 119,000 full-time positions filled, pushing the rate

The highest concentrations of Indians are found in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia, followed by growing communities in Alberta and Quebec as well, with the majority of them being foreign-born. Announcing the Immigration Levels Plan for 20232025 last week, Employers in Canada are actively seeking to fill nearly one million jobs with the country’s job vacancy rate falling to 5.4 per cent from a peak of 6 percent in April this year.

1 in 6 people in England, Wales born abroad, mostly India: Census

abroad, up from 13.4 per cent a decade earlier.

The number of foreign-born residents increased by 2.5 million over the decade to 10 million.

India was the most common country of origin, accounting for 920,000 people, which is 1.5 per cent of the usual resident population, the 2021 census showed.

the UK has been under duress over record number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats and arriving in Britain.

Migration led to a 6.3 per cent rise in the population between 2011 and 2021, the report said.

“The US can reap significant economic benefits, ease labour shortages, and attract more workers in the global competition for talent if it expanded current rules on work eligibility for the spouses of H-1B visa holders,” the study, authored by Madeline Zavodny, said. The number of Indians who became permanent residents in Canada increased by over 115 per cent between 2016 and 2020 and 2021.

In 2015, then President Barack Obama allowed the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work in the US via the H4 (dependent) visa. H4 visas are issued to dependent spouses and children who accompany H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, and H-3 visa holders to the US. The spouses of H-1B visa holders tend to be highly educated, many of them in STEM fields, and previously had careers of their own or worked to support their families.

“Allowing the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work upon arrival would help recruit and retain skilled workers and increase the already-considerable economic benefits of the H-1B visa category,” Zavodny said.

That typically does not occur until the H-1B has worked in the US for several years; indeed, some spouses may apply only after their H-1B spouse has worked in the US for at least six years.

The H4 visa holder must be selected in the H-1B lottery, which only occurs once a year and has low odds of success.

Long delays in processing H4 EADs have plagued the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the spouses who need the approval to work.

Spouses of workers who hold an L-1 intracompany transferee visa, an E-1 treaty trader, an E-2 treaty investor, or E-3 specialty occupation worker from Australia visa are allowed to work.

Spouses of these visa holders are “considered employment authorised incident to status”, that is, their visa allows them to work and they do not need to apply separately for an EAD.

Since mid-2015, some 171,000 H-4 visa holders have been approved for employment authorisation, a significant portion of whom are from India.

In fiscal 2021, Indians bagged the highest number of H1B visas i.e., over 74 per cent of the allotments.

London, Nov 8 (IANS) India was found to be the most common country of birth for one in six, or nearly 10 million, people in England and Wales, according to a report released by the UK’s Office for National Statistics.

The report, “International Migration, England and Wales: Census 2021”, said that 16.8 per cent of residents were born

The three most common nonUK countries of birth for usual residents in 2021 were India, followed by Poland, which increased to 743,000 (1.2 per cent), up from 579,000 in 2011; and Pakistan, which increased to 624,000 (1 per cent), up from 482,000 in 2011.

The report comes at a time when

The figures also showed that 5.9 million people, or 9.9 per cent of the population, held a non-UK passport.

London continued to be the region with the largest proportion of people born outside the UK, rising from 36.7 per cent in 2011 to 40.6 per cent of the city’s population.

The figures for Wales and North East England were less than 7 per cent.

She estimates that almost 90 per cent of the spouses of H-1B visa holders have at least a bachelor’s degree, and over half have a graduate degree, based on American Community Survey data (2017-2019).

Out of these 90 per cent of spouses, two-thirds are from India and 6 per cent are from China.

“Almost half of spouses of likely H-1B visa holders who have a bachelor’s degree had a STEMrelated major. Among spouses of likely H-1B visa holders who are employed, 42 per cent are

Out of 4.07 lakh H1-B visas approved by the USCIS, 3.01 lakh were allotted to Indians whereas, 50,000 Chinese received the visas.

Research shows that the H-1B visa category bumps up economic growth, creates jobs for American workers, and slows offshoring of high-paid jobs.

“If allowed to work, these spouses would make considerable contributions to the US labour market as most of them would enter occupations with very low unemployment rates and high job vacancy rates,” says Zavodny. (Meenakshi Iyer can be reached at meenakshi.i@ians.in)

WORLD THIS WEEK

Contributed by A publication of the National Institute for Advanced Studies, Bengaluru Compiled by Ankit Singh, Akriti Sharma, Avishka Ashok, Abigail Miriam Fernandes, Apoorva Sudhakar, Padmashree Anandhan Rishma Banerjee, Sai Pranav, Joel Jacob, Anu Maria, Sethuraman Nadarajan, Bhoomika Sesharaj, and Madhura Mahesh

Twitter: Musk finalises the deal

What happened?

On 28 October, Elon Musk finalised the USD 44 billion deal to purchase and make Twitter Inc a private company, six months after the takeover was announced in April. Musk tweeted: “The bird is freed.” In response, the European Union internal market commissioner said: “In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules.”

On the same day, Musk addressed advertisers on Twitter and justified his acquisition claiming that “it is important to have a common digital town square where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.” He said the risk of social media splintering into far right and far left echo chambers is prevalent and that it could lead to more hate and divisions within society. However, he said this does not mean Twitter would be a “free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.”

ALSO IN NEWS

China: Foreign Ministry rejects Japan’s claims to EEZ in East Taiwan waters

On 26 October, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin addressed a press briefing and remarked that the country does not recognize the exclusive economic zone claimed by Japan in the East Taiwan region. The remarks were made as the press inquired about China’s stand on the stand-off between Japan’s coastguards and the Taiwanese research ship operating in the area. Wang referred to the issue and stated that the Chinese research vessels are within their right to carry out its activities in the area as it is just over 60 nautical miles from the island.

China: Russia’s Foreign Minister congratulates the proceedings of the

20th Party Congress

On 27 October, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and discussed the proceedings of the 20th Party Congress. The Russian President also congratulated China for successfully conducting the National Congress. Wang noted China’s willingness to deepen exchanges with Russia and promoting bilateral relations in various fields. The Foreign Ministers also discussed the war in Ukraine and other international issues, but there was no criticism of Russia during

On the same day, media houses, including CNBC and Associated Press, quoted sources who said that after finalising the deal, Musk fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal and legal affairs head Vijaya Gadde. BBC quoted Twitter co-founder Biz Stone’s tweets thanking the three for their “collective contribution to Twitter.”

What does it mean?

First, with the acquisition finalised, Twitter will now have to navigate through ensuring free speech and addressing extremist and hate content. Twitter has always been a key platform for political debates and discussions, unlike other social media platforms like Meta, which began as a space for sharing personal and recreational activities. Twitter served as a safe space to voice out one’s opinion but gradually became a space for misinformation and extremists from either political sides to insult, threaten and intimidate

the phone call.

Japan: Relocation of US forces’ Naha military port

On 25 October, Japan’s central, Okinawa’s prefectural, Naha city and Urasoe city governments agreed to relocate the facility and take over functions of the US forces’ Naha military port. The relocation is within the Okinawa prefecture, 49 hectares of land in a sea area off the west coast of Urasoe city. Okinawa prefectural government estimates that the new facility will be completed in 17 years. Naha port is a strategically important site which was said to be the entrance to Okinawa. The functions of the military port as easy access to harbour and oil storage facilities, will not be changed through the relocation process. Okinawa demanded that the US should not take off or land at the new facilities or drill near it. The people from Okinawa oppose the relocation demanding the reason for having a US force military port in the country the government.

Japan and Australia: Intelligence sharing security pact signed

On 22 October, Japan’s and Australia’s Prime Ministers, Fumio Kishida and Anthony Albanese, signed a security agreement in Perth, Australia, to expand and strengthen their cooperation in defence and intelligence sharing amidst growing fear of China and North Korea. Under the pact, Japan and Australia will have

those with opposing views.

Second, Musk’s views on free speech have sparked debates on how free free speech should be. With responses like that of the EU, questions on who will regulate content, whether users should decide when and where to set limits or should external bodies should be surveilling your online presence remain.

Third, Musk’s attempt to attract advertisers signals that he could be planning on generating ad revenue, which has remained limited on Twitter compared to other platforms like Meta. However, as The Washington Post explains, advertisers are cautious about their ads appearing alongside hate content. Therefore, to win the confidence of advertisers, Musk would have to assure them and ensure that Twitter would be free of hate content.

growing casualties and immense suffering the ordinary civilians are facing." Myanmar's generals are barred from attending ASEAN meetings and the nonpolitical representatives have not agreed to address the meeting. The meeting was in regard to assessing the implementation of five-point consensus on Myanmar adopted last year and because of the recent air strike at the Kachin concert and the bombing of a Myanmar jail causing severe casualties.

India: First test flight of Gaganyaan scheduled for February 2023

On 27 October, the director of Human Space Flight Center (HSFC), ISRO, informed that it will start a series of test flights for India’s maiden human space flight mission. The HSFC added that the manned space mission will be ready by late 2024 or early 2025.

Currently, HSFC is developing an environmental control system for astronauts and human capsule is in application phases.

Russia: Upgraded Su-57 took to the skies for the first time

slowed down the green energy transition in Europe. The energy crisis related to the war in Ukraine also made Europe decide to use coal and reactivate coal power plants. Spain, Italy, Poland, France and the Netherlands do not comply with the usage of fossil fuels as it will increase the CO2 emission and thereby delay their climate goals.

The US: Navy gearing towards “super swarms” of drones

joint training of their defence forces in Northern Australia. The agreement comes after tensions arise in the South China Sea and East Sea. Kishida and Albanese did not mention China and North Korea by name but talked about their threat to regional security. Both leaders also discussed trade between Japan and Australia. Japan and Australia wanted to strengthen their relationship in trading rare earth and LNG. Australia: Silentium defence unveils box-sized passive space radar

On 25 October, Silentium defence, an Australian company launched Maverick S, a new, world-first, category defining ‘observatory-in-a-box’ capability for improved Space Domain Awareness and Space Traffic Management globally. Low power passive radars work by tracking reflections of objects from FM radio waves. The Silentium system uses a relatively small portable generator for its power which gives it advantage of low emission, low cost and hence providing resilience against enemy attacks.

Indonesia: Foreign Ministers of ASEAN countries meet to discuss the violence in Myanmar

On 28 October, a meeting of foreign ministers of ASEAN countries was held to discuss the grave concerns regarding escalating violence in Myanmar. The chair of the meeting said: "We are deeply saddened by the

On 25 October, a press release from United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, part of the state tech corporation ROSTEC) declared that fifth generation aircraft Su-57 took to the skies for the first time. The Su-57 fighter jet features stealth technology with the broad use of composite materials, is capable of reaching a supersonic cruising speed and is furnished with the most advanced onboard radio-electronic equipment, including a powerful onboard computer (the so-called electronic second pilot), the radar system spread across its body and some other innovations, in particular, armament placed inside its fuselage.

France and the Netherlands: To exit from the Energy Charter Treaty with difference over climate goal

On 25 October, Deutsche Welle reported that France and the Netherlands revealed their intention to leave the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) due to it not coinciding with their climate goals. Spain and Poland defected earlier in 2022, and Italy in 2016 from the ECT. Fossil fuel investors have submitted lawsuits against European countries for changing to renewable energy sources as they will incur losses.

The ECT, pressured by litigations, has allowed fossil fuel usage and

On 24 October, MIT Technology review reported that U.S. Navy is seriously considering developing swarms of cheap drones to add considerable weaponry to its arsenal, it might swarms of AI-enabled, autonomous drones for both offensive and defensive purposes. Drone swarms, for example, could take off from different places, like submarines and planes, and could be equipped in many ways, like carrying bombs, electronic jammers, and military equipment. The document also talks about making "mother ships" to transport and deploy these swarms.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Ankit Singh and Rashmi Ramesh are PhD Scholars in the School of Conflict and Security Studies at the National Institute of Advanced Studies. Avishka Ashok, Abigail Miriam Fernandes, Apoorva Sudhakar, Padmashree Anandhan, Sai Pranav, Joel Jacob and Anu Maria are Research Associates at NIAS. Madhura Mahesh, Bhoomika Sesharaj and Sethuraman Nadarajan are Research Interns at NIAS.

Driver licence numbers safeguarded by verification change Property owners helping Queenslanders in need through Help to Home

Brisbane, 10 Nov: The Palaszczuk Government is safeguarding Queensland drivers’ licences, with the introduction of the two-factor verification system.

This two-factor verification system was scheduled to be introduced in 2023, but has been expedited following the recent Optus data breach.

This verification takes place through the Document Verification Service.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said the extra layer of protection was now in place.

“Anyone who has applied for a bank account, or new phone plan, will know the usual process for providing your licence number to verify your identity,” Minister Bailey said.

“Now, you will need to provide the unique card number found on your driver licence as a second step in the verification process.

“This is similar to the CVV found on the back of your credit and debit card, and makes it an even more secure identity document.

“This card number is already in place on Queensland issued licenses but will now be a requirement for identification purposes for banks, telcos and utility providers.

“I’m pleased we could fast track the implementation of this system to better protect Queensland identities from fraud.”

What does this mean for those impacted by recent data breaches? Well, it’s good news.

Minister Bailey said majority of Queensland Optus customers only had their licence number compromised, not the card number.

“Those impacted who had not provided the card number as well can be assured that this extra security measure will mean the compromised licence number cannot be used for fraudulent activity on its own,” he said.

“I can appreciate there may be some concerned members of the community who will still want to have their licence number changed, and this option will remain available.

“The Optus data breach has been is a stressful time for many and our staff are pulling out all stops to mange the high volume of requests for new licenses from right across the state.

“I want to thank TMR staff for their hard work and our customers who have been overwhelmingly patient.”

“Unlike a driver licence number, the card number will change each time you get a new driver licence card – adding another layer of protection for Queenslanders.

“Your driver licence should only be used by you, and this new system goes a long way to ensuring that.”

Over 170,000 Queenslanders had already applied for a new driver licence number since 28 September 2022.

“I encourage everyone to stay cyber-alert and vigilant to suspicious activity. I also implore Queenslanders impacted to access the free credit monitoring service provided by Optus,” Mr Bailey said.

New dawn for New Farm with $20 million in new facilities

Brisbane, 11 Nov: Students and staff at New Farm State School are enjoying the better services and great lifestyle provided by new facilities delivered by the Palaszczuk Government.

Education Minister and local Member for McConnel Grace Grace today officially opened new buildings at New Farm State School, representing nearly $20 million worth of Palaszczuk Government investment in the school community.

“This investment has given this grand old school some fantastic state-of-the-art facilities,” Ms Grace said.

“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to providing better services for Queensland’s fastest growing communities, and that’s exactly what we have delivered here at New Farm State School.

“This investment supported almost 60 good, secure jobs over the life of the project.

“The first new building, a threestorey learning centre, features

12 classrooms, STEM learning spaces, a teacher curriculum development space and basement parking.

“The second new building includes new administration spaces, staff offices, a resource centre and an undercroft.

“The project commenced in December 2020 and was completed in September this year, supporting Queensland jobs through the height of the COVID pandemic.

“It has also included some upgrade works on the school’s marvellous ‘Little Farm’, as well as upgrading and expanding the Prep playground.

“Little Farm now has an amphitheatre and stage, as well as some lovely landscaping works to make the space more accessible.

“The playground is bigger and better and just a fantastic play space for New Farm State School’s Preppies.

“The Palaszczuk Government

has ensured that as New Farm continues to grow, its great local state school will be able to cater for higher enrolment demand into the future.

“In the most recent budget we have committed nearly $220 million over two years to build additional classrooms at Queensland schools experiencing similar in-catchment growth.”

New Farm State School Principal, Carmel McGrath, said the whole school community was delighted with the new facilities.

“The new buildings are beautiful to look at and are also state-ofthe-art educational facilities, giving us new classrooms and other learning and administration spaces,” Dr McGrath said.

“The students and teachers all absolutely love it and it has given our community such a boost.”

The Palaszczuk Government is investing a record almost $2 billion on education infrastructure in the most recent state budget.

The Palaszczuk Government’s Help to Home initiative is delivering for Queenslanders, providing homes for up to 116 people through the initiative in the first four months.

Minister for Communities and Housing Leeanne Enoch today encouraged more Queensland homeowners to submit an expression of interest to be a part of Help to Home.

“I am pleased that so many vulnerable Queenslanders have received housing through Help to Home since it was launched, Ms Enoch said.

“This is an encouraging sign and sets us up well to deliver more homes for Queenslanders through this initiative.

“We’re calling on homeowners across the state to help Queenslanders in need by putting forward an expression of interest to lease their property as part of Help to Home.

“Expressions of interest are still open for vacant, stand-alone houses, single or multi-unit properties that may be new to the market or not previously available for rent, including short-term or holiday accommodation or a

property that has previously been used for commercial purposes.”

Tenants in Help to Home properties are managed by community housing providers such as Mangrove Housing.

“As one of the first Community Housing Providers to be allocated a property, we are pleased to back the Help to Home initiative and its ability to generate supply in a very tight housing market,” Mangrove Housing CEO Teresa Reed said.

“Help to Home will improve the lives of some of the most marginalised members of our community.”

Minister Enoch said being part of Help to Home would allow homeowners to be part of the solution to the housing challenges facing our state.

“Help to Home is a great way for eligible Queensland homeowners to lend a home and help out people in their community who need housing,” she said.

Expressions of Interest can be submitted by visiting www.qld. gov.au/housinginvestment or emailing: qhigi@chde.qld.gov.au.

New events to showcase Queensland’s multiculturalism in 2023

Brisbane, 11 Nov: Queenslanders are once again set to celebrate the state’s diversity next year with 117 events and festivals receiving a share of $897,000 in grant funding. Minister for Multicultural Affairs Leanne Linard said the latest Celebrating Multicultural Queensland funding round will see some old favourites return, as well as some brandnew events. “I’m delighted to announce the Polynesian and African Multicultural event will make its debut in 2023 in the Ipswich region, as well as the Flourish Festival in Emerald, which will celebrate the area’s culture and diversity,” Ms Linard said. “The Queensland All Nations Touch Football Tournament is also sure to be a wonderful event, engaging people from culturally diverse backgrounds and the wider community through the power of sport, cultural performances and food stalls.” Ms Linard said over the past

Premier’s Anzac Prize Winners

Brisbane, 10 Nov: Eight Queensland students and two teacher chaperones have won the educational trip of a lifetime, awarded the Premier’s 2023 Anzac Prize. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was delighted to announce the winners will visit some of Australia’s most important and historical war

sites in Europe. “This year’s announcement is special,” the Premier said. “It will be the first group to travel overseas since the Covid-19 pandemic began is 2020.

“It’s wonderful to see the travel component return and for our students to visit sites in London, Prance, and Belgium.“Previous winners have come home with

a deep understanding and appreciation of the Anzac history and spirit. The 2023 Premier’s Anzac Prize is presented in partnership with RSL Queensland, a platinum sponsor for the next three years.

The 2023 winners are: Anastasia Maher (Emerald State High)

Claire Gattera (St Monica’s College Cairns)

Dashiell Solomon (Ambrose Treacy College Indooroopilly)

Hilman Pranowo (Pimlico State High)

Nooria Ahmadi (Forest Lake High)

Sarah Ellis ( St Joseph’s College Toowoomba)

two years Queenslanders had spent a lot of time in isolation due to COVID-19 and the need to connect, share and celebrate the state’s different cultures was more important than ever.

“Celebrating our cultural diversity in Queensland is not only important for our social wellbeing, but it also helps promote inclusion and social cohesion,” she said.

“From the tip of the state to the south-east corner, there will be plenty of opportunities to get involved. I encourage everyone to find something that interests them and attend.

“These events are a fantastic way to demonstrate how everybody has a role to play in helping people to connect, contribute and belong. They enable us all to learn more about the rich diversity in our communities and enhance Queensland’s great lifestyle.”

Thomas Eccleston (Ambrose Treacy)

Tom Filipich (Pimlico State High)

The winning teacher chaperones are:

Alison Marsh (Marsden State High)

Alexandra Cashin (Saint Mary’s Catholic College Kingaroy)

Adani Group enters SL’s port industry as the 1st Indian operator

the development of the Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) in 2019, was withdrawn following the protest by Sri Lankan trade unions and some political parties. However in March 2021, the Sri Lankan Cabinet granted approval for the development of the WCT through a public-private partnership (PPP) in collaboration with the SLPA and investors nominated by the Indian and Japanese governments.

Colombo, Nov 9 (IANS) The Adani Group will become the first Indian port operator in Sri Lanka as construction of the Colombo Port’s Western Container Terminal (WCT) is set to start on Wednesday.

The group will have the majority stake in the West Container International Terminal Joint Venture (JV) which is valued at $700 million.

The build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement which is to remain valid for 35 years, is said to be the “largest” foreign investment ever in Sri Lanka’s port history.

The state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority will own 15 per cent, while local company John Keells will own 34 per cent interests in the joint project.

A memorandum of understanding signed with India and Japan on

According to reports, following the commencement of operations, the terminal is expected to increase the Colombo Port’s capacity to three million TEU a year.

The reports further said that nearly 45 per cent of Colombo’s trans-shipment volumes start from or are destined to an Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) terminal in India.

Completion of construction of the WCT is scheduled by 2024.

Phone sales will drop much more than expected in 2022: Qualcomm

million 5G handsets”.

The rapid deterioration in demand and easing of supply constraints across the semiconductor industry have resulted in elevated channel inventory, the company noted.

In its Q4, the company delivered record revenues of $11.4 billion, reflecting record revenues in its chipset business and solid performance in licensing.

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Nearly 65 per cent of Indian firms are currently employing gig workers, a higher share compared to 57 per cent in 2020, a Nasscom report said on Thursday.

However, while the share of organisations employing gig workers has increased, their proportion remains less than 5 per cent of the total workforce (in companies with more than 2,000 full-time employees).

For smaller organisations with less than 2,000 full-time employees, gig worker proportion is more than 5 per cent and none of the organisations surveyed have mentioned a decline in gig hiring, according to the report by Nasscom and job portal Indeed in partnership with financial services firm AON.

"The future workforce will indeed be a blended model wherein the gig economy is expected to play an important role not only as a talent management strategy but also accelerate job creation and boost the country's economic growth," said Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom.

The dynamic business landscape and evolving operating models have ushered in an opportunity for the gig economy to become a key talent management strategy for enterprises, said the report.

The gig economy over the last two years has evolved significantly.

Notably, software development, UI/UX design, and data analytics have emerged as the top three in-demand "giggable" skills within the technology sector.

Before the pandemic, gig workers were mostly hired for projects with a duration of up to nine months. However, the duration of projects being offered to gig workers has increased significantly post-pandemic.

About 25 per cent of the surveyed organisations are open to hiring gig workers for projects with a duration of more than 12 months now, the report said.

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Chipmaker Qualcomm has announced that phone sales will be down much more than expected, in low double-digit, this year owing to the unpredictable global economic environment.

Announcing the fiscal fourth quarter results, Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm, said that “while our financial outlook is being temporarily impacted by elevated channel inventory, our diversification strategy and long-term opportunities remain unchanged”.

“Given the uncertainty caused by the macroeconomic environment, we are updating our guidance for calendar year 2022 3G/4G/5G handset volumes from a yearover-year mid-single-digit percentage decline, to a low double-digit percentage decline,” Qualcomm said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Akash Palkhiwala, Chief Financial Officer, said that “We now project 3G, 4G, 5G handset volumes in calendar 2022 to decline by low double digits on a year-over-year basis, including 600 million to 650

The FY22 revenues of $44 billion were up 32 per cent year over year.

“In handsets, we entered into a new multiyear agreement with Samsung, expanding the use of Snapdragon platforms for future premium Samsung Galaxy products globally,” said Amon.

“Snapdragon has become synonymous with premium mobile experiences worldwide.

In automotive, our design win pipeline across connectivity, digital cockpit, and ADAS is now greater than $30 billion.

Twitter drops flagship developer event as CEO Musk trims workforce

In about 15 per cent of the organisations, the proportion of gig workers in the past two years has increased by more than 30 per cent.

Globally, India has the second largest annual supply of STEM graduates. Though the accelerated demand for digital transformation has intensified the talent crunch globally, the gig workforce has emerged as an

Over 40 per cent of the surveyed organisations decide on a fixed fee at the initiation of a gig contract.

As many as 53 per cent of organisations have policies to absorb gig workers as full-time employees.

"Moreover, over 90 per cent of the surveyed organisations remain open to re-hiring gig workers in the same or adjacent areas of work based on past performance evaluation," the findings showed.

Meta India head Ajit Mohan moves on

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Meta on Thursday announced that its India head, Ajit Mohan, has decided to step down from his role at the company to pursue another opportunity.

In January 2019, Facebook India hired Ajit Mohan as the managing director. During his tenure, WhatsApp and Instagram added more than 200 million users in India.

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Twitter on Thursday announced to cancel its flagship Chirp developer conference, as it goes through massive churning at the top

echelons under the new CEO Elon Musk. Twitter first organised the developer conference in 2010. In June this year, then CEO Parag Agarwal had announced that the company was bringing back the Chirp conference in November. In a tweet, the company said: "We're currently hard at work to make Twitter better for everyone, including developers! We've decided to cancel the #Chirp developer conference while we

build some things that we're excited to share with you soon".

"We'll still celebrate the soonto-be-announced winners of our Chirp Developer Challenge - stay tuned for more details," the company added.

Amir Shevat, Twitter head of developer products, didn’t divulge any details but posted: “Winds of change”. The event was scheduled to happen in San Francisco in the US on November 16.

"Over the last four years, he played an important role in shaping and scaling our India operations so they can serve many millions of Indian businesses, partners and people," Nicola Mendelsohn, Vice President, Global Business Group, Meta, said in a statement to IANS.

"We remain deeply committed to India and have a strong leadership team in place to carry on all our work and partnerships. We are grateful for Ajit's leadership and contribution and wish him the very best for the future," she added.

Mohan was responsible for driving Facebook's overall strategy and continued investment in India -- reporting directly to the Menlo Park (California) based headquarter and not to the Asia Pacific team. An alumnus of McKinsey and the company's New York office where he worked with media companies around the globe, Mohan launched and built Hotstar, Star India's over-thetop (OTT) service, into India's leading premium video streaming platform.

65% Indian firms now employing gig workers amid tech talent crunch

important talent management strategy for organisations and can play a key role in closing the tech talent demand-supply gap.

Prolonged exposure to PM2.5 can put people at greater heart attack risk Canadian province wants Indian nurses, to set up office in Bengaluru

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) If you have an underlying heart condition, avoid polluted air in the Delhi-NCR region as researchers now report that higher exposure to PM 2.5 and PM 10 in such patients can worsen their condition, including a heart attack. In a paper published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, a team of global researchers aimed to evaluate the association between long-term exposure to particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) and 10 (PM10), and coronary vasomotor disorders in non-obstructive coronary artery disease (NOCAD) patients.

Coronary vasomotor abnormalities are important

causes of myocardial ischemia in patients with NOCAD. However, the role of air pollution in determining coronary vasomotor disorders has never been investigated. The team studied patients with myocardial ischemia and NOCAD undergoing coronary angiography and intracoronary provocation test.

Nearly 287 patients with chronic myocardial ischemia and nonobstructive coronary arteries and myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA) were enrolled in the study. They found that higher exposure to PM2.5 and PM10 in patients with myocardial ischemia and NOCAD is associated with coronary vasomotor abnormalities. “In particular, PM2.5 is an independent risk factor for the occurrence of epicardial spasm and MINOCA as clinical presentation,” they wrote. Ultimately, reduction in air

pollution levels is the logical treatment for air pollutioninduced vascular dysfunction and cardiovascular disease.

In April this year, a study claimed that exposure to air pollutants -even at levels below World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines -- may trigger a heart attack within an hour.

The study found exposure to any level of four common air pollutants -- fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide -could quickly trigger the onset of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). ACS is an umbrella term describing any situation in which blood supplied to the heart muscle is blocked, such as in a heart attack or unstable angina, chest pain caused by blood clots that temporarily block an artery.

The study was published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.

Indian drug 2DG can reduce heart damage by coronavirus, find US researchers

Toronto, Nov 8 (IANS) To address acute labour shortages in its healthcare sector, Newfoundland and Labrador will set up a recruitment office in Bengaluru to bring internationally trained and registered nurses to the Canadian province.

"There's still, you know, an incredible need for nurses here, and if you look at the demographics it's only going to get worse," Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey said addressing a news conference last week.

profession if conditions don't improve.

Furey said they chose Karnataka as it has more than 100 nursing schools with training similar to Newfoundland and Labrador's.

Immigration Minister Gerry Byrne told reporters that the recruitment effort will be modelled after the province's satellite office in Poland, which was set up to attract Ukrainians fleeing Russian attacks.

New York/New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) A team of US researchers has identified how a specific protein in coronavirus damages heart tissue and they used a drug, currently in emergency use for the treatment of Covid in India, to reverse the toxic effects of that protein on the heart.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories last year announced the commercial launch of 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) for treatment of Covid-19. 2DG was developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences (INMAS), a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.

Now, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine's (UMSOM) Center for Precision

Disease have used 2DG to reverse the toxic effects of that protein on the heart. The researchers said that fortunately, 2DG is inexpensive and is used regularly in laboratory research and is being used in clinical trials in India. The drug has not yet been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat the disease.

"Our research shows that individual SARS-CoV-2 proteins can each do major damage to specific tissues in the bodysimilar to what has been found for other viruses like HIV and Zika," said senior author Zhe Han, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Precision Disease Modelling at UMSOM. "By identifying these processes of injury in each tissue, we can test drugs to see whether any can reverse this damage; those drugs that show promise can then be further tested in clinical research studies," Han added.

Their findings, based on research with fruit flies and mouse heart cells, were published in Communications Biology, a Nature journal. Last year, Dr Han

and his research team identified the most toxic SARS-CoV-2 proteins in studies using fruit flies and human cells.

They found a promising drug, selinexor, which reduced the toxicity of one of these proteins, but not the other one, known as Nsp6. The team blocked sugar metabolism in fruit flies and mouse heart cells using the drug 2-DG. They found that the drug reduced the heart and mitochondria damage caused by the Nsp6 viral protein.

"We predict this drug that changes the metabolism in the heart back to what it was before infection would be bad for the virus, by both cutting off its energy supply and eliminating the pieces it needs to replicate," said Han.

Manufactured by Dr Reddy's, the drug has a purity of 99.5 per cent and is being sold commercially under the brand name 2DG. It can be administered only upon prescription and under the supervision of a qualified physician to hospitalised moderate to severe Covid-19 patients as an adjunct therapy to the existing standard of care.

Canada approves 2nd bivalent Covid booster targeting Omicron variants

Ottawa, Nov 4 (IANS) Health Canada has authorised an adapted version of the Moderna Spikevax Covid-19 vaccine that targets the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 sub-variants. Health Canada approved the bivalent vaccine for use as a booster dose in individuals 18 years of age or older, saying on Thursday that clinical trial results showed it triggers a strong immune

response against both Omicron (BA.4/BA.5) and the original SARS-CoV-2 virus strains, reports Xinhua news agency.

This adapted vaccine has a similar safety profile to the previously approved Moderna Spikevax boosters, with the same mild adverse reactions that resolved quickly, Health Canada said.

Keeping Covid-19 vaccinations

up-to-date, including getting booster doses as recommended, will help protect an individual against serious illness and other complications of the infection, Health Canada said. The number of total Covid-19 cases and deaths have now reached 4,336,860 and 46,389, respectively, according to the weekly update issued by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

"Our government and dedicated partners are taking bold action to address the staffing issues facing the healthcare system in our province, as we compete with other jurisdictions to attract and retain health care professionals at this critical time," Furey said.

The recruiting team will meet graduate nurses who have the academic credentials to qualify for licenses in Canada.

According to local media reports, nurses are struggling with burnout due to overtime, and more than 600 jobs lie vacant.

The nurses' union in the province says 40 per cent of its members are facing 24-hour shifts and high rates of workplace injury and violence.

They say they'll leave the

According to Statistics Canada, the province experienced the least growth via immigration in Atlantic Canada from 2016 to 2021, and welcomed only 0.3 per cent of all landed immigrants in Canada in that period.

More than 1.3 million new immigrants settled permanently in Canada between 2016 and 2021, but less than 4,000 of those immigrants settled in Newfoundland and Labrador. Meanwhile in India, government data shows a sharp rise in the demand for Indian nurses post Covid from several countries like Ireland, Malta, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, the UK, and Belgium.

After the Philippines, India ranks second in the number of nurses working abroad for brighter job opportunities, better salaries, and other benefits.

Indonesia to hike cigarette excise tax to reduce smoking among youth

machine-made clove cigarettes from 11.50 to 11.75 per cent, white cigarettes from 11.00 to 12.00 per cent, and hand-rolled cigarettes at an average 5 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

The increase in excise rates will also apply to electronic cigarettes by an average rate of 15 per cent.

Jakarta, Nov 4 (IANS) The Indonesian government has decided to increase cigarette excise tax to reduce smoking among youngsters and increase awareness about the dangers, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said. The meeting on tobacco excise policy led by President Joko Widodo at the Bogor Presidential Palace said the government would increase the excise rate for

“Cigarettes are the second highest consumption by urban poor households at 12.21 per cent and rural at 11.63 per cent, also one of the causes of stunting and death,” said Minister Mulyani.

In its National Medium-Term Development Plan for the 20202024 period, Indonesia targets to reduce the prevalence of smokers in youth aged 10 to 18 years from 9.1 per cent to 8.7 in 2024.

From the editor's desk Growing up in the largest democracy in the world

Reflecting on Professor Babones’ views on Indian Democracy

With Australian Associate Professor Salvatore Babones vouching for India’s democracy, India’s democratic standing in the world has been consolidated further. He categorically asserted his condemnation of biased western media for selectively criticizing India’s democracy despite India’s resilience to democratic values in the face of a tumultuous geopolitical scenario. Indian diplomats seconded the professor’s point of view of biased media coverage tarnishing India’s image. Former ambassador Kanwal Sibal came out with startling revelations about the nexus between certain non-governmental organizations and the United States’ government that have

dampened Indian Prime Minister Modi’s work and vision for India.

Alluding to the unscrupulous ties between China and the west, the Australian professor succinctly brought to the fore, the global dynamics at work to rob India of its most precious jewel of democratic values and principles. The role of Indian intellectuals in spearheading a vicious campaign aimed at spreading misleading narratives of India around the world was noted as well. It then becomes utmost important for readers to doublecheck the content they consume and be wary of the plethora of misinformation that surrounds them.

By Paras Sharma (Assistant Editor)

Governments will govern and wither away but debates and discussions have always and will always flourish and shape the future of India. I have had the good fortune of being born and raised in the largest democracy in the world, India. With a total population of 1.38 billion people living in 28 diverse states and union territories, India is one of the epitomes of diversity and inclusion. With around 20,000 languages and 100 religious beliefs, India’s ability to not only sustain but consolidate its unity and democratic principles is second to none in the world. To understand it at the micro level, I was born in a Hindu family surrounded by Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain friends and family members. The cultural exchange not least the sharing of mouth-watering delicacies that exists between myriad communities in India is an everyday spectacle. However, of late, I have been reading a lot of articles downgrading India’s democracy, particularly under the leadership of one of the most popular Prime Ministers of India, Narendra Modi. Phrases such as ‘Hindu supremacist government, death of democracy, dictatorship of Modi and declining freedom’, to name a few, are used rampantly across world media to spread awareness about a country that has more than 60 political parties holding different religious beliefs and ideologies, a country that has the highest number of voters, a country where its so-called Hindu supremacist leader prioritised minority groups of the country in word and in deed right from the inception of his government and a country where the government’s minutest moves are gauged and staunchly criticised. How can then democracy be ever discounted in a country like India?

The same Modi government that is blamed for a ‘decline in democracy’, has witnessed some of the most unprecedented, fervent and vibrant protests in Independent India’s history. ‘Land Acquisition Reforms, Occupy UGC Movement, Demonetisation, GST Reforms, Abrogation of Article 370, Anti-CAA-NRC Protests (one of the largest in Indian History), Indian American’s protests over Modi’s visit, frequent opposition boycotts and the protests against the recent Farm Laws to name a few are a testimony to the fact that India is still a land that is governed by the people, of the people and for the people. People’s ability to unite, express and govern has not only strengthened but augurs well for the health of India’s democratic landscape. And as far as democracy under the so-called

Hindu supremacist government which is governing a country with the largest proportion of Hindus only for the second time after independence is concerned, it equally thrived when the country was governed for the first time by the Bhartiya Janta Party under the leadership of one of India’s tallest statesmen, Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. From encouraging minorities especially Muslims by launching ‘Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Literacy Awards Scheme, Maulana Azad National Scholarship Scheme and Establishment of Maulana Azad Sadbhawna Kendras Scheme’ to name a few, under the leadership of Vajpayee to the recent abrogation of Triple Talaq (an archaic and inhuman practice dehumanising Muslim women by their own husbands by divorcing them in seconds) under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the so-called Hindu supremacist government is only following in Vajpayee’s footsteps and entrenching the idea of prioritising the minorities in the political psyche of India. The 1996 and 1998 parliamentary debacles of the Bhartiya Janta Party under Vajpayee speak volumes of the respect for democracy that has existed in India and in the Bhartiya Janta Party ever since. Why is then the massive mandate for Narendra Modi in 2014 and 2019 always viewed with an eye of skepticism and unfounded criticism? On the other hand, Indian National Congress that’s now the main opposition party in India and was in power before Modi, has been infamous for crushing protests like no other throughout history. Be it The Emergency imposed in 1975 by Indira Gandhi that incarcerated my grandfather fighting for India’s democracy or the recent one that I can recall and watched on television as a high schoolboy in 2011 where the inhuman, unlawful and barbaric midnight crackdown on Yoga Guru of world repute Swami Ramdev protesting peacefully to consolidate India’s democracy, demeaned India’s democracy, the two of the many anti-dissent stances of the Congress Party then and now reflect that the party has ever since been taking democracy for a ride. I am in no way defending Modi, I’m only defending India’s democracy. Having voted multiple times for various elections and myriad parties and candidates, I have felt hugely empowered casting my vote, which is still a pipe dream for the people of many countries in the world. And the story of feeling free and empowered just doesn’t end at the ballot. Since childhood, I’ve had the privilege to be able to debate and discuss issues of all kinds at school, university and during my

work life. Issues ranging from the empowerment of women to the rights of the LGBTQ community, from debating the outcomes of court verdicts to discussing ways to reform the highest courts in India and from supporting the opposition to criticizing the ruling dispensation, I have lived these experiences in India.

Furthermore, I am a Hindu and have worked as a teacher to kids in a Muslim orphanage for years while in India. The bond that I had and still have with Muslim kids infuses me with one of the best feelings I have experienced in my 27 years of not-so-long life. Teaching them Mathematics, English and Science and learning Urdu from them, which I consider one of the sweetest languages, is what is the reality on the ground in India. And yes, the years I spent at the orphanage were under the so-called ‘rule of a Hindu nationalist dictator’. The same Modi who is unequivocally rebuked for carrying out surgical strikes in 2016 and bombing a Pakistani training camp for insurgents in Balakot in 2019. Both of which were retaliatory and not offensive attacks. The same Modi who is scathingly spoken of for abrogating Article 370 only to integrate and be inclusive of people in the region even though the voice of the people of one of those regions Ladakh’s representative in the parliament passionately sided with Modi on the decision. The same Modi whose attempts to reach out to the Muslim community by exalting Sufism are also selectively seen as attempts to create fissures within Islam, rather than viewing them as genuine attempts to consolidate the complex cultural sphere of India. Resting my case with these beautiful lines by Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee and appealing to all the critics to continue to criticize but spare some moments to appreciate the shades of the spectrum that beautify India.

Democracy shall prevail.

Kadam Mila Kar Chalna Hoga “Badhaen aati hai aaye, Ghire pralay ki ghor ghatayen, Paon ke neeche angaare, Sir par barse yadi jwalayen, Nij haathon mein haste haste, Aag laga kar chalna hoga, Kadam mila kar chalna hoga.”

-Late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Explainer: What India can expect at COP27 climate summit in Egypt?

By Vishal Gulati

New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS) Against a backdrop of weather extremes and geopolitical crises, two upcoming UN summits -- the climate change conference in Egypt and the biodiversity summit in Canada to which India is a crucial Party to both -- are considered to be pivotal moments in global efforts to address the interlinked global warming and extinction crises.

Unlike other "gap" reports, including last week's UNEP Emissions Gap report, which describe a divide between mitigation ambition and the emissions reductions needed to achieve the climate goals to be discussed at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6-20.

The biodiversity meeting named COP15, the biggest conference in a decade, in Montreal, Canada, is expected to deliver a biodiversity agreement on par with the Paris Agreement -- a legally binding international treaty on climate change that was adopted by 196 Parties at COP21 in Paris in December 2015 with the goal to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to preindustrial levels.

What India can expect at COP27?

The main focus this year will be on climate financing where India will push for better financing for G20 countries.

Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R.K. Singh said the International Solar Alliance would "take up the cause" of demanding delivery of the Paris Agreement's $100 billion per year climate financing pledge, which was supposed to run from 2020 to 2025 before increasing thereafter.

According to the latest OECD analysis, the climate finance provided and mobilised by developed countries for climate action in developing countries reached $83.3 billion in 2020.

This is a further four per cent increase from 2019 and followed a one per cent increase from 2018 to 2019. However, it still falls short of the goal for developed countries to provide and mobilise $100 billion a year for developing countries by 2020. The increase in 2020 climate finance was primarily driven by a rise in public flows.

India's updated climate plan comprises 45 per cent reduction in emissions intensity by 2030 and to reach 500 GW of non-fossil installed capacity by 2030.

Future technologies including green hydrogen, offshore wind, off grid and decentralized renewable energy applications need to be adapted.

A new report by BloombergNEF (BNEF) states that India will require $223 billion investment in order to meet its goal of wind and solar capacity installations by 2030 as in its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC),

India has committed to 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.

This will necessitate the need to attract private finance.

Climate negotiators say the recent slew of policies show India is serious about meeting its 2030 decadal targets, which can set the pathway for its 2070 net-zero decarbonisation, pledged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

UNFCCC defines climate finance as "local, national or transnational financing, drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing, that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change".

Climate finance is necessary for mitigation because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions. It is also equally important for adaptation, as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) will play a major role in supporting India to make this transition. But central banks and other financial institutions will have to step up their game.

What's needed is a multisovereign de-risking mechanism.

R.R. Rashmi, Distinguished Fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute, said India hasn't benefited much from the $100 billion climate finance.

"The capital flows to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have been very little, the total capitalisation of GCF is $10-12 billion and out of that only $3-4 billion has come from international sources.

"Further to that only six projects are being implemented in India with GCF funding and those too are very small in size. Almost 95 per cent of the $100 billion finance has gone to other developing countries. Therefore, $100 billion is not so important

for India but it is important for other developing countries and gives an important signal.

"It's an unresolved issue that is still pending. We have resolved the question of NDCs, the question of mitigation largely, maintaining 1.5-2 degrees goals and large economies now have net zero goals, but this $100 billion discussion is yet to be resolved."

On the expected focus areas at COP27, he said: "We will have to come up with a principle for finance just like we've come up for NDCs, whether it is relative or absolute, we need a certain principle for contribution. There are some principles already in existence, like the UN principle, but for the GCF and any finance operating entities of COP, there are no principles. I think establishing this principle will become one of the main finance issues at this COP."

Shreeshan Venkatesh, Climate Policy Lead with Climate Trends, believes the COP is happening at a time of global churn and a lot of the issues important in the collaborative climate effort are now magnified.

"Being the COP of implementation and the global contexts, climate finance has assumed special importance. While climate finance is scaling, this seems to be circumstantial and skewed towards low-risk developed markets. There are a lot of reforms that need to take shape for a comprehensive financial response to the challenge that climate change and climate action pose.

"While one cannot imagine all the questions around required reforms to be answered during the COP, it could be a point of convergence for these discussions and the expression of these needs. Financial risk mitigating mechanisms, long-term finance goals and some clarity on how carbon markets and pricing will shape up are likely to be important points that determine the course of global climate finance flows."

With the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the energy crisis in Europe compounding the woes of world that has been wreaked by extreme weather events and its devastating impacts, particularly in the developing world, TERI delegates note that COP27 should be resolving issues related to enhanced transparency framework, mobilization of long-term climate finance, adequacy of mitigation commitments by the Parties, the Global Goal on Adaptation, implementation of Article 6 (market-based mechanisms), the Warsaw international mechanism for loss and damage, and the implementation of genderresponsive climate actions.

The TERI delegation headed by Vibha Dhawan, Director General, said: "Considering the particularly fraught world in which COP27 is set to unfold, and the continuing and devastating impacts of extreme weather events felt across the globe, it is imperative that the session at Sharm ElSheikh engages with and tries to resolve issues related to longterm climate finance and the mechanisms for loss and damage."

As UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres says: "COP27 must provide a clear and time-bound roadmap on closing the finance gap for addressing loss and damage. This will be a central litmus test for success at COP27."

The UN estimates that the current cost of meeting adaptation needs is $70 billion. By 2050, it could reach $500 billion. According to the Carbon Disclosure Project, just for water risks alone, the costs of doing nothing is five times that of acting today.

As recent extreme weather events across the developing and developed world showed adaptation is not just for the most vulnerable, host Egypt in a message sums up acethe world needs to come together to act now to save lives and livelihoods.

It is time for implementation.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

Major polluters India, China must pay for climate fund, say small island nations

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) Small island nations during the ongoing UN COP27 summit, have said that highly polluting nations like India and China should contribute to a climate compensation fund to help countries rebuild after climate change-driven disasters, according to reports.

Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister Gaston Browne made these comments on Tuesday during the summit in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh.

As per media reports, Browne's comments are the first time that both India and China have together been clubbed as major emitters by small island nations. Browne, speaking on behalf of the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS) negotiating bloc, told mediapersons on the sidelines of the summit that though both India and China are emerging economies, they have a responsibility towards paying into a climate compensation fund.

Delegates at the conference agreed to put the topic of loss and damage onto the formal agenda for the first time in the history of international climate negotiations, reports said further.

"We all know that the People's Republic of China, India they're major polluters, and the polluter must pay," Browne was quoted as saying by reports.

"I don't think that there's any free pass for any country and I don't say this with any acrimony."

In climate talks parlance, the phrase "loss and damage" refers to costs already being incurred from climate-fuelled weather extremes or impacts, like rising sea levels.

UN chief wants climate adaptation to be treated with seriousness

efforts to plan, finance and implement adaptation in light of growing risks, he said. Adaptation needs in the developing world are set to skyrocket to as much as $340 billion a year by 2030. Yet adaptation support today stands at less than one-tenth of that amount, he noted.

The most vulnerable people and communities are paying the price. This is unacceptable, he said.

“Adaptation must be treated with a seriousness that reflects the equal worth of all members of the human family,” said Guterres.

CO2 emissions from buildings, construction hit new high: Report

United Nations, Nov 4 (IANS)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that climate adaptation must be treated with a seriousness that reflects the equal worth of all members of the human family. In a message on the launch of the Adaptation Gap report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Guterres said the lack of support for adaptation needs in the developing world is unacceptable, Xinhua news

agency reported.

The UNEP Adaptation Gap report makes clear that the world is failing to protect people from the here-and-now impacts of the climate crisis. Those on the front lines of the climate crisis are at the back of the line for support, said Guterres. The world is falling far short both in stopping the growth of greenhouse gas emissions and starting desperately needed

“It’s time for a global climate adaptation overhaul that puts aside excuses and picks up the toolbox to fix the problems.”

He called for a dramatic increase in the quantity and quality of financing for adaptation needs, a new business model for turning adaptation priorities into investable projects, far better climate risk data and information, and universal early-warning coverage for climate disasters within five years.

Weekly storage of natural gas in US increases

Houston, Nov 4 (IANS) Working gas storage in the contiguous US was 3,501 billion cubic feet in the week ending October 28, a net increase of 107 billion cubic feet from the previous week, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has said.

The total working gas storage decreased by 2.8 per cent from this time in 2021, and was down 3.7 per cent from the five-year

average, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the EIA's Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.

The storage of working gas in the US usually turns to decrease in November and continues to drop in April when heating season ends in the country, according to previous data.

Working gas is defined as the amount of natural gas stored underground that can be

withdrawn for use. Its storage capacity can be measured in two ways: design capacity and demonstrated maximum working gas capacity.

The contiguous United States consists of the country's 48 adjoining states, plus the District of Columbia, and excludes the non-contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii, and all off-shore insular areas.

Germany’s largest gas importer posts $39bn net loss

acquisition of a share package from Finnish energy group Fortum, the government's stake will be around 99 per cent.

Under the so-called stabilization package, the company's shortterm liquidity has been ensured by credit lines from the stateowned KfW Bank.

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) Despite an increase in energy efficiency investment and lower energy intensity, the building and construction sector’s energy consumption and CO2 emissions have rebounded from the Covid-19 pandemic to an all-time high, a new report finds.

Released at the latest round of the UN COP27 climate summit in Egypt, the 2022 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction finds that the sector accounted for over 34 per cent of energy demand and around 37 per cent of energy and processrelated CO2 emissions in 2021.

The sector’s operational energyrelated CO2 emissions reached 10 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent -- 5 per cent over 2020 levels and 2 per cent over the pre-pandemic peak in 2019.

In 2021, operational energy demand for heating, cooling, lighting and equipment in buildings increased by around four per cent from 2020 and three per cent from 2019.

This, according to the report from the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), means the gap between the climate performance of the sector and the 2050 decarbonization pathway is widening.

multiply policy commitments alongside action and increase investment in energy efficiency.

The sector’s emissions intensity in kilogrammes of CO2 per square metre dropped from 43 in 2015 to 40 in 2021.

Energy intensity in kilowatts per hour per square metre slightly decreased, from 153 in 2015 to 152 in 2021.

Investments in building energy efficiency have gone up by unprecedented levels, rising by 16 per cent in 2021 over 2020 levels to $237 billion.

However, growth is outpacing efforts on energy efficiency and reducing energy intensity.

The increase in global gross floor area between 2015 and 2021 is the equivalent to the total land area covered in buildings in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands; if it were built on one level, at around 24,000 sq.km.

The report says that investments in energy efficiency must be sustained in the face of growing crises -- such as the war in Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis, and the cost-of-living crisis -- to reduce energy demand, avoiding CO2 emissions and dampen energy cost volatility.

Berlin, Nov 4 (IANS) Germany's largest gas importer Uniper announced that it recorded a net loss of 40 billion euros ($39 billion) in the first nine months of this year due to record high gas prices.

This figure contains "10 billion euros of realized costs for replacement volumes, and roughly 31 billion euros of anticipated future losses from valuation effects on derivatives and provision built-ups related to the Russian gas curtailments as of September 30", the company said in a statement on Thursday. "Uniper has for some time been procuring gas at significantly

higher prices," said CFO Tiina Tuomela in the statement, adding that the high cost of procuring new gas was "not being passed through to consumers".

Gas prices in Europe have more than doubled since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.

After peaking at almost 350 euros per megawatt hour, European TTF (Title Transfer Facility) gas futures were trading at around 133 euros on Thursday.

In September, the German government rescued Uniper from insolvency because of its key role in the country's energy supply. After a capital increase and the

By the end of October, 14 billion euros of the total credit line had been utilized, according to the company.

With a total price tag of at least 30 billion euros, the nationalization of Uniper will be the costliest state rescue of a company in Germany's history.

For the full year 2022, Uniper is expecting full-year adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) and adjusted net income to be "significantly negative".

It was impossible to give a more precise earnings outlook due to the "high degree of uncertainty" regarding delivered gas volumes and price levels, the company said.

“Years of warnings about the impacts of climate change have become a reality,a said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). “If we do not rapidly cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, we will be in deeper trouble.”

“The buildings sector represents 40 per cent of Europe’s energy demand, 80 per cent of it from fossil fuels. This makes the sector an area for immediate action, investment, and policies to promote short and long-term energy security.”

Decarbonizing the buildings sector by 2050 is critical to delivering these cuts. To reduce overall emissions, the sector must improve building energy performance, decrease building materials’ carbon footprint,

The buildings sector represents 40 per cent of Europe’s energy demand, 80 per cent of it from fossil fuels. This makes the sector an area for immediate action, investment and policies to promote short and long-term energy security.

The report shows that the sector can still change. For example, rising fossil fuel costs due to the war in Ukraine and the costof-living crisis are providing incentives to invest in energy efficiency -- although the erosion of purchasing power and the impact of labour and materials may slow investment.

“The solution may lie in governments directing relief towards low and zero-carbon building investment activities through financial and nonfinancial incentives,” Andersen added.

Migrants easy targets to blame for economic woes: Ex-Consul General

migrant crisis in the country to "invasion".

"Let's stop pretending that they are all refugees in distress," she had said while responding to questions in the House of Commons.

"Migrants are a source of human capital. To club all migrants as refugees and asylum seekers reflects a lack of understanding," Dasgupta said.

New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS) Canada may have widened its doors to welcome a large number of Indians, but a lot of them have been migrating to countries like Australia and New Zealand as multiculturalism is not under threat in those countries, says India's former Consul-General to Sydney.

"People need someone to blame for their economic woes and migrants are an easy target. Certainly, multiculturalism is threatened at present.

Fortunately, in some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, this is not the case," Amit Dasgupta, Consul-General of India to Sydney from 2009 to 2012, told IANS.

Post-pandemic, the global community is going through stress and we see a resurgence of ultranationalism, Dasgupta, who was recently appointed Honorary Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia, said.

Citing Europe as a "frightening example", the former diplomat said that in such a scenario, "xenophobia and anti-migration policies are inevitable as governments resort to it to deflect attention from poor governance". Dasgupta's comments come in the wake of Indian-origin British Home Secretary Suella Braverman's views, who ruffled feathers in India by saying that Indians overstay their visa in the UK, thus putting the FTA between the two nations in limbo.

Back home, she sparked off another outrage by comparing the

Braverman also blamed clashes between two communities in Leicester on uncontrolled migration into the UK and the failure of newcomers to integrate.

"The assault against multiculturalism and diversity is not going to go away soon because several governments find it convenient to raise the bogey of migration for their own survival, vested interests and lack of policy," Dasgupta, who is also Inaugural Country Director of the University of New South Wales, told IANS.

"The good story is that not everyone buys into the lie and migrants are clear as to which country is welcoming and those that are not. This explains the large number of Indians migrating to Australia."

As of 2021, numbering over 780,000 Indian migrants have overtaken Chinese and New Zealand-born immigrants.

Their numbers doubled during 1996-2006, quadrupled during 2006-2020, and were Australia's fastest growing large diaspora community in 2020.

Indians constitute the second largest taxpayers in Australia, and it is the second largest source of international students in New Zealand, according to media reports.

The diverse Indian community abroad has peacefully co-existed for several decades but recent events in Leicester, Canada have heightened concerns that a stark religious polarization in India is seeping into diaspora communities.

"During all my various assignments abroad, I have never witnessed a divide among

members of the community based on religious or linguistic lines. They took pride in India's extraordinary diversity as the hallmark of what India means to them," Dasgupta told IANS.

"For the Indian diaspora, which is as diverse as India herself is, regional and linguistic ties characterized the community. To assume that the diaspora is homogenous is, therefore, fallacious," he added.

Beginning 2009, attacks against Indian students had threatened Australia's international reputation.

Dasgupta, then as India's ConsulGeneral, played a pivotal role in diffusing tensions and reassuring the Indian diaspora.

"It is my considered view that the majority of the attacks were law and order problems. The states of New South Wales and South Australia handled it well. Victoria simply did not," he said.

Dasgupta was awarded a gold medal by the Multicultural Commission of the New South Wales government for promoting multiculturalism and harmony. He was also India's Ambassador to the Philippines, and has served in various capacities in Cairo, Brussels, Kathmandu, Berlin and Sydney.

Recently Shubham Garg, a 28-year-old Indian student in Sydney, was stabbed multiple times in the face, chest and abdomen by the man who demanded that the cash he withdrew from an ATM be handed over to him.

Local media reports, including Garg's parents, called it a "racist attack".

"Attacks happen everyday and everywhere and I dare say, they certainly happen in India. There is zero tolerance in Australia towards racism or racially motivated attacks. It is part of their national policy and acts as a core differentiator between them and several other countries," Dasgupta said.

(Meenakshi Iyer can be reached at meenakshi.i@ians.in)

AIBC Business Meeting in Brisbane

AIBC QLD Members Meet &

Diwali Dinner was held on 10th November 2022 at Curry N CaskIndian Bistro Fortitude Valley.

AIBC national leadership team

Chair Jodi McKay and Associate National Chair, Irfan Malik also graced the occasion with their presence. It was a great networking event for members of AIBC. AIBC QLD executive team and Ms Kritika Bansal coordinated the function.

Mahindra Australia and Parsram Foods were the sponsors for the event.

AIBC often strives to build the bilateral connections between India and Australia. Support from the Indian community in Australia is always welcome, hence the diwali function was a way to connect with local Indian Business leaders working together on the common goal.

Artists from India, Pakistan celebrate truck art in Qatar

Doha, Nov 10 (IANS) Mural and street artists from India and Pakistan breathed life into the walls of Al Mansoura Metro Station in Doha with their truck art for the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off this month in Qatar.

Truck art is a psychedelic display of interesting slogans, floral patterns, calligraphy and a riot of vibrants colours, usually practised in India and Pakistan.

The initiative was a part of the annual JedariArt programme launched by Qatar Museums, wherein they partnered with art groups -- All India Permit from India and Phool Patti from Pakistan -- to celebrate the truck art form.

The 23X33 feet mural art stand adjacent to each other with the Indian mural displaying famous truck slogans like, "dekho magar pyaar se", and Horn OK please. It showcased motifs and slogans in Hindi, English, Bengali, Punjabi, Arabic, Urdu and Telugu, inspired from the Indian trucks.

The Pakistani mural portrayed nature and its various elements with the message of QatarPakistan Friendship written in the centre.

"The artwork also reflects the ethnic diversity at Al Mansoura, Doha. We are thankful to Qatar

Museums for celebrating Indian and Pakistani truck art and helping it travel across borders," Farid Bawa, artist and founder of All India Permit, told Doha News.

The All India Permit was formed with the aim to revive, preserve and promote the beautiful truck art of India, according to Bawa, who saw the plight of truck artists first-hand, as his grandfather ran a transport business.

"We have tried to portray the beauty of Pakistan's heritage through our art form on the Mansoura walls. The truck art mural is the embodiment of Phool Patti's dedication to the cause of promoting Pakistan's rich heritage and culture," Ali Salman Anchan, artist and founder of Phool Patti, told The Peninsula.

This year, Qatar Museums has over 30 public art installations planned to be placed in different spots across the country for the FIFA World Cup, Doha News reported.

Participants from India included artists Bawa and Akhlaq Ahmad (Shabbu), and Ali Salman Anchan, Mumtaz Ahmad, Muhammad Amin from Pakistan.

The event also saw participation from local artists, Amal Serhan, Abdulrahman Ahmadi, Maya Attia and Lee Baker.

Student from Andhra dies in Australia car crash

when it left the road and struck a tree near the Hume Freeway interchange.

They are still investigating and are yet to determine what time the collision occurred.

Investigators are urging anyone who witnessed the incident or has dashcam footage of the vehicle to contact Crime Stoppers, or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic. com.au, the NCR Review reported.

Canberra, Nov 11 (IANS) Sai Rohit Paladugu, a 27 year-old student from Andhra Pradesh, died on the spot after his car crashed into a tree in Australia's Victoria state, media reports said.

Paladugu, who came to Australia in 2017 to pursue higher studies, was a resident of Polakala Yellampally village in Chittoor district, the Herald Sun reported.

Victoria police believe the car was travelling north on the Goulburn Valley Highway on November 3

Friends said Paladugu was also working to help his mother and to pay off the education loan taken to come to Australia.

His father had already passed, and he was the sole bread earner.

To support his family, more than $65,000 have been raised through a fundraiser, which is being carried out by Telugu Association Of Australia, SBS Tamil reported.

Indian-origin MP ushers in Hindu Heritage Month in Canada

make immense contributions to the fabric of our country. I wish you all a Happy Hindu Heritage Month!" Anita Anand, the IndoCanadian MP for Oakville and Minister of National Defence, tweeted.

Pan Pacific Masters Games 2022 Gold coast Australia

Toronto, Nov 3 (IANS) Indianorigin MP Chandra Arya marked Canada's first Hindu Heritage Month beginning frorm November to acknowledge and celebrate contributions made by Hindus to make the country strong and prosperous.

The Canadian House of Commons had passed a unanimous resolution moved by Arya earlier this year to have November proclaimed as the Hindu Heritage Month.

"Today I marked the historic beginning of Canada's national Hindu Heritage Month by raising a flag with Hindu sacred symbol 'Aum' on parliament hill," Arya, MP from the ruling Liberal Party representing Nepean in the Ottawa area, wrote in a tweet on Tuesday.

"HHM (Hindu Heritage Month)

provides an opportunity to recognize the contributions of 830,000 Hindu-Canadians to our country & of Hindu Heritage to mankind."

According to Arya, members of the Hindu community started coming to Canada 100 years ago.

The community has people who migrated from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Southeast Asia and even Africa.

According to Statistics Canada, as reported in the 2021 Census, Hindus rose from 1.0 per cent to 2.3 per cent (close to 830,000 people) of total Canadian population from 2001 to 2021.

Hindus now comprise 4.1 per cent of the Ontario population.

"This November marks the first federally recognized Hindu Heritage Month. Canada is home to over 830,000 Hindus who

The celebration comes months after a series of verbal and physical attacks on Hindus and their properties in the North American nation.

Arya has been a vocal critic of hate crime incidents targeting Indians, and has strongly criticised instances of vandalism at the Hindu temples, as well as desecration of Mahatma Gandhi's statue in the country.

"From building institutions to being philanthropists, HinduCanadians have excelled in all services and sectors and in all walks of life," Arya had said, moving the motion in Parliament to get November declared as Hindu Heritage Month.

In Canada, the month of May is observed as Canadian Jewish Month, October is observed as Canadian Islamic Historic Month, and April is celebrated as Sikh Heritage Month.

Indian-American Aruna Miller elected Maryland’s Lt Governor (Ld)

Nikki Haley in South Carolina.

The 58-year-old immigrated to the US from India when she was seven.

In a series of tweets, Miller wrote: "Ever since I came to this country in 1972, I've never stopped being excited for the promise of America. I will never stop fighting to make sure that promise is available to everyone.

"And this promise begins with a commitment to deliver a Maryland where we Leave No One Behind."

Delegates, the lower chamber of the legislature, starting in 2010.

She tried to run for Congress in 2019 but lost the Democratic primary election for selecting the party's candidate.

Miller has also served as an executive director of India Impact, an organisation that mobilises voters and candidates for offices and supports Asian American candidates.

Miller is married to her collegemate David Miller and they have three adult daughters.

Jeet Kathuria, an 84-year-old New Zealander backs one gold, 6 silver, and four bronze medals in the Pan Pacific Masters Games 2022 at Gold coast Australia.

The 12th Pan Pacific Masters Games were held in Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia on 4 – 13 November 2022.

More than 16,000 participants from 40 countries including New Zealand participated at one of the most popular sporting destinations to compete in the Asia-Pacific’s biggest and best annual masters games. The entertainment showcased more than 40 sports played at some of the best sporting facilities on the planet. The minimum age group for the players to compete in these sports was 30 yrs.

It has promised to be one of the best sports tourism in Australia.

New York, Nov 9 (IANS) IndianAmerican Aruna Miller has been elected Lieutenant Governor of Maryland in the midterm elections in which the Democrats wrested the top spots in the state from the Republicans.

She and the candidate for Governor Wes Moore won 59.3 per cent of the votes in Tuesday's election.

They make history in the state, Miller as the first IndianAmerican or Asian American Lieutenant Governor, and Moore as the state's first AfricanAmerican Governor.

The Hyderabad-born Miller is also the first Indian-American to be elected a state Lieutenant Governor, although two Republicans from the community have been elected Governors, Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and

Thanking her voters, Miller said she wants to build a Maryland where people feel safe in their communities and in their skin.

"Before I ask you for anything, I want to thank you for everything. Thank you for being here today and for being a part of this moment. We need you. We need your hope, we need your stories, we need your partnership, and I can promise you this, we're only just getting started.

"Maryland, tonight you showed the nation what a small but mighty state can do when democracy is on the ballot.

You chose unity over division, expanding rights over restricting rights, hope over fear. You chose Wes Moore and me to be your next Governor and Lieutenant Governor," she added.

Miller had served two terms as a member of the state's House of

After getting a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology she worked in California, Hawaii and Virginia before moving to Maryland, where she was employed by the department of transportation of Montgomery county.

Governor Larry Hogan, a critic of former President Donald Trump, and Lieutenant Governor Boyd K. Rutherford did not run for reelection.

The Republican Governor candidate Dan Cox is a Trump loyalist and he collected only 37 per cent of the votes, underperforming like many of the candidates backed by Trump. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @ arulouis)

Director ID – Who Needs to Apply Before 30 November 2022?

All directors of a company in Australia are required to apply for a director identification number (director ID) before 30 November 2022. A director ID is a unique identifier that directors apply for once and keep forever.

You will need a director ID if you are a director of a company, a corporate trustee of a selfmanaged super fund, a charity or not for profit organisation that is a company structure, a registered foreign company, or a registered Australian body such as an incorporated association that is registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

If you haven’t already, it’s time to apply now. The fastest way to apply for a director ID is online, by using the myGovID app to log in to ABRS online. You will need a myGovID with at least a Standard identity strength.

To verify your identity, you must apply for your own director IDtax professionals cannot apply on your behalf. While your registered tax professional cannot apply on your behalf, they can help provide you with details from ATO stored

identity documents.

Before you start your online application, make sure you have your personal identity documents at hand. These must relate to you as an individual, not the business or self-managed super fund. Most applicants use the following documents:

- bank account details (where your tax refunds have been paid)

- an ATO notice of assessment.

You can also use:

- superannuation fund account details (self-managed super fund (SMSF) details are not accepted)

- a dividend statement

- a Centrelink payment summary

- a PAYG payment summary (this is different to your income statement or your PAYG instalment activity statement).

For more information and to watch a step-by-step demonstration on how to apply for a director ID online, visit abrs. gov.au/directorID

Additional resources are available in other languages at abrs.gov.au/ other-languages

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Brisbane - 2022

QLD Parliament Diwali & Annakut Celebrations

On Thursday 10th November 2022, between 6.30 pm to 8:00 pm

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Brisbane hosted the celebration of the auspicious Hindu festival of Diwali and Annakut in Queensland Parliament House with the support of Hon. Leanne Linard, Minister for Children and Youth Justice and Minister for Multicultural Affairs.

Diwali, commonly known as the Festival of Lights, is a celebration of the sentiments of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance and good over evil. It is a time during which Hindu's from around the world light traditional lamps and pray for peace, prosperity and ask the Lord to dispel ignorance and bring spiritual enlightenment.

This year's Diwali celebration was dedicated to the real heroes, the front-line health workers, the Corona warriors. The staff from Princess Alexandra Hospital, Metro South Health and Queensland Health Department were specially invited to this event.

Dr. Jeannette Young, Chief Health Officer of Queensland was there to present the Diyas to all the front-line health workers and honored them by presenting them Diyas (traditional clay lamps) as they truly deserve the Diyas signifying the light over darkness and they have actually made a difference to a number of families saving their loved ones.

Annakut, the following day after Diwali, marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year. On this day, the Annakut, or ‘mountain of food,’ is offered to the Lord as a symbol of appreciation and gratitude. Devotees lovingly prepare vegetarian delicacies and offer them to the lord while singing devotional songs.

THE CHIEF GUESTS OF THE EVENING WERE:

Hon Steven Miles

Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning.

Hon Shannon Fentiman

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Minister for Women and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence

Mr. Davis Crisafulli

Leader of Opposition

Mrs. Archana Singh, Honorary Consul of India, Brisbane

Mr. Simon Kelly

Executive Director Simon Kelly of the Communications, Culture and Engagement Division of Queensland Police

Rena Fallon, Regional Director North, Department of Home Affairs

Apart from the above chief guest,

there were Inspector Jackey Honeywood Multicultural Unit QPS, Mr Anoop Nannuru, FICQ President, Mrs. Lisa Ward, CEO of ECCQ, Dr Adam Bowles, Head of Department of History UQ, Ms. Julie McDougall Executive Director of Multicultural Affairs and the representatives of various Indian communities and religious organizations attended the event.

The function begins with the recitation of the Shanti Paath to usher peace into everyone's hearts and minds followed by Thaal (Offering food to God) and Aarti

Speeches were delivered by Hon Steve Miles, Hon Shannon Fentiman, Mr. Davis Crisafulli, Mrs. Archana Singh, Mr. Simon Kelly, and Rena Fallon

Hon Steven Miles and Mr. Crisafulli acknowledged the significant contributions made by the BAPS organization and the Indian community at large to Australia. They reflected on the values of Hinduism, and Diwali, and were proud to see them being displayed through BAPS in Queensland Parliament.

Both parliamentarians noted the significance of the Indian diaspora to the Queensland state and appreciated the hardworking and entrepreneurial nature of the Indian community and BAPS volunteerism.

Mrs. Archana Singh reinforced one of the key messages of His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj of Unity, and that unity was one of the key values that leaders of all the Indian communities should guard as sacred, and that unity between the Indian community and the wider Queensland community should never be broken at any cost.

She admired the BAPS initiatives to establish the Vedic Indian traditions and values to maintain the significance of celebrating the festival in their true sense and spirit.

Mr. Simon Kelly and Rena Fallon commended the hard efforts put on by BAPS volunteers and their commitment towards the community and following the motto of BAPS Guru “ In the joy of Other, lies our own”. She also appreciated the BAPS volunteers to make this event happen and be successful.

All chief guests were welcomed traditionally with presented garlands of fresh flowers.

Over 60 distinguished Members of Parliament, Honorary Consul’s, respected leaders of various Indian and Hindu communities, and BAPS guests attended this vibrant event in the Premiers & Speaker’s Hall of the Parliament House.

On display, and the highlight of the event was the offering of grand Annakut (“mountain of

food”) where a vast array of pure vegetarian food is traditionally arranged in tiers or steps resulting in a spectacular display.

The event was extremely well received by all attendees and served as a valuable opportunity to strengthen inter-community relationships as well as relationships with Members of the QLD Parliament.

This grand event was concluded with the Aarti ritual and followed by a sit-down round-table dinner.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) is a worldwide spiritual and humanitarian organization that is dedicated to community service, peace, and harmony. Motivated by Hindu principles, BAPS strives to care for the world by caring for societies, families, and individuals. Through various spiritual and humanitarian activities, BAPS endeavors to develop better citizens of tomorrow with high esteem for their roots and culture. Its 3,300 international centers support these character-building activities. Under the guidance and leadership of His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, BAPS aspires to build a community that is free of addictions as well as morally, ethically, and spiritually pure. For more details, please visit www. baps.org.

Media Release and Images: Courtesy of BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir, Brisbane.

For further information please direct queries to Jaynesh Brahmbhatt , PRO 0426 061 086

Baps.brisbanepr@gmail.com

Women’s Health and Wellbeing Forum organized by FICQ

On Saturday, 12 November,

FICQ hosted Women's & Men's Wellbeing at Australian Red Cross Humanity Place- Milton Brizvegas.

Dr. Abha Chikarsal presented on the topic of Women’s Health, whereas Dr. Dev Kawol presented a talk on Men’s Health.

Emeritus Professor David Kavanagh moderated the discussion and was the main presenter talking about mental health and wellbeing.

The Forum was well attended by community leaders of organizations associated with FICQ. These forums not only give valuable information but also help organizations connect with key people who are significant in making a change in the community. The FICQ committee often encourages community leaders and members of those community organizations to attend such forums which are beneficial for the entire Indian community in Brisbane.

Indian-American gets Amazon award to study machine learning systems

equipping the design team with an automated tool that could highlight where and by how much the systems changed between different versions, thereby aiding the team in making decisions regarding the acceptability of the changes from a user experience perspective,” Prabhakar explained.

The automated tool will benefit design teams in making critical decisions about improving user experience of machine learningbased intelligent software systems, a Kansas State University press statement said.

Indian-origin Sikh wins 2023 NSW Australian of the Year award

bomb, or what I'm hiding under my turban," Singh, a strong advocate of multiculturalism and interfailth dialogue, said.

New York, Nov 8 (IANS) Pavithra Prabhakar, an Indian-American professor of computer science at the Kansas State University, has received an Amazon Research Award to design a tool that minimises negative user experiences.

Prabhakar, who is the Peggy and Gary Edwards chair in engineering, was one of 74 recipients of the awards from Amazon, which also includes an unrestricted gift, access to more than 300 Amazon public datasets, and Amazon Web Services’ artificial intelligence and machine learning services and tools.

The tool designed by Prabhakar

would be utilized to minimise disruptive changes to user experience of machine learningbased software systems as the product is refined and retrained over time.

“The broad objective of the project is to automatically characterize how much two versions of machine learningbased systems are similar or different,” Prabhakar said.

She further said even though these systems are regularly retrained to achieve superior performance, it does not often translate to a better user experience.

“This can be mitigated by

Prabhakar obtained her doctorate in computer science and a master’s degree in applied mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, followed by a Center for the Mathematics of Information postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology. She was named a Michelle Munson-Serban Simu Keystone research scholar and received the dean’s award for excellence in research from the Carl R Ice College of Engineering.

Prabhakar’s research has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the NSF CAREER award, Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award and the Marie Curie Career Integration Grant from the European Union.

Melbourne, Nov 14 (IANS)

Indian-origin Sikh Amar Singh has been honoured with the New South Wales Australian of the Year award for supporting the community impacted by floods, bushfires, drought and the Covid-19 pandemic. Singh, 41, is the founder and President of 'Turbans 4 Australia' -- a charity organisation that assists people facing financial hardship, food insecurity, homelessness and those impacted by natural calamities. "Our President and Founder was named NSW Local Hero this week! We are beyond proud of you Amar," Turbans 4 Australia tweeted last week.

Singh, who was awarded in the Local Hero category, founded the charity in 2015 after experiencing racial slurs and insults because of his Sikh turban and beard, a New South Wales (NSW) government release stated. "A co-worker once told me I looked like a terrorist. While simply going about my daily life, strangers on the street have asked me if I'm carrying a

"I wanted Australians to see Sikhs as people they could trust and turn to in times of need," he added. Singh, who moved to Australia as a teenager, said that he has been very passionate about community service from a younger age. Every week, Singh and his organisation package and distribute up to 450 food and grocery hampers to people experiencing food insecurity in Western Sydney. They have also delivered hay to farmers experiencing drought; supplies to flood victims in Lismore and bushfire-impacted people on the South Coast; and food hampers to the isolated and vulnerable during Covid-19 lockdowns. Singh and his group are also teaching people in cities across Australia about the Sikh community via their Turban Fest events.

Since its inception in 1960, the Australian of the Year awards honour an exceptional group of highly-respected Australians who ignite discussion and change on issues of national importance.

Apart from Singh, there are four other recipients of the award from NSW, who will come together with awardees from other states for the national awards ceremony in Canberra on January 25, 2023.

Hindu Council Deepavali Function in Canberra!

Hindu Council of Australia organized the Deepavali function at the Great Hall, in Australian Federal Parliament. The event was attended by political dignitaries, members of diplomatic corps and distinguished community members. Cultural performances captivated the audience. Speeches were made by His excellency, High Commissioner of India in Canberra Shri. Manpreet Vohra, Hon. Richard Marles, Deputy PM & Defence Minister, Hon. Patrick Gorman, Asstt. Minister to PM, Hon. Peter Dutton, Leader of Opposition, and others. They conveyed best wishes for the festival and applauded the strengthening bilateral cultural relationship.

India-born Venki Ramakrishnan awarded British Order of Merit

Elizabeth in early September," The Royal Family website announced. Ramakrishnan was conferred knighthood "for services to molecular biology" in the New Year Honours List 2012. He is also the author of the popular book, Gene Machine, which captures his first-hand account of the discovery.

Ramakrishnan is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina and EMBO, as well as a Foreign Member of the Indian National Science Academy.

London, Nov 12 (IANS) Venki

Ramakrishnan, Indian-born British and American structural biologist and Nobel laureate, has been appointed by King Charles III to the Order of Merit.

Hailing from the temple town of Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, Venkatraman "Venki" Ramakrishnan, 70, has worked as a biologist for more than 30 years, with much of his research being focused on central problems in molecular biology.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2009 alongside Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath for the highresolution atomic structure of the

ribosome, which opened up new possibilities in the development of antibiotics.

King Charles III made the appointments on Friday -- his first since becoming the Sovereign of the Order, and after the passing away of Queen Elizabeth II. The six new members were chosen by the Queen before her death.

"Appointments to the Order are made in recognition of distinguished service to the Armed Forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. The individuals were chosen by Her Majesty Queen

In 2017, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. A fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Ramakrishnan was elected in 2015 as President of the Royal Society for a five-year term. He studied at Baroda University, Ohio University and the University of California, San Diego.

He was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2010. The Order of Merit, a royal honour for distinguished service, became more diverse this time with four of the six new members from ethnic minorities.

The order has 24 members, drawn from the arts, sciences and armed services.

Victoria’s State Elections on November 26th.

Australian-Indian voter, Make a difference!

On 26 November 2022, Victoria State will have its 60th Victorian Parliament voting. Nearly, 4.3 million eligible Victorians will be required to vote at this most significant democratic event. Every voter will make a difference when choosing who represents them in the 88 Legislative Assembly districts and the 8 Legislative Council regions.

Warwick Gately AM, Electoral Commissioner promises that “As the responsible agency, the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) will manage every element of the election under a strict statutory regime, requiring forward planning, strong project management, attention to detail, and discipline.”

At the 2021 Census, The median age of voters was 38 years with a median weekly household income of $1,75. The Birthplace of voters born outside Australia was 35%. (Source: www.vec.vic.gov.au)

Victorian State Seat with most Indian- Australian Voters are STATE SEATS NUMBER OF VOTERS

Tarneit (Western Metropolitan). 22,910

Kalkallo (Northern Metropolitan). 18,332

Laverton (Western Metropolitan) 17,039

Point Cook (Western Metropolitan) 13,687

Cranbourne (South-Eastern Metropolitan) 13,147

Werribee (Western Metropolitan) 11,362

Berwick (South-Eastern Metropolitan) 10,540

Thomastown (Northern Metropolitan) 10,393

Narre Warren South (South-Eastern Metropolitan) 9,914

Kororoit (Western Metropolitan). 8,861

Oakleigh (Southern Metropolitan) 8,141 Melton (Western Victoria) 8,011

SOURCE: RedBridge

The Politicians in Melbourne, Victoria are doing everything they can to sway the votes of the Indian voter. An Indian voter is favored not for the numbers as they surpass the Chinese Australians but for their interests in education, healthcare, and sports.

FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF CANDIDATE OF

In Melbourne west, in the Melton district, at The Sri Durga Temple, one of Australia’s largest Hindu temples, many high-profile politicians have made their presence as the elections have drawn closer.

Premier Daniel Andrews secretly

visited the temple last Sunday avoiding media attention. At the temple he promised to give funds for community projects to the Indian community including the promise of development of the Community Centre.

Liberal State Leader of the opposition Mr. Mathew Guy in his address to the public at the Dussera event held at the temple announced to support the community festival annually with a grant and help build the car park for the temple if elected to the premier’s office.

Labor MP Steve McGhie and Liberal candidate Graham Watt both have been attracting the Indian voter in this district. This year at the State election there are many candidates who are of Indian origin. Tarneit has the most Indian Australian voters with two Indian candidates; Jaydeep Patel, New Democrat and Preet Singh Liberal Party of

INDIANBACKGROUND CONTESTING THE ELECTION:

AJJAMPURA, Srilakshmi New Democrat

BRAHMBHATT, Krishna Dharmeshkumar

Kaushaliya Vaghela New Democrat

BANSAL, Deepak United Australia Part

BHINDER, Vikram New Democrat

BISHNOI, Arix Maheshkumar New Democrat

CHANDOK, Jaz New Democrat

CHOPRA, Brijesh New Democrat

CHAUDHARY, Jigarkumar Abhaysinh New Democrat

DADICH, Daniel Nair Victorian Socialists

DARJI, Komalben Rasiklal New Democrat

DAVE, Hardik Bipinchandra New Democrat

DER, Kuldeep Jitendrakumar New Democrat

DWIVEDI, Mohit Derryn Hinch’s Justice Part

GARG, Rajat New Democrat

GOMEZ BENITEZ, Cecilia New Democrat

HANUMANTHARAYAPPA, Manju Liberal Party of Australia - Victorian Division

JAFARI, Elnaz

Animal Justice Party

JAISINGHANI, Darshan Lal New Democrat

KACHHIA, Vijaykumar New Democrat

KAUR, Jasleen New Democrat

KHAN, Nurul Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch

LAKHATARIYA, Bhaveshkumar Vasantlal New Democrat

MALHOTRA, Yogesh Kumar New Democrat

MANNAN, Zaffer New Democrat

MOHR, Rohanna Animal Justice Part

MARWAHA, Ravinder Singh New Democrat

NARANG, Pushpdeep New Democrat

PALKURI, Anitha Jyothi New Democrat

PALKURI, Samson Restore Democracy Sack Dan Andrews Part

PANCHAL, Nilam Dhaval New Democrat

PATEL, Bhavika Amrutlal New Democrat

PATEL, Jaydeep New Democrat

PATEL, Jaymik Mahendrakumar New Democrat

PATEL, Manish Liberal Party of Australia - Victorian Division

PATEL, Rushi Vijaykumar New Democrat

RAGUPATHY, Ravi

RANA, Ravinder Singh New Democrat

REDDY, Raja Liberal Party of Australia - Victorian Division

ROS, Amita New Democrat

SABHLOK, Sanjeev

SANDHU, Smiley New Democrat

SAWANT, Shwetali

SINGH, Satinder New Democrat

SAYER, Das SAYED, Mehdi

SHAH, Namrata Rajan New Democrat

SHAIK, Mohammed Quasim New Democrat

SHARMA, Erin New Democrat

SINGH, Bikram Liberal Party of Australia - Victorian Division SINGH, Bobby United Australia Part SINGH, Gurdawar Liberal Party of Australia - Victorian Division SINGH, Preet Liberal Party of Australia - Victorian Division SINGH, Pushpinder New Democrat

SONI, Gurneet New Democrat

TOMAR, Sahil Liberal Party of Australia - Victorian Division VAGHELA, Kaushaliya Virjibhai New Democrat

VEMPATI, Kiran The Australian Greens - Victoria VERMA, Ashish

For other candidates list visit: https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/candidatesand-parties/become-a-state-election-candidate/state-electioncandidate-resources

To know your options for voting visit the URL: https://www.vec.vic.gov. au/voting/2022-state-election/voting-options-during-an-election Pre-Election voting dates and operating hours for voting are:

DATE

OPERATING HOUR

Monday 14 November 9 am to 6 pm

Tuesday 15 November 8.30 am to 8 pm

Thursday 17 November 8.30 am to 8 pm

Saturday 19 November 9 am to 5 pm

Thursday 24 November 8.30 am to 8 pm

Australia, Victoria Division. In the Kalkallo district, the Indian candidate is Bikram Singh of the Liberal Party. Savant Schwetali is from Point cook, whereas the Indian candidate in the district of Melton is Kaur Jasleen who is a New Democrat candidate.

Promises galore from both ends

Labor promises:

• $12bn to overhaul the system. Labor has also announced upgrades for the Austin, Northern and Wonthaggi hospitals, as well as a new hospital for West Gippsland. It has also pledged $44m for medical equipment for eight hospitals across the state.

• $1.6bn to upgrade 89 public schools and build 25 new ones in growth suburbs, as well as $750m for Catholic and independent schools and a $207m package for specialist schools, including the rollout of after-school care.

• Slash the price of regional public transport to bring it in line with metropolitan fares.

• Plan to set up a statecontrolled renewable energy company, which it says will push down power prices in the long term.

Coalition promises:

• Shelving the first stage of the government’s Suburban Rail Loop project to fund new hospitals and upgrades, including in Benambra, Caulfield, Mildura, Nepean and Sandringham. They are also offering $500 vouchers for those on the state’s dental wait list to access treatment at private clinics.

• Cap public transport at $2 a day, halve V/Line fares and provide free public transport for healthcare workers.

• Bring down power bills by cutting the electricity supply charge for six months, saving households an estimated $235.

• Reserving all gas from new conventional onshore projects for Victorian households and manufacturing.

IPL retention & releases: CSK retain Jadeja, release Bravo; SRH shunt Williamson, Pooran; Punjab let go of Mayank

Players acquired via trades: NA

Purse remaining: Rs 20.45

Overseas slots remaining: 2

Current squad: MS Dhoni (capt), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana

Gujarat Titans

Overseas slots remaining: 3

Current squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Tim David, Ramandeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal Delhi Capitals

Players released: Shardul Thakur (Rs 10.75 crore), Tim Seifert (Rs 50 lakh), Ashwin Hebbar (Rs 20 lakh), Srikar Bharat (Rs 2 crore), Mandeep Singh (Rs 1.1 crore)

Agarwal

Players released: Jason Behrendorff (Rs 75 lakh), Aneeshwar Gautam (Rs 20 lakh), Chama Milind (Rs 25 lakh), Luvnith Sisodia (Rs 20 lakh), Sherfane Rutherford (Rs 1 crore)

Players acquired via trades: NA Purse remaining: Rs 8.75 crore Overseas slots remaining: 2

New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) Chennai

Super Kings retained all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja but released longserving player Dwayne Bravo while Sunrisers Hyderabad let go of their captain Kane Williamson as all ten Indian Premier League franchises on Tuesday announced their full list of retained and released players ahead of the mini-auction next month.

Jadeja had stepped down as CSK skipper mid-way during last year’s IPL and there were reports of an acrimonious relationship between him and the franchise. However, it seems that all is well now between the two parties and the star all-rounder will continue to “Whistle Podu” for the Chennai franchise.

However, the four-time champions have released West Indies great Dwayne Bravo, the 39-year-old T20 itinerant who now seems to be struggling toward the end of a chequered career. Bravo has been with CSK since 2011 and has won the Purple Cap twice (2013 and 2015). He was bought by CSK for Rs 4.40 crore in the 2022 IPL Auction.

Apart from Bravo, CSK also released New Zealand’s Adam Milne, Englishman Chris Jordan and Indians N Jagadeesan, C Hari Nishaanth, K Bhagat Varma, KM Asif, and Robin Uthappa, who had retired from all forms of cricket in September.

On the other hand, Williamson, who captained the Sunrisers in the 2022 edition, had recently recovered from an injury and has been struggling for form in recent times. Thus the Sunrisers expectedly decided to release him from the contract.

“Always our Kane Mama!,” the franchisee wrote in a post on its social media handle with a thank you note to Williamson, who has played 76 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad, scoring 2101 runs at an average of 36.22 and a strike

rate of 126.03.

The franchise has also released West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran, who couldn’t perform as per expectations last season.

In other big movements, Punjab Kings have released their last edition’s captain Mayank Agarwal along with eight other players -- Benny Howell, Odean Smith, Vaibhav Arora, Ishan Porel, Ansh Patel, Prerak Mankad, Sandeep Sharma, Writtick Chatterjee.

Meanwhile, five-time champions Mumbai Indians released as many as 13 players, including West Indies giant Kieron Pollard, who announced retirement earlier in the day. On the other hand, Lucknow Super Giants released the Caribbean duo of Evin Lewis and Jason Holder, Sri Lanka’s Dushmantha Chameera and IPL’s first Indian centurion Manish Pandey.

Defending champions Gujarat Titans released Gurkeerat Singh, Varun Aaron and Dominic Drakes. They have already traded Lockie Ferguson and Rahmanullah Gurbaz to KKR.

After revealing the list of retained and released players, the Sunrisers had the largest purse (Rs 42.25 crore) for the auction on December 23, followed by Punjab (Rs 32.20 crore), Lucknow (Rs 23.35 crore), Mumbai (Rs 20.55 crore), Chennai (Rs 20.45 crore), Delhi (Rs 19.45 crore), Gujarat (Rs 19.25 crore), Rajasthan Royals (Rs 13.2 crore), RCB (Rs 8.75 crore) and KKR (Rs 7.05 crore).

List of released and retained players: Chennai Super Kings

Players released: Dwayne Bravo (Rs 4.4 crore), Robin Uthappa (Rs 2 crore), Adam Milne (Rs 1.9 crore), Hari Nishaanth (Rs 20 lakh), Chris Jordan (Rs 3.6 crore), Bhagath Varma (Rs 20 lakh), KM Asif (Rs 20 lakh), Narayan Jagadeesan (Rs 20 lakh)

Players released: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Rs 50 lakh), Lockie Ferguson (Rs 10 crore), Dominic Drakes (Rs 1.1 crore), Gurkeerat Singh (Rs 50 lakh), Jason Roy (Rs 2 crore), Varun Aaron (Rs 50 lakh)

Players acquired via trades: NA

Purse remaining: Rs 19.25

Overseas slots remaining - 3

Current squad: Hardik Pandya (capt), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad Sunrisers Hyderabad

Players released: Kane Williamson (Rs 14 crore), Nicholas Pooran (Rs 10.75 crore), Jagadeesha Suchith (Rs 20 lakh), Priyam Garg (Rs 20 lakh), Ravikumar Samarth (Rs 20 lakh), Romario Shepherd (Rs 7.75 crore), Saurabh Dubey (Rs 20 lakh), Sean Abbott (Rs 2.4 crore), Shashank Singh (Rs 20 lakh), Shreyas Gopal (Rs 75 lakh), Sushant Mishra (Rs 20 lakh), Vishnu Vinod (Rs 50 lakh)

Players acquired via trades: NA Purse remaining: Rs 42.25 crore Overseas slots remaining: 4

Current squad: Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik

Mumbai Indians

Players released: Kieron Pollard (Rs 6 crore), Anmolpreet Singh (Rs 20 lakh), Aryan Juyal (Rs 20 lakh), Basil Thampi (Rs 30 lakh), Daniel Sams (Rs 2.6 crore), Fabian Allen (Rs 75 lakh), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 1.3 crore), Mayank Markande (Rs 65 lakh), Murugan Ashwin (Rs 1.6 crore), Rahul Buddhi (Rs 20 lakh), Riley Meredith (Rs 1 crore), Sanjay Yadav (Rs 50 lakh), Tymal Mills (Rs 1.5 crore)

Players acquired via trades: Jason Behrendorff

Players acquired via trades: Aman Khan

Purse remaining: Rs 19.45 crore

Overseas slots remaining - 2 Current squad: Rishabh Pant (C), David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Ripal Patel, Rovman Powell, Sarfaraz Khan, Yash Dhull, Mitchell Marsh, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Khaleel Ahmed, Lungi Ngidi, Mustafizur Rahman, Aman Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Vicky Ostwal

Lucknow Super Giants

Players released: Andrew Tye (Rs 1 crore), Ankit Rajpoot (Rs 50 lakh), Dushmantha Chameera (Rs 2 crore), Evin Lewis (Rs 2 crore), Jason Holder (Rs 8.75 crore), Manish Pandey (Rs 4.6 crore), Shahbaz Nadeem (Rs 50 lakh)

Players acquired via trades: NA

Purse remaining: Rs 23.35 crore

Overseas slots remaining: 4 Current squad: KL Rahul (capt), Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Manan Vohra, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi Rajasthan Royals

Players released: Anunay Singh (Rs 20 lakh), Corbin Bosch (Rs 20 lakh), Daryl Mitchell (Rs 75 lakh), James Neesham (Rs 1.5 crore), Karun Nair (Rs 1.4 crore), Nathan Coulter-Nile (Rs 2 crore), Rassie van der Dussen (Rs 1 crore), Shubham Garhwal (Rs 20 lakh), Tejas Baroka (Rs 20 lakh)

Players acquired via trades: NA Purse remaining: Rs 13.2 crore

Overseas slots remaining: 4

Current squad: Sanju Samson (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Jos Buttler, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult, Obed McCoy, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, KC Cariappa

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Current squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Virat Kohli, Suyash Prabhudessai, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Finn Allen, Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, David Willey, Karn Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood, Siddarth Kaul, Akash Deep

Punjab Kings

Players released: Mayank Agarwal (Rs 14 crore), Odean Smith (Rs 6 crore), Vaibhav Arora (Rs 2 crore), Benny Howell (Rs 40 lakh), Ishan Porel (Rs 20 lakh), Ansh Patel (Rs 20 lakh), Prerak Mankad (Rs 20 lakh), Sandeep Sharma (Rs 50 lakh), Writtick Chatterjee (Rs 20 lakh)

Players acquired via trades: NA Purse remaining: Rs 32.2 crore Overseas slots remaining: 3

Current squad: Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar Kolkata Knight Riders

Players released: Pat Cummins (Rs 7.25 crore), Sam Billings (Rs 2 crore), Aman Khan (Rs 20 lakh), Shivam Mavi (Rs 7.25 crore), Mohammad Nabi (Rs 1 crore), Chamika Karunaratne (Rs 50 lakh), Aaron Finch (Rs 1.5 crore), Alex Hales (Rs 1.5 crore), Abhijeet Tomar (Rs 40 lakh), Ajinkya Rahane (Rs 1 crore), Ashok Sharma (Rs 20 lakh), Baba Indrajith (Rs 20 lakh), Pratham Singh (Rs 20 lakh), Ramesh Kumar (Rs 20 lakh), Rasikh Salam (Rs 20 lakh), Sheldon Jackson (Rs 20 lakh)

Players acquired via trades: Shardul Thakur, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Lockie Ferguson

Purse remaining: Rs 7.05 crore Overseas slots remaining: 3

Current squad: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh

Williamson looking forward to an interesting series despite playing a newlook India

world and have some amazing clashes with other sides. So it’s just a little bit about the nature of the schedule and we know how passionate the Indian fans are and I’m sure they’ll be getting behind their team, as the Kiwi fans will over here too,” Williamson said in a pre-series online interaction with Indian media on Tuesday.

Having played with some of these players and against all the others, the New Zealand captain knows everything about them and therefore felt the series will be quite interesting.

New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) Though a new-look and depleted Indian cricket team will be taking on New Zealand in a white-ball series comprising three T20Is and as many ODIs starting from November 18, New Zealand will also be without some established players.

The Black Caps captain Kane Williamson despite the new faces in the squad, India are still a formidable side and he is looking forward to the opportunity of playing them.

He said the absence of players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be felt the talent and depth in India mean the series is going to be of the highest standard.

“Some players resting and bringing in new players and will that make the nature of the cricket different? And I don’t think it will, although obviously, the likes of the players that aren’t here are big names and big draw cards. But the talent and the player depth in India certainly means that cricket’s going to be of the highest standard. And we’ve seen Indian teams that have had players that are resting travel the

“Yeah, I mean I know all the players that are involved and I think India is a side and a nation that has an incredible amount of depth and we’ve seen in international cricket that they’ve sometimes had to play separate teams. So there are perhaps some new-looking faces, but a lot of them, if not all of them, have all had international cricket. And the talent and skill in this side is very clear for everybody to see. So we know that they are a formidable side and we are looking forward to the opportunity,” Williamson said.

Though it will be the second year in a row that India and New Zealand will be playing a bilateral series soon after a World Cup, Williamson any opportunity to play against India is always a special one.

“Obviously not just the World Cup, but the schedules even prior have been busy and it has been the case for everybody. And I suppose after major events there’s an opportunity or sometimes there is to have a few days and you relax and then you come back together as a group. But as we know, the schedule is pretty full.

“So any opportunity that you get to play against India is always a special one and the teams are looking forward to that. I think there are a number of players in the Indian side that are resting and they’ve brought in a number of other players, so clearly they see some of the challenges that are being faced with such tight schedules. But it’s the nature of the beast. So I guess last year being in the tournament for a little bit longer meant that the turnaround was quicker, but this time there was maybe a couple more days. So yeah, it’s the way the schedule is really,” Williamson said.

New Zealand will be without the likes of Trent Boult and Martin Guptill. While the former has pulled out of the event and has also rejected a central contract, Guptill has been dropped by the selectors. Williamson, however, said both of them can be back soon.

Asked what he thinks of Hardik Pandya, who will be leading the Indian team in New Zealand in the absence of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, Williamson said that Pandya, who led Gujrat Titans to the IPL title in 2022, is a superstar of the game.

“Hardik’s obviously a superstar of the game and played against him on a number of occasions. And one of the most soughtafter matchwinners is I think the fact he’s an allrounder and his bowling is going really well. And he can hit the ball as he does like you say, makes him a very special cricketer. And his leadership, I’ve never played with him, so I don’t know exactly, but had a lot of success at the IPL,” he added.

Hockey India names 23-member Indian team for Australia tour

New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) Hockey India on Tuesday named the 23-member Indian Men’s Hockey Team for the upcoming Tour of Australia, set to begin from November 26 in Adelaide.

The Indian team will play five matches against Australia as they prepare for the upcoming FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela 2023, set to begin from January 13.

Experienced dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh has been named the Captain of the team, while Amit Rohidas has been picked as the Vice-Captain for the upcoming matches. In the forward line, Mandeep Singh has been included along with Dilpreet Singh, Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh.

Gurjant Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen, Rajkumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, and Sumit have been included in the midfield line-up for the tour.In the defence, Varun Kumar makes a return to the team after missing out on action during the FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League 2022/23 matches against New Zealand and Spain at the

Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, and Nilam Sanjeep Xess form the remaining defence line-up. Speaking about the team, Indian Men’s Hockey Chief Coach Graham Reid said, “The upcoming tour to Australia is a good opportunity for us to test ourselves against one of the top contenders at the upcoming FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela 2023. We have picked a solid line of experienced players who we believe can help us in getting the desired results. We have also infused the team with a blend of youngsters to give them exposure of top-level competition and test the depth of our squad.”

Indian Men’s Team: Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Amit Rohidas (V/C), Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Varun Kumar

Midfielders: Sumit, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen, Akashdeep Singh, Gurjant Singh

Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh

Novak Djokovic to be granted visa to play in Australian Open: Report

Shaheen Afridi

rehab after hurting his knee during T20 World Cup final

awkwardly while taking Harry Brook’s catch during the match and experts had feared that it could impact his career if PCB did not take proper care of the injuryprone left-arm pacer.

But the PCB said the injury was as serious as expected earlier.

release.

Afridi will undergo a rehabilitation and conditioning programme that has been designed to strengthen his knee at the National High-Performance Centre a few days after his return to Pakistan, the PCB said.

Lahore, Nov 14 (IANS) Pakistan’s tearaway fast bowler Shaheen Shaheen Shah Afridi has been advised two weeks of rehabilitation for the injury he suffered during Sunday’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 final against England in Melbourne, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) informed on Monday.

Afridi, who had recently returned from an injury, had landed

The scan conducted on Monday morning prior to the team’s departure for Pakistan, has confirmed there were no signs of an injury and the knee discomfort was likely “due to a forced knee flexion whilst landing”, the PCB said in a release on Monday.

“The scans were discussed between PCB’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Najeebullah Soomro, and Australian knee specialist, Dr. Peter D’Alessandro, and it was reassuring to know that there was no injury. The left-arm fast bowler is feeling better and is in high spirits,” the PCB said in the

His return to international cricket will be subject to the champion fast bowler’s successful completion of the rehabilitation programme and following goahead by the medical staff, the release said.

Earlier, a former PCB medical officer told the local media that the “road ahead for Afridi could be in danger if proper precautions are not taken”.“If the injury doesn’t result in more injuries, it would take Shaheen three to four months to recover”, Former PCB chief medical officer Dr. Sohail Salim had told the newspaper .Dawn.

Sydney, Nov 15 (IANS) The Australian Government reportedly overturned their previous decision by allowing tennis star Novak Djokovic to play in the 2023 Australian Open. In January 2022 the then Australian government revoked Djokovic’s visa due to his uncertain covid-19 vaccine status. Although Djokovic won a temporary reprieve in the federal circuit court, the then immigration minister, Alex Hawke decided to cancel his visa.

Now, Guardian Australia understands the immigration minister, Andrew Giles will give Djokovic a visa, overturning a

three-year ban that accompanied the decision by the previous government to cancel his visa on the eve of the 2022 open.

Djokovic told reporters after winning his opening match at the ATP Finals in Turin on Monday night that he had heard “nothing official yet” from the Australian government.

“We are waiting,” he said. “They are communicating with the government of Australia. That’s all I can tell you for now.”

Earlier on Tuesday the director of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley, expressed optimism that the Serbian tennis star would be allowed into Australia to compete.

advised two-week

What millennials love about local tourism?

10 must-visit destinations by bus

According to a well-known proverb, "Wisdom comes with age; understanding comes with travel." Local tourism basically refers to exploring your own country's territory.

Consumers still favour local goods, services, and experiences despite globalisation and digitization. Recent years have seen a meteoric surge in domestic travel, which has greatly benefited neighbourhood hotels.

Travelers, notably millennials, prefer quick trips to nearby locations that don't require a passport. For millennials, who prefer staycations to expensive, administratively onerous international trips, the concept of a vacation has undergone a significant transformation.

On the other hand, local tourism is picking up steam and developing thriving local economies to support neighbourhood communities. In order to revive and expand small enterprises, the rising demand for regional tourism is equally essential. The domestic travel industry's problems are being reduced by the surge in local tourism, which can benefit the nation's economy by providing a safety net for younger enterprises.

The largest benefits of local tourism are certainly growth and job creation since it motivates owners of specialised hospitality businesses to expand and hire locally. This has a cascading impact on nearby suppliers and guarantees that companies stay in touch with the neighbourhood to serve local tourists. The "millennials," a generation mostly born between 1980 and 1995, are likely the biggest consumers of

domestic travel. So, the lower end of this cohort is in their mid-20s, while the upper end is approaching their mid-30s.

The trend towards local tourism can be attributed to millennials, who travel more than any other generation and value authenticity and soul-stirring experiences. Additionally, they firmly support the concepts of fulfilment and sustainability, which is having a good impact on the dynamics of travel within the tourism sector. They identify with a local holiday that allows them to keep more in touch with their roots by engaging with local cuisines, cultures, and accommodations.

Millennials are motivated by a sense of cultural pride and a strong sense of belonging, which causes them to divert their attention to local attractions.

By capitalising on the rising demand for their services, local hospitality companies can forge insurmountable prospects and develop enthralling local vacations. For millennials to embrace the local culture when travelling, an authentically local experience must be created.

Travel has altered in the eyes of millennials, who choose a "experimental attitude." A true millennial looks for fresh and interesting experiences while narrowing down potential travel destinations. By designing rustic and distinctly localised experiences, local hospitality firms may live up to these expectations. Beach tourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, rural tourism, ecotourism, medical tourism, wildlife tourism, or a creative combination of the

aforementioned can all be classified as local tourism. The secret to building enduring relationships with your travel customer is to provide inclusive and rich travel experiences. Millennials have immediate access to the internet and utilise social media frequently. For millennials, using their smartphones as a planning tool is the best option. Social media is always used to obtain, experience, and share travel-related information. It is therefore time to open an account on social media if your firm is in the hospitality industry. Social media engagement with millennials may be achieved through keeping an active social media presence, live streaming, forming alliances with influencers, and publishing attractive promotions. When millennials make up your target market, it's crucial for hoteliers to make sure that visitors can quickly book their accommodations through your website, OTAs, and social media Maintaining your social media persona is crucial if you want to establish longlasting relationships. What can millennials really anticipate from a local travel adventure? Bringing them closer to their roots, organising local events, and assisting them in connecting with the neighbourhood will help create positive future relationships. A potential growth and development engine is domestic tourism. The effects of tourism on local communities have a variety of sociocultural effects, including the creation of income, the upgrading of infrastructure, banking and telecommunications services, the creation of jobs, and the generation of tax money for the government. It is the responsibility of local hospitality firms to work with the local governments to improve service standards and coordinate marketing initiatives to promote domestic tourism in order to guarantee that the demand for local tourism is on an upward slope.

While a mini traveler (Minibus /Tempo traveler) can take 6-10 cars off the road with 21 passengers, a full-size coach or bus with a capacity of 55 people roughly saves the need for 10 to 15 cars. This largely reduces the carbon footprint per passenger as buses usually emit less than half as much as these cars would be combined. Traveling by bus can also be stress-free and typically relaxing, since it is economically viable, while also saving the travelers from the hassles of parking, paying tolls, and the stress of driving long distances, among others. In an effort to raise awareness about the role of tourism in the international community and demonstrate how it affects social, cultural, political, and economic values around the world, redBus shares a list of the top 10 bus routes that will help people reach these tourist destinations while minimizing their carbon footprint and also de-congesting the roads.

Mumbai to Panchgani

To escape the oppressive city heat, visit the Western Ghats' luscious hills! The landscape changes every few kilometers thanks to the journey's hairpin bends at the ghats, vast highways, little villages, waterfalls, and forts. Bus travel from Mumbai to Panchgani takes roughly 5 hours. Panchgani buses depart often from Mumbai. There are numerous private operators running buses between the two cities in addition to stateoperated buses. Buses for different budgets are available, ranging from luxury to semiluxury and economy. Buses towards Panchgani are best taken from Mumbai's Nariman Point. Pune to Mahabaleshwar

through the majestic and rugged mountain range of the Himalayas. It takes 7-8 hours to reach Manali from Shimla, which also includes breaks for breakfast and lunch. The spectacular mountains on one side of the road and the lush green, deep valley on the other, make the entire Shimla to Manali drive, scenic and lovely. Refuse to sleep on the bus with your buddies so that you can enjoy the breathtaking view of the Beas river in the middle of the road. Buses for this route begin from the ISBT in Shimla, and customers can simply book tickets online.

Delhi to Leh

Leh is one of the most soughtafter destinations in India, making it unquestionably a bucket list location for practically all tourists. However, this route is one of the world's highest, and most difficult motorable freeways. This bus trip will take you from the comfortable plains of Delhi to the chilly heights of Leh via Chandigarh, Kullu, Manali, and Keylong. The driver and the passengers' mettle will be put to test not only by the menacing temperature variations but also by the grueling altitude. The bus ride concludes after 1100 kilometers and 40 hours of heartwrenching desolate environment, but for the passengers, it only requires that you pack your bags and board a bus at ISBT Delhi.

Guwahati to Tawang

(Zishan

Khan, Chief Acquisition Officer & Co-Founder, Ekostay)

This is one of the most picturesque drives in Maharashtra and a must-do. The expressway offers a comfortable ride via the Satara Ghat and concludes after a three-hour journey. Make sure to get a glimpse outside when passing by this section of the highway for panoramic views of the Sahyadri mountains. From the Pune Central bus station, several buses depart for Mahabaleshwar. However, there are pickups from many locations throughout the city, and passengers can select the most convenient option available on digital ticketing platforms.

Shimla to Manali

A 250-kilometer trip towards the northeast of Shimla will take you to Manali, with the route passing

Guwahati to Tawang is one of the most beautiful and adventurous routes across India, this rather long trip will set you back by roughly 21 hours but considering the snow-covered mountains and picture-perfect landscapes, it all seems worth it. To reach Tawang from Guwahati one must change buses from Tezpur, after which It takes about 12 hours to reach Tawang. Buses are available throughout the route with a plethora of options to choose from. Booking for the same is available online

Mumbai to Gokarna

Mumbai to Goa has to be one of the most popular routes throughout the year in India, needless to say, the entire state is famous for its beaches and easygoing culture that brings in high demand and traffic. However, if you wish to see isolated beaches and beautiful trek routes, Gokarna is an amazing option.

There are various options to travel to Gokarna, with the bus being the most flexible and stress-free.

Teachings of Jesus are identical with Vedic beliefs’

the Christian Fathers of the early centuries to show that the followers of the apostles did not acknowledge Paul as an apostle and did not believe in what he preached. James, an apostle and the brother of Jesus, had become the bishop of Jerusalem and the head of the Church of the apostles after the death of Jesus. No writings of anyone from this side have survived. All that has come down to us is from Pauline traditions, except a set of gnostic literature that was found in the last century, carefully packed and buried in Egypt and goes by the name of the Nag Hammadi Library. The care with which it was found packed shows that there was a danger of it being destroyed by the opponents, which the keepers were in no position to resist.

New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) Veteran bureaucrat Harsh Mahaan Cairae is an avid reader and a student of philosophy and religion. He has studied the scriptures of several religions, of which the Vedas have been of special interest. He discovered that the teachings of Jesus Christ are identical with Vedic beliefs. In his book "Discovering Jesus" (Rupa), he proceeds to look for the source of these beliefs reaching Jesus and finds that these were also the original beliefs of the Jews.

"Jesus did not acquire them from an external source. This raises a bigger question of how the beliefs of the Jews were identical with the Vedic beliefs. Were they in any way related to the Aryans? I have relied on a number of literary sources including my earlier book, 'An Aryan Journey' which was a research based on Vedic, Zoroastrian, Greek and Roman literary sources, and concluded that the Jews were Aryans and were of the group which called itself Devs as distinct from Asurs," Cairae told IANS in an interview.

"I, however, concede that this has emerged from literary sources alone and such a big question cannot be answered finally on the basis of one source alone.

Other sources of information, particularly genetics need to come in to take the issue to its logical conclusion," he added.

"My first book was based primarily on a research of Vedic and Zoroastrian scriptures in which I had traced the migration route of the Indo-Aryans. In this I had come across a person in Iran, named Mani, who is believed to have been the founder

of Manichaeism, a religion very widely practiced till the spread of Christianity. My findings led me to believe that this was the Vedic religion which had acquired a new name as Mani had introduced some reforms. Mani used to claim that he was the Apostle of Jesus Christ. The Manichaens claimed they represented true Christianity, while the Church considered them to be heretics. Heretics, but not followers of some other religion. This led me to believe that there is something wrong in understanding Jesus. Hence the study and the writing (of this book)," Cairae elaborated.

Jesus had twelve main disciples, who were called apostles. One of them, Judas Iscariot, had betrayed him which led to the arrest and crucification of Christ. Judas is reported to have committed suicide thereafter. The remaining apostles, by common consent, nominated another disciple to be an apostle to make the number twelve again. Paul was not one of these. He had never met Jesus in his life, but claimed that he received his teachings in a vision and proclaimed himself an apostle. Christianity today is based on the beliefs and teachings laid down by Paul.

Paul, and later the Pauline Church, created an impression that he and the other apostles preached together and the same things. With this it has got established that what Paul has laid down is what was preached by Jesus. "Discovering Jesus" brings out evidence to show that Paul and the real apostles were not preaching together or the same things. Paul fought a running

battle with them all his life and was not acknowledged as an apostle by their followers. The belief laid down by Paul is that the world would come to an end where after there would be a Day of Judgment. (At places he has said that this could come within the lifetime of the people he was addressing.) When it comes the dead will rise from their graves with new bodies, while the bodies of the living will be transformed. All will be judged for their deeds, the sinners would be sent to suffer in hell till eternity, while the virtuous will go to heaven to enjoy, also till eternity.

"On behalf of God, Jesus would be delivering this judgement. A very important part of this was that whoever believes that Jesus was the Son of God and that he rose from the dead would go to heaven. Thus, faith alone, in his doctrine, was sufficient. The book asserts that Jesus and his apostles did not have any such belief and did not preach this. They believed in the transmigration of souls in which a person was born in a position on the basis of his deeds in the previous life. The soul could go out of the cycle of rebirth and attain salvation by realising the true nature of the self. The teachings of Jesus were thus diametrically opposite to what Christians believe today and as were laid down by Paul.

In showing that Paul was fighting with the apostles and not preaching with them, the book first brings out evidence from the Bible itself. The letters of Paul, that are a part of the New Testament and are called Epistles, show the discord. Very

important are the quotes from the Epistle to the Hebrews. The book brings out that this is addressed by Paul to the apostles. In this Paul has listed out the doctrinal differences that he had with them and has requested them to leave them aside for the present for a discussion in the future and for the time being discontinue animal sacrifice. The doctrinal differences he records include the debate between deeds and faith; doctrine of baptism; laying on of hand; resurrection of the dead; and eternal judgement. These are fundamental beliefs of Christianity today, which Paul has himself recorded, were issues on which the Apostles did not agree with him. For animal sacrifice, which Paul was requesting to be stopped immediately, the book brings out evidence to show that this was practiced in the Church. Apart from what emerges from the Bible, the book brings out evidence from the writings of

Despite nothing coming from the apostolic side, a lot about them can be known from the Pauline writers as a lot of them have written about them and their beliefs, at times for repudiation and at others to mock. Based on this, the book brings out evidence to show that Paul was considered to be an apostate by the followers of the apostles. Having shown that Paul was not on the same side as the apostles, the book proceeds to bring out the myths that Paul and the Pauline Church created to support their belief system and for that how the New Testament was tampered with. It shows that only the Gospel of Mathew was the genuine gospel accepted by the followers of the apostles and, as it was in Hebrew, the Gospel of Mark was its translation into Greek. The rest of the New Testament is Pauline. Even in these two a lot of interpolations have been made to support Pauline theology. To create a divine stature for Jesus, myths have been created of his birth from a virgin, miracles performed by him and his rising from the dead. The last myth has been created also to support the theory of the resurrection of the dead on the Day of Judgment.

The book brings out evidence to show that the apostles and their followers did not believe in any of these myths.

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

Piracy hits ‘Ret Samadhi’

through major online stores and retail outlets, the publisher had stopped the sale at an online marketplace and filed a police complaint. However, the pirated version is still available in retail and on 'footpath bookstalls'.

Ashok Maheshwari, MD, Rajkamal Prakashan says, "Between the period April and October, 55,011 copies of 'Ret Samadhi' were sent to the market, out of which 35,200 copies were sold in a record five days.

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Even as a large number of pirated copies of International Booker awardee Geetanjali Shree's book 'Ret Samadhi', published by Rajkamal Prakashan was lately being sold

One can imagine the adverse impact of piracy on the publishing industry."

Mumbai, Nov 10 (IANS) 'Pathaan' director Siddharth Anand says the film will present Deepika Padukone at her hottest and coolest best and that she will mesmerise everyone with her sizzling screen presence like never before.

Siddharth says, "Deepika

Padukone is up there with the biggest of superstars in the history of Hindi cinema. And we knew we had written a role for her in 'Pathaan' that is not only breathtaking, but one that also justifies her superstardom.

'Pathan' will showcase her in probably her hottest and at the same time, the coolest self."

SRK and Deepika are one of the biggest on-screen pairings in the history of Indian cinema given their epic blockbusters like 'Om Shanti Om', 'Chennai Express' and 'Happy New Year'.

SRK and Deepika recently sizzled in Spain as leaked photos from the sets. The glamourous duo shot a song in Mallorca as SRK was papped flaunting an eightpack and Deepika her perfect

bikini bod. They then headed to Cadiz and Jerez in Spain where they wrapped the schedule.

About the super-hot pairing, Siddharth says, "The on-screen jodi of Deepika and Shah Rukh Khan is probably one of the biggest pairings that Indian cinema has ever seen, given their incredible successes in the past. And in Pathaan we have presented SRK and DP in a way that's unprecedented."

He adds, "They have electric chemistry with each other and they look just so hot together. It's rare to find a pairing like theirs and their jodi is a huge USP for Pathaan."

'Pathaan' is set to release on January 25, 2023 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

‘Girls Hostel 3’ trailer intensifies drama, struggles surrounding inmates

25.

Talking about the show, Srishti Srivastava said: "'Girls Hostel' has been well received since its inception. The characters and instances shown resonate with every student who moves away from their hometown in search of independence. The show opens a window to the varied experiences hostellers have as they try to build a life of their own while leaning on each other."

smiles in the on-set pictures of his courtroom drama

Mumbai, Nov 9 (IANS) After completing the Jodhpur schedule of his courtroom drama film, National Film Award-winning actor, Manoj Bajpayee is currently shooting in Mumbai for the yetto-be-titled film. The pictures from the sets were released by the makers to treat the fans of the actors, on Wednesday.

The film is being directed by Apoorv Singh Karki who has helmed popular OTT shows like Aspirants, Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt Ltd, Flames, etc. The film brings back Suparn S Varma and Manoj Bajpayee together after their much revered OTT series ‘The Family Man'.

In the pictures that have emerged

from the sets, Manoj, dressed in a plain white shirt, tie, blacks pants and spectacles, can be seen in the company of the film's director Apoorv and producer Vinod Bhanushali and they share lighthearted fun moments.

The Mumbai leg of the film's schedule will involve some intense courtroom scenes, and from start to finish the film will be shot at various locations in Mumbai.

A Zee Studios and Bhanushali Studios Limited presentation, the movie is produced by Vinod Bhanushali, Kamlesh Bhanushali, Asif Sheikh and Vishal Gurnani. The makers are looking at a 2023 release of the film.

Mumbai, Nov 9 (IANS) Hostel life is full of challenges and oddballs. The recently released trailer of the third season of streaming show, 'Girls Hostel' exemplifies the same, showing the struggle of a group of hostellers to put together a talent show and the politics and resistance that come

with it.

The

platform SonyLIV on November

She further spoke about what the upcoming season has in store for the audience: "In season 3, the audience will witness more drama, challenges and interesting twists and turns as the girls come together with a deepened bond, and ready to take on anything that comes their way."

The show has been created by Shreyasi Sharma and written by Anuya Jakatdar, Alka Shukla, Shreyasi Sharma, and produced by Arunabh Kumar of TVF. Hanish D. Kalia is the director.

Salman Khan makes boxer Nikhat Zareen’s dream come true

Nikhat Zareen won a gold medal at the 2011 AIBA Women's Youth & Junior World Boxing Championships held in Antalya. Zareen won the gold medal at the 2022 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships, and became the fifth Indian woman to win a gold medal at the IBA World Boxing Championships. Zareen works as a general banking officer at Bank of India since June 2021. She won gold medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Nandita Das shares update on Uganda leg of her wildlife safari

Chennai, Nov 9 (IANS) Actress Nandita Das, who is on a wildlife safari in Africa, has shared an update on the Uganda leg of the safari.

Taking to Instagram, Nandita posted pictures of herself and her son, who accompanied her on the trip to Bwindi in Uganda and wrote: "Not done sharing about our trip. So, next we went to Uganda."

rightly more scared of us. We did our best to not disturb them. They looked at us without much interest. Thankfully!"

Earlier, the actress had posted pictures of their safari in the Masaimara region of Kenya.

Mumbai, Nov 9 (IANS) Boxer

Nikhat Zareen, who is an ardent fan of Salman Khan, recreated the Bollywood superstar's iconic number 'Saathiya Tune Kya Kiya' from the 1991 film 'Love'.

Nikhat took to Instagram,

where she shared a reel video featuring the 'Dabangg' actor and her dancing on the song. She captioned it: "Finally intezaar khatam hua. #fanmoment #whennkhatmetsalman #dreamcometrue #salmankhan."

'Love' is directed by Suresh Krissna, stars Salman, Revathi. It is the remake of the Telugu film 'Prema'. The makers changed the tragic climax from the original film to one with a happy ending.

"Small planes, grassland to hills and forests, long treks, fatigue... but all worth it. A once in a lifetime experience of being up close with the mountain gorilla."

"They look scary because of their size but we humans are more abusive and intrusive so they are

"I have a thousand photos of the lions - majestic, lazy and beastly. All at the same time. Every safari we saw them. In the wild, yet completely unperturbed by jeeps and their roars. Though we were strictly not allowed to step out of the vehicle. Not even when there were only herbivores like the impalas or zebras. We were told they are not used to seeing two legged animals. Only four wheel jeeps! #masaimara," she wrote.

Siddharth Anand: ‘Pathaan’ will showcase Deepika Padukone in probably her hottest self Manoj Bajpayee is all

show stars Ahsaas Channa, Srishti Shrivastava, Parul Gulati, Simran Natekar, Trupti Khamkar, Jayati Bhatia, Kareema Barry, Tanvi Lehr Sonigra and Akash Thapa, and is set to drop on OTT

Rashmika Mandana opens up about receiving negativity and hatred

Mumbai, Nov 9 (IANS) Actress Rashmika Mandana has been witnessing a steady upward graph in her career but with great adulation also comes a lot of negativity and trolling. The actress recently opened up about being at the receiving end of hatred and trolling, in her recent social media post.

Taking to her Instagram, the 'Pushpa: The Rise' actress shared a picture of herself wearing a face mask while she sits in a boat surrounded by serene waters.

She shared a long note in the caption opening up about her state of mind and how does negativity affect her.

She started off her note by writing, "Hi so.. A couple of things have been troubling me these last few days or weeks or months or maybe even years now, and I think it's time I address it. I am only speaking for myself -

something I should have done years ago. I have been on the receiving end of a lot of hate ever since I started my career. Quite literally a punching bag for a lot of trolls and negativity out there (sic)". She further mentioned that she is aware of that an actor's life comes with a lot of appreciation and unwarranted hatred, "I know that the life I've chosen comes with a price- I understand that I'm not everyone's cup of tea and certainly don't expect to be loved by every single person out there. That doesn't mean because you don't approve of me you can spew negativity instead. Only I know the kind of work I put in, day in and day out to make you all happy. The happiness you feel from the work I put out is what I care about most. I really am trying the best I can to put out things that both you and I are proud of."

She continued, "It's heart breaking and frankly quite demoralising when I'm being ridiculed and mocked by the internet especially for things that I Have Not Said. I've found that bits of things I've said in interviews are being turned against me. False narratives being spread across the internet that can be very harmful to me and the relationships I have in or outside the industry." "I welcome constructive criticism because that's only going to push me to

improve and do better. But what's with the vile negativity and hate? For the longest time I've been told to ignore it. But it has only gotten worse. By addressing it, I'm not trying to win anyone over. I don't want to feel closeted and forced to change as a human being because of this hate I keep receiving", she added. Rashmika concluded her note by acknowledging the love that she receives from different quarters, "That being said, I do recognise and acknowledge all the love I've been receiving from the rest of you. Your constant love and support is what has kept me going and given me the courage to come out and say this. I only have love for everyone around me, the people I've worked with so far, all of whom I've always admired. I will continue to work hard and do better for you. Because like I said, making you happy -makes me happy. Be kind everyone. We're all trying to do our best."

After she posted the note, she received a lot of support from the members of fraternity in the comments section. Dulquer Salmaan, with whom Rashmika has worked in 'Sita Ramam', wrote in the comment section, "The love is from those who want to be like you. Hate is from those who never can. You be you ! You is amazing".

Actress Elli AvrRam too dropped an adorable comment, "Big kuchipuchiii hug to you."

Varun, Kriti open up about their special bond in ‘Bhediya’

"Funnily enough, this is one of the reasons our director was worried that we might exude too much chemistry in the film." Kriti adds: "Varun and I have genuinely been very good friends since Dilwale. We are extremely comfortable with each other, and that comfort translates beautifully on screen. We play off each other amazingly." "We worked together after 6 years, and in these 6 years we've grown as people, and as actors, and our bond has only strengthened! I had a blast working with him!"

Diljit is enjoying his solo trip in serenity of snow

took to his Instagram to share a reel in which he can be seen preparing to go on a solo trip.

Laced with fast cuts, the reel shows him making his own food, packing his bag, trotting off to an unknown location and enjoying his meal in the serenity of snow while dressed in winterwear. He captioned his reel as, "My Kinda day. Solo trip".

Mumbai, Nov 9 (IANS) The makers of 'Bhediya' have just released an exclusive behind the scenes video featuring leads Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon disclosing some interesting tidbits about each other.

Kriti remarks how Varun has become a better listener. The two stars also reveal their favourite

song from 'Bhediya', which turns out to be the recently released 'Apna Bana Le'. Talking about their unique rapport, Varun says, "Kriti and I are working together after six years. While not much has changed in that time, we now communicate even more effortlessly with each other, and this shows in our chemistry."

AJio Studios & Dinesh Vijan present, 'Bhediya'. A Maddock Films production, directed by Amar Kaushik, produced by Dinesh Vijan and starring Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Deepak Dobriyal and Abhishek Banerjee among others, is releasing in cinemas pan-India in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil in 2D and 3D on November 25.

Mumbai, Nov 10 (IANS) Actorsinger Diljit Dosanjh, who is known for his work in films like, 'Udta Punjab', 'Good Newwz' and 'Jatt & Juliet' film series, is enjoying his solo trip in the thick cover of snow.

The 'Ek Kudi' hitmaker recently

However, his followers were left confused asking him who was recording the video if he is on a solo trip. The actor-singer then edited his caption to, "Cameraman - Dosanjhwaala" implying that it's the era of tripods and one can pretty much shoot anything at infinite angles with a tripod.

On the work front, he was last seen in the streaming movie, 'Jogi' which tells the story of friends against the tense backdrop of 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India.

Kumar Sanu to ‘Indian Idol 13’ contestant: I found your performance fantastic

Mumbai, Nov 10 (IANS) Popular singer Kumar Sanu was left awestruck after watching the performance of Anushka Patra from Kolkata on the song 'Dheere Dheere Se Meri Zindagi Mein Aana' from the 1990 romantic movie 'Aashiqui' featuring Rahul Roy, Anu Aggarwal and Deepak Tijori.

Directed by Mahesh Bhatt, the movie is remembered for its storyline and the on-screen chemistry between Rahul and Anu. Moreover, it also became a hit because of its melodious songs like 'Jaane Jigar Jaaneman', 'Main Duniya Bhula Dunga', 'Nazar Ke Saamne' among others sung by Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Nitin Mukesh, and Anuradha Paudwal.

As the singing reality show, 'Indian Idol 13' is going to have an 'Aashiqui' special episode, the cast of the film appeared on the show along with Kumar Sanu. The contestants including Rishi

After listening to Anushka's rendition of the romantic track, the veteran singer said: "You have combined two kinds of voices in your performance. I found your performance to be fantastic. "Deepak, who was seen playing a supporting role in the movie added: "Aap Bengal ki tigress ho. Bohot achchi voice hai aapki. (You are a tigress of Bengal. Your voice is really very good)."

The singing reality show is judged by Neha Kakkar, Himesh Reshammiya, and Vishal Dadlani. It airs on Sony Entertainment Television.

Singh, Bidipta Chakraborty, Anushka Patra, Debosmita Roy, Sonakshi Kar, Senjuti Das, Sanchari Sengupta, Chirag Kotwal, Vineet Singh, Navdeep Wadali, Shivam Singh, Kavya Limaye and Rupam Bharnarhia were seen singing the famous tracks from the movie.