AV 4th July 2020

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

4 - 10 JULY 2020 - VOL 54 ISSUE 10

HOPE AMIDST FEAR UK reopens businesses in the face of coronavirus surge

Coach operators not expecting passengers till February 2021 SEE PAGE - 9

NHS Special: Being a daughter’s ‘hero’ SEE PAGE - 17

PM Modi announces extension of free ration for poor till Nov end SEE PAGE - 23 Charusmita and Shefali Saxena The UK government has announced further lifting of lockdown starting July 4th, allowing for greater freedom to people’s movement and more businesses reopening. Starting Saturday, cinemas, museums, bars, pubs and restaurants will officially be allowed to open their doors to the public once again after at least three months of coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Other public places such as public places, such as libraries, community centres, places of worship, outdoor playgrounds and outdoor gyms will also be able to open. Businesses permitted to reopen will be mandated to follow Covid-19 Secure guidelines. This decision came as a relief to many businesspersons whose companies and staff members were hugely affected by the pandemic.

However, businesses such as nightclubs, casinos, tattoo parlours, dance studios, door gyms, and conference

centres are still incurring heavy losses as they were assessed to be notsufficiently-Covid-secure yet.

Is the situation safer now?

On June 22nd, the UK saw its lowest Covid-19 related daily death toll at 15 deaths, leading UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock to declare that the virus was “in retreat” in the country. However, an ‘alternative SAGE' panel of experts, led by former chief scientific adviser Sir David King, has been strongly critical of this response of the government during the pandemic. The panel, which is separate from the team of experts who advise the government, warned on June 27th that the country is on track to suffer another 30,000 coronavirus deaths because lockdown has been lifted too early. Christina Pagel, a member of Independent SAGE, spoke of the government’s recent move: “They are sending a message that the pandemic is over – and it's not over”.

Upcoming lockdown in Leicester Leicester will not be subject to

easing of restrictions on July 4th, and a spike in coronavirus cases there has led to a report that it may be the first location in the country to be subjected to a district lockdown. Britain’s first local lockdown in this city is expected “within days” following the surge in coronavirus cases, as reported by The Sunday Times on June 28th. Home Secretary Priti Patel also confirmed on Sunday morning that there will be extra support going into Leicester. She said: “With local flareups it is right we have a localised solution in terms of infection control, social distancing, testing and many of the tools actually within the Public Health England space which will come together to control the virus, to stop the spread so obviously we can get on top of the infection”.

Responding to the Government decision to lockdown Leicester, Liberal Democrat Health, Wellbeing and Social Care Spokesperson Munira Wilson said: “It is right that the Government has now taken the step of locking down Leicester.

Continued on page 8

India downgrades ties with Pakistan, halves mission staff SEE PAGE - 23

India blocks 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, UC Browser SEE PAGE - 26

2 UK

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4 - 10 July 2020

with Keith Vaz

Mayor’s Office to find a new home in East London

Vineet Malhotra Vineet Malhotra was born in London, raised in USA, Russia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and India. He gained an MBA from the University of Southern California, U.S.A and is now a news anchor and journalist. He has worked with all the major networks in India and has hosted some of the major marquee events including 4 elections, 3 world cups and over 5000 shows over the last 16 years. His father was an Indian Foreign Service officer and that allowed him to travel all over the world and assimilate various cultures and languages.

Vineet has been in India since 2001 and it’s been a roller coaster ride ever since he entered the media. He is a big movie buff and he plays the piano and has also composed music. He had produced an album and has won over 20 international awards for his renditions. The highlight of his passion for music was composing for a movie that got selected at over 15 international awards including the Cannes Film Festival.

1

Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in?

I call New Delhi my home and there is no place like it. From its cultural legacy to its food, Delhi is replete with memories from childhood and the fact that there is no better place than the capital if you are a journalist. And that all my friends live here is also helpful.

2

What is the best aspect about your current role?

The best aspect is that I get to be a part of a machinery that gets to convey the truth and not distort it. I also get to be part of a profession that is in the business of 'enlightenment'. It may sound cliched but it's a thought that lingers above a journalist's mind after all the dazzle and glitter has worn off.

What are your proudest achievements?

There are many but all of them would not mean anything had I not kept a balanced approach to all the upheaval that comes along with the profession. There is a lot to be disappointed about but if you train your mind to be positive and hopeful and continuously manage to implement it, that to me is a great achievement.

3

6

What inspires you?

My Father. He was self-made and turned his impediments into steppingstones. My father taught me the value of hard work and sacrifice and the value of being humble about it. He is not here today but his influence on me is as palpable as the sun.

4

What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

My biggest obstacle in my career was my own mind. Your mind has to be trained to look on the brighter side of life and there was a time I wasn't doing so. I took failure way too seriously and that can be an obstacle. If you master your mind, you master your destiny.

5

Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?

As a journalist, you look up to the ones who are intrepid and have made it big. But if you consider journalism as just another competitive profession, then I would say people such as Bill Maher, Robert De Niro (for his raw professionalism as an actor), Don Lemon have all influenced me. They are good at what they do, and I strive for the same.

7

And the worst?

The worst aspect is that no one is as misunderstood as we are. One slip up and the knives are out. People forget that journalists and people who shape public opinion are part of a larger dialogue. Sometimes we can screw up and to err is human. We are not impeccable.

8

What are your long-term goals?

I am hopeful that one day soon I will be able to have a platform of my own where I will be able to outlay the news trends and work with the state for better systems and policies. The idea is to take this experience and build something that transcends the current status quo.

9

If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?

If I were the PM, I would bring the country together. No nation can prosper with rampant disparities socially and economically. As the PM I would like to create an 'even keel' for all. If there is equality there will be prosperity. It is as simple as that.

10

If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?

I would want to spend this time with Mahatma Gandhi. He was not only one of the greatest thinkers but also one of the most mysterious people from history. He was an ocean of knowledge and illumination. Just a few hours with him could be equal to reading thousands of books over a lifetime. I also feel that his point of view is most relevant today.

Woman pretends to be Muslim, stages beauty salon raid A 29-year-old woman from Hounslow, west London, has been convicted of fraud charges and false imprisonment for plotting to steal a £50,000 laser hair removal machine at Pure Skin salon in London.

Harpreet Kaur, 29, posing as a customer from Dubai, donned a full- length niqab and sunglasses and turned up for her booked appointment at the Pure Skin salon in St George’s Wharf, south London. She was joined by her friend Monica Pashias, 42, who came into

Harpreet Kaur

the salon, pretending to be a police officer to distract the salon employees.

Another accomplice, Tyrone Waugh, 41, carried the hair removal machine away while the beautician

was locked inside by Kaur.

The Inner London Crown Court heard the case after the arrest was made and Kaur was jailed for two-and-a-half years, convicted of false imprisonment and possession of an article for use in fraud. Kaur’s plea to completely avoid prison, in case she caught coronavirus, was rejected by the jury, but they could not reach a verdict on the charge of robbery. The judge, however, granted leniency said that Kaur must serve at least half her prison sentence before she can walk free.

On 24th June, it emerged that the Mayor of London is planning to leave City Hall in an attempt to save £55m in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Now, Sadiq Khan has proposed creating a new City Hall at the Crystal building in Royal Docks, east London, also currently owned by the Greater London Authority.

City Hall has been the official home of the GLA and has housed the mayor’s office since 2002. But it costs the GLA £11.1m a year in rent to its private landlord, the Kuwaiti-owned St Martins Property Group.

The Mayor has been on record about the unprecedented losses that the GLA faces in the wake of coronavirus with a decline in income from business rates

and council tax. Last week, he had announced a voluntary 10% salary cut.

Regardless of these measures, Khan worries that without government intervention, there can be significant cuts in public transport and emergency services with a budget shortfall of up to £493m over the next two years. He said, “Leaving our current home would save £55m over five years, which

would help us to protect and invest in the things that matter most to Londoners, as well as supporting the regeneration of the Royal Docks.”

The terms of the lease were originally negotiated by the government in 2001 for a 25-year period. However, they allow for a break in the contract after 20 years, in December 2021, which the Mayor believes is the first and only chance the GLA had to consider leaving.

Notice has to be given this year and a decision is needed by September. Rent is anticipated to rise up to £12.6m per year beyond Christmas 2021.

Top Asian Officer sues Met Police for “racist and sexist” abuse On Thursday 25th June, reports emerged of a former female Asian-origin officer suing the Metropolitan Police over alleged racist and sexist abuse.

Nusrit Mehtab reportedly quit from the Force this year after 32 years of service, complaining about a "toxic workplace" where colleagues and bosses, including Commissioner Cressida Dick, allegedly only paid lip service to diversity. Thus, she is now suing the force for £500k for constructive dismissal, race, sex and religious discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

According to the documents supplied to an employment tribunal, she alleges how she was asked to remain silent when a Swastika was drawn on the wall of a police station in an area only accessible to staff.

She also claims her bosses tried to hush up the graffiti and later blamed it on builders. Swastika is a symbol of anti-semitism and terror in Nazi Germany.

She also alleges that her promotion was slow even as she became a superintendent and the most senior female ethnic minority officer. Yet, accuses the force of institutional racism and sexism that was preventing further promotion. In tribunal papers, she says she is claiming £500,000 compensation for lost earnings and pension and injury to her feelings.

A Pakistani origin and a practising Muslim, she claims she was forced to patrol alone because of her race and was ignored by white male colleagues who refused to talk to or sit next to her. Speaking to Sky News she said,

"Most resented and disliked me. It was apparent that many white officers found it very difficult to take orders from me as a woman of colour who was also a Muslim.

"Being racist and sexist, they found it too humiliating. Fortunately, an order is an order and no one threw it back in my face and risked being disciplined for insubordination, but they made my job as difficult as they could behind my back."

She said that senior ethnic minority officers had to march 10m (33ft) behind Commissioner Cressida Dick and white colleagues at a parade to celebrate women's role in policing last year. She said: "It is how we are made to feel unvalued. It was humiliating.

She accused Commissioner Cressida

Dick of failing to tackle racism, claiming she "protects the racist working environment by supporting racist officers".

The Metropolitan Police said: "We are aware a police officer has brought a claim against the MPS alleging race, sex and religion/belief discrimination and harassment. It would be inappropriate to comment further ahead of the employment tribunal hearing.

"While we will not discuss details of an ongoing claim, it should be highlighted that the Met has, in recent years, made a number of major changes to the way complaints about discrimination and victimisation in the workplace are investigated, making our processes more fit for purpose.”

This is not the first time that Met Office has been embroiled in a racism debate. Late last year, reports surfaced that three quarters of the Met’s senior ethnic minority cops are involved in force legal wrangles, leading to claims of racism.

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COMMENTS

3

4 - 10 July 2020

Clapping is not enough for our NHS heroes The NHS, which was launched on July 5, 1948, will this coming Sunday be 72 years old. NHS England boss Sir Simon Stevens and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby are among the influential figures supporting the initiative to make 5 July an official day to pay tribute.

The evening before the nationwide clap for the NHS, people will be asked to place a light in the windows in remembrance of all those who have died during the pandemic.

Powerful and personal portraits of doctors, nurses and other NHS staff who responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, captured by acclaimed photographer Rankin, have been unveiled to celebrate the NHS birthday.

In a mark of respect and thanks to the NHS, the renowned photographer, who has previously shot the Rolling Stones, Kate Moss and the Queen, offered to take portraits of 12 people playing a vital role in the NHS response to Covid-19.

The collection is showcased across the country at bus stops, roadside billboards and iconic pedestrian areas including the world-famous Piccadilly Lights in central London to mark the week-long celebration.

But last week a video from Bournemouth beach made rounds on social media. Rather alarming number of people gathered to enjoy the sunshine across the sandy beaches, without taking into account the possibility of a not entirely eliminated virus still in wide circulation, being transmitted communally.

An immediate example is Leicester. Like the rest of England, it was looking forward to easing out of lockdown on July 4. A city with 330,000 people found itself in the compromising posi-

tion over the weekend, as it got singled out as a hotspot for Covid-19. So, far from tasting further freedoms this weekend, the city will now slip further back into lockdown.

NHS was the first ever complete free healthcare was made available on the basis of citizenship rather than the payment of fees or insurance. It brought hospitals, doctors, nurses and dentists together under one service It was created to serve those who could not pay for health services. It is undoubtedly one of the best medical systems, may be flawed due to increasing demands and pressures, but it is still home to some of the best medics and treatments in this world.

Yet today NHS stands at a difficult crossroad, ill-equipped to fight a second wave, financially and otherwise.

NHS is also a symbol of this country’s journey of diversity and multiculturalism. As at March 2019, over 1.2 million people were employed by NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England. Out of the staff whose ethnicity was known, White staff made up 79.2% of the NHS workforce, followed by Asian staff (10.0%), Black staff (6.1%). Asian people also make up a higher percentage of medical staff (at 29.7%) than non-medical staff (at 8.0%). Yet the BAME medical staff and non-medical staff have been disproportionately killed by coronavirus, simply due to lack of Government attention.

Clapping for these heroes is a great gesture. But it is not enough. Publishing reviews and reports are not enough. What we need is an honest effort, to ensure they are given the protection they deserve- a true gratitude for whatever they have done, to make NHS the success it is today.

Banning of Chinese apps in India barely scratches the surface The government of India, on Monday, banned TikTok and 58 other mobile apps reportedly to counter the security threat posed by these apps to India’s “sovereignty and security”. With no explicit statement linking these apps to China, the Ministry of Information Technology of India, by invoking section 69A of Information Technology Act, has millions of Indian citizens seeing it as India’s cue to act against the recent Chinese military aggression as well as its larger geopolitical pressures.

Although there still are numerous other Chinese apps that are still available for download, this move is being hailed as an urgent step in protecting the national interest. This decision was welcomed by netizens who had been raising complaints about data on Indian users being transferred outside without authorisation for a long time.

A section of citizens also see it as an act in vain. TikTok had almost 119 million active users, was available in 14 languages, allegedly had thousands depending on it for their livelihood.

However, there are credible claims that it was not aligned with the data-sharing protocols of the Indian government, the latter alleging that these apps were engaged in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”. This is by no means an insignificant or ill-conceived diplomatic move.

The timing of this announcement is of political promi-

nence as it is contoured by the recent clashes between the Indian and the Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley in India. A day before the next round of negotiations between both countries in the Valley, this ban of 59 apps is being seen as a message to the Chinese government. The tactical perspective is that since these apps were reliant on huge markets in India, it will put pressure on these software companies, many of which have direct links with the Communist Party of China.

Political experts are cautioning Indian citizens to not see this move as a “blow to China’s Digital Silk Route” aspirations.

Only a complete picture of Chinese investment and acquisitions in India can assess its true impact on Indian diplomacy, security and trade strategies. This ban is barely a scratch on the surface.

TikTok released a statement saying that they have allegedly invited to meet with the government stakeholders to allow them to submit clarification and to respond. Some of these banned apps can still be used by people who have it on their phones, but the citizens are already moving to Indian substitutes available on app stores. Some of India’s indigenous mobile apps too have significant Chinese investors and shareholders. This flush of investment is hard to map on a pan-India level. It remains to be seen whether this decision will push harder for a credible regulatory framework.

UN faces many challenges as it prepares to mark 75th anniversary The United Nations was founded in the aftermath of World War II on October 24, 1945, to prevent another devastating conflict. The 51 founding members hoped this new body would succeed where its predecessor, the League of Nations, had failed in maintaining global peace and security. As the world body is preparing to celebrate its 75th anniversary, its ability to maintain global peace and security appears ever more tenuous.

But to its credit, there was no major war during the last 75 years.

UN Undersecretary General Fabrizio Hoschschild acknowledges that the world body has fallen short of this mark, but he said that the conflicts would have been more intense and frequent, and longer without the United Nations. Moreover, he adds, some superpower confrontations have certainly been averted. "But at the moment, the conflict resolution aspect of the United Nations, the principle body of which is the Security Council, is clearly not fulfilling its promise. And, perhaps the most painful testimony of that is the hundreds of thousands of dead that have come out of the Syrian conflict," he said. Against these setbacks, Hoschschild says, are significant achievements made over the last 75 years in the betterment of the social, economic and human rights of people throughout the world.

"If we think of health, the average life expectancy when the UN was founded was around 50 years. Today it is around 75 years. People are living 25 years longer … if we think of poverty eradication - when the UN was founded global poverty levels were 50%. Today they are down to 10%," he said. He said that special events are being planned on October 24 where opinions and suggestions gathered throughout the year on ways to increase global cooperation would be discussed.

India was among the original members of the UN that signed the Declaration by United Nations at Washington, DC on 1944 October and also participated in the United Nations Conference on International Organization at San Francisco

from 25 April to 26 June 1945. As a founding member of the UN, India strongly supports the purposes and principles of the UN and has made significant contributions in implementing the goals of the Charter, and the evolution of the UN's specialised programmes and agencies. India has been a member of the UN Security Council for eight terms (a total of ongoing 16 years), with the most recent being the 2021–22 term. India is a member of G4, group of nations who back each other in seeking a permanent seat on the Security Council and advocate in favour of the reformation of the UNSC. The persistent denial for India as a Permanent Member of the Security Council could be one of the biggest default of and disadvantage to the present UN. India is a charter member of the UN and participates in all of its specialised agencies and organizations. India has contributed troops to United Nations peacekeeping efforts in Korea, Egypt and the Congo in its earlier years and in Somalia, Angola, Haiti, Liberia, Lebanon and Rwanda in recent years, and more recently in the South Sudan conflict. India was one of the original members of the League of Nations. In principle, only sovereign states can become UN members, four of the original members (Belarus, India, the Philippines, and Ukraine) were not independent at the time of their admission.

Independent India viewed its membership at the United Nations as an important guarantee for maintaining international peace and security. India stood at the forefront during the UN's tumultuous years of struggle against colonialism and apartheid. India's status as a founding member of the NonAligned Movement and the Group of 77 cemented its position within the UN system as a leading advocate of the concerns and aspirations of developing countries and the creation of a more equitable international economic and political order.

India was among the most outspoken critics of apartheid and racial discrimination in South Africa, being the first country to have raised the issue in the UN (in 1946).

Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any number of hits on the nose - Wilfred Owen

Alpesh Patel

Immigrants – who needs ‘em?

In University one of my specialist subjects I chose was British Economic History since 1870 and also British Political History since 1880. Wait. Don’t stop reading. It gets good this. So I thought I would look back at one of my columns from exactly 10 years ago in this very paper. This is it (with additional comment in italics from 2020!).

“When I consider the G8 meeting representing the world’s largest economies – it’s interesting their relationships with immigrants. Take the US – the largest of the G8 – a land of immigrants – the great melting pot. Who would have foreseen the antiimmigrant sentiment in the US in 2020. Or even the Germans – just look at the number of Turks in their team! Hmmm….maybe England could do with a few more. Me and my big mouth got us into Brexit! Or Canada – pleading for more immigrants.

They stayed the same.

But Britain is limiting the number of skilled migrants. Funnily backtracked by 2020. Now thankfully in the detail this excluded entrepreneurs. But the message in the international press does not read like that. It reads like Britain is closed. That’s the exact opposite message the Government wants to send. It’s won the election.

Why is it playing to its internal audience of 60m Britons when the global audience of businesses it needs are the ones it needs to convince to help Britain out of its recession? Same battle – 10 years later.

Over 1m people travel between the UK and India annually – those are largely tourists and not affected by this policy change. Almost 2m people of Indian origin live in the UK. But more troubling for India is that given that 700 out of 1200 Indian firms in the EU operate in the UK – how will they be served with the policy change? Now an Indian Home Secretary too!

Will India bypass the UK when it comes to acquisitions? After all big acquisitions for India globally involve the UK: take the £8bn Tata acquisition of Corus. Ooops Moreover there are over 40,000 Indian students in Higher Education in the UK. As a former University Governor, I know how important their fees are. Is the door closed to them going forward? No, seems it is not, I don’t think.

The entrepreneurs from India that I deal with are concerned the message this sends. More importantly they are concerned if they should set up in the UK. After all will they be assured their skilled workers who made their India operations successful can come to the UK to train the locals to make the UK operations a success? We still want them – 10 years on – more than ever. They have their own specialist visas now too.

Fundamental to the migration issue is an understanding of whether migration leads to economic growth and its impact on cohesion. The problem with the EU is that it’s citizens get a free pass whereas those from India who may well be the lowest users of public services and the greatest contributors to taxation and employment and probably the least disruptive to cohesion in the UK given how many are already here – get no recognition at the policy level. Hmmm….yup I wrote that in 2010.

Same year I first met Priti Patel.

This is why when I was a Board Member of the UK India Roundtable my recommendation was that migration policy should be a little like University entrance. If all things are equal then those from schools (countries) with a track record of delivering outstanding entrants should be preferred. Indeed, that would put an obligation on those here to ensure their behaviour and contribution to the country is outstanding as it will affect their fellow nationals. When I was non-exec Chairman of Aranca the Indian outsourcing company I gave a speech to all 250 of our staff pointing out that the work they do in their rooms in India brands all of India. And so it should be with a fair immigration policy. Hope we get one.

4 UK

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Ethnicity should be revealed on a death certificate to facilitate risk assessment of Covid-19 on BAME community Shefali Saxena The Labour Friends of India organised a webinar to discuss if economic inequality is one of the possible reasons for the hugely disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities.

Deputy Mayor of London for Business, Rajesh Agrawal underlined that ethnicity should be revealed on death certificates of UK citizens.

To see one’s ethnicity on a death certificate, one has to refer to what they filled in for their census form.

Having a straightforward ethnicity column in the certificate makes it a better record, but only record is not enough. A lot of these deaths could be prevented!

As the BAME (Black Asian and Minority Ethnic) members are four times more likely to die from the virus as a result of their socio economic disadvan-

tages, Agrawal insisted that we must negotiate a new social contract. He also reminded that 50 percent of the nurses and 67 percent of social care workers belong to BAME communities. The need to have one's ethnicity on the death certificate will allow better risk assessment.

Currently, many key workers live in overcrowded households and their jobs expose them to higher risks.

“The pandemic in the UK has been a disaster,” said Dr. Ramesh Mehta OBE, President British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin. He cited the confused policies of the government and shrinking guidelines of public health as the major reasons behind the suffering of BAME members. ‘If the action would have been taken early, many many lives would have been saved,’ he said. ‘The party should walk the talk on equal diversity,’ he added.

Baroness Doreen

Lawrence OBE, Race Relations Advisor, The Labour Party expressed resentment over lack of funds for research.

The panel discussed how many BAME members are actually working in roles where they’re unable to work from home. From supermarket workers to carehouse workers, chemists, TFL workers and NHS staff, they highlighted how it is imperative to clearly understand the extent of the problem and mentioning ethnicity and religion on a death certificate can prove to be beneficial. The people of colour in London continue to bear the yoke of pay disparity which is not only based on gender, but also ethnicity. BAME members haven’t seen a rise in wages in years, and many of them are disproportionately higher in the self employed sector. The panel reminded that the first 10 doctors who died of Covid-19 were from BAME background.

Rajesh felt that it’s quite important that we support innovation and also look at implementing the concept of a Med City. He said that 92 percent of London’s economy is service based and he’s proud of the life sciences industry, and the fact that London is home to some of the most advanced vaccine development programmes, besides being a part of the golden triangle.

Dr Mehta explained how there should be no confusion when it comes to the impetus of Vitamin D for immunity. He expressed that while there is no confirmation if vitamin D is impacting Covid-19 transmission, everybody must take an approximate dose of the vitamin for immunity.

Lawrence reiterated that the lack of financial support for research and risk assessment on BAME continues to be a matter of concern.

“Inequality brought us here.

This is a lesson learnt,” she said.

Labour criticises the government’s ”highly unusual” replacement of Sedwill with Frost The Labour party argues that the previous national security advisers have been civil servants rather than political appointees. Calling it a “highly unusual” decision, the replacement of Sir Mark Sedwill as national security adviser with a candidate from political background and not civil services has irked Labour due to lack of relevant experience for a prestigious role.

While the search for a new cabinet secretary will

Mark Sedwill

begin in July, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already declared David Frost as the

Govt must ensure mental health support for health and care workers during Covid-19 crisis Liberal Democrats and Labour parties are demanding that the government must listen to the proposals to ensure that health and care workers get access to mental health support even after the Covid-19 crisis.

Responding to reports that Labour have announced a "Care for Carers" plan, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: “It is very welcome that Labour have today begun campaigning for the Government to introduce crucial projects we have also called for, including 24 hour access to mental health support for health and care staff through a dedicated helpline.

Whilst we can hope to get a grip on Covid-19 in the coming months, the mental health impacts will last a lifetime. We must ensure no-one slips through the net as the scale of the mental health impact of this crisis emerges.”

new national security adviser who is currently serving as the chief Brexit negotia-

tor with the European Union for the government.

Frost’s lack of direct experience in security matters is being heavily critiqued by diplomats for not being a civil servant, but a political appointee.

Johnson’s spokesman was quoted saying, “It is not unusual in other countries – ambassadors serve as national security advisers and ambassadors can be political appointees. David Frost has the status of an ambassador.”

Barbecue in the No 10 garden In the last week of June, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and fiance socialised with Rishi Sunka and his wife Akshata Murthy in No 10 garden over barbeque. It is being said that the two men have been preparing for their speeches on Britain’s emergence from coronavirus together and have apparently been meeting daily.

Mr Sunak, the chancellor, is expected to reveal his own economic stimulus package, which might include reskilling programmes, green jobs and fighting mass unemployment. The Times column stated that ‘Tax interventions, including a potential VAT cut and a national insurance holiday for employers, are being kept in reserve depending on how people respond to July 4, when swathes of the economy — including pubs, restaurants and hairdressers — reopen.’

Apparently, both are trying to

avoid the mistakes made by the past leaders Theresa May and Philip Hammond and the tensions between Mr Johnson and Sajid Javid, Mr Sunak’s predecessor.

The column also spoke of the rapid rise of Mr Sunak which has taken many colleagues by surprise.

“Ministers increasingly think that Mr Sunak could be a future prime minister,” Steven Swinford wrote in his column for The Times. Mr Sunak has the BAMe people in his mind who he knows are hardest hit by the crisis and he wants social justice for them.

The N-word might not be the worst slur in the UK; Boris Johnson’s race equality head, Munira Mirza argues

Munira Mirza

In the light of Black Lives Matter protests, Munira Mirza, who is a Downing Street adviser to Boris Johnson, argues that the ‘N’ words carries greater offence in the Us than it does in the UK. Mirza heads the No. 10 Policy Unit formulated by the Prime Minister to examine racial inequality in British society.

In her write up for Living Marxism magazine, she wrote: “The word ‘n*****’ is described as ‘arguably the most offensive slur in the English language’. But depending on who is on the receiving end of it, I can think of worse: ‘p***’, ‘w*g’.

She described the racial disparity audit as “another bout of political self-flagellation regarding the subject of race in Britain.” According to her many people in politics exaggerate the idea of racism and foster a culture of grievance.

Mirza’s appointment to set up a racial inequality commission for Boris Johnson was critiqued by Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy. The Labour MP posted a tweet: “My review was welcomed by all parties: Corbyn, Cameron and May. But Munira Mirza went out of her way to attack it.

Johnson isn’t listening to #BlackLivesMatter. He’s trying to wage a culture war.”

The criticism continued in a piece titled, ‘Munira Mirza, the revolutionary conservative’ in The Economist, where she has been referred to as “unlikely to calm the tensions around Black Lives Matter”. The comment critiques the Prime Minister’s decision : “But Boris Johnson’s decision to give her the job of establishing a new government commission on racial inequalities immediately transformed her into a lightning rod.”

BAME backgrounds feel UK national parks are ‘white environment’ In an episode aired on The BBC programme that was based on The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) report from 2019, it is said that some ethnics groups in the UK feel that the national parks are a ‘white environment’.

BBC Countryfile tweeted: 'While Dwayne Fields found solace in the landscapes of the UK and beyond, many in Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups see the countryside as being a white environment.' This episode led to a debate on Twitter.

Laurence Fox tweeted: “Having lived in the countryside for 10 years, I’m fairly confident nature doesn’t give a fuck what colour you are. Defund this rubbish.

Nature isn’t racist. Get a grip. #DefundTheBBC.” The host, Dwayne Fields said that organisations are working to get more diversity outdoors. He said: ‘They found that the countryside is seen by both Black, Asian and Minority

Ethnic groups, and white people alike, as being very much a 'white' environment. The review also concluded that if that is true today, then the divide is only going to widen as society changes. Our countryside will end up being irrelevant to the country that actually exists.’

A BBC spokesperson told MailOnline, “'Countryfile based the segment on an independent DEFRA report published last September and we felt it was important to examine such issues now more than ever, particularly in light of recent events.”

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London-based law firm Asian Voice’s Ugandan Asian launches dedicated India Desk Report: Why is the Ugandan Axiom Stone Solicitors, one of London’s fastest-growing business law firms, has announced the launch of a dedicated India Desk.

India’s FDI policies are undergoing significant and favourable changes, making it a highly fertile ground for inbound and outbound investments.

Recent policies pertaining to various sectors in India such as infrastructure and construction, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, mining and energy, telecom, oil and gas, technology, insurance and aviation, and automobile, have made it an attractive and dynamic marketplace for British Asians as well as global citizens.

Axiom Stone

Solicitors, with their wideranging expertise and national footprint, are uniquely placed to serve the needs of people with financial interests in South-East Asia. Their dedicated India Desk is led by trusted corporate and business advisors who understand the culture prevalent in the Indian subcontinent. Their multilingual associates, who have also worked in India, cater to both inbound work from the Indian subcontinent as well as outbound work to India. They have acted for clients from India on cross border probate matters and for Indian clients who are domiciled in the UK, on their estate planning. They also have panel lawyers for advising a number of the

significant Indian banks in the United Kingdom in relation to secured financing, security and structured financing matters. Axiom Stone has particular expertise in real estate, litigation and dispute resolution.

Issues relating to immigration, hospitality, leisure, construction, development, and employment are also handled by their team.

Their India Desk aims to build a bridge between the UK and Indian subcontinent by providing clients with a one-stop-shop legal advisory at competitive costs. The firm has offices in Mayfair, Edgware, and Birmingham. More can be known about their services and expertise at axiomstone.co.uk.

Minister’s claim of wide Covid-19 testing a ‘bare-faced lie’: Piers Morgan The Good Morning Britain (GMB) presenter Piers Morgan strongly criticised business secretary Alok Sharma’s claims that almost 240,000 people were tested for Covid-19 last Monday.

In his appearance on the BBC Breakfast programme on Wednesday morning, which was responded to by Morgan, Alok Sharma had also mentioned that a seventh Nightingale Hospital would open this month.

Morgan said: “That is a bogus figure of tests that they [the government] claim were done. It has nothing to do with the number of people being tested”.

Morgan stated this on

the Good Morning Britain show on June 24th as the government was still boycotting the ITV1 daytime programme. He added: “We know they are counting as two tests - the two swabs.

We know they are mailing out thousands of tests a day,

many of which are not even being done. We also know that, for one calendar month now, they have stopped telling us - stopped telling people”.

The business secretary’s figure matches the official estimate of Covid19 tests reported by the Department of Health and Social Care. Mr Sharma remarked on coronavirus testing while discussing government’s announcement to lift another set of restrictions across the country. Morgan called the business secretary’s claims a ‘bare-faced lie’.

Birmingham couple faces teardown of £10k summer house which is one metre ‘too high’

Lord Dolar Popat, Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda and Rwanda This year marks the 48th anniversary of the expulsion of over 60,000 Ugandan Asians from Uganda by the brutal dictator Idi Amin. 48 years later, it is ironic that this expulsion narrative is relevant now more than ever before.

History seems to be repeating itself in Hong Kong, where the treaty passed in 1997 when Hong Kong was formally passed to the Chinese which promised that the region’s autonomy and separate identity would be respected for at least fifty years, until 2047, is now under disrepute. The Beijing Government has dismissed this treaty as ‘a historical document’ which ‘no longer had any practical significance’.

As a member of this country’s Ugandan Asian community I cannot help but feel particularly alarmed by this. So much about it reminds me of similar experiences shared by me and so many families at the time when Idi Amin expelled them from the country of my birth almost 50 years ago.

Back in 1972, at the time when Amin unleashed his murderous and psychotic campaign, Edward Heath’s Conservative government gave its firm commitment that it was Britain’s duty to help. I’m proud that Britain continue to honour its pledge in the case for Hong Kong, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab granting 3 million Hongkonger’s the option to apply for British citizenship.

The story of Ugandan Asians is therefore more relevant today than ever before and I commend Asian Voice who will commission a special, exclusive Uganda report to recollect the history of this minority group. Not only will this report help to record and safeguard the memories of thousands of the original Ugandan Asians – but it will help act as reference point for other communities in Britain and abroad who face similar challenges.

The tale of Ugandan Asians in Britain is one that makes me proud, particularly when I see how much the new generation of British Indians has excelled. In 48 years,

we have come far, and I hope that our community continues to pay Britain back for what she has given us. David Cameron referred to us as, “one of the most successful groups of immigrants to any country anywhere in history.” Cameron also went on to say that it would not be long “before Britain had its first British Indian Prime Minister”. We are already beginning to see those qualities in our Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who origins come from nearby Kenya! The Ugandan Asians have helped to transform the fabric of British society, and the children and grandchildren of those who came across are now excelling in so many fields. Today in Britain, Ugandan Asians play a sizeable role in the national economy. Not only is the number of Ugandan Asians on the rich list very sizeable, but the influence of the Ugandan Asians has also spread to British politics.

On behalf of Asian Voice, I therefore urge all readers to support this historic report at this historic time. Your participation is very welcome. I echo CB Patel’s call to invite nominations and recommendations for the Editorial Board, Advisory Panel and Ambassadors for this unique project. I also urge readers to participate and submit their stories, articles and recollections. Asian Voice also welcome the sponsorship and advertisement from businesses.

To register your interest please email aveditorial@abplgroup.com.

Food entrepreneur and BAME health advocate passes away at 31

Amjad Butt, 70, and his 65year-old wife Tina are facing having to tear down their small yet luxurious timber building at the bottom of their garden in Iris Close, Bournville.

The couple claim that their £10,000 summerhouse was built after thorough research of the planning laws around outbuildings. They believed the Bournville Design Guide by the Bournville Village Trust (BVT) related only to the main house building.

They have now been told that their timber house, which they claim is more of a ‘glorified shed at the back of the garden’, violates local planning restrictions, because at three metres tall, it is a metre too high. The alternative given to the couple is to radically slash its height and design.

Tina, a retired nursing

Asian story relevant now than ever before?

Amjad and Tina Butt (source: Birmingham Mail)

manager, said that having spent £10,000 on the summer house, labour, paint and plants, they now don’t know what to do, as they can’t enjoy it. Amjad, a retired chartered accountant, moved to Bourneville from London six years ago in search of a place to enjoy their retirement.

The BVT stated that its aim is to work with house owners “who want to submit applications for alter-

ations to their homes”, and had to launch an investigation after receiving a complaint about the summerhouse from a neighbour.

BVT added: “We offered Mr and Mrs Butt the option to appeal this decision by the 3rd May to which they did not respond. We would ask Mr and Mrs Butt to contact us so that we can work with them to resolve the matter”.

Saima Thompson, the 31-year-old entrepreneur and café owner, who was also seen by thousands as a beacon of support for cancer diagnosis in the BAME community, passed away on Monday.

Since her diagnosis two years ago, she set up Curry and Cancer and started raising awareness about cultural taboos around health in the BAME community, especially cancer.

She was a prolific blogger and spoke about her experiences with terminal lung cancer in her blogposts, podcasts, and media interactions. In one post, she wrote: “A lack of integration, conversation and education around basic health matters leaves a lot of the BAME population with great difficulties when it comes to flagging up or speaking about illness”.

She observed the lack of non-white people on online social forums on cancer: “I have spoken to the top cancer charities and organisations in the UK and asked the question where are the “brown faces”? The feedback is the same: people are “scared” and

Saima Thompson

“ashamed” to come out”. She pointed out: “There is a genuine language and culture barrier as 28% of people do not even understand what their diagnosis means in the UK. How do we cater to those people and make sure they have the right materials and literature, and can make calm, educated decisions about their future health?” Saima Thompson was seen as a huge icon for the BAME community.

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PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH UK GOVERNMENT

TEACHERS WELCOME EAGER CHILDREN BACK TO SCHOOL Schools, as we all know, are very important to children’s overall development.

Very few children have been directly affected by Covid-19, but many have suffered from its social consequences.

what is a big step in their lives.

Helen explained, “We’re trying to make it as fun as possible and tailor the learning to their interests as well as looking at the curriculum and ensuring that they’re covering the transition work. It’s been really positive for them.

Especially in the sense of looking at current events – for example, Black Lives Matter – it’s been really important for them to be able to explore those topics as a group, instead of in isolation.”

Rupanjana Dutta An open letter by UK paediatricians about the return of children to schools recently said, “School is about much more than learning. It is a vital point of contact for public health services, safeguarding and other initiatives. This includes access to mental health support, vaccinations, special therapies, free school meals, physical activity and early years services that help children get the best start in life.” So, getting children safely back into education is now one of the highest priorities for most schools.

As primary schools opened their doors to early years, reception, Year One and Year Six, headteacher Helen Rowe at Dulwich Wood Primary in south London explained how their students and staff were delighted to be back learning in a safe environment.

The school has welcomed back 90 per cent of their Year Six children, and 50 per cent of Year One and reception, after reopening on 8th June.

This was in addition to the children of key workers and vulnerable children who were able to attend school throughout the lockdown.

But now as students return, school isn’t quite how they remembered it.

Classroom layouts have changed, and class sizes are now only 15 pupils or less in order to maintain distancing and social bubbles.

Before schools reopened staff had a week to look carefully at risk assessments and add anything that they felt was necessary. From the use of hand sanitisers to ensuring that children washed their hands regularly, to making sure that the resources the children were using are clean, Helen and her teaching staff had to carefully discuss what protective measures to implement in order to make

day if they have children in different year groups.

Meanwhile, Year Six children are preparing to transition to secondary school. They have really benefited from spending time with their teachers and friends to prepare them for

Please closely refer to the protective measures in education and childcare settings guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings/ coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings Please check with your local authority for the latest news on schools opening in your area.

This is the UK Government advice for England only.

Photo Credit: Craig Gibson

sure both children and staff were safe.

However, the message is clear - the school is there to help parents, children and staff, and it’s entirely up to the parents to decide what’s best for them.

Helen said, “We sent out a home school agreement initially to parents, to let them know what the expectations were.

TIPS FOR BACK AT SCHOOL • To reduce congestion at the school gates, only one parent should attend pick-up and drop-off.

• Walk or cycle to school to ease the strain on public transport.

• Practice healthy habits at home to support good hygiene in the classroom.

• Above all continue to reassure your young ones.

“We explained that the children had to come into school with clean clothes each day, that they only needed to bring in a water bottle and they wouldn’t be taking anything home with them. They will just come straight in, wash their hands, and get on with the routine exactly as they did before the lockdown.”

Describing the children’s enthusiasm about returning to school, Helen added, “I’m at the gate every morning so it’s really lovely to see them come in. They’re all really excited to be back, it’s just wonderful.”

However, Helen believes that children and parents feel safe due to the measures the school is taking for the students.

Reception and Year One are now open at Dulwich Wood Primary on a parttime basis. Each group with seven students acts as their social ‘bubble’, which is organised in alphabetical order. Therefore, families are able to come in on the same

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HOPE AMIDST FEAR UK reopens businesses in the face of coronavirus surge Continued from page 1 Reports that tracers at a local level are not yet able to get the data they need to do their job are extremely concerning”. The government’s decision to allow for greater movement looks dangerous in the face of expected localised lockdowns in the country. Reportedly, some other areas of the UK have also already begun to see local spikes and 36 cities and counties face the risk of being put back into lockdown. The schools in areas where there is a large population of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) residents should also be allowed to open later, the Local Government Association (LGA) has demanded. The need of the hour is the assessment of the future of all social and economic aspects of the country’s citizens, as due to Leicester’s further lockdown people are worried that they may undergo a reversal of this countrywide unlock.

How will this move affect Asian business owners?

Business Secretary Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP said: “Our pubs, restaurants and cafes are the lifeblood of high streets and town centres across the country and we are doing all we can to ensure they can bounce back as quickly and safely as possible…We are introducing new legislation to enable businesses to make the most of the crucial summer months ahead”.

Since the lifting of restrictions is primarily aimed as opening of businesses and refuelling the economy, Asian Voice spoke to several business owners of the Asian community in the UK across sectors and they voiced their concerns regarding their fears of another wave of lockdown, expectations from customers after reopening, and expected support from the government.

Sona, Tattoo Artist and parlour owner Fearing another lockdown, Sona, who is a tattoo artist and already maintains pristine level of hygiene in her parlour, Portraits by Sona, said, “Personally I’d rather wait until the second wave is over before we open again but I know for many tattoo artists who don’t have a sideline job that this will be a struggle financially so I hope they open soon.” She calls herself a fairly new tattoo artist who was just getting into the swing of things. “I’m sure I’ll get back into it fairly easily but it was a shame to lose the momentum. I swapped tattoos for drawings when the lockdown happened so financially I was just about ok. Luckily I have a good client base many of whom were waiting for my drawing books to open anyway. You have to see the positives right?!” she said.

Dealing with extra precautionary measures before she reopens, she said, “We are focusing on getting the right PPE equipment in - gloves are always plentiful in our studio but we will also have masks and room dividers if necessary when we open. Customers will be asked to wash their hands and

wear a mask when they enter.

Hygiene is always top notch in our studio anyway.” Sona expressed her concerns with the customers once she reopens, “I just hope clients are honest about their health and hygiene. We can take their temperatures but that’s it really. If we feel that a customer is not following our guidelines or appears to be ill then we will absolutely have to terminate the session” Sona feels that the government has provided a lot of help for small businesses financially.

However artists are now beginning to struggle more. Tattoo shops are among the most hygienic places you can find so it doesn’t really make sense to keep them closed if they are happy to open pubs where people will be drinking in crowds and definitely not social distancing after a pint or two! “Sadly I’m guessing the virus will be spread more than ever on the evening of the 4th of July,” she said.

Kinnari Patel, Salon Owner of ‘Kinnari’s’ Kinnari’s business involves primary contact between two people which is both a huge challenge and a responsibility to provide satisfactory services as well as ensure the protection of the staff and customer. Kinnari said, “We faced a huge loss especially during EID . It was an absolute mess. It was really unfortunate and devastating. We are hoping to be back on track and expecting our old customers to come back as well as expecting new customers fingers crossed.” Fearing another lockdown might strike unexpectedly, she said, “We absolutely fear that there will be a second lockdown as I read news about Leicester going into a second lockdown. And London being a big and populated city we are hoping and praying not to have a second lockdown. And we fear that there will be a second lockdown. We fear customers' behaviour as it’s really easy to shoot and post things online nowadays . We are hoping communities understand and help each other and they speak to owners if they notice something is wrong or we lack something.” Kinnari said that she would like to thank chancellor MR Rishi Sunak and PM Boris Johnson and their furlough scheme business is surviving for now. “Government has also helped us with a Grant but still keeping customers safe in mind spending will be more than actually profit,” she said. Kinnari will comply with the government’s guidelines and in regards to opening from 4th July , she said, “The government has only instructed to open hair salons.

Beauty Treatments are still now allowed to resume. Let’s hope we get back to normal soon.”

Bhav Patel, owner of retail store, Toy Galaxy Another Leicester business owner, Bhav Patel who runs a retail toy store, fears another lockdown. He said, “Given the current developments in

Leicester, I do feel there will be more regional lockdowns across the UK. With my retail stores located across different boroughs, this something we almost must be prepared for.” Patel discussed the significant losses due to COVID: “Naturally the biggest losses for us as a business was the loss of retail trade during the lockdown. Having retail stores with stocked shelves as we were gearing up towards Easter has been the hardest part. The loss of trade leaves a significant gap in your cash flow which of course impacts the entire business.” When asked if the situation has improved since he has reopened, he said, “Since we have reopened, things slowly seem to be getting back to normality. Footfall is still significantly lower on the high street in comparison to pre-lockdown but that is almost expected as the confidence to return to the shops is not fully with consumers as yet.

Average basket value is higher which of course is a positive, so those consumers that are out are spending, which shines some light at the end of the tunnel.” He also expressed his biggest concern regarding customers after reopening. “My biggest concern was the safety of customers and staff. As a business, we ensured we did everything possible to inform customers to socially distance including large banners, floor markings as well as a staff member situated at the door to control the flow of people but the concern lies with those customers not willing to cooperate which then poses a threat to staff members of the customers that are sticking to the rules,” he said. Discussing the government’s contribution to business schemes etc, Patel said that he does believe that the Government has gone to great lengths to help businesses see through this period during lockdown but greater damage has been done to the economy. He said, “This will likely be evident in the months ahead and I strongly believe that for consumer confidence and more importantly for spending to increase there may have to be a temporary cut or holiday on VAT to help stimulate the economy.” Contemplating an increase in footfall post the easing of restrictions, Bhav said, “As more

restrictions ease, it edges a little closer to returning to normality.

4th July will essentially see the remainder of most shops reopen on the high street along with hospitality and some leisure. This, in turn, should increase footfall as it forces more people to return to the high street.”

Ash Mukherjee, owner of Ash Dance Theatre Ash lost out on a European tour alongside having numerous performances being cancelled in London and all across the UK. The university and studio where he teaches, also had to close down resulting in a significant loss of artistic creation and earning. He fears a second lockdown. “The beaches have been packed where I am based and perhaps despite the best of intentions, social distancing etiquette seems to have gone downhill in certain places. One of the classes I teach is a dance as an exercise in wellness for the over 50’s. As their health and safety is my number one concern we are looking at having the classes conducted strictly online. Some dance styles and levels obviously require body contact and in person interactions and therefore online classes are not ideal for them.” In the times of social distancing, “Luckily the style that I teach requires minimum body contact so I am able to conduct classes on Zoom and still keep our local dance community going.

Some studios have been very helpful to us tutors in helping us advertise the classes even if we are not able to use their facilities for the foreseeable future. We do intend to go and have a few socially distant dance class events on the beach this summer. That way health, safety and the financial viability required to run a large community class are both considered,” he said.

Mukherjee shared his concerns regarding customers after reopening: “Their health and safety and above all their peace of mind.

Dance cannot happen well when the mind is not at rest. We must learn ways to integrate the social distancing measures in a viable and considerate way for that to happen.” Ash discussed how arts have come under ‘non essential skills’.

However, he states that it is the arts and wellness that comes from its practice that has the ability to lift the morale of the nation. “I feel that there is always room for more dialogue on this subject and inspired action as a result of it. To really listen to the unique and individual needs of each community now is more important than ever.

The lockdown has brought with it its own set of adjustment challenges and people’s mental and emotional well-being has suffered immensely as a result. Socially isolated does not have to mean socially disconnected. For people who live alone, a weekly online dance class can be a lifeline to keep in touch with their friends and move and breathe in a healthy way.

Thanks to the proactive and tireless work of some dance tutors and producers over the last few months, the Arts Council and the Govt are slowly beginning to integrate this shift and are creating funds so that these well being resources can eventually be available for a larger demographic.

But the battle is far from over,” said Ash. Pritha, Restaurant owner - Posto Indian Bistro Pritha, who runs Posto Indian Bistro, feels that a second lockdown will completely devastate the hospitality industry. “We might need to shut doors permanently,” she said. “To keep the restaurant closed for over 3 months and large scale party/ catering orders have completely dried up. To start with for the first month we are planning to open for takeaway only and a couple outdoors sitting with disposable menus, condiments and with a more intense cleaning /hygiene rota,” she explained.

Sharing her fears regarding the reopening, she said, “Footfall will be down by 50% and customers will miss the pre-Covid restaurant experience of celebration & bonding.” She does feel that the government has helped a lot. “However a key fear for us is rent piling up. The government could have created clear guidelines for commercial landlords & banks holding mortgages on commercial properties,” said Pritha. She is looking forward to the re-opening. She said, “We are planning to open the following week as some structural Covid safety work is still pending.”

Asian Voice asked these non-essential business owners if being Asian, and with BAME people more affected, do they fear being discriminated against as a service provider? Here’s what some of them had to say: Kinnari Patel, Salon Owner of ‘Kinnari’s’ “To be honest I have been running this business for the last 13 years and as a business woman we don’t discriminate . All ethnicities are welcomed here and luckily we have never faced any discrimination as an owner.”

Sona, Tattoo Artist and parlour owner “I don’t think so personally. I have been lucky enough to have been taking many new tattoo bookings during lockdown (for when we open) from people of all backgrounds. There are always people who will discriminate but I’m not sure that it will be any different.”

Ash Mukherjee, owner of Ash Dance Theatre “I don’t fear any discrimination on a personal level since I know my client base quite well and they are extremely loyal and enthusiastic to learn Indian dance styles. They love the feeling of interconnected euphoria and zen like relaxation they get after a garba or Ghoomar based workout. More importantly I know

that they know it is correct social distancing precautions that will prevent the spread of the Covid virus and not racial discrimination. Racism is not a health prevention measure. It is pure discrimination. I cannot say for other parts in the UK what the attitude and situation may be. I naturally hope that it has a positive outcome for all dance practitioners and their students, BAME or otherwise.”

Pritha, Restaurant owner - Posto Indian Bistro “Not really as we are in Harrow which has a highly diverse community with a high BAME percentage. A major section of our customers are BAME as well.”

Bhav Patel, owner of retail store, Toy Galaxy “I do fear that with more spikes likely in localised areas, BAME people need to be extra cautious going forward to prevent the spread within communities.

Discrimination is absolutely not okay but its also people natural instructs to protect themselves and their families so we must ensure we do everything in our power to not put ourselves at risk to this virus.”

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"NO CLEAR GUIDELINES" Coach operators not expecting passengers till February 2021 Shefali Saxena

cially to regions that currently have a relatively low prevalence of Covid-19.

• Tourism could lead to mass gatherings increasing the risk of outbreaks. This includes specific cultural and sporting events that may be the purpose of the travel or visiting ‘tourist attractions’ where numbers may exceed facilities.

Asian Voice spoke exclusively to Pradeep Pandya, from Baba Holidays and coach operators on the opening of non-essential services from July 4 and the challenges he’s anticipating.

We asked the challenges he’s expecting to face once the lockdown is over and whether he fears that there’ll be a second lockdown. Pandya said, “Yes there is a slim chance of a second spike in virus.

Today in Leicester we are not sure as reports are that there may be Leicester lockdown. We still do not have guidelines as Coach Operator. ie. distancing to run coach tours. As four UK nations have their own policy it is very difficult to plan. We are not sure if clients want to travel before Jan 2021 on long haul tours.”

“Currently hardly any bookings.

Our main strength coach holiday during July Aug is completely non-existent. Even long hauls by air struggling,” he explained the losses he’s faced so far.

Pandya said that bringing back passengers will be very challenging, I” do not expect them till Feb 2021.”

With the BAME community’s increasing vulnerability to Coronavirus, the fear of being Asian and being discriminated against as a service provider may or may not be a challenge for key workers. Pandya disagrees, “I have not experienced any discrimination from our service providers. In Fact some hotels in Europe are very cooperative and our air ticket consolidators are also helping us out.”

He also added, “I think the government has done enough. But there is always someone who will say not enough. The Government has done Furlough, Grants and loans. But on the tour side

there are not enough guidelines. Quarantine not clear, EC Package regulation not strong information to action, not enough guidelines on coach holidays.”

“We were thinking to open from 6 July but this is in question now as may be a lockdown in Leicester,” he said as he fears another lockdown that might be on its way.

BMA demands ‘clear and consistent’ guidelines for holidaymakers from the Government After the images of packed beaches on the south east coast went viral this week, the BMA is calling on the Westminster Government to produce ‘clear and consistent’ guidance for the public.

In an open letter to Matt Hancock, BMA council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said the BMA has ‘grave concerns’ over the Government’s failure to provide clarity for tourists and tourism providers with lockdown restrictions on overnight stays set to be eased on 4 July. The letter came as the BMA issued its own advice for holidaymakers and tourism operators in the absence of any official Government guidance.

Dr Nagpaul warns: “It is vital that in easing the lockdown, all efforts must be made to mitigate against further spread and

outbreaks, and at worst a second spike which could the NHS overwhelm should it coincide with the winter months.”

He also insisted that that tourism within England should only be encouraged if it is undertaken with the suppression of viral transmission as a key safety principle.

In a note to the press, BMA listed the following challenges that tourism in the UK might face:

• Being on holiday is likely to change people’s risk of transmission in complicated ways: • People on holiday are often more relaxed and therefore may be less vigilant in adhering to the basic control measures for Covid 19, that is physical distancing2, handwashing and face coverings when appropriate. This may increase risk.

• People on holiday may have reduced exposure through occupational and educational settings, which could reduce risk.

• The risk to the resident population may also change, as for a significant proportion, their place of work and sometimes even their home is the tourist setting.

• Tourism involves movement of large numbers of people from disparate parts of the country.

This could lead to the spread of infection between regions and espe-

Priti Patel supports Robert Jenrick over 'cash for favours' scandal Housing minister, Rober Jenrick who had recmoved his approval on the scheme over “apparent bias” in May 2020, has frequently denied wrongdoing.

According to The Guardian, “The “cash for favours” scandal surrounding Jenrick shows no sign of abating after the Sunday Times reported a whistleblower as saying that officials had apparently begged him not to

Priti Patel

give donor Richard Desmond’s Westferry

Printworks development in east London the goahead.”

Patel was quoted saying that the case had been “discussed in parliament a number of times” and that all questions had been answered. “It is through that matter of transparency that the matter is now deemed to be closed.”

Prepare for a longer waiting time to receive passports According to reports online, British Services at the Passport Office are running slower than normal due to the pandemic. Travelers may have to postpone, or plan months in advance so as to not miss the flights. Many people are planning a summer holiday outside of the UK, and due to delayed processes, some of them may not be able to travel at all.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “Her Majesty’s Passport Office continues to process standard passport applications,

In one of the most quiet summers that Sicily has ever had, the Covid-19

for its five million people, which is about a tenth of the UK rate, the region has suffered devastating economic losses. To cope up for it, some hotels are offering vouchers to book three nights for the price of two.

A tour of the picturesque baroque villages of south Sicily where the set of the television series on the fictional italian detective Inspector Salvo Montalbano stands, it’s quite a steal deal for those looking to get away before summer ends. The experience is set to become more affordable thanks to the regional government,

impact on the region is fairly low as compared to other states. With just 281 deaths

which is offering £68m of subsidies to attract visitors.

and you can continue to apply online. However it will take longer than usual to receive your passport as a result of changed working practices designed to keep both staff and customers safe. We would encourage those who can, apply to a later date and, as is always the case, we strongly advise not to book travel without a valid passport.”

Sicily lures UK tourists with ‘Detective, Discount and Distancing’

10 READERS VOICE

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Happy birthday NHS Surprised & sorry that whole Britain has forgotten to add British 72nd Anniversary of NHS (5 July) to the UK calendar.

On this date, in 1948, Health Minister Anuerin Bevan Declared said that all medicines & all treatments for patients at surgeries and in hospitals in Britain will be completely free, when he inaugurated Park Hospital in Manchester. But at present we are overwhelmed with coronavirus.

On this day the Government, media like BBC, The Times, LBC, Asian Voice and all people are looking forward to some easing of restrictions to spread their wings after stressful 4 months.

Britain has nearly borrowed 2 trillion to alleviate problems of businesses, job losses, children’s' schools & college etc.

I want to raise fund for Britain by starting 'PM NHS & Welfare for Britain Fund' and ask the Royals, politicians, rich and other Britons to contribute voluntarily as per their capacity so that we have enough to combat any such emergencies in the future!

God Bless Britain.

Upendra Kapadia

By Email

Beauty of Ladakh Ladakh is a union territory of India. The Galwan river is one of the upstream tributaries of the Indus River.

The river is named after the Ladakh explorer of Kashmiri descent, Ghulam Rasool Galwan.

The British expedition which was exploring the Chang Valley when Mr Galwan discovered this unknown river valley. The river symbolises its geographical feature and is named after the Kashmiri-native explorer. The Galwan river is to the west of Aksai Chin, this plateau is also an Indian territory.

Since 1960 China is advancing to claim the Indian territory and encroaching militarily in trying to encircle such claims.

The LAC passes through a lake shared by India and Tibet.

The assessment from the American intelligence contradicts China's timeline.

Ramesh Nehru

By Email

Trust China at your peril

KHICHADI Kapil’s

National Doctor's Day National Doctor's Day in India is celebrated on July 1 every year. The day honours doctors across the country for their relentless service throughout the year.

In India, Doctor's Day is celebrated to honour the legendary Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, who was also the second Chief Minister of West Bengal.

This day serves to show gratitude to all those who have selflessly aided us in our time of need and tirelessly worked for the health of their patients by commemorating the greatest representative of these ideals.

With the number of infected people on the rise every day and hospitals teeming with hundreds of people, it has never been more important to appreciate the efforts that doctors make to ensure that we sufficiently recover from whatever may be ailing us and continue to remain healthy.

Doctors are special, and this year is one where we have seen them as our real-life heroes. This day is an opportunity to thank all the heroes in the medical fraternity for their selfless contributions.

They are pulling long hours and working round the clock as the world is gripped with this pandemic.

Jubel D'Cruz, Mumbai, India

JRD Tata- an inspiration It was very interesting to read about the simplicity of business icon of India JRD Tata (Dr Hari Desai, Asian Voice 27 June – 3 July 2020).

As mentioned in the column he started as an unpaid apprentice at Tata Group and rose as the youngest chairman of the Group. Today Tata is a household name in India because of the ethical practices followed by the group for which the foundation stone was laid by stalwart like JRD tata.

There are lots of things for today’s younger generation to learn from the life of JRD Tata. To learn the fundamentals of business from scratch, one must start from the bottom of the ladder.

Today’s management students aspire to manage but the most of important thing of people management, one can learn only from interaction with different people from driver to director in real-life situations. Merely reading books one cannot become an expert in interpersonal skills.

Hard work is another thing which is clearly lacking in most of today’s younger generations. They want to become rich instantly. Most of the successful businessmen have worked hard with full dedication, enthusiasm and by trying something new and innovative keeping in mind calculated risks.

His interaction with Dilip Kumar was also interesting and shows that he was really a simple man with generosity.

It seems China is showing its true colour, the intention to dominate the world, economically, politically and militarily, only two nations who may stand in its way, block its progress are India and America.

While these two nations have realized Chinese threat, through experience of betrayal, broken promises and outright deceit, “Chew and Lie” scenario of the old that fooled Nehru, it seems there are still some governments, including our own that are willing to trust heartless Chinese dragon!

China has destroyed our still industry and destroying small cottage and manufacturing industries in India with cheap, heavily subsidized goods. China controls India’s Cell phone market with 70% share and under PM Modi, Chinese import has multiplied several times. What has happened to PM’s policy of “Make it in India?” Was it an empty slogan!

How come PM Modi has underestimated Chinese cunning and economic soul-destroying policy he fell for hook, line and sinker!

Besides India and USA, other nations that has attracted China’s wrath, are Canada, Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan and Australia who is under intense cyber-attack from an unnamed mighty unfriendly nation!

Australia’s crime is to demand an in-depth inquiry into the part China has played in spreading coronavirus worldwide, irritating China to no end! China was also systematically stripping Australia of its raw material, namely coal and iron without investing in Australia’s economy or infrastructure. Australia has now put an end of economic exploitation.The close relations between India and Australia, joint naval exercise with US and Japan in Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal is also seen as anti-Chinese that has irritated China.

China’s response is to create tension at the border in Ladakh, Sikkim and Nepal, a traitor nation to its culture and religion, under Chinese thumb!

In recent South East Asian conference, both Vietnam and Philippines condemned China for intruding into 300mile economic zone, building artificial islands and then claiming surrounding seas as China’s territorial waters!

China’s next target will be Bay of Bengal, around Andaman and Nicobar Islands, right place to build artificial islands.

India beware!

Asian Voice has had great foresight in their initiative ’The Ugandan Asian’ and I am very proud that you will be documenting the great contribution of Ugandan Asians.

Asian Voice is best poised to author and provide findings for broader society.

You are right that the contribution of the Ugandan Asians is an excellent benchmark and a reminder of the benefit of immigrants and why the government and others would be happy to open doors for Hong Kong with a similar outcome in mind.

Britain has greatly benefited from its immigration policies in the last 50 years, employable nurses, doctors, businesspeople as well as just general good decent citizens have come with their experiences from adverse situations abroad. This has helped Britain counter the decline of industries and manufacturing in this country and enabled the economy to perform.

Recent protests by various groups have highlighted the great deal of pain we have seen in history. We need to see this history and learn from it, we need not forget its pain but also use it constructively and remind ourselves that after every dark cloud there is bright future.

Uganda Asians also saw significant pain having to leave much that had been built up over generations and landed in Britain with nothing - but now are well positioned.

I would also like to highlight Canada as also having a progressive immigration policy, it has rich resources in the north (petroleum, minerals and forestry). It will also benefit from this policy over the next 20-30 years.

Bhupendra M Gandhi

By Email

Surendra Patel Ilford

Hitesh Hingu London

The Ugandan Asian

Follow me on Twitter: @kk_OEG

Apps Away Kapil Dudakia Is It seems when my Kapil’s Khichadi landed in Delhi last week, PM Modiji must have read the article titled, ‘Slay the Chinese Dragon’. As I am writing this column we have breaking news that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) just announced that it is banning the use of 59 Chinese origin Apps.

1. TikTok, 2. Shareit, 3. Kwai, 4. UC Browser, 5. Baidu map, 6. Shein, 7. Clash of Kings, 8. DU battery saver, 9. Helo, 10. Likee, 11. YouCam makeup, 12. Mi Community, 13. CM Browers, 14. Virus Cleaner, 15. APUS Browser, 16.

ROMWE, 17. Club Factory, 18. Newsdog, 19. Beutry Plus, 20. WeChat, 21. UC News, 22. QQ Mail, 23. Weibo, 24.

Xender, 25. QQ Music, 26. QQ Newsfeed, 27. Bigo Live, 28.

SelfieCity. 29. Mail Mast , 30. Parallel Space, 31. Mi Video Call – Xiaomi, 32. WeSync, 33. ES File Explorer, 34. Viva Video – QU Video Inc, 35. Meitu, 36. Vigo Video, 37. New Video Status, 38. DU Recorder, 39. Vault- Hide, Cache Cleaner DU App studio, 41. DU Cleaner, 42. DU Browser, 43. Hago Play With New Friends, 44. Cam Scanner, 45.

Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile, 46. Wonder Camera, 47.

Photo Wonder, 48. QQ Player, 49. We Meet, 50. Sweet Selfie, 51. Baidu, 52. Vmate, 53. QQ International, 54. QQ Security Center, 55. QQ Launcher, 56. U Video, 57. V fly Status Video, 58. Mobile Legends, 59. DU Privacy.

The MeitY said, "are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”. Last week I said that if the world is to be serious about the Chinese dictatorship, then some firm action will need to take place on multiple fronts. I accept this is a small step and requires a lot more in addition to fully augment the political and military strategy. In this regard I commend PM Modiji was also making sure that several international contracts that were to go to China have also been stopped. The rest of the world is beginning to realise that their inaction has allowed this rogue state to become a danger to global security.

The MeitY statement went on to say, “There have been raging concerns on aspects relating to data security and safeguarding the privacy of 130 crore Indians. It has been noted recently that such concerns also pose a threat to sovereignty and security of our country. The Ministry of Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures”.I checked my phone, phew it turns out I don’t use any of these 59 Apps. How about each of you doing the same? If you find some, what will you do? I suggest seek better alternatives and make sure they work for you, and then get rid of the Chinese Apps.

What we also need to note is that China has systematically infiltrated almost every industry and sector in India.

This embedding has taken place across the globe and to be honest, you have to take your hat off to the Chinese for their stealth war. They really used those international Dollars wisely by putting state money into state actors on a massive scale to underpin their global strategy.

Something that India needs to learn quickly.

One thing that the public needs to be mindful about, it is not always easy to take such action without understanding its impact as well ensuring suitable alternatives are available. This is why the action India takes will be over a period of time. As India becomes confident that it has sourced suitable alternatives, that will be the time to impose further bans or tariffs. The screws are tightening, even slowly can bring to bear a huge amount of discomfort to the Chinese. I wonder who coined the term, death by a thousand cuts?

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Sun Tzu, The Art of War A great quote, worthy of serious consideration, but where it matters at the border with China and Pakistan, let’s make sure there is overwhelming power to not just repel the enemy, but to teach it a lesson of a life time.

We are grateful to all letter writers for more and more versatile letters well within word limit.

Please keep contributing as always.

If you are new, then write to Rupanjana at rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com - AV

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New West Midlands India Partnership launched to attract UK-India investments A new West Midlands India Partnership (WMIP), which aims to enhance UK-India relations and boost tourism, trade and investment between the West Midlands and India has launched on Friday.

The Partnership will support the region’s long-term economic growth plans by developing stronger links and opportunities for collaboration as part of a five-year programme of activity with the Indian market, moving the focus away from London centric developments entirely. Partners who signed up include industry heavyweights for example Jaguar Land Rover, PwC, State Bank of India UK, Birmingham City University and DLA Piper.

Led by the West Midlands Growth Company, the new initiative has been developed in partnership with Invest India, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Consulate General of Birmingham office. The WMIP will build on India’s strong track record of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the West Midlands, acting as a single point-of-contact for potential new investors. After the US, it is the leading source of FDI and FDI employment in the West Midlands over the last 10 years, 13,000 new jobs have been created.

Beyond trade and investment, the Partnership aims to increase leisure visitors to the region, boost connectivity between the geographies, strengthen ties across universities and engage Indian diaspora in

Lakshmi Kaul, Head & Representative – UK at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

Dr Jason Wouhra OBE, Chair of the West Midlands India Partnership

the West Midlands.

The region welcomed more than 38,000 visitors from India in 2018 and has seen a 16% increase in leisure visits in the last five years.

Meanwhile, West Midlands universities have seen a 33% increase in their Indian student intake over the same period.The WMIP aims to expand on this strong base through targeted marketing and communications campaigns to encourage new Indian visitors and businesses to the West Midlands. The region is already home to the biggest Indian community outside of London with more than 200,000 people of Indian origin living in the region.

The region’s strong business offer has already attracted some of India’s biggest companies, including Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Infosys, OLA, Enzen Global, Suprajit Group, Elder Pharmaceuticals and more recently, Microland.

Dr Jason Wouhra OBE, Chair of the West Midlands India Partnership said, ”The West Midlands India Partnership is a confident step forward at a time when building resilient, productive economies is key. Through the Partnership’s long-term strategy, we aim to identify opportunities for both Indian and local businesses to trade, innovate and grow.“By strengthening networks, collaboration in academia and airline connectivity, we want to build on our shared history to forge new opportunities for a confident future. As the former co-owner and director of East End Foods plc – a globally trading, West Midlands success story, I want to encourage Indian-owned businesses to follow in my steps and capitalise on this region’s potential."Neil Rami, Chief Executive of the West Midlands Growth Company – which aims to attract investment, jobs and visitors

to the region, added, “The West Midlands-India relationship is a key priority for our region’s tourism, trade and investment programme, particularly as we prepare for the shared opportunities the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will bring.

“The region already has a strong track record of organic success derived from the Indian market.

Launching the West Midlands’ first formal India Partnership will unlock even greater opportunities for growth across trade, education and the visitor economy. It presents a major opportunity for both the UK and India to advance our national missions.” Lakshmi Kaul, Head & Representative – UK at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), told us, “The West Midlands is a melting pot of cultures, diversity and business excellence - the region is important for Indian industry as a hub of innovation and research.“Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is pleased to support the West Midlands by working alongside the Partnership to amplify business-to-business, as well as the people-to-people connection, while also addressing the economic growth and recovery roadmap.”

With an aim of strengthening civic partnerships between West Midlands and Indian towns, the WMIP will explore joint activity through a twin city model, enabling both places to expand their networks, seek investment and collaborate on investment and visitor projects. Andy Street, Mayor of the

West Midlands, said, “The West Midlands’ innovation-led Industrial Strategy alongside the scale and ambition of India’s manufacturing, life sciences and technology sectors presents a major opportunity for world-class industry collaboration, helping to attract significant investment and create new, local jobs.

“The West Midlands India Partnership will bring together some of the best talent and capabilities to not only stimulate crossmarket trade, but to help address shared social and economic challenges faced by the UK and India. I am delighted we have been able to secure this Partnership, which represents a further strengthening of the already excellent ties between our region and India.”

The Partnership will support another important programme of activity for the region – a dedicated, Government matched-funded Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Tourism, Trade and Investment Programme designed to maximise the economic benefits of the global spectacle.

The Programme will feature in-market activity linked to Games-focused events such as the Queen’s Baton Relay. The WMIP will be governed by two separate boards comprised of senior stakeholders, leaders and representatives. The Advisory Board will be responsible for the strategic direction of the Partnership, providing advice and guidance to the Executive Board, which will shape the planning and delivery of the programme’s activity.

Yasser Zubair, a Police Officer with Thames Valley Police highlights the rewarding and varied roles available within the force today As long as he can remember, Yasser wanted to be a police officer. Now, after 18 years of service, he tells us about his experiences, why he would encourage other people from South Asian communities to consider a career with the police. And why he believes that policing today stands for equal opportunities, as well as the opportunity to keep communities safe.

Yasser, who is from a Pakistani background says, “No two days are ever the same. We are working to reduce crime and within this, we are dealing with people from all walks of life, we’re engaging our brains to understand motives and sheltering the vulnerable from danger. A career with the police is rewarding. It’s a job where you feel like you are making a difference to the community and helping to keep people safe, that’s what keeps me going, and it’s this that is very rewarding.”

Yasser works in the Positive Action Engagement Team with Thames Valley Police, which is dedicated to retention, progression and recruitment of people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Before this, he worked with the Greater Manchester Police in various roles including being part of the first team dealing with terrorist offenders.

Reflecting on views of policing within the South Asian community, Yasser says: “We still have some way to go to change some of the negative perceptions. Many people cite racism and discrimination as concerns and others worry about a perceived lack of career progression. What I would say to these people is don’t always believe what you hear.”

Talking about how his race affects his role, Yasser says, “I see my race as a positive aspect which enhances my personal impact. The fact that I can speak Urdu and Punjabi for example is an asset which helps me to build rapport and trust.”

Yasser continues, “I’ve helped educate my colleagues about my culture and religion and learnt about theirs. Actively being part of a diverse workforce is the only way to break down barriers which exist in society, that’s the same in any workplace, including the police.”

While his family are very supportive of his role now, this wasn’t always the case. Yasser says, “It can be difficult if your family and friends are not supportive about your chosen career path, but what I’ve found is that as your family learn about the important role you play in society and the difference you make, it’s very likely their opinions will change.” On career progression, Yasser says, “There are so many challenging and interesting roles within the police, you could work your full career and still not have worked in every function. As long as you have the drive, the organisation will support your needs and help you fulfil your ambition.”

Giving his advice to those who are interested in joining the police, Yasser says, “Go for it, don’t let anything hold you back.”

There are various ways to join the police, depending on your work, life and educational experience.

Visit: https://www.joiningthepolice.co.uk/

12 MEDIA WATCH

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SCRUTATOR’S Door-to-door Covid survey in Delhi In the wake of the alarming rise in Covid-19 cases in the capital, the Delhi government has planned a house-to-house survey across the city to identify suspected cases and get them tested as part of the government’s elaborate plan to fight the pandemic. The survey which began on June 27 will cover about 45,00,000 households by July 6. On the face of it, this appears to be a Herculean task, given the short span of time. The authorities are planning to constitute a large number of teams in each district, depending on its size, to complete the task within the deadline. This had been spelt out in a “Revised Delhi Covid Response Plan” issued by the Directorate General of Health Services on June 22. It committed the state, among other things, to carry out a house-to-house screening in containment zones by June 30 and in the rest of Delhi by July 6. It also stipulated a serological survey of 20,000 people to be carried out between June 27 and July 10. (Agency) No regular train services till Aug 12

There will be no regular train services in India till August 12.

Only special train services will continue. In its order, the railway board has instructed all zonal authorities to automatically cancel all booked tickets and make full refund of the ticket.

Currently, the Indian Railways is running only 230 mail and express trains as "special trains".

Though the railway ministry has repeatedly said more trains are likely to be operated to meet any demand, sources said these may be branded as “special” ones as well. (Agency) Girl set on fire for resisting rape A 14-year-old girl was set on fire after she fought off a gangrape attempt by her school seniors in Chhattisgarh’s Bemetara district, about 70km from Raipur. Before death, she managed to give a statement that led to the arrest of two suspects.

Bemetara SP Divyang Patel said that the girl, a Class 7 student, was out in the fields alone on June 22 when two youths tried to rape her. “She was alert and resisted with all her might. She kept fighting until the duo realized they wouldn’t be able to rape her. Angered by her resistance and fearing that she would report them to police, they set her on fire,” said Patel.

She sustained 80% burns. “The duo left her engulfed in flames and fled. When her parents

returned, they were surprised to find the house empty and went looking for her. They found her

in a corner of the field, badly burned. She was unconscious.

They brought her to the hospital,” said police. (The Times of India)

Masks and sanitizer as gifts The Covid-19 lockdown has changed many traditional idea and way of thinking. In such a new order, Gujaratis are rethinking on gifting ideas too.

The obvious choices are either face masks or sanitizers - gifts that clearly define “care”. Apart from it being a tool for medical safety, masks are slowly becoming a fashion accessory too. “In face of Covid, what better way to beat the despondency than to gift our loved ones masks, especially with a customized ‘face gear’ that will lighten their mood as well as

keep them safe? I have, therefore, sent face masks in colourful gift bags to my friends and even relatives staying in other states who were really moved by my gesture,” said an Ahmedabadbased teacher. “Some customers want special masks to be couriered to relatives in other cities or even outside Gujarat. So, I have added proper gift bags to make it more exciting,” said another. (The Times of India) Family refuses to take 93-yearold Covid fighter back home A 93-year-old woman in Hyderabad who has recovered from coronavirus infection is stuck at the hospital as her family is reluctant to take her back home till another round of tests confirms she is negative.

While authorities have declared her stable and medically fit for home quarantine, the family says the hospital must carry out another round of tests and guarantee that she has totally recovered before they think about taking her back. The elderly woman was admitted to the hospital along with her son and two grandchildren after all three tested positive for the virus.

While her son succumbed to the virus last week, the two grandchildren are now in home quarantine and stable. The authorities finally agreed to keep her in the hospital for some more time after her granddaughter requested.

(Agency) This cop wants leave to look after buffalo Exhausted by continuous Covid-19 duty, several policemen across Madhya Pradesh have applied for leave, mostly on bizarre grounds. A constable, posted as driver in MP’s Rewa, has cited “love for his buffalo” as one of the reasons for seeking six days’ leave and the other is the illness of his mother. In the leave letter the constable wrote to his superior, “Sir, I am posted in the vehicle branch under you. My mother has not been keeping well for the past two months.

Also, I have a buffalo at home, which is very dear to me. This buffalo has delivered a calf recently, and there’s no one to take care of them at home.” He

which 125,000 were selected before the lockdown in March.

Around 118,000 out of those selected applicants had made the payment for Haj-related travel

goes on to “explain” why he is so attached to his buffalo. “Sir, the buffalo has an important place in my life as I prepared for my recruitment runs only after drinking the milk provided by her. Therefore, I have to look after her in her hour of need. I request you to please grant me six days of casual leave so that I can get my mother treated and look after my buffalo as well,” says his letter. (The Times of India)

by March before the lockdown.

The Haj Committee of India will be refunding the full payment made by all selected applicants directly to their bank accounts.

(Agency)

Pandemic dashes hopes of Indians shortlisted for Haj Those shortlisted for Haj will not be able to go for the muchawaited annual pilgrimage due to the pandemic. They include around 2,300 women, who were to travel without “mehram” (male companion). The government has decided to allow these women to go for Haj next year based on this year's application. Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that in addition new applications from women applying for travel without mehram category will also be accepted for Haj 2021. Naqvi said that he received a phone call from Haj & Umrah minister of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten advising India against sending pilgrims for Haj this

Road under water, farmers use makeshift boats to reach fields About 300-odd villagers in two remote hamlets in Savarkundla taluka in Amreli district of Gujarat are using rubber dinghies to commute since the road linking the two village are in 10 feet flood waters. The two villagers are linked by the Surajwadi River and around 10 years ago, a bund was built on the river, more than 10 feet higher than the road that runs parallel to it, opening the floodgates of misery. The road connects the villages as well as their farms and the villagers had protested against the height of the dam explaining that it will create problems during rains.

Though the authorities assured help, nothing moved since then and as feared, every monsoon the river gets flooded and water spills over the bund and onto the road. “The road leading to our farms gets submerged in 10 feet of water during monsoon, which remains so for more than six months. We are left with no option but to navigate this “man-made river” in dinghies,”

year in July due to the pandemic.

Around 213,000 applicants were received for Haj 2020, out of

said Hasmukh Patel, a farmer from Badhda village. (The Times of India)

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Misguided campaign against Gandhi’s statues Lord Rami Ranger I am appalled by the campaign launched for the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s statues in the UK by misguided and illinformed few. The statues had been erected by public demand to recognise the immense contribution of Gandhi Ji to the free world.

As a result, this protest is unwarranted, uncalled for, unnecessary and above all, counterproductive.

If Britain wishes to acknowledge the contribution of a leader who was also the architect for bringing an end to the British rule in India, then it speaks volumes about the vision and values of this great man. I shudder to think what our world would have been today without Mahatma Gandhi’s struggle for racial equality which started in Soth Africa.

To call him a racist is totally out order when he dedicated his entire life fighting racism, imperial rule and shaped the world as we see it today.

Mahatma Gandhi was not only an Indian leader but a universal icon who inspired people across the globe with his ideals. The civil rights movement in America under Dr Martin Luther King was the direct result of Bapuji’s inspiration.

The struggle against apartheid in South Africa by Nelson Mandela is yet another example. It is wrong to show disrespect to someone who put the interests of the oppressed above that of his own? How many people do we know in the world who gave up everything for a cause that they believed in?

Gandhi Ji was well educated and could have easily continued to live a comfortable life like most prefer to do. He gave up his comfort and wealth for the sake of

Lord Rami Ranger CBE

freedom for his countrymen.

Still, today a few misguided individuals choose to overlook his herculean struggle for humanity and wish to mock and belittle his great achievements. Had he not shown the leadership, then I doubt India could have gained freedom peacefully through the non-violence movement. Nor would we have seen the Civil Rights movement in the USA and a black President Barak Obama and the end of apartheid in South Africa.

History shows us that there are only a handful of people to have lived and served in the way Mahatma Gandhi did. Condemning or criticising a leader, who is revered the world over by finding fault in him is detrimental to every leader who followed in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi. By trying to tarnish his memory and his teachings cannot take his wisdom and lessons forward to our future generations.

The statue of someone who renounced violence and spoke of civility many decades ago, when violence was being perpetrated on minorities by majorities every day acted and acts as a great symbol of peace and harmony. His famous saying, “an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind” serves us well even today.

His statues shows that ones objective can be achieved peacefully as long as there is merit in the cause.

He once said, “strength does

not come from physical capacity, it comes from an indomitable will” This was the basis of his peaceful Quit India movement which brought India independence.

Mahatma Gandhi’s wisdom and respect for his principles have spread the world over. Apart from the British monarchs, no other person in history has had stamps issued to honour him as many times as Mahatma Gandhi. Over 50 countries have issued postage stamps to honour Gandhi Ji. This must demonstrate his respect across the world.

History is full of leaders who fought for freedom with arms which resulted in the death and destruction of millions of innocent lives.

Still, Gandhi Ji, on the other hand, advocated a peaceful and nonviolent freedom struggle based on Indian values. He knew that violence would generate more bloodshed and disorder, which would result in the loss of hundreds and thousands of innocent Indian and British lives to achieve the ultimate goal of freedom. The loss of even a single life was very precious to him, whether Indian or British. He knew that once people became violent, then their character would change forever and that they would remain violent even after their objective is achieved. We can see people in certain countries where leaders have encouraged to use violence to achieve their

goals, and where violence has become ingrained in their culture and character and remains in their DNA long after their objectives have been fulfilled.

Bapuji was a visionary, where some leaders opted for a religious state, Bapuji chose a secular and democratic India where everyone would be equal regardless.

He knew that no country could move forward by keeping a section of her population behind by systematically discriminating against people based on their religion, caste or gender. The result is in front of us, as we can see how India is surging ahead, whereas religiousbased countries are in turmoil. Leaders in religious countries always keep their citizens down in the name of religion to cover their own failings. This is the reason Indians are shining across the globe because they are the product of a secular and democratic country and as a result, can easily integrate into any society easily and quickly. Bapuji was unique in many ways. He had no desire to rule people.

Instead, it was to serve them selflessly. We can see in some countries, leaders put their interests above that of their people and in the process bring sufferings to people and impede the progress of their countries.

Gandhi Ji’s message of love and non-violence has become even more critical than ever before in our fractured world. Peace can only come when world leaders start to follow Gandhi Ji’s ideals. His statues will remind us of his contribution to non-violence and a peaceful coexistence.

Those who attempt to denigrate the memory of Bapuji, are doing the same for humanity itself, and this cannot be allowed to happen.

UN International Widows Day Global Webinar Lord Loomba CBE recently hosted a webinar on UN International Widows Day 2020 to raise awareness of the impact of COVID-19 on widows worldwide and to call for international support for widows’ empowerment both financially and socially.

Chairman and Founder Trustee of the Loomba Foundation he said, “As latest estimates show that there are 258 million widowed women globally and the current figures will be much higher especially as Covid-19 has exacerbated this situation. The role of local governments to support their welfare cannot be undermined, and the G20 countries must find a way to help support these and grassroot efforts to help widows.”

Lord Loomba was joined on the panel by former First Lady, Mrs Cherie Blair QC CBE, President of the

Lord Raj Loomba CBE

Loomba Foundation; Mrs Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady, Sierra Leone; Ms Simone Mensah, Vice President of the Sylvia Bongo Ondimb Foundation (Gabon); Mr Amitabh Kant, CEO (Niti Aayog), Government of India; Dr Peter Rajsingh and Mr Harjiv Singh, Trustees of the Loomba Foundation.

Mrs Blair emphasised, “During Covid-19, there are going to be many newly widowed women who will need our support as they fight these challenging times, as

they are still living difficult lives in the society.”

Mr Amitabh Kant, CEO Niti Aayog, Government of India agreed, saying, “The Covid-19 lockdown has left widows exposed as a vulnerable group with no access to finance to support their children or themselves.”

Explaining how the Indian government has ensured financial support has directly reached those widows affected, he underlined, “the role of civil societies, voluntary groups and citizens is extremely important.”

Mrs Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady, Sierra Leone, highlighting the challenges faced in Sierra Leone, explained how difficult it can be for bereaved widows where cultural norms mean men often have up to four wives.

Ms Simone Mensah, Vice President, Sylvia Bongo Ondimb Foundation, joining

from Gabon, was keen to stress, “It is extremely important for us to work together and change the atrocious practices against widows to support human rights.

Widow empowerment is UN Women's Statement of support for widows ahead of the day, by UnderSecretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile MlamboNgcuka, underlined the predicament widows face by saying, “We have seen the myriad ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic impacts the lives of women and men differently. Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the effects of the pandemic are exacerbated for women and girls.”

The video of the full event can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/MjdoesWNwM

Success is not always because of talent Rohit Vadhwana Many times we come across people who seem to have amassed plenty of wealth, and we wonder how? Sometimes we come across sports or arts personality, whose personality does not resonate with the kind of success they have achieved. Sometimes even a lawyer, government servant, political leader or even a businessman - raise similar doubts in our mind: how can s/he be so successful? Our reluctance to believe in the person's capability to succeed is because of the apparent lack of talent, poor personality or lack in the art of presentation.

Talent implies an apparently native ability for a specific pursuit which can be cultivated. But, let's be clear and honest. All success that a person achieves, is not only because of talent. Some other factors playing an important role, sometimes even more important than talent, maybe counted like: 1. Unwavering commitment: A person who is not talented in a typical sense of our understanding may have succeeded because of commitment to a particular task. If one keeps hitting arrows a hundred times a day, for a year, his archery skills are bound to improve. He doesn't need any other talent to hit the aim. Such a commitment can make anyone successful, irrespective of other personality traits.

2. Ability to use other's talent: Sometimes people are sharp. They might not have a particular talent, but they are able to use other's talent very well. Take an uneducated businessman, who doesn't have any idea of the pharmaceutical sector, but hires experts in the field and builds a business empire. Sometimes it is ethical, sometimes not. But this is another way how people could succeed.

3. Chance or Miracle: You believe in it or not, miracles happen. Some people are successful only miraculously and remain at the top. It may be due to some chance. An example of a person who inherited some money from father. Having no idea where to invest, based on a friend's advise, invested in a hotel which was available at a throwaway price, because of a slowdown in the economy. Later, he became a tycoon in the field.

4. Daring to start a new race: Startups are examples. If someone dares to start a new race, and consistently run it, success is inevitable. Take an example of Jawed Habib, a celebrity hairstylist who started a whole brand of grooming. KFC is another very famous example. When no one has entered into a field, and you plunge in, it is very much possible that all the benefits will be available to you.

5. Risk-taking ability: If one has the courage to begin something against the odds, profit will be disproportionately higher than the risk. It is a risk-taking ability of the person that gives him/her success. Investing in the stock market when it's plunging, buying land in a desert, or investing in a futuristically uncertain company, is based on the risk-taking ability of a person. Such decisions sound fanatic at the time but considered brilliant only after success.

So, these are the merits, which lands the person at the zenith of success. Call it hidden talent, or some gift, or whatever, but non-talented type people succeed for some of their other abilities. Which one of the above you have?

(Expressed opinions are personal)

Conservatives’ critical response to Labour voting against the Immigration Bill Labour party’s vote against Immigration Bill brought in by Conservatives at the Third Reading was met with criticism by the latter.

Responding to this, the Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, Secretary of State for the Home Office, said today: “Last year the British people sent a clear message that they wanted to end free movement and our landmark Immigration Bill deliversexactly that. Labour voting against this Bill shows that while their leadership may havechanged, their determination to deny the will of the people has not”. The Bill was passed by342 to 248 votes. Keir Starmer claims he accepts the reasons for Labour’s defeat, but his refusal to support taking back control of our borders shows that Labour still cannot be trusted to deliver on the people’s priorities, Patel added.

Interestingly, the Conservatives also added that Nick Thomas-Symonds in a Sky News interview, has not ruled out Labour supporting freedom of movement if they were in government.

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Concerns over disturbing proportion of BAME worker deaths due to Covid-19 Charusmita

who clean industrial machines, and those who pack goods). The second highest rate was seen in the elementary security occupations, with 68.2 deaths per 100,000 men (113 deaths, including security guards and related occupations).

Elementary construction workers (42.1 deaths per 100,000 men, or 36

Following the release of latest report by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) into Covid deaths by occupation, there have been increased concerns over inequality and working practices of BAME workers, especially during the current pandemic outbreak.

The report noted that up till May 25th, 17 occupations were found to have significantly increased death rates due to the pandemic, including taxi drivers and chauffeurs (135 deaths), security guards (107 deaths), and bus and coach drivers (54 deaths). What was more disturbing was that out of the 17 specific occupations that had increased death rates, 11 had a high proportion of black and ethnic minority workers working in them.

The ONS report, however, does not record deaths by ethnicity and occupation.

Unite, Britain and Ireland’s largest union with members working across the economy, has drawn public attention to the high proportion of deaths among BAME workers. Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland said: “Many of the professions with the highest number of deaths are not only low paid but have both a long and unsocial hours culture, which often creates specific health problems over time”. She also noted: “It is absolutely imperative that there is a greater understanding of the disproportionate

impact of Covid on BAEM workers and this must be examined in order to ensure that everyone is fully protected”. The UK has suffered from the pandemic across sectors and communities, but the government is urged by Unite to take a “hard look at why certain workers were particularly vulnerable to Covid-19”, said Holland, while urging for an inquiry into the same.

Regarding death rates among the healthcare workers, the PA news agency has verified that among the deaths of 166 frontline UK healthcare workers with Covid-19 since April end this year, 100 workers came from BAME backgrounds, 39 (23%) were white and 27 (16%) were of unknown ethnic origin. The government has been investigating the reasons behind BAME communities being disproportionately affected in this sector too. The possible reasons are thought to be social, cultural and economic factors.

Joan Saddler, director of partnerships and equality at the NHS Confederation,

said that the BAME staff seemed more likely to work in lower-level jobs on general wards, where there might be lesser PPE provision as compared to high intensive critical units. The pay gap and recruitment in UK’s industries have been a long-running issue, and these inequalities are laying bare the inherent structural problem of an unequal society. For instance, in UK’s IT industry, according to the British Computer Society’s 2020 Diversity Report, which analyses workforce trends using data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), BAME professionals are less likely to be in positions of higher responsibility than those of white ethnicity – despite being better qualified on the whole.

An inquiry into Covid19 deaths also raises the question of faulty or insecure working practices.

According to the ONS report, the highest rate was seen in elementary process plant occupations, with 73.3 deaths per 100,000 men (62 deaths, including workers in factories, such as those

Project successfully promotes organ donation amongst Hindu, Jain and Sikh community Five organisations working within the Hindu and Jain community have joined a campaign to address the urgent need for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) organ donors.

The projects were amongst 25 organisations to share a £140,000 Community Investment Scheme funding pot to encourage more people from these backgrounds to become lifesaving organ donors.

The organisations leading the projects include Vanik Council UK, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, Leicester-based Santosh Community Centre CIC and Lightseekers Ltd. Other projects were delivered by Sewa Day, Lancashire BME Network and Global Kidney Foundation.

The faith and community based organisations designed and implemented projects to break down myths and increase support for organ donation after securing funding in October 2018 through NHS Blood and Transplant’s BAME Community Investment Scheme.

Now the impact of the project delivered by all five organisations has been published in a progress report into the first round of projects funded through the scheme. The ‘Give Hope, Give Life’ project

by Global Kidney Foundation focused on its nurses discussing organ donation during free health check-ups at churches, universities and other venues. Other activities include workshops at community events.

Four organisations working within the Sikh community have also joined the campaign to address the urgent need for BAME organ donors. The organisations who delivered projects are the British Sikh Nurses, Mandip Mudhar Memorial Foundation, Sewa Day and City Sikhs.

The City Sikhs project focused on the Sikh community in London and Midlands.

It included awareness raising events at Gurdwaras and sharing information through social media.

The London-focused project led by British Sikh Nurses included outreach work with Gurdwaras and promoting organ donation at Asian Melas, and other community and religious gatherings.

deaths) and elementary service occupations (38.3 deaths per 100,000 men, or 45 deaths) also had very high rates of death involving Covid-19.

Elementary service occupations include jobs such as hospital porters, bar staff and leisure and theme park attendants. The figures from the ONS do not prove conclusively that

higher death rates are caused by the dangers they face at their job, and they also do not take into account ethnicity or whether the person lives in a more deprived part of town. Despite this, the patterns point to a larger problem which needs further investigation along with collection of data at a more granular level by the ONS.

Arrested Manchester women plead guilty to fraud offences Four women from Manchester have been convicted of committing fraud along with series of other offences after being arrested

by Cheshire police on May 13th.

Sonia Malhi, 37, Emmiline Burdon, 29, Lyndsey Burdon, 36, and Sarah Burdon, 40, have pleaded guilty to allegations of the fraudulent usage of stolen bank details that were used to purchase consumables at stores in Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Derbyshire.

Sonia Malhi, of Hobson

Crescent, Audenshaw, Greater Manchester, along with her mentioned accomplices, appeared at Chester Crown Court on June 25th, where she was convicted for

committing fraud, theft, possession of a controlling drug, and possession of an offensive weapon. They all remain in custody and are due to be sentenced in July.

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Out of all major crises there emerges something really good Subhash V Thakrar That is what happened after the 2nd World War when National Health Service (NHS) was born on 5 July 1948. The idea of the NHS was led by the then minister of health Aneurim Bevan. It was a Labour government and the Prime Minister was Clement Attlee. I happen to be a Trustee of a charity called Attlee Centre set up in his memory.

Today the NHS is the largest employer in the country with around 1.5 million employees. The NHS costs us around £140 bn per year representing 9.7% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is huge by any world standard.

The NHS has become the jewel in the crown and an envy of the world. When we look back, this was a good outcome from the World War II? I wonder what will emerge out of the Covid 19 crises.

The NHS is the lowest common denominator for the care of the whole society. Every citizen can expect the best health care no matter which section of the society he or she comes from. Good healthy nation means good healthy economy!

The current crises have re emphasised the importance and value of NHS to all of us.

Many of us would be more than willing to pay extra taxes for a good NHS. This also highlights the fact that future wars that will be Mohanbhai Jobanputra fought will be biological such that the importance of the army and navy will diminish. Let's face it: the fight against Corona is being fought by the NHS which is in the frontline.

Yes, we can always complain about the NHS. Many find it cumbersome and slow. It has also not seen the progress in productivity as has happened elsewhere. We have seen glaring gaps between the health and social services as the system is not joined up as it should be. The digitisation and progress in clinical work has been noticeably slow.

Remarkably, the Covid-19 challenges have suddenly knocked down a number of barriers. The digitisation process along with the advanced application of AI (artificial intelligence) have played a strong role. What was considered not quite possible is now becoming possible. We have seen virtual consultations with GP’s and consultants. People are learning and accepting that physical meetings with fair amount of travelling are not required or necessary. Doctors are able to process lot more appointments than before. The clinical tests time period of around 8 years are reducing down to 8 months.

Traditional bureaucratic checks and hurdles are getting challenged and removed. All this will improve the productivity within the NHS system.

When you hear of stories like I heard from community veterans like Shri Mohanbhai Jobanputra who is 93 years young, it all brings it down to the elements. To him, the NHS is God’s gift and he feels we are so blessed and privileged to have this service in the UK. All his blood checks are done by nurses making personal visits to him.

He gets regular and timely calls from the health service to check how he is feeling, which sometimes close family and friends are unable to do. There must be many others who also get the same service.

Our NHS is really special, and we can only be proud of it. We have shown our appreciation every Thursday and many of us have also donated for the well-being of their staff. NHS cares for us and we care for NHS

From cradle to grave, NHS Protecting UK since 72 years The birth of the NHS on the 5th of July 1948, was the culmination of a bold step in British history to plan and make healthcare services available to every citizen from the cradle to the grave.

The then Minister of Health in Attlee’s post-war government, Aneurin Bevan, launched the NHS at the Park Hospital in Manchester.

In 1948, 13 year old Sylvia Diggory was the first patient to be treated by the NHS who had a life threatening liver condition.

Years later, little did NHS staff know that they would end up saving the life of a future Nobel Peace Prize Winner.

When Malala Yousafzai woke up exactly a week after being shot by the Taliban, she was in an intensive-care cubicle in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Malala was brought to the UK by Dr. Javid Kayani, deputy medical director of University Hospitals Birmingham who was in Islamabad when she was shot.

Malala received the best medical health services to recover from this tragic incident. She was also attended to by Rehanna, a Muslim Chaplain who held her hand and greeted her, “Asalaamu alaikum”. Rehanna also read the verses of the holy Quran to Malala.

Malala Yousafzai at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

In her book, ‘I Am Malala’ she wrote, “The first two questions my pen wrote were ‘Why have I no father?’ and ‘My father has no money.

Who will pay for all this?’”.

While the NHS and its doctors helped her carefully navigate through the aftermath of the atrocious accident, mental health expertise of the NHS staff played a remarkable role in her recovery in the UK, thousands of miles away from her homeland, Pakistan.

The contribution of the NHS is not just confined to its native inhabitants, but also refugees. The story of Hussein Amiri, a refugee from Afghanistan who had a serious heart condition that required a transplant, is an

exemplary tale that the NHS will continue to tell. Hussein came to Cardiff with his family after spending months in lorries, suffocating containers and selling everything the family had to human traffickers. According to the BBC, Hussein’s younger brother, Hamed Amiri describing his book, ‘The Boy With Two Hearts’ as a “love story to the NHS”, said, "Our religion and culture and race didn't matter, we were just people that needed help. He was the boy with two hearts (described as a metaphor).”

Hussein was the advisor at NHS on mental health and measures to make the hospital experience better for young people and their families.

In 2019, The Lincolnshire Refugee Doctor Project was launched that gave ten refugee doctors the chance to work in the NHS in Grimsby. According to the Grimsby Telegraph, “The project helps them pass lan-

guage proficiency tests as well as the two clinical exams needed to get onto the Foundation course, which them practicing have medicine again at a fraction of the expense of training a new doctor.” While the cost of training one foundational doctor in the UK is £300,000, the cost of training a refugee is only £25,000. Led by Dr. Andrew Mowat, the programme trains refugees from Syria, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Sudan.

In the past 72 years of its existence, the NHS has radically changed the lives of the citizens, where health services not only became available for free to the citizens, but also took care of refugees and victims from around the world. The NHS has thus led mass vaccination programmes, eradicated diseases such as smallpox, and encouraged an attitude of disease prevention within Britain.

12 Portraits by Rankin: Celebrating the resilience and courage of frontline staff to mark NHS birthday To mark the 72nd birthday of the NHS, the renowned photographer Rankin, offered to take portraits of 12 people playing a vital role in the NHS response to Covid19 . These include powerful and personal portraits of doctors, nurses and other NHS staff working tirelessly during the pandemic, which will be showcased at the country bus stops, roadside billboards and iconic pedestrian areas.

The portraits include an ICU consultant, a Covid-19 critical care nurse, a midwife, a general adult psychiatrist, a hospital porter, a Covid-19 ward cleaner, a paramedic, a GP, a pharmacist, a district nurse, a 111 call centre worker, and a chief information officer.

Rankin who has previously shot the Rolling Stones, Kate Moss and the Queen, said: “Taking a portrait is a unique and intimate experience, even with social distancing in place. Everyone had their own inspiring story which to them was just doing their job. I hope these images portray the resilience and courage they show every day in the face of real adversity.” Sir Simon Stevens,

NHS Chief Executive, said: “This has been the most challenging year in the NHS’s history, with our amazing staff providing care to almost 100,000 hospitalised Covid patients, and

many more in the community. As we approach the NHS’s anniversary, these striking portraits pay tribute to all NHS staff and their extraordinary dedication.”

The participants have been photographed unhidden by PPE, to reveal the people behind the masks and celebrate the individuals they are. Alongside each portrait, NHS staff have shared their own personal stories from the frontline, providing a unique and touching insight into the lives of the people who are battling this pandemic and saving lives.

Dr Farzana Hussain, a GP at Project Surgery, Newham, said: “It’s difficult to put into words how privileged I feel to be able to go to work every day and make a difference to people’s lives and to help battle this global pandemic.

"Now more than ever, it’s important that we see the humanity that makes up our GP practices, community services and hospitals. Every member of staff has their own story, fears and hopes for the future. I think Rankin’s photography brings this out really well.”

73 year old ‘Skipping Sikh’ raises £12,000 for NHS charities Earlier this year, Rajinder Singh, 73, from Harlington in west London, started filming his exercise videos. With over 250,000 viewers on YouTube, he encouraged people to be active during the lockdown and raised funds amounting to 12,000 pounds for NHS charities.

Rajinder Singh is a hit sensation on social media, popularly known as the “Skipping Sikh”. He was awarded the Points of Light honour by Prime Minister Boris

Johnson.

In a personal letter to Singh, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, “I wanted to write personally to thank you for all that you are doing to support our extraordinary NHS, and encouraging the nation to pick up their skipping ropes and keep their spirits high by taking on your lockdown skip challenge.

Your ‘Skipping Sikh’ fitness videos have given a lift to the thou-

sands of people worldwide who have watched online and taken part with you in your daily exercise, and provided an ingenious way of bringing together and energising the Sikh community at a time when temples have been closed”.

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Being a daughter’s ‘hero’ Two generations of NHS doctors in one family speak about the charm and significance of their profession today Rupanjana Dutta We have heard, that having a strong role model is important for a child’s growth. A positive father-daughter relationship can have a huge impact on a girl’s life, in defining her confidence, self-esteem and so much more.

Pre-Covid, many believed medical profession can no longer be termed as a 'noble' profession. The work is more backbreaking than most, with endless competitive exams and the pot of reward not as big as in many other professions, persuading some to even leave it midway.

But Dr Rahul Mukherjee and daughter Deyashini Mukherjee resuscitated our confidence in the charm of this profession, making it all the more honourable.

Rahul, originally from Kolkata, India, works in the Birmingham Heartlands Hospital in their department of Respiratory Medicine & Physiology. He is a Consultant Physician and an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

journey from India. “In India in those days, working was not possible during studying for a postgraduate medical degree.

You were paid a stipend, and if financially you were not well off, it was not possible to pursue a postgraduate degree. But unlike in India, in the UK, you could be fully employed while you were studying for your postgraduate degree. UK degrees are valued in many more countries, and much more globally recognised, hence I decided to move to the UK.” After his Membership of Royal College of Physicians qualification, Rahul chose his higher specialist training in respiDeyashini with father Dr Rahul Mukherjee ratory medicine and He came to England in became a Consultant in 2007. “My September 1994. UK then used to first job as a Consultant was in offer doctors from all WHO recogMilton Keynes, but then I moved to nised medical colleges in the world to Birmingham Heartlands Hospital.” sit for the Professional and Linguistic Speaking about how important a Assessments Board test. If you doctor’s role is today, he had a very cleared it, you could actually work in interesting perspective. “I came from Britain.

India. So, I perceived of a doctor’s Speaking to Asian Voice, Rahul, pressure differently and things have now in his early 50s, told us about his become easier,” he added.

“UK Government’s overall strategy for medical education, all though they have many more doctors now than before, there are very few who actually want to see very ill patients and work in the hospitals.

“Most people in search of worklife balance and due to their change in perception, they don’t want to make those sacrifices, that originally made people look up to doctors as heroes. But I believe, unless you have had that calling in you, it is impossible to reach your full potential.

“We took pride in being doctors and we were respected for being so, something that the coronavirus crisis has brought back, something that we modelled ourselves to.”

His 26-year-old daughter Deyashini, is a second-year junior doctor and an avid music and dance lover. She came to England as a toddler, but speaks fluent Bangla, and sings Rabindra sangeet, while playing her favourite piano. Her parents were sure that she would pursue music and dance as her career, but when she was 16, she did a work experience in her father’s hospital, which inspired her to take up medicine later.

“I always loved science. Human body and its function fascinated me.

In fact, when I was 14, I asked my

father if I could be a good doctor. But my parents never pushed me to take up medicine. They have always supported me to pursue my passion.

When I chose this profession, my father’s line of specialisation thrilled me, but he has never tried to influence my decisions. Of course, I look up to him and I am lucky to have his guidance as a senior professional and as my father.”

Supporting her father’s thought about the significance of the medical profession today, she said, “A junior doctor needs to have the drive and compassion to understand what the rationale behind decision making in different specialisations are. Though many people can get away without committing as much as before and consider this as a 9am-5pm job, I am not like that. However, there are many components to decide how much you want to be involved.

During my father’s time, there was a desire to serve better as doctors, earn that respect and honour and that has been my goal too.”

But she added, “While junior doctors need to think more and consider beyond just work-life balance, it is also the duty of seniors to take us under their wings and inspire us to make our profession something beyond just a job.”

NHS nurse workforce: The NHS and RCM midwives thinking ahead for future BAME generations, frontline warriors protect expectant mums Charusmita

Women from ethnic minority backgrounds have long been known to endure additional maternity risks, with maternal mortality rates significantly higher than for white women. Recent analysis shows Black pregnant women are eight times more likely to be admitted to hospital with Covid-19, while Asian women are four times as likely. To tackle this and protect expectant mums, the NHS is boosting its support for pregnant BAME women and taking urgent action at microlevel, such as increasing uptake of Vitamin D and undertaking outreach in neighbourhoods and communities, among others. New research from Oxford University also shows that 55% of the pregnant women admitted to hospital with Covid-19 belong to a BAME background. These numbers must be contrasted with the fact that they make up only a quarter of the births in England and Wales.

Expectant mothers in the UK are increasingly choosing home births due to Covid-19 scare, leading them to rely on midwives to assist them with childbirth. The midwives working with the NHS play a crucial role not only in introducing women to relevant health measures but also in giving continuous skilled care during pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing in the short term.

On June 26th, Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, England’s most senior midwife, has written to all maternity units in the country calling on them to take specific

actions which will minimise the additional risk of Covid-19 for BAME women and their babies.

Steps include making sure clinicians have a lower threshold to review, admitting and considering multidisciplinary escalation in women from a BAME background, reaching out and reassuring pregnant BAME women with tailored communications, and ensuring hospitals discuss vitamins, supplements and nutrition in pregnancy with all women.

Dunkley-Bent further commented on the decrease in attendances for some NHS services due to the pandemic outbreak and said, “I want to make sure that every pregnant woman in England knows that the NHS is here for them – if you have any doubt whatsoever that something isn’t right with you or your baby, contact your midwife immediately”. The Royal College of Midwives has also developed guidance and advice for pregnant women and their families during

Covid-19.

Zeenath Uddin, Head of Quality and Safety at the RCM told Asian V o i c e : “Maternity units are increasingly providing consultations on the phone or by video online, but this does not mean they are less important. If observations like blood pressure or other tests need to be carried out this will be done in person with your midwife.

Midwives are also trained to ask women about their mental health, particularly during the pandemic we are aware that some women may feel more anxious or isolated”. She added: “The RCM has also called for swift implementation of an action plan announced by NHS England to provide additional support for black, Asian and Ethnic Minority (BAME) pregnant women as COVID-19 has sadly sharpened this inequality further”. The midwife community is dealing efficiently with a preference for homebirths. As Zeenath Uddin told us: “Covid-19 surge impacted on staffing levels and emergency services and we saw some homebirth services temporarily suspended, but many of these have now reopened”.

The nurses in the NHS have always been touted to be its lifeline. As emergency frontline workers, they are always on their feet. For them, perhaps, the physical strain of Covid-19 is more manageable as compared to the emotional and financial pressures. Despite this, they continue to serve the people unconditionally.

The 72nd anniversary of the NHS is a fitting occasion for us to understand, empathise and value nurses more than ever before. On this anniversary of the NHS, Asian Voice spoke to one of the nurses from the Asian community who not only is a nurse himself but also an activist and a lecturer of Child Nursing at City University of London. Within the nurse workforce, there are communities that deal with additional pressures and hierarchies and chains of discrimination. Rohit Sagoo, a nurse and an academic himself, founded the British Sikh Nurses organisation to help raise physical health and mental health awareness, and education about maintaining positive wellbeing and healthy lifestyle choices in the Sikh community and beyond.

With BAME people more affected during the pandemic, have Asian nurses been discriminated as a healthcare service provider? Sagoo said: “We know that institutional racism exists in the NHS and quite frankly, we have now got emotionally exhausted of fighting our way up the managerial ladders of healthcare.

In my own profession, I find that the wheels are slowly turning but it can't be just lip service and changes in policy”.

Rohit Sagoo

As a contributing member of the Asian community and a practising healthcare professional and academic, Sagoo’s encouraged community members who are aspiring for a career in nursing: “I think as a community we still have a stereotypical view of gender roles in employment”. It would be good to see more South Asian British males coming into nursing, especially children's nursing or indeed midwifery, he added. The NHS is home to nurses from all communities in the country and they proudly put service before self. As one of the first British Born Asian male children's nurse in the late 1990's, Sagoo urges that nursing and midwifery as professions “need to develop culturally, with specific interventions to reduce the stigma associated with the nursing profession in the British South Asian community”. The role of the UK government in supporting the nurse workforce needs to be bigger. In terms of nurses from Asian background in the NHS, Sagoo says, the government has the power to provide policy and legislation to support BAME nurses, especially when it comes to bullying, harassment and promotion.

18 FINANCE - UK

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Dear Financial Voice Reader, Alpesh Patel As Chairman of City Hindus Network I was bemused to read about a headline “Religion Meets Profit Generation in a Slew of New Faith Based ETFs (funds)”.

The sub heading to the article is that Funds seek to attract Muslims and Christians seeking to align their money and their values.

So what would a Hindu fund look like? After all, we have Lakshmi and a billion strong market – but of course are as ever put into the category of poor Apu on the Simpsons – ‘miscellaneous’.

Would investing in gambling be forbidden? Say Ladbrokes? It creates jobs and people are told not to do to excess. Or what about defence? After all we have the Mahabharat. That’s about duty and defence. What about tobacco? Some would argue no prohibition there. Okay, alcohol and cannabis companies surely – they’re very popular. Ummm….again, you’ll find many who will say that’s not prohibited.

What about meat production. Well, I was in Bali in December, and a lot of meat around the temples there – and they consider themselves as Hindu as anyone.

Is nothing sacred? What about Beyond Meat – the vegan company. Probably okay – definitely the cow is sacred yes. Phew, we agree on that.

But does a Hindu fund have to have universal agreement? Maybe we need a Hardcore Hindu fund. You know a Hindu Nationalist Fund. No, that’s just what the media would call it, five minutes after launch. Or they would call it a Hindu Fundamentalist Fund.

But think of it. You can’t pin down its contents. There is no Pope to tell us or Archbishop or Koran or Bible or Rabbi or Torah.

And that is where the idea of religion based funds shines on the beauty of a Hindu one. No one has created one – but it could be all things and perhaps, as we have sewa – all proceeds go to good causes if someone does create one.

But it also belies another issue. Hinduism has an image problem. It’s not Hinduism’s problem. It’s that it is perceived by haters as negative. When and how did this happen? Here is a faith that does not convert, by sword or word. Does not invade on conquest. Full of vegetarians – more so that any major faith. Yet what is there to hate?

And there you have it. It’s not Hinduism the others, and Hindus hate.

It is themselves and that they are not Hindu that they hate. It’s the only conclusion. So maybe if someone launches a Hindu Investment Fund, since it can invest in all things the other faith based funds cannot, it will be the most successful in achieving returns. May be like life?

Pound loses its value after the Brexit vote, says BofA analyst Bank of America (BofA) analyst Kamal Sharma said that the pound is now an emerging-market currency in all but name and the Brexit has turned it into a mirror of the “small and shrinking” UK economy.

In the four years since the UK voted to leave the EU, trading conditions in the pound and the big swings in exchange rates make it a better match with the Mexican peso than the US dollar, said Sharma. He said that movements in the currency since the June 2016 Brexit vote have become “neurotic at best, unfathomable at worst”.The bank’s analysts noted that the difference between rates at which investors are willing to buy and sell sterling remains bigger than in other major currencies, even after the broader market has set-

tled in the wake of the coronavirus-related panic in March.Implied volatility, a measure of investors’ expectations of the scale of future price moves, has also remained higher in the pound than for major peers.

BofA said that underlined a lack of clarity over the currency’s prospects.Failure to reach a deal on Britain’s future relationship with the EU within the next six months would be “disastrous” for the pound, said Vasileios Gkionakis, global head of

foreign-exchange strategy at Lombard Odier.

Sterling could fall to $1.10 or below, he said, from $1.25, while the euro could converge to parity from £0.90.We believe sterling is evolving into a currency that resembles the underlying reality of the British economy: small and shrinking with a growing dual deficit problem.

Traditionally, sterling has been part of the so-called G5 currency group - alongside the dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and Swiss franc - as one of the most heavily traded and therefore safest currencies in the world.But since the Brexit vote, uncertainties over the relationship between the UK and the EU have made investors less willing to take views on the currency,

resulting in a drop in liquidity.

That means that the pound can no longer be analysed according to the same framework as other major currencies, said Sharma.“The pound increasingly resembles the more liquid emerging market currencies rather than a core G10 currency,” Sharma wrote in a research note on the fourth anniversary of Britain’s referendum on EU membership. The pound has not recovered to levels before the UK voted to leave the bloc, losing about onefifth of its value. And since the start of the pandemic, sterling has moved violently.

At the height of the crisis, investors were bracing for such great swings in the pound that only the Brazilian real experienced a larger increase in implied volatility.

Lakshmi Mittal's brother Pramod declared bankrupt Pramod Mittal, 64, one of Britain's wealthiest men who spent £50 million on his daughter's wedding has reportedly been declared bankrupt with debts running to more than £130 million. He is believed to have lost the money after he became tangled up in a probe into organised crime, reports said. Pramod's brother is Lakshmi Mittal, Britain's 19th richest man and is head of Arcelor Mittal, the world's biggest steel manufacturer.

Pramod Mittal became well known after a lavish ceremony held at the wed-

ding of his daughter Shristi with Gulraj Behl at the National Museum of Catalan Art in Barcelona in 2013. The wedding was attended by 500 guests who were served a 132-pound wedding cake.

His brother Lakshmi Mittal is unwilling to bail out his younger brother after the two previously fell out over their father's alloy empire. According to reports, 'they are no longer close and live separate lives.

Lakshmi does not see why he should be financially responsible for his brother.

This debt has nothing to do with him.'

According to reports, Pramod Mittal's bankruptcy stems from his acting as a guarantor in 2006 for the debts of Global Ispat Koksna Industrija Lukavac (Gikil), a Bosnian producer of coke used in steel manufacturing. Mittal was pursued by London-based Stemcor when he did not pay $166 million which was owed in 2013.

Stemcor went on to separate its non-trading businesses - which included Mittal's guarantee - into a separate company, Moorgate Industries, which was granted the bankruptcy order at the

the tail, as Sunak works up proposals for deferred tax rises and lower public spending as part of the autumn Budget.

Following advice from the cabinet, scientific and medical advisers, Prime Minister Boris Johnson reviewed the current twometre rule with one-metre social distancing. He also announced which sectors can resume trading on July 4. The list includes parts of the hospitality sector - such as pubs and restaurants. But Downing Street warned that if the Covid-19 outbreak began to accelerate, the latest easing measures would be reversed. “We will not hesitate to put the handbrake on,” a spokesperson said.The Treasury wants to closely monitor the level of spending to gauge whether members of the public needs a tax cut to encourage them to return to more normal economic life.

Tata Steel, Britain's largest steelmaker, is seeking government support amid reports that it is close to securing a bailout worth hundreds of millions of pounds. According to reports, the rescue deal could help save about 8,000 jobs.

The pandemic has severely affected the steel industry which was already suffering from low demand.

"We have been, and continue to, seek government support in the UK... and all geographies we operate in," Tata said. They said that "it would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing discussions with governments."

According to reports, the bailout would take the form of a loan that could be converted into equity at a later date, should Tata be unable to repay. The government said it was "in regular discussions with companies across a range of sectors". Once the bailout finalised, it would support Tata Steel's UK operations, which include its main Port Talbot plant in Wales, but also sites elsewhere in Wales, Hartlepool and Corby.

Tata has been seeking loan worth £500m, according to Stephen Kinnock, the Labour MP for Aberavon, where Port Talbot is based. The rescue loan would be the first under the government's Project Birch scheme, which is designed to save large firms that are unable to get the support they need through existing schemes. Aviation and aerospace are reported to be among other sectors that may require "bespoke" bailouts. Like other UK steel operators, Tata Steel has been hit hard by rising production costs and international competition in recent years and has struggled to turn a profit. It suffered a £371m pre-tax loss in 2019 amid continuing uncertainty over Brexit. Since the pandemic hit, demand for steel has dropped massively as industries such as car manufacturing have ground to a halt.

Pramod Mittal

Insolvency and Companies Court. In July last year Mittal was arrested in Bosnia as part of a probe into organised crime at Gikil. He was later released on one million euro bail but the investigation is ongoing.

UK will ‘bounce back’, says Boris Johnson Tata Steel seeks govt support Chancellor Sunak planning The Office for National Statistics said economic activity in UK dropped by 20.4 per cent in April - the largest drop in a VAT cut to stimulate economy to survive low demand single month since records began in 1997. The fall massively outstrips the then-record 5.8 per cent drop in March gross domestic product (GDP) that the ONS reported last month.

It means that GDP fell by 10.4 per cent in the three months to April and sets the UK on course for one of its worst quarters in history.

Speaking following the release of the figures, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "not surprised" the UK had been "badly hit" by the lockdown. He says the country will 'bounce back' from lockdown economy hit by Covid-19.

The prime minister added: "One of the things the UK has got right is the way we've tried to handle the situation with the furlough scheme and many other schemes we've put in place. "What I want to do now is work slowly to get the economy back on its feet... I think slowly confidence will return and you will see a bounce back."

He reiterated his general election promise to "level up" the country, in education, services and transport infrastructure, and more plans would be announced in the coming weeks. "We're going to be doubling-down on our agenda of uniting and leveling up. Infrastructure, technology, investment in our future, building the platform that business needs for growth," he said.

Large parts of the British economy were placed on ice on March 23 when Johnson told people they must stay inside and only leave the house when absolutely necessary. The measures were announced to slow the spread of Covid-19.

The figures are worse than what some experts predicted.

A consensus compiled by Pantheon Macroeconomics suggested there would be a 18.7 per cent drop in GDP. May’s GDP figures are also likely to be hard hit, before things start to ease again in June as the economy slowly reopens.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans for deferred tax rises and cuts to public spending in his autumn Budget after he delivers a further fiscal stimulus for the UK economy.

The Treasury is considering a temporary cut to value added tax (VAT) and specific reductions in the rate for some sectors, according to those close to the chancellor, following significant pressure from industry and Tory MPs. A lower VAT rate for the tourism sector - including pubs, restaurants and hotels - is one option being discussed.This could come as early as July as the government scrapped the twometre social-distancing rule and replaced it with “onemetre plus” and the use of masks and physical screens must. But any move to lower VAT - at considerable cost to the exchequer would come with a sting in

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Bharti Enterprises buys stake in OneWeb Sunil Mittal owned Bharti Enterprises, the parent company of Airtel, has acquired a strategic minority stake in OneWeb, a UK-based satellite internet company that seeks to provide affordable internet access in rural and remote areas across the world.

Other investors in OneWeb include Qualcomm Incorporated, Virgin Group, Airbus Group, The CocaCola Company, Intelsat and Grupo Salinas. the Together, stakeholders have invested $500 million into the venture. Bharti Airtel will be a preferred distributor of the service in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Africa, with a strong focus on rural markets, according to a Bharti statement. It will also

Sunil Mittal

have representation on the OneWeb board.

OneWeb will build a communications network through 648 low-orbit satellites. Its user terminals will have embedded LTE, 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi access capabilities that extend the reach of mobile operators.

With more than 10 terabits per second of new capacity, the system will extend the networks of mobile operators and internet service providers to new areas, bringing voice and

data access to consumers, businesses, schools and health care institutions, among other end users.

Bharti Airtel, which has operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, can leverage its investment by a preferred becoming distributor of these services across its operations. The company’s mobile networks cater to about 1.85 billion people, according to the company statement.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said, “Access to affordable, high-speed internet is a powerful tool for economic development and empowerment of populations, particularly in emerging economies.

OneWeb, an innovative system, backed by leading global corporations, will

complement the efforts of governments and telecom operators across the globe to take internet to the masses.

“Currently, Arianespace and Virgin Galactic will be launching the satellites.

However, I will be engaging with Isro (Indian Space Research Organisation) so that they could also be part and do satellite launches for the company…It (the initiative) is a very costeffective solution. For instance, all that is needed is to put up a terminal, which will cost $250 and be powered by solar energy.

You could run it instantly and get connected without the requirement of any towers. It is ideal for a village panchayat, which could buy and put this terminal on the top of a water tank,” Mittal said.

Premji and his wife move SC over ‘frivolous’ complaints Software mogul and philanthropist Azim Hasham Premji and his wife Yaseem have moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of summons issued to them by a Bengaluru court in “frivolous criminal complaints” against merger of three companies - Vidya, Regal and Napean - with Hasham Investment and Trading Company, all owned by the Premji group.

Premji and his wife, through advocate Mahesh Agrawal, said the three companies, which were formed in 1974 and whose shareholdings were interlinked in 1980 that any of the two owned the third one, were merged with Hasham in 2015 after the RBI gave in-principle approval followed by the Karnataka high court's green signal to the merger scheme.

They suspected that the cause behind the complaint was a partnership gone awry with Subhiksha's R Subramanian. A Premji group firm had to file criminal complaints against

a Subramanian-owned company for bouncing of cheques worth millions in 2013, which is still pending. claimed the Agrawal criminal complaints filed by NGO ‘India Awake Transparency’ was masterminded by Subramanian nearly three years after the merger took place, full information of which was given to SEBI, stock exchanges and the ministry of company affairs in 2015.

What surprised the Premjis was the trial court's decision to summon them without even conducting a preliminary inquiry into the veracity of the NGO's complaints and the Karnataka HC refusing to entertain their plea against facing trial in a “motivated case” aimed at disrupting the Wipro-led software industry and Azim Premji Trust's philanthropic activities.

The petitioners told the SC that on the same lines of the criminal complaints before the Bengaluru trial court, petitions were filed before the Delhi High Court and NCLAT four times

Azim Premji

between February 2018 and September 2019. Each of them were dismissed by the HC and the appellate tribunal while cumulatively imposing Rs 400,000 in costs on those who had filed the petitions against merger of the companies. The husband-wife duo firmly believe that those four petitions too were filed with Subramanian's collusion.

On the philanthropy front, the Premjis told the SC that since 2010, when the trust was formed, they had donated more than £1.5 billion for various charitable work. "In times of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an overall commitment of £112.5 million towards the cause. The Premjis have been carrying out various relief activities across the country, supplementing and

aiding the government in Covid-related relief work.

The mischievous challenge by the NGO to the amalgamation is disrupting not only the Premjis but also the ability of their group to contribute to society through charity," the petition said.

The Premjis have challenged the Karnataka HC's May 15 decision refusing to quash the criminal complaints filed by the NGO before a Bengaluru court. "The scheme of amalgamation sanctioned by the Karnataka HC was deliberately suppressed by the NGO before the trial court and the HC, as the scheme gave complete details of purpose, financial structure, shareholding of the transferor and transferee companies, the accounting treatment and the terms on which the amalgamation of companies occurred, which if brought to the notice of the courts below, would have shown that not even a prima facie case was made out under the complaints," they said.

Trump's suspension of H-1B visas won't badly affect Indian IT firms After years of threats and rhetoric, on June 22, US President Donald Trump administration took a major step to curtail the movement of immigrant workers into the US by suspending a bunch of work visas for the rest of 2020.

This could be a vital blow to India’s $200 billion IT sector, which gets over 70% of its revenue from the North American region and is heavily reliant on H-1B, the long-term specialised skills work visa category, which has also been suspended.

But industry leaders and observers believe that the

baby steps that Indian IT companies took over the last many years will help them tide over this speed bump and continue business as usual with lower dependence on the immigrant workforce. “The Indian IT industry has prepared itself for immigration challenges in past as well, so in this context, we can say that India Inc has become a lot more ‘Aatmanirbhar’ or self-reliant,” CP Gurnani, MD and CEO of Tech Mahindra, said.

The country’s largest IT company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is among the largest employers in the US.

The second-largest player, Infosys has hired over 10,000 people in the US. Azim Premji-led Wipro began ramping up hiring in the country, recruiting and training students fresh from college campuses across Atlanta and Michigan, Companies like Tech Mahindra hired over 2,000 Americans in 2017 and still continues to bring local talent on board. “The impact on India and on the Indian companies will be minimal in the short-term, and even in the long run we expect the US to recognise that immigration has contributed to their

economic success, and it is in their interest to utilise the technology prowess and talent that India can provide,” Gurnani said.

Love thy neighbour For over a decade, Indian IT companies have also been investing in “nearshore centres,” which mean offices that are in business-friendly countries closer to the US. Latin America, with its affordable workforce, has been a favourite location for nearshore centers. Mexico emerged a hot favourite with TCS and Wipro opening outposts there way back in 2007, and Infosys followed suit six years later.

Refilling the cup Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

It’s easy to purchase a property and then sit back, and just keep it as a nest egg. The chances are, given long enough, it will rise nicely over time.

What is more difficult is to purchase and add enough value to enable you to extract the initial investment, so you can carry on.

Currently, we have one investor who is doing just that, on a couple of properties purchased through us a few months ago.

One is a house, which was converted into an HMO, where all the capital should be extracted by way of a remortgage. The property was purchased for £320k, and £150k was spent on the works. The refinance should release £455k, which is most of his capital, bar £15k which will stay in the property. The cost of this refinance is 3.19% fixed for 5 years, the rate is for a licensed HMO which is an important point when sourcing rates.

The monthly cost of this loan will be £1,225 p.m., this is against an anticipated rental income of £4,000 p.m.; giving an income of £2,775p.m., so £33,300 per annum.

The second property this client purchased is in South West London, in Clapham. This was a probate deal purchased in cash, due to the short lease. The freehold had defaulted back to the Crown. All land is actually owned by the Crown; the highest title one can have is a freehold, which means it’s free from hold. When there is an issue with the freehold its ownership defaults back to the Crown.

This was the situation with this property. For some reason the statutory filing was not being done for the company which owned the freehold, this then led to the loss of the freehold.

It was after many many months of discussing with the fellow leaseholders regarding how to agree on the logistics of how to purchase the freehold from the Crown, we are now at the finishing stages of purchasing the freehold.

With the freehold the property should be worth £700k. We have spent £582k on the property including development costs and purchase of the freehold.

Refinancing this property will allow our client to extract £525k, leaving £60k in the property.

The rental is £2,600 per month, the new mortgage rate will be £887p.m. month, fixed for 5 years, giving an income of £20k p.a. The benefit of taking a 5 year fixed is lenders tend to be more generous on the rental cover thereby allowing you to borrow more funds.

The above two transactions mean the investor will have refilled his war chest, and will have a passive income of £50k p.a.

It is time to snap up many of the deals which will be floating to the surface.

Unilever, Johnson & Johnson to rename skin-lightening creams As the controversy grows over the use of skin-lightening creams in India, Unilever (UL), L'Oreal (LRLCF) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) plan to rename or discontinue some of their skincare brands. Hindustan Unilever, the Indian subsidiary of the Unilever, announced that it would "stop using the word 'Fair' in the brand name" of its "Fair & Lovely" skincare brand.

US giant Johnson & Johnson has also discontinued two lines of skincare products that refer to "Fairness" on the labels. The company says it will no longer sell its "Fine Fairness" brightening serum, which is sold under the Neutrogena brand in Asia and the Middle East. It will also pull a moisturizer marketed in India by the brand Clean & Clear, which is called a "Clear Fairness Cream." L'Oreal (LRLCF) said it's removing words referencing "white", "fair" and "light " from similar products.

Businesses around the world have been adjusting their brands in recent weeks in response to protests against racial discrimination triggered by the death of George Floyd. Over the last month, several major companies have renamed or retired products, including Quaker Oats with its Aunt Jemima brand in the United States and Nestlé with its Red Skins and Chicos sweets in Australia. In India, the preference for lighter skin has been a longstanding, contentious issue.

Activists who oppose the use of cosmetics for skin-lightening say some of the best-known Bollywood stars have perpetuated the trend by lending their names and faces to advertising campaigns promoting "fairness" creams.

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11 killed as gunmen storm Karachi stock exchange KARACHI: Four heavily armed separatist gunmen stormed PSX Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest stock exchange which houses offices for hundreds of financial institutions and is located in a highsecurity zone, killing seven people and wounding several others before being gunned down.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an ethnic insurgent group, owned up to the attack.

The staff working inside the PSX building said they heard heavy gunfire and explosions when the attackers, armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and other explosives, entered the complex.

Two of them managed to enter the parking area before all of them were killed. None could enter the main building, police said. The chief of Sindh Rangers, a paramilitary force, claimed the terrorists had planned to take hostages as they were carrying food and water supplies. Foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi alleged India was involved in the attack. India

described it as “absurd comments”.

Police said, “The gunmen hurled grenades at the main gate to the building and opened indiscriminate fire but they failed to enter the building."

They added that the staff inside locked themselves into rooms and many were evacuated. “The attackers came in a silver Toyota Corolla and were stopped by the police at the gate outside where the exchange of fire took place," said Ghulam Nabi Memon, additional IG, Sindh police.

Witnesses working inside the PSX building said they heard heavy gunfire and explosions when the attackers entered the complex. "We were all terrified," said Abid Habib, PSX’s director "There was gunfire and suddenly everyone was rushing to the windows to see what was happening. As the firing was close by, everyone was scared and we closed our outside doors," Habib said. Video footage of the attack showed four assailants getting out of a car and taking up positions at a security barrier to the

building, firing at security guards. PSX Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest stock exchange, has offices for hundreds of financial institutions and is situated in the city’s high security zone along with the head offices of banks and other businesses.

Several thousand people work at PSX on a normal day but numbers were low because many were working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Balochistan, a resource-rich region, has seen a decades-long rebellion by the Baloch ethnic minority for independence.

Efforts by the Pakistani security forces to put down the insurgency have led to disappearances and widespread accusations of abuses. In recent years, the group has targeted Chinese interests in Balochistan, a centre for huge development projects that are part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Separatist militants in Balochistan oppose Chinese investment, saying it is of little benefit to local people.

More than 30% pilots in Pakistan have fake licences: aviation minister ISLAMABAD: More than 30% of civilian pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses and are not qualified to fly, the country's aviation minister said.

Addressing Pakistan's National Assembly, Ghulam Sarwar Khan said 262 pilots in the country "did not take the exam themselves" and had paid someone else to sit it on their behalf.

"They don't have flying experience," he said.

Pakistan has 860 active pilots serving its domestic airlines - including the country's Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flagship - as well as a number of foreign carriers, Khan said. PIA has grounded all its pilots who hold fake licenses.

"PIA acknowledges that fake licenses is not just a PIA issue but spread across the entire

Pakistani airline industry," spokesperson Abdullah Khan said, adding that some of the fake pilots also fly for foreign carriers.

The results of the investigation were announced last week as part of a preliminary report into a plane crash that killed 97 people in the southern city of Karachi on May 22. The PIA

Imran Khan calls Osama bin Laden a ‘shaheed’ ISLAMABAD: Pakistan PM Imran Khan called Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in the US, a “shaheed” (martyr) saying that his killing on Pakistani soil

by US Navy Seals in 2011 had caused a lot of embarrassment to the country. Addressing the National Assembly about his government’s foreign policy, Khan said Pakistan had to face immense “humiliation” in the past despite it supporting Washington in the war on terror.

Recalling the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, in the Pakistan garrison town of Abbottabad, Khan said: “The Americans came to Abbottabad and killed, martyred Osama bin Laden. What happened after that? The entire world cursed at us and spoke ill of us”. “We helped the Americans in ‘war on terror’ but the embarrassment we had to face for their allegations of Pakistan being a safe haven for terrorists is very terrible. Our ally is secretly coming into our country and killing a terrorist and we don’t even have an idea,” he added.

plane crashed after taking off from Lahore, killing all but two of the passengers and crew on board. According to the report, the pilots were chatting about the coronavirus and repeatedly ignored warnings from air traffic controllers before the plane went down in a residential area near the airport.

"The pilots were discussing

corona throughout the flight.

They were not focused. They talked about the coronavirus and how their families were affected," Khan said, adding that the pilots were "overconfident." According to Khan, the pilots were told three times by air traffic controllers that the plane was too high and they should not attempt to land, "but the captain did not pay any heed to these instructions."

The pilots proceeded with trying to land - without lowering the landing gear. "The aircraft touched the runway surface on its engines," the report said. The engines scrubbed the runway, causing sparks and irreparable damage. The pilots pulled the plane back into the air, but the damaged engines failed and caused the plane to crash, according to the report.

Hindu girl in Pakistan forcibly converted, married to abductor SINDH: In another shocking incident, a minor Hindu girl Reshaman has been abducted from Pakistan's Sindh province, converted to Islam and married off to her kidnapper Wazir Hussain on June 18.

However, the girl has submitted an affidavit claiming to be 19-years-old and having converted to Islam on her own free will.

Abduction and forced conversions of Hindu minor girls is rampant in Pakistan and has exposed the tall claims by the Imran Khan government of security and safety of minorities in the country.

According to the affidavit, Reshaman's new Muslim name is Basheeran.

There have been numerous cases of forced conversions involving Christian and Hindu girls, mostly minors, across Pakistan who are then married to Muslim men in Pakistan. Even police and politicians ignored their grievances and left the minorities to live a miserable life.

According to a Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) report, at least 1,000 non-Muslim girls have forcibly converted to Islam in the country annually.

Many of these girls belong to the Hindu community in Sindh, where about eight million Hindus live.

Pakistan is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that the right to freedom of religion includes the right to change one's religion and that no one shall be subject to coercion to change their religion.

Despite these many cases of forced conversions, the country till now has turned down two bills. The bills tabled in 2016 and 2019 demanded that the minimum age for changing one's religion should be set at 18 years, jail terms be sanctioned for anyone guilty of coercion, and a 21-day period in a safe house be mandated for the person seeking conversion to ensure that the decision has been taken out of the free will.

in brief EYE ON CHINA, US SEEKS TO TRAIN IAF PILOTS With an eye on the aggressive Chinese behaviour, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal 2021, introduced in the US Senate last week has sought fighter jet training detachment for India, Japan and Australia in the US Pacific territory of Guam. The move comes six months after the US defense secretary Mark Esper and Singapore defense minister Ng Eng Hen signed a MoU to set up a fighter jet training detachment in Guam. The act directs the secretary of defense submit to the Congressional defense committees a report assessing the merit and feasibility of entering into pacts similar to that of Singapore with other US allies and partners in the IndoPacific region, to include Japan, Australia and India. Among other things, the bill establishes the Pacific Deterrence Initiative to enhance budgetary transparency and oversight, focus resources on capability gaps, reassure allies and partners, and restore the credibility of US deterrence in the region, said Senator Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The bill proposes procurement of 48 Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASMs) which it said will be especially useful in the Indo-Pacific region.

5 JAILED IN PAK FOR RUNNING QAIDA MEDIA CELL An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan’s Punjab province convicted five al-Qaida militants over terrorism-related charges and sentenced them to 16 years in prison. The verdict was announced by the ATC in Gujranwala city. The court found Abdullah Umair, Ahmadur Rehman, Asim Akbar Saeed, Muhammad Yaqoob and Muhammad Yusuf guilty of terror offences and each convict was handed five years in prison for terrorism financing, seven years for keeping explosives, three years for supporting Qaida and one year for keeping Qaida literature. The convicts, according to the spokesperson of Punjab’s counterterrorism department (CTD), were running a media cell for al-Qaida in Gujranwala. They were arrested in a joint operation by the CTD Punjab and ISI in December 2019.

BANGLADESH MINISTER SAYS 'INDIA OUR BIGGEST FRIEND' Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said that India is his country's biggest friend as he expressed hope that the border tensions between India and China will be solved diplomatically. "Bangladesh is the pioneer of peace. Dhaka is always for peaceful coexistence with neighbours. We believe on solution by discussing each and every problem, as we achieved lots with Indo-Bangla mutual discussions through understanding on both sides," Momen said. However, the minister ruled out any role of his country in the dispute. "I don't think Bangladesh needs to interfere in resolving the long-standing issues between India and China. New Delhi and Beijing have shown commitment to a peaceful resolution. They started meetings at the level of defence officers and Foreign Ministers... it is the ray of hope. We hope for a diplomatic solution," he said.

ROLLING STONES WARN TRUMP NOT TO USE THEIR SONGS The Rolling Stones are threatening US President Trump with legal action for using their songs at his rallies despite cease-anddesist directives. The Stones said that their legal team is working with music rights organisation BMI to stop use of their material in Trump’s reelection campaign. “The BMI have notified the Trump campaign on behalf of the Stones that the unauthorised use of their songs will constitute a breach of its licencing agreement,” the Stones said. “If Trump persists, then he would face a lawsuit.”

The Stones had complained during Trump’s 2016 campaign about the use of their music.

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in brief US SENATE PASSES BILL TO IMPOSE SANCTIONS ON CHINA The US Senate passed a bill to impose sanctions on China for its decision to implement the controversial national security law on Hong Kong, which critics say will erode the city's democratic freedoms. One of the bills, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, would slap sanctions on individuals and businesses that help China restrict the autonomy of Hong Kong. The bill was authored by Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. "What the government of China is doing in Hong Kong is unacceptable. They are taking away the rights of people in Hong Kong. They are snuffing out freedoms that exist there right now," Van Hollen was quoted as saying. In another step, a resolution condemning China for violating the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed in 1984 to guarantee autonomy for Hong Kong. The new security law being adopted by China would "deal a mighty blow to the freedoms and liberties that Hong Kongers have enjoyed for decades now. It is a permanent break from the one country, two systems principle that has governed that city since 1997," said senator Hawley.

$31BN NEEDED TO FIGHT COVID, SAYS WHO A WHO-led coalition fighting the Covid-19 pandemic is asking government and private sector donors to help raise $31.3 billion in the next 12 months to develop and deliver tests, treatments and vaccines for the disease.

Renewing its call for global collaboration against the pandemic, it said $3.4 billion had been contributed for the coalition to date, leaving a funding gap of $27.9 billion. Of that, $13.7 billion was “urgently needed”. The WHO is working with a large coalition of drugdevelopment, funding and distribution organisations under what it calls the ACTAccelerator Hub. The initiative is intended to develop and deliver 500 million Covid-19 tests and 245 million courses of new treatment for the disease to low- and middle-income countries by mid-2021, it said in a statement. It is hoping 2 billion vaccines doses will be available by the end of 2021.

WEAR MASK WHEN OUTDOORS: COURT TO BRAZILIAN PREZ A Brazilian federal judge ordered President Jair Bolsonaro to comply with local rules to wear a face mask whenever he is outdoors in the capital of Brasilia. During recent weekends, a sometimes unmasked Bolsonaro has joined throngs of people protesting against Brazil's Congress and Supreme Court. He has often visited bakeries and outdoor food stalls, drawing crowds around him. Judge Renato Coelho Borelli said in his ruling that Bolsonaro “has exposed other people to the contagion of a disease that has caused national commotion.”

Brazil's federal district requires people to wear face masks in public to help control the spread of the new coronavirus. Failure to comply carries a possible daily fine of USD 390.

Bolsonaro often appears at public events with a mask, unlike some other heads of state.

SOUTH KOREA BACKS REMDESIVIR USE South Korea has added Gilead’s anti-viral drug remdesivir to its coronavirus treatment guidelines in its first revision of recommendations since the outbreak began and urged caution in the use of the steroid therapy dexamethasone. South Korea has reported 12,602 coronavirus cases till Thursday midnight, with 282 deaths.

Remdesivir is designed to hinder certain viruses, including the new coronavirus, from making copies of themselves and potentially overwhelming the body's immune system.

Lazarus Chakwera sworn in as Malawi president LILONGWE: Malawi opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera has sworn in as the president of the southern African country after he won the historic vote held last week, the first time a court -overturned vote has resulted in the defeat of an incumbent leader.

Chakwera urged national reconciliation in his inaugural speech in the capital, Lilongwe, and spoke directly to supporters of defeated incumbent president Peter Mutharika. "Perhaps the prospect of my presidency fills you with fear and grief. I want you to remember one thing, that this new Malawi is a home to you, too," said Chakwera. "So long as I am its president it will be a home in which you, too, will prosper.''

In May 2019, Mutharika

Lazarus Chakwera

thought he was the victor by a slim margin when he gained 38.6% of the vote ahead of Chakwera with 35% and Vice President Saulos Chilima with 20%.

However, Malawi's Constitutional Court annulled those results in February 2020, ruling that the 2019 vote

showed "grave, widespread and systematic" irregularities. This included tally sheets being daubed with correction fluid.

The defeated incumbent Mutharika criticized the rerun election as "the worst in Malawi's history'' but he urged the country to "move on peace-

fully'' while speaking to the media in Blantyre on Saturday.

Acknowledging the discontent of Mutharika's supporters, Chakwera asked them in his inaugural speech to give him a chance to earn their trust and to make his election a win for all Malawians. "Those of you that celebrate, celebrate with a humanness that all Malawians deserve so that we have the magnanimity of celebrating a victory that is not for one man, not for one woman, not for one party, not for one group, but for all of us together," said Chakwera. "That is how we will fulfill the dream of a new Malawi that will be for everyone.'' The Malawi Human Rights Commission, one of the observers, endorsed the rerun election as peaceful and transparent.

Lanka to delay reopening of Colombo airport COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has further delayed the reopening of its international airport from the scheduled August 1, saying it has to make arrangements to bring back home Sri Lankan workers stranded abroad due to travel restrictions imposed in view of coronavirus pandemic. Sri Lanka closed its international airports in mid March following the outbreak of Covid-19.

The government was aiming to open its international airports

by August 1 as no community transmission of the Covid-19 had been reported since late April.

However, Airports Authority Chairman Retired Major General GA Chandrasiri said the Colombo International Airport

will not be re-opened on August 1 and it will be further delayed.

"The delay is due to the need to make arrangements to bring back home Sri Lankan expatriate workers," he said. "We have already brought down about

12,000 of them - another 40,000 remain to be brought back," Chandrasiri said.

"The priority right now is to cater to them enabling their return," Chandrasiri added. The decision will deal a blow to the

island's tourism authorities as they were gearing up to welcome back tourists to the country from August under strict measures to boost the tourism sector that has been crippled by the coronavirus pandemic.

The country was re-opened in phases for business since midMay and the health authorities say there had been no reported cases of the pandemic since April 30. Sri Lanka recorded only 11 deaths from a little over 2,000 positive cases. No deaths reported since June 1. The health authorities have put in place a PCR test mechanism at the Colombo airport for all returnees. They are required to undergo quarantine upon return.

China grabbing land in name of roadwork, says Nepal

Three Indian-origin family members in US found dead in home pool

KATHMANDU: China is using increased road construction in Tibet to encroach on Nepali land and may set up border outposts in these areas in the future, says a Nepal government report. The report, prepared by Survey Department of Agriculture Ministry, shows a list of 11 places, of which China has encroached on 10 places comprising about 33 hectares of Nepali land, by diverting the flow of rivers which act as a natural boundary.

The Chinese Government is widely expanding its road network in so-called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) "because of which some rivers and its tributaries have changed their course and are flowing towards Nepal. The flow of rivers is gradually receding the Nepalese territories and if it continues to remain so for some more time, it would cede the maximum portion of Nepal's land towards TAR," the document states.A total of 10 hectares of land has been encroached on in Humla district as Chinese construction works diverted Bagdare Khola river and Karnali river. Six hectares of Nepali land has been encroached on in Rasuwa district as the construction work in Tibet brought diversions in Sinjen, Bhurjuk and Jambu Khola. Likewise, a total of 11 hectares of Nepal land is already claimed by China for "falling in Tibet" with the diversion of Kharane Khola and Bhote Kosi in Sindhupalchowk district.Chinese road construction in Tibet also has diverted the flow

NEW YORK: Three Indian-origin family members, including an 8-year-old girl, have been found dead in the backyard pool of their recently purchased home in New Jersey, police said. Bharat Patel, 62, his 33-year-old daughter-in-law Nisha Patel and her 8-year-old daughter, drowned accidentally in the aboveground pool in East Brunswick, police was quoted as saying.

Authorities had been investigating if Bharat, Nisha and her daughter had been electrocuted in the pool, but ruled that out, the New York Post reported. Law-enforcement sources said the pool varied in depth, with a deep end or a section in the middle that was several feet, the report said. Investigators have not determined how all three family members drowned. However, they were seeking to determine if they were not strong swimmers and panicked when reaching deeper water, it said. The three lived in the house on Clearview Road, which the family bought in April for USD 451,000, according to public records.

Neighbours recalled hearing screaming from the backyard. “We believe the mother was screaming from inside the pool (area) for help,” police spokesman Frank Sutter said at a press conference. Police attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but pronounced the three victims dead at the scene, authorities said. Mayor Brad Cohen said that the “entire East Brunswick community is shocked and saddened.”

of Sumjung, Kam Khola and Arun rivers of Sankhuwasabha resulting in the encroachment on nine hectares of Nepali land.

World opts for boycott of Chinese products WASHINGTON: China has over the years been using foreign companies on its land as a diplomatic tool to put pressure on or punish other countries. However, this year the world has begun serving Beijing a taste of its own medicine.In India, the outrage over the deaths of 20 soldiers during a violent faceoff with the Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has triggered a massive outrage. While the public has started a boycott movement by burning down Chinese products and deleting Chinese-made software, officials have said that their state-run telecom companies will not buy equipment from Chinese companies such as ZTE Corp, and Huawei Technologies Co, for future 4G mobile networks.

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US shifting military to face Chinese threat to India, SE Asian nations: Pompeo WASHINGTON: In a statement that pitches the US as a factor in the India-China military face-off, secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that China’s “threats to India” and Southeast Asia was among the main reasons for the US to reduce its troops in Europe.

US’s decision to draw down troops in Germany was part of a well-thought out strategy because they were being moved to other places, Pompeo told the Brussels Forum. US President Donald Trump recently announced that the US would be reducing troops from Germany, a decision that’s angered EU countries.

The actions of the Chinese Communist Party, Pompeo said, meant there were “threats to India” and countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and the South

Mike Pompeo China Sea. “We are going to make sure we are postured appropriately to counter the PLA. We think that is the challenge of our time and we are going to make sure we have resources in place to do that,” he said. Pompeo's marking out of China’s threats to its neighbours as a priority represents a significant policy statement and security posture.

Running through a list of

aggressive Chinese actions, Pompeo spoke about the “bloody border confrontation with India”, Beijing’s activities in the South China Sea and its predatory economic policies. P 6 US, EU to start dialogue on China: Pompeo Pompeo also announced that the US and the EU would start a dialogue on China and the challenges it poses. It would help the trans-Atlantic alliance to build a “common understanding of the threat posed by China”. Pompeo said the two sides needed “a collective data set” on China’s actions so the two could take action together. Europe is often accused of being “naive” about China, taking a much

more benevolent attitude to China’s designs.

Asked whether Huawei was part of the Chinese “surveillance state”, Pompeo said Chinese security forces personnel worked on the top floor of the company headquarters and Chinese law required Huawei to pass any data, including personal, to the Chinese Communist Party whenever the latter asked.

Pompeo had flagged what he called “clean telcos”, that is, companies that were “free” of Chinese influence. “The tide is turning towards trusted 5G vendors and away from Huawei. The world’s leading companies telecom Telefonica, Orange, Jio, Telstra and many more - are becoming ‘clean telcos’. They are rejecting doing business with tools of the CCP surveillance state, like Huawei,” he said.

New flu virus emerges in China with 'pandemic potential' BEIJING: A new strain of flu has been identified by scientists in China which has the potential to become a pandemic, they say. The virus, called G4 EA H1N1, is carried by pigs but can infect humans, scientists said in a new research paper. And as it's a new strain, humans are likely to have little or no immunity meaning the virus needs close monitoring.

One of the authors of the study said "we should not ignore" the findings. Prof KinChow Chang, of Nottingham University in the UK, said: "Right now we are distracted with coronavirus and rightly so. But we must not lose sight of potentially dangerous new viruses."

The paper said: "G4 viruses (which this virus is one of) have all the essential hallmarks of a

candidate pandemic virus. Of concern is that swine workers show elevated seroprevalence for G4 virus."

Scientists and public health experts are always on the lookout for new kinds of flu. A leaked Government document from last year shows that officials saw pandemic influenza as one of the two most significant threats to

national security. The last time a new strain of influenza became pandemic was swine flu, in 2009.

The outbreak ended up being less serious than feared, as people across the world appeared to have built up a degree of immunity from previous flu outbreaks. Despite this, as many as 575,000 people died in the first year of the

swine flu outbreak, according to the US Centre for Disease Control.

The new virus is reportedly similar to swine flu, but with some important differences, according to scientists. Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers said that the new strain, called G4 EA H1N1, hasn't yet had a big impact.

There is evidence that workers in local abattoirs and people in other jobs that have contact with pigs have contracted the virus, they added. Flu vaccines currently in use do not protect against the new strain, but could possibly be adapted, they said.

The scientists recommended that measures to control the virus and closely measure local populations should be brought in swiftly.

Warrant against fugitive tycoon Shaid Luqman dropped

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LONDON: An arrest warrant for a fugitive tycoon, Shaid Luqman, 51, suspected of being the mastermind in one of Britain’s biggest banking frauds has been dropped because it is too much of a burden on the justice system, a court has heard. Luqman, Shaid Luqman who once headed a £300 million property empire in the UK before its collapse, is believed to have flown from Manchester to Pakistan without a passport and with millions of pounds in cash in June 2011 – just weeks after he was given an electronic tag by the courts for passport fraud.

He was awaiting sentencing for possession of cannabis resin at the time and would also have faced a charge of breaching his electronically monitored curfew by fleeing the country. But last week a judge at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, agreed to drop the arrest warrant for Luqman after accepting there was no realistic prospect of him returning to the UK. Although his British and Pakistani passports were confiscated and he was electronically tagged for fraudulently attempting to get a third travel document, Luqman – known as ‘Lucky Luqman’ – sneaked past airport security officials just two weeks after he was given a suspended prison sentence and fled the UK. Luqman still remains at large almost 10 years on and is apparently living the high life – having brazenly opened a shopping mall in Lahore.

in brief JULIAN ASSANGE FACES NEW INDICTMENT IN US WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sought to recruit hackers at conferences in Europe and Asia who could provide his anti-secrecy website with classified information, and conspired with members of hacking organisations, according to a new Justice Department indictment. The superseding indictment does not contain additional charges beyond the 18 counts the Justice Department unsealed last year. But prosecutors say it underscores Assange's efforts to procure and release classified information, allegations that form the basis of criminal charges he already faces. Beyond recruiting hackers at conferences, the indictment accuses Assange of conspiring with members of hacking groups known as LulzSec and Anonymous. He also worked with a 17-year-old hacker who gave him information stolen from a bank and directed the teenager to steal additional material, including audio recordings of highranking officials, prosecutors say.

17TH CENTURY ART BOTCHED IN SPAIN A private art collector in Spain, paid $1,200 for the 17th century painted copy of “The Immaculate Conception of El Escorial” by artist Bartolome Esteban Murillo to be cleaned by a furniture restorer. The owner was horrified to find the Virgin Mary’s face botched and asked for the work to be restored back to original, only for it to be made even worse. The picture drew comparisons to the “Monkey Christ” restoration of 2013, when an elderly parishioner in a Spanish town attempted to restore a fresco of Jesus with similar levels of success.

COLUMBUS STATUE REMOVED City workers removed a statue of navigator Christopher Columbus from a park in New Haven, Connecticut as anti-racism protesters called for more Columbus statues to be taken down across the United States. Hours before it was pulled down with a crane, a standoff occurred between those who were opposed to its removal and those calling for it to be taken down. New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said the statue would be relocated to the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven. The city’s Parks Commission had voted to have the statue removed the week prior. Statues of Christopher Columbus have been removed across the country in recent days, including by officials in St Louis and by protesters in Minnesota and Virginia.

KIM DELAYS PLANS OF MILITARY ACTION AGAINST S KOREA North Korea said leader Kim Jong Un suspended a planned military retaliation against South Korea, in an apparent slowing of the pressure campaign it has waged against its rival amid stalled nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration. Last week, the North had declared relations with the South as fully ruptured, destroyed an inter-Korean liaison office in its territory and threatened unspecified military action to censure Seoul for a lack of progress in bilateral cooperation and for activists floating antiPyongyang leaflets across the border.

Analysts say North Korea, after weeks deliberately raising tensions, may be pulling away just enough to make room for South Korean concessions. If Kim does eventually opt for military action, he may resume artillery drills and other exercises in frontline areas or have vessels deliberately cross the disputed western maritime border between the Koreas, which has been the scene of bloody skirmishes in past years.

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PM Modi announces extension of free ration for poor till Nov end Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Tuesday announced the extension of PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) till November end, helping over 800 million people to avail 5 kg free foodgrains. The PM said this extension will the exchequer over £9 billion.

He said despite rising Covid-19 cases, India is still in a very stable situation due to timely decisions taken by the government.

However, he said ever since Unlock 1.0 started in the country, negligence in personal and social behaviour has been increasing. His address comes as the government prepares for Unlock Phase II, beginning from July 1, with relaxations in night curfew, provision for more domestic flights and trains, and clearance for more than five people in a shop.

In his Mann ki Baat programme on Sunday, PM Modi had reiterated the country’s commitment to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and had

asked citizens to not be negligent as the economy reopened.

After PM Modi announced extension of the PMGKAY by five months till November, Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan urged state governments to complete at the earliest distribution of free PDS grains and pulses for June month under the scheme. "I thank the Prime Minister for extending PMGKAY for five moe months till November. This will benefit 800 million beneficiaries in this crisis and also during the agriculture and festival seasons in the coming months," Paswan said in a state-

ment. The minister also requested state governments to start lifting the required foodgrains from stateowned Food Corporation of India (FCI) for distribution under the PMGKAY for the coming months.

Home Minister Amit Shah said the extension of PMGKAY shows the sensitivity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the millions of poor and their welfare.

Congratulating the prime minister for extending the scheme till November, Shah also thanked farmers and honest taxpayers of the country, saying their hard work and dedication was helping the benefits reach the poor. The extension of PMGKAY shows Prime Minister Modi's commitment to the welfare of the poor, BJP president J P Nadda said. Underlining that Modi is leading the country with alertness and sensitivity during the Covid crisis, Nadda, in a series of tweets, said the prime minister should be applauded for saving lives and livelihood amid this pandemic.

Targetting Prime Minister

Modi's speech, the Congress said the address lacked substance and it could just have been a government notification. However, the party acknowledged the PM's announcement to extend the PMGKAYPM scheme till November end, saying the government heeded to Congress President Sonia Gandhi's advice to extend the provisions of providing free food to the poor.

The Centre on Monday issued guidelines for Unlock Phase II with relaxations in night curfew, provision for more domestic flights and trains, and clearance for more than five people in a shop.

However, schools, colleges and other educational institutions will remain closed till July 31, and Metro rail, multiplexes, gyms, swimming pools, bars and auditoriums will stay shut until further orders.

An order issued by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said that as per the instructions of the National Disaster Management Authority, more activities were being allowed in a calibrated man-

ner in areas outside containment zones. Inside containment zones, lockdown measures have been extended till July 31.

In his Mann ki Baat programme, Prime Minister paid tributes to the 20 Indian soldiers who had died in the violent clashes with Chinese troops on June 15 in Galwan Valley and asserted that India had given a befitting reply to those who cast an evil eye on its territory. Modi said that making the country self-reliant will be a tribute to the soldiers. “Our pursuits and endeavours should be in the same direction,” he said, adding that “we should strive towards enhancing the country’s capabilities and capacities in safeguarding our borders. “A selfreliant India would be a tribute to our martyrs in the truest, deepest sense,” he stressed.

He also said that “India’s solemn resolve is to safeguard her honour and sovereignty” and to be self-reliant. “India’s tradition is trust and friendship. India’s spirit is brotherhood.”

India reaches out to friendly nations, India downgrades ties with Pakistan, halves mission staff seeks early delivery of weapons The already stuttering India-Pakistan ties took another hit with India asking Pakistan to reduce its staff at the high commission by 50%, following expulsion of Pakistani officials for espionage and the subsequent intimidation of Indian diplomatic-consular officials at the hands of the ISI in Islamabad.

The last time India asked for a similar reduction of staff was on December 27, 2001, exactly two weeks after the Jaishe-Mohammad staged an attack on the Indian Parliament. As was the case in 2001, the government said in a statement that Pakistani officials here maintained contacts with terrorist organisations. The downgrade decision may be read as a signal that India does not see much point in maintaining diplomatic pretences in the face of what it sees as hostile activities

by Pakistani officials on Indian soil and physical abuse of its staff in Pakistan.

Official sources said following the government’s decision, India and Pakistan will both reduce the strength of their respective missions to 55 in the next 7 days. The mutually agreed strength until now has been 110. The government summoned Pakistan charge d’affaires Syed Haider Shah and told him that Pakistani officials had been engaged in acts of espionage and “main-

tained dealings” with terrorist organisations despite India's repeated concerns about their activities. The government recalled activities of the two officials “caught redhanded” and expelled on May 31as one example in that regard.

The attack on Indian Parliament had led to a nine-month long military mobilisation on the border with Pakistan.

The Pakistan foreign office said it “rejects and strongly condemns the baseless allegations made by the ministry of external affairs as a pretext to seek 50% reduction in staff strength of the high commission for Pakistan in New Delhi”.

Pak’s behaviour not in conformity with Vienna Convention: India Pakistan foreign office said, “Pakistan also rejects the insinuations of intimidation of Indian high commission officials in Islamabad. The Indian government’s smear campaign against Pakistan cannot obfuscate the illegal activities in which the Indian high commission officials were found

involved in. The MEA’s statement is another effort to distort facts and deny the culpability of these Indian high commission officials in criminal offences.”

Bilateral ties were already downgraded with Pakistan having asked Indian high commissioner Ajay Bisaria to return after India’s decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources said the situation had become untenable after the way in which Islamabad responded on June 15, by harassing and intimidating Indian officials. The situation came to a head the same day with the ISI abducting two Indian officials at gunpoint. “While their officials indulged in actions that are not in conformity with their privileged status in the high commission, Pakistan has in parallel engaged in a sustained campaign to intimidate the officials of the Indian high commission in Islamabad from carrying on their legitimate diplomatic functions,” said the government in a statement.

Amidst crisis in Eastern Ladakh India has reached out to the friendly nations to ensure early supply in pending defence deals. “Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has decided to reach out to all friendly nations with whom there is a defence deal either in the pipeline or getting ready to be delivered,” sources said. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials have been reaching out to countries including the US, France, Russia and others in an effort to urge them to deliver the deals earlier than the scheduled date.

“While Israel is expected to send a new air defense system Iron Dome for deployment in border areas, USbased BAE Systems are expected to ship in Howitzers, more ammunition from Russia and the US.” Though China has deployed S-400 along the border to protect against Indian missiles, during his recent visit to Moscow, defence minister Rajnath Singh had urged his counterpart to expedite the delivery of the equipment India is buying from there. The US is already helping with intelligence inputs to India and has also asked India its latest needs in view of the tension.

Under the draft DPP shared publicly in March this year, India has now the option to lease critical military equipment from a friendly nation. A new clause has been introduced under which equipment including warships, transport aircraft can be leased.

While India has already acquired 155MM Excalibur

artillery ammunition from the US, which has the capability to hit targets almost 50 km away, there is a plan to acquire more PGMs (precision-guided munitions). This can also be fired at extended ranges. In India, this is being used for M-777 ultra-light Howitzers which have been made in the US by the BAE Systems and are locally here in India. The Indian Army will have seven regiments of the M-777 Ultra-Light Howitzers which are expected to be deployed along the borders with China and Pakistan. The army will be using the Excalibur ammunition in the K-9 Vajra 155 mm/52 calibre self-propelled tracked howitzer too. This 47-ton K-9 Vajra is a modified version of the SamsungTechwin K-9 155 mm/52-caliber and is now being made in India in a venture with L&T. In case there is an attack, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has delegated financial powers to the Service Headquarters and also emergency powers have been given to the Vice Chiefs of respective Service HQs. According to the MoD “this power will enable in expediting the procurements of weapon systems and ammunition.”

This has been acquired for the units which are

deployed along the Line of Control with Pakistan where artillery firing is a regular feature and this ammunition once-fired has the capability to be busted in the air using different fuses.

India-US military ties To further strengthen India-US military ties, two US senators introduced legislations seeking joint research and development in the military sector with India. And have urged the Pentagon to focus on areas including Air Launched Small Unmanned Aerial Systems, Intelligence Surveillance, Lightweight Small Arms Technologies, and Targeting and Reconnaissance.

Both countries are already focusing on deepening their military ties and India has been looking to the US to buy state of the military equipment. Both countries are involved in various joint as well as tri-service exercises.

India-France French Defence Minister Florence Parly has written to defence minister Rajnath Singh expressing condolences on the recent death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley. She has also expressed readiness to meet him in Delhi to follow up on the discussions between the two countries.

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in brief

Covid cases surge in Karnataka, full lockdown on Sundays NEW DELHI: Full lockdown will be enforced every Sunday in Karnataka from July 5, the state government has decided after a meeting called by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to discuss the coronavirus situation, on a day when the state capital Bengaluru reported 596 positive cases - the highest one-day spike in the city.

No activity will be allowed on Sundays, except essential services.

Monday onwards, night curfew will start from 8 pm from the earlier 9 pm, but the end time of 5 am will remain the same, officials said.

The state reported 918 coronavirus cases - also the highest one-day spike in the state on Saturday. The total cases in the state have climbed to 11,923; so far 7,287 have recovered and 191 have died. The state government asked officers to have a centralised bed allocation system to speed up hospitalisation of Covid-19 patients. The number of

ambulances to carry patients will be raised to 250; separate ambulances will be arranged to carry bodies of Covid victims.

In the last one week, there has been a steep rise in the number of cases in Karnataka, mainly in Bengaluru, and the daily detections had increased from the level of 150-200 every day to between 300 and 400. On Thursday and Friday last, it had reported close to 450 cases each.

On Saturday, the state reported as many as 918 new cases, 596 of which came from Bengaluru alone. It was not immediately clear, but the unusual surge

could be the result of clearing of some backlog, which has been piling up in the state.

The joint commissioners of eight regions will be given additional responsibilities, and Karnataka Administrative Service or KAS officers will help them to take off burden from the commissioner and the central office of the BBMP. The Chief Minister asked the authorities to reserve wedding halls, hostels and other institutions in Bengaluru to be converted into Covid care centres and to use railway coaches with beds as additional

facilities. The centre has deployed 15 teams, consisting of public health experts, epidemiologists and other specialists, to support states in the battle to contain a seemingly relentless wave of Covid infections, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan was informed during the 17th Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting held on Saturday.

Maharashtra (1,53,000 cases, 7,106 deaths), Delhi (77,240 cases, 2,492 deaths) and Tamil Nadu (74,622 cases, 957 deaths) are the three worst-affected regions, contributing to 63.7 per cent of the active caseload.

Gujarat has reported over 30,000 cases and UP more than 20,000. Telangana has 12,349 cases, Andhra Pradesh 11,489 and Bengal 16,190. India has recorded over 5,00,000 confirmed cases since the outbreak began in China in December last year. Of these, 1,98,000 are active cases and 15,685 are deaths linked to the infectious virus.

PUNJAB

Punjab CS shunted, Vini Mahajan becomes first woman to hold top job CHANDIGARH: Weeks after a showdown with two Punjab ministers, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh was replaced by Vini Mahajan, who becomes the first woman to head the bureaucracy in the state.

Karan Avtar Singh was shunted just ahead of his retirement next month, the move following protests earlier by two ministers over his behaviour at a meeting. While Mahajan, a 1987-batch IAS officer, is now the top bureaucrat in Punjab, her husband Dinkar Gupta heads the state police force as Director General of Police.

Her last posting was as Additional Chief Secretary, Investment Promotion,

Vini Mahajan

Industries & Commerce, IT and Governance Reforms and Public Grievances. She also headed the state’s Health Sector Response & Procurement Committee.

She is currently the only Punjab cadre officer in the state empanelled to hold a Secretary’s post at the Centre, a state government statement said. She was also the first woman officer to be posted as Deputy

Commissioner in Punjab, when she was assigned Ropar district in 1995.

An Economics graduate from Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College and a post-graduate from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta, Mahajan served in the office of the then prime minister Manmohan Singh from 20052012. She had then handled matters related to the finance, commerce, industry and telecom sectors. She was also part of the core team of the central government that put together India's domestic response during the global financial crisis, according to the state government.

Karan Avtar Singh, a 1984batch IAS officer, has now been

posted as Special Chief Secretary, Governance Reforms and Public Grievances, the Punjab government order said.

Singh, picked by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in 2017 for the chief secretary's post, is due to retire at the end of August.

He found himself in the middle of a row with ministers Manpreet Singh Badal and Charanjit Singh Channi complaining about his behaviour at a meeting on May 9. The ministers were upset over his “curt remarks” at the meeting over liquor licensing and declared they would not attend any meeting in which the bureaucrat participated. Karan Avtar Singh was then divested of the additional charge of financial commissioner, taxation.

WEST BENGAL

Bengal didn't share data, missed migrants job scheme: Sitharaman NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman criticised the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal for allegedly opposing the pro-people policies of the centre and said the state could not be made a beneficiary of the "Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan", as it had not provided any data on migrant labourers.

At a virtual rally addressing the people of Bengal, the Union finance minister also slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for "her reluctance to allow Shramik Special train services in the state". "The West Bengal

government has been opposing all pro-people policies of the centre... Six states have shared data on migrant workers, following their return. West Bengal, however, did not," she said. "Our prime minister launched a scheme which covers 116 districts in the country but none from Bengal could be included as the TMC government didn't bother to share any data with us. The ruling dispensation in Bengal doesn't want any of the centre's welfare policies to be implemented," she said.

Senior TMC leaders had recently criticised the Union

government for not making the state a beneficiary in the "Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan", a job scheme for migrant labourers.

Sitharaman, however, appreciated the chief minister for her support to the central government on the issue of the Sino-India border standoff.

"I would credit her for one thing - at least on the Sino-India border issue, she (Mamata Banerjee) stood by the centre," Sitharaman said.

Terming the TMC government as "anti-people", Sitharaman said the state was informed about Cyclone Amphan 11 days in advance, but

it failed to take adequate precaution. Several lives could have been saved, if timely measures were taken, she said.

On West Bengal's alleged unwillingness to bring back migrant labourers, Sitharaman said it was the only state that was not keen on taking its workers back. "The migrant labourers would never forget the treatment you (Mamata Banerjee) have meted out to them. She (Mamata) had said that these special migrant trains were bringing more coronavirus cases to the state. It was a heartless statement," the Union minister said.

FATHER, SON DIE AFTER ALLEGED POLICE TORTURE Tension is simmering in Tamil Nadu due to the brutal deaths of a father and his son after being allegedly tortured in police custody by the Thoothukudi police division at the Kovilpatti sub-jail. According to those who witnessed the savage assault on a Thoothukudi-based shopkeeper Jayaraj P and his son J Benicks, police officers had inserted hard objects inside the latter's rectum, as well.

The victims died at the hospital after spending a brief period at the jail post being remanded to judicial custody. Police had taken Jayaraj into custody for having his mobile handset store open beyond coronavirus lockdown curfew. After hearing of the matter, Benicks had gone to the police station and defended his father, which enraged the policemen. Those in the know said police had assaulted both of them at the police station. Three days later, both of them died within a gap of ten hours.

EARTHMOVER USED TO CARRY COVID VICTIM'S BODY TO CREMATORIUM The body of a coronavirus patient, a 72-yearold man, in Andhra Pradesh was shifted to the crematorium from his house in an earthmover, causing uproar from political leaders belonging to the Opposition in the state. Two officials have been suspended after the incident came to light. A former municipality employee, who had tested positive for Covid during a door-todoor health survey, died at his house. A video shows the body being transported from his house to the crematorium in a JCB, by officials wearing personal protective equipment. The chief minister's office called the handling of the incident "an inhumane act" and said necessary protocols for shifting the victim were not followed.

PUNJAB CM RULES OUT CABINET RESHUFFLE NOW Brushing aside reports of a cabinet expansion, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday said the state had a bigger challenge to fight Covid-19 pandemic. He said all his cabinet colleagues were doing good job in their respective departments to fight the pandemic. “I read it in news reports. There is no such plan,” he said. Replying to a question on Navjot Sidhu being given a bigger responsibility in the party in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly election, the CM said he is a good orator and it is for the party high command to assign any role to Sidhu.

Responding to queries on Rajya Sabha MPs Partap Bajwa and Shamsher Dullo cornering the government on its alleged failure on controlling cable, sand and liquor mafia, the Chief Minister advised the MPs to concentrate on their work in Rajya Sabha and let him do his job in Punjab.

TMC REFUTES LAUNCH OF ITS THIRD CAMPAIGN ON JULY 3 The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has refuted that it will launch its campaign ahead of West Bengal assembly election 2021 on July 3. A statement by the TMC called the statement false and clarified that there is no such official party campaign. "We have been apprised of reports in the media about an upcoming All India Trinamool Congress campaign. This is to clarify that there is no such official party campaign and the news is false," said the statement. As per reports, the TMC was scheduled to launch its third virtual campaign ‘Soja Banglay Bolchi’ meaning ‘putting straight in Bengali’. This would have been after ‘Didi ke Bolo’ and ‘Banglar Gorbo Mamata’ campaigns. The campaign was reportedly scheduled to be launched by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee over a virtual meeting. All MPs, MLAs and senior party leaders were said to be present on July 3 at 4 pm.

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The writer is a Socio-political Historian - E-mail: haridesai@gmail.com

Nepal PM blames India as Gen. Manekshaw: A Hero painted he faces revolt in his party Dr. Hari Desai

as Villain by Krishna Menon

• A court of inquiry was ordered against Sam on allegations of being anti-Indian !

• Both PM Jawaharlal Nehru and PM Indira Gandhi suspected the military takeover ut for the timely support of the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru the career of General Manekshaw would have been ruined by the Raksha Mantri (RM) V. K. Krishna Menon. Menon, the second most important politician in India after Nehru, tried to politicize the Indian Army seeking personal loyalty. Since the Army Chief General K.S. Thimayya could not get along well with Menon, he preferred to write directly to the President Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the Supreme Commander of the Indian Defence Forces and even to the PM Nehru, Krishna Menon at one stage made General Thimayya resign. The PM, however, convinced him to withdraw his resignation but did not give an ear to what he advised leading to 1962 debacle in war with China. Of course, by that time General Thimayya had already retired. Menon-favorites General P.N.Thapar was brought in as Gen. Thimayya’s successor and Lt. Gen. B.M.Kaul as Chief of General Staff.

B

“Then the Chinese came to my help,” Manekshaw also refused to carry out Gen. Manekshaw is quoted by Lt. Gen. Menon's orders to use soldiers as labourers Depinder Singh in his book “Field Marshal for constructing deficit accommodation. He Sam Manekshaw: Soldiering with Dignity” insisted that soldiers under his command adding, “Krishna Menon was sacked, Kaul would only train to fight the enemy and not was sacked and Nehru sent be used as cheap labour. for me. He said, ‘General, I A scorned Menon have a vigorous enemy. I turned hostile to find out that you are a Manekshaw, and teamed vigorous General. Will you up with the then Major go and take over?’ I said, “I General B.M. Kaul, to fix have been waiting eighteen him by cooking up months for this evidence to back up opportunity,’ and I went frivolous charges. A court and took over.’ Manekshaw of inquiry was ordered took over 4 Corps in the against Manekshaw on North Eastern Frontier allegations of being an Agency, now Arunachal "unabashed Anglophile", Krishna Menon and Pandit Nehru Pradesh, on November 28, too Western and, by 1962, after promotion as Lt.Gen. implication, anti-Indian, of restoring and In another biography “Field Marshal Sam putting up in his office portraits of Robert Manekshaw, The Man and His Times”, Clive and Warren Hastings, and insulting Brigadier Behram Panthaki (Retd) and his Shivaji by saying (allegedly) that the painting wife Zenobia, bring out graphically how of Shivaji riding a stallion was misleading Manekshaw refused to be disloyal to his because Shivaji only rode taattoos (ponies). chief, and stood up to Menon, who then tried The charges were dismissed by a court of to fix him on frivolous grounds. Menon, inquiry by the Western Army Commander, Lt widely considered responsible for pushing General Daulet Singh, but Menon did not India to its military defeat at the hands of relent in his effort to get Manekshaw China in 1962, had sought to undermine dismissed. After he was cleared, the file was General Thimayya, after he cautioned the sent to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Nehru government against the Menon line of who passed it to the Cabinet Secretary. He military adventurism wrote on it that if against China without anything happened to adequate preparation.

Manekshaw, it would go Thimayya offered to down as the (Alfred) resign, but was persuaded Dreyfus case (officer's

by Nehru to stay on. But conviction for treason, this did not deter Menon political scandal that from attempting to subvert divided France from 1894 Thimayya.

The to 1906). The PM gave his Manekshaw biography nod for promotion to the Indira Gandhi with Manekshaw paints a grim picture of the lieutenant general, but Defence Minister trying to create divisions Menon sent his severe displeasure to within the Army in the run up to the 1962 Manekshaw to be recorded. In his address at War, and even canvassing directly with the DSSC, Wellington, Field Marshal generals against the Army Chief. In a first, Manekshaw elaborated" "Then the Chinese detailed account of the sparring between came to my help. Krishna Menon was sacked, Menon and Manekshaw, then a major Kaul was sacked, and Nehru sent for me." general commanding 26 Division on the Both father and daughter suspected the Army Ceasefire Line in the Jammu region, the Chief of military take over and worried about biographers suggest that Menon sought to their premiership. PM Nehru had got the probe Manekshaw during a visit to his wind that “General Thimayya was to attempt formation by seeking his opinion on the then a military takeover”, wrote S. S. Khera who Army Chief. "Mr Minister, I am not allowed was a Principal Defence Secretary and to think about him. He is my Chief. thereafter a Cabinet Secretary between 1962 Tomorrow, you will be asking my and 1964. Even PM Indira Gandhi suspected (subordinate) brigadiers and did convey such Next Column and colonels what they suspicion to Gen. think of me. It's the Kamala Patel: A Charotar Lady Manekshaw. Of course, he surest way to ruin the did convey her, “No, Sweetie, on a Mission to Lahore discipline of the Army. so long as you do not Don't do it in future," responded interfere in my work, I do not intend to get Manekshaw. Menon flew into a rage and told involved in yours.” He was given free hand to Manekshaw to "abandon his British ways of prepare for the 1971 war.

General thinking", and declared that "I can get rid of Manekshaw was the hero of the 1971 war Thimayya if I want to!" Undeterred, against Pakistan which gave birth to Manekshaw acknowledged that the Defence Bangladesh. When he was to retire in June Minister could indeed sack the Chief, but 1972, his term was extended by a period of six that would still not shake his resolve not to months and on 3 January 1973, he was comment on the next appointee as well. conferred with the rank of Field Marshal.

The recent strife in ties with Kathmandu has again brought to the fore India’s old fault lines with Nepalese PM K P Oli, who, faced with dissension in the ruling communist party, again flashed the India card and accused Indian authorities, including the Indian embassy, of plotting his ouster. Oli was quoted as having said conspiracies were being hatched to ensure his removal after he released Nepal’s new map, which showed territories in India’s Uttarakhand state as belonging to Nepal.

“Given the ongoing intellectual discussions, media reports from New Delhi, embassy’s activities and meetings in different hotels in Kathmandu, it is not very difficult to understand how people are openly active to oust me. But they won’t succeed,” he was quoted as saying. Oli’s remarks, and an apparent nationalist stance, come at a time his position is being seen as having become “shaky” again because of factionalism in the ruling party and his rival and former PM P K Dahal Prachanda coming out against the PM’s alleged autocratic style of functioning. Earlier, the dissensions had seriously threatened Oli’s tenure before the Chinese ambassador reportedly played an active role in persuading rival factions to suspend hostilities. Soon after, Oli raised the ante against India, a development that would please Beijing. Indian officials refused to comment on Oli’s remarks. However, a source reiterated India’s position that Nepal was a valued neighbour and the focus on ensuring supplies of essentials to the country in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis remained unaffected.

India was accused of having a role in Oli’s downfall in August 2016 when his first term as PM, which lasted for only nine

K P Oli

months, ended. Oli’s ouster then was seen as a serious setback for China as he had worked actively as PM to reduce Nepal’s economic dependence on India by signing trade and energy agreements with China. Oli’s first term as PM, as many is Nepal still believe, was also marred by India’s alleged 2015-16 economic blockade, which caused hardships to Nepali people. As Oli has said in the past, the period of late 2015 and early 2016 was a difficult time in Nepal-India relations as Nepali people had to face “immeasurable hardships” after essential supply lines were cut off.

However, in an interview after taking over as PM again in 2018, he seemed ready to move on as he said learning lessons for future was more crucial than being stuck with the past.

While Oli also said he wanted a trustbased relationship that reflected the realities of the 21st century, his move to issue a new Nepal map and “hurriedly” get it validated by Parliament has only exacerbated fears of a pro-China tilt in his foreign and economic policies.

The government believes that China will be happy to see the back of India at Lipulekh Pass, which is strategically located near the India-Nepal-China trijunction and which is controlled by Indian forces. Indian Army chief Gen M M Naravane has said that Nepal’s move might have been at the behest of a third country.

Hardliner Syed Geelani quits as Hurriyat chief In a sudden move that left Kashmir’s separatist conglomerate in disarray, pro-Pakistan hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Monday quit his faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and named Rawalpindi-based Abdullah Geelani as his successor amid speculation that he was doing ISI’s bidding.

Officially, the 91-year-old cited disenchantment with the way fellow constituents of the group responded to the nullification of Article 370 last August as the primary reason for his decision to dissociate himself from them. He also alleged lack of accountability within the Hurriyat and a rebellion brewing in the ranks.

A Hurriyat spokesperson said the outgoing chairman and three-time MLA had written to all eight constituents of the group, outlining the reasons for his quitting, including a series of allegations against colleagues based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. “The activities of these representatives are now limited to seeking access to assemblies and ministries there (POK).

Some members were expelled while others started holding their own meetings. These activities were endorsed by you (constituents) by holding a meeting here to ratify their

Syed Ali Shah Geelani

decisions,” he wrote. On the alleged “inaction” by Hurriyat members after J&K lost its special status and was split into two Union Territories, he said, “I sent messages to you through various means so that the next course of action could be decided, but all my efforts went in vain. Now that the sword of accountability is hanging over your heads for financial and other irregularities, you thought of calling the advisory committee meeting.”

Sources said Abdullah Geelani being chosen to run the Hurriyat from Rawalpindi effectively means sidelining the separatist cabal in the Valley.

Abdullah Geelani is the younger brother of SAR Geelani, the former DU professor who died of a heart attack in 2019, 16 years after being acquitted in the 2001 Parliament attack case.

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India capable of fitting reply, PM Modi warns China In a stern message to China amid tension on the borders in eastern Ladakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that those who cast an evil eye on Indian soil had received a befitting reply and that while India sought peace, it could look the adversary in the eye and respond adequately to protect its sovereignty.

Speaking on military tensions with China and the brutal clash in Galwan Valley which claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese troops, Modi said, "India honours the spirit of friendship… she is also capable of giving an appropriate response to any adversary, without shying away. Our brave soldiers have proven they will not let anyone cast an evil eye on the glory and honour of Mother India."

PM Modi paid tributes to the soldiers who died and said the country was one with the families who lost their loved ones. He pointed to the pride of families that the soldiers had died in the service of the nation and said, "Their sentiment for the country constitutes the true power, the might of the country. You may have seen parents of martyrs referring to sending other sons, other young family members too, to join the Army," he added.

Modi said a resolve to make India self-reliant would be a fitting tribute to the fallen martyrs.

Rajniji has written to me from Assam. She says after watching what happened in eastern Ladakh, she has taken a vow… and the vow is that she will buy only ‘local’. And for the sake of ‘local’, she will also be vocal," he said, adding that he had received several such messages from every corner of the country.

"Similarly, Mohan Ramamurthy from Madurai writes that he wishes India to be self-reliant in the defence sector," he said.

Images show China expanded helipad near LAC At a time when escalated border tensions near Ladakh have led to build-up by defence forces of India and China, fresh satellite images show that China has expanded its heliport located 21.3 km north east from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Pangong Tso area. The images show that no new heliport has been constructed.

Defence experts, however, said that India with two helipads closer to LAC has more advantage. The two Indian helipads built in 2017 are right next to Finger 4 where an ITBP camp is positioned. The twin helipads stand next to each other, three km west of foxhole point at the base of Finger 4.

Continuation of current situation will vitiate ties, India tells China A day after Indian and Chinese diplomats agreed to “sincerely implement the understanding on disengagement and de-escalation” along the Line of Actual Control, New Delhi drew the red line , saying “continuation of the current situation would only vitiate the atmosphere for the development of the relationship” between the two countries.

Amid reports of satellite

Narendra Modi

images showing Chinese structures back at the site of the June 15 clash in Galwan Valley and massing of PLA troops in the Depsang plains, Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said “both sides remain deployed in large numbers in the region” of the Galwan Valley “while military and diplomatic contacts are continuing”.

In a strongly-worded statement, Srivastava said “at the heart of the matter is that since early May, the Chinese side has been amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the LAC”. Underlining that this is “not in accordance” with the pacts since 1993, he said: “Obviously, the Indian side had to undertake counter deployments and the resulting tension has thereafter expressed itself.”

On June 20, the Prime Minister’s Office had said “Chinese forces have come in

much larger strength to the LAC and that the Indian response is commensurate”. The MEA also hit out at obstruction of Indian patrolling by Chinese troops in “complete disregard” to all mutually agreed norms.

“The deployment of a large body of troops and changes in behaviour has also been aggravated by unjustified and untenable claims. The recent shift in the Chinese position on the Galwan Valley is one example,” Srivastava said, referring to Beijing’s claim to Galwan Valley.

Responding to queries, Srivastava, reading from a statement, said: “In early May, the Chinese side had taken action to hinder India's normal, traditional patrolling pattern in the Galwan Valley area. The resulting face-off was addressed by the ground commanders as per the provisions of the bilateral agreements and protocols. In mid-May, the Chinese side sought to change the

status quo in other areas of the Western Sector.”

Govt warns China of ‘consequences’ India warned China that failure to implement the disengagement understanding on the LAC in eastern Ladakh would have consequences as a continuation of the current situation would have a negative impact on development of the bilateral relationship.

In a lengthy statement, the ministry of external affairs indicated that the ground situation along the LAC could not linger on indefinitely and said, “We expect the Chinese side to sincerely follow up on this understanding and ensure expeditious restoration of peace and tranquillity in border areas. A continuation of the current situation would only vitiate the atmosphere for development of the relationship.

“At the heart of the matter is that since early May, the Chinese side has been amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the LAC. This is not in accordance with the provisions of our various bilateral agreements.” In what might be the sharpest criticism of Chinese behaviour in the past few weeks, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “The conduct of Chinese forces this year has been in complete disregard of all mutually agreed norms. It is a reasonable expectation that patrols will not be obstructed in the discharge of their legitimate duties.”

India blocks 59 Chinese apps, including India gives Beijing terse message at RIC meeting TikTok, UC Browser A day before the third round of talks between Indian and Chinese military commanders to resolve the border stand-off, the government on Monday “blocked” as many as 59 Chinese Apps, including popular ones such as TikTok, UC Browser, WeChat, Shareit and CamScanner, for “engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.

The move against the “malicious Apps”, announced by the information technology ministry, came after several complaints of stealing of user data, which was allegedly being surreptitiously transmitted to servers located outside India, the government said, without naming China.

Separately, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre in the home ministry also recommended that the Apps should be blocked.

“This move will

safeguard the interests of millions of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace,” the government said. Sources added move will pinch as it will affect millions of dollars of revenue.

Government has shown its resolve The decision to block the Apps was not a complete surprise as there had been widespread speculation that there can be regulatory action against Chinese Apps, with several of them accused of transferring user

data to servers in China.

“Modi government has shown its resolve and dexterity to engage China on multiple fronts and hit China where it hurts the most. This is India’s first salvo to China after the border clashes, showing that India has a diverse range of retaliatory options,” an official source said. The assessment is that this will significantly erode the valuation of several Chinese companies.

Sources say the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre found that data was flowing to China even though some of the entities

whose Apps have been blocked were notionally located in the US or other countries such as Singapore.

In the case of TikTok and some of the other Apps, investigations revealed that the camera, microphone and full network access were configured in such a way that any data use or espionage could not be verified by the Indian authorities.

“With access to people’s cameras and PCs, these Apps heightened the risk of espionage as they could access other devices and servers that may be linked.

Already there were concerns about misuse of Tik-Tok for spreading hate or sexual content, including child porn, but what really led to the decision to block was suspicion on espionage,” a source said. The fresh action opens an all-new chapter in the growing tensions between India and China over the Ladakh border, which is gradually spilling over into the world of business, e-commerce and now mobile Apps.

India emphasised the importance of "recognising the legitimate interests of partners", an oblique reference to China’s actions against India, during a special meeting of the RIC (Russia-India-China) trilateral grouping last week.

Even though bilateral references were not allowed, foreign minister S Jaishankar, in his terse remarks, said, "The challenge today is not just one of concepts and norms, but equally of their practice. The leading voices of the world must be exemplars in every way. Respecting international law, recognising the legitimate interests of partners, supporting multilateralism and promoting the common good are the only way of building a durable world order."

Given that the virtual meeting was happening in the backdrop of unprecedented tensions between India and China, it was clear that India’s heart was not in it. There was no joint statement nor a press release at the end of the meeting, which was unusual, but in the circumstances, India’s reluctance to associate with any joint approach with China was made clear.

Jaishankar’s remarks centred around the injustice to India in 75 years of the existing world order beginning from the end of World War II. “This historical injustice has stood uncorrected for the last 75 years, even as the world has changed… it is important for the world to realise both the contribution that India made and the need to rectify the past," he said, putting out India’s new mantra of "reformed multilateralism".

Interestingly, Jaishankar also referred to the fact that during World War II, India (then British India) had kept the supply lines open to both Russia and China. In 2020, China weaponised its own supply lines during the Covid-19 outbreak, leaving most countries scrambling when they shut down supplies.

“We helped keep key supply lines open to both your countries, one through the Persian corridor and the other over the Himalayan hump," he said.

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Reserve cheap steroid to save serious Covid patients: WHO World Health Organisation chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the research surrounding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is at last providing “green shoots of hope” in treating the virus, that has killed nearly 500,000 people worldwide.

Trial results announced

by British researchers last week showed generic drug dexamethasone to reduce inflammation in diseases such as arthritis, cut death rates by around a third among the most severely ill coronavirus patients admitted to hospital. This is the first drug proved to save lives and fighting the disease, pushing countries to procure it in masses.

Head of the WHO's emergencies programme, Mike Ryan said the drug should only be used in serious cases where it has been shown to help. In a press brief, he said, “It is exceptionally important in this case, that the drug is reserved for use in severely

ill and critical patients who can benefit from this drug clearly.”

While the dexamethasone study results are preliminary, researchers said it could become standard care in severely stricken patients. Preliminary findings shared with the WHO

reveals the treatment reduced the mortality by about a third, and for patients requiring only oxygen, it were cut by about one fifth. It said, “WHO will coordinate a meta-analysis to increase our overall understanding of this intervention. WHO clinical guidance will be updated to reflect how and when the drug should be used in Covid-19.”

Tedros said, “This is the first treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with Covid-19 requiring oxygen or ventilator support.” Meanwhile, British Health Minister Matt Hancock said the government has increased the amount of dexamethasone it has in stock.

Contact-tracing apps and when can we expect them One solution found by governments worldwide is to maintain contact-tracing, that can help enable digital contact-tracing on a large scale. The British government revealed its first attempt at a contact-tracing app back on May 5.

However, they recently admitted it as flawed, and said it would instead switch to a model being developed by tech mammoths Apple and Google.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, “We knew from the start that we would need to test and learn as we developed this new technology.” However,

a long wait is to be expected.

How do contact tracing apps work?

A contact-tracing app is designed to let people know if they have been in close contact with someone who later reports positive

for Covid-19. It could point exactly who needs to be in quarantine, and who does not. The purpose of the app is to try and track down people and alert them of the need to self-isolate father than traditional methods.

The apps keeps a trace of others who have been in close contact through Bluetooth signals that transmit an anonymous ID. These low energy Bluetooth signals perform a digital “handshake” when two users come into close contact, but keep that data anonymous. In case the individual later shows positive for the virus, the app will then ping a message to people who have been in close-contact with them in the last 28 days based on their anonymous IDs. The app then recommends these people to selfisolate in case they have contracted the disease.

Symptom-less spread of Covid-19 may infect respiratory Covid among families very centre of brain: Study A team of scientists at common: Study the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology

According to the first global estimates quantifying symptom-less transmission of Covid-19, the virus spreads easily among people living together; even when an infected person is presymptomatic or asymptomatic.

Published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the study showed people with Covid are infectious before they develop symptoms as later in their illness.

People who are 60 years older are most susceptible to infection.

The study was based on contact-tracing from 349 people with Covid and 1,963 of their close contacts in Guangzhou, China. It included people living together, family not living at the same address, and nonhousehold contacts like coworkers, friends and fellow commuters. Dr V Ramana Dhara, of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad, said, “The study confirms what we already

know, which is that household and family clusters are the primary source of infection. The more virus you are exposed to, the more you are likely to get infected, and in high-density housing, where large families live together, infected respiratory droplets can stay suspended in air and infect others.” “What is significant is the establishment that incubation period is infectious, which means everybody needs to wear a mask all the time. Most people take off their masks inside homes because they feel safe and protected, but given the density of population in India, indoor containment will be a challenge,” they added.

(IICB), Kolkata, has conducted research on the neuro-invasive potential of Covid-19, and believe that the virus may infect the respiratory centre of the brain. A statement released by the researchers suggested that attention should be focused on the respiratory centre of the central nervous system to learn about mortality due to coronavirus.

Published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience and supported by Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), the paper implies that coronavirus could enter the human brain through the nose and reach the olfactory bulb of the brain. From there, the virus might infect PreBotzinger complex (PBC), the primary centre of the brain that controls the respiratory rhythm generation.

The team of researchers

included Dr Prem Tripathi, Dr Upasana Ray, Dr Amit Srivastava and Dr Sonu Gandhi. They suggested that while the lung is one of the most infected organs, several other organs, including the brain, are also affected by Covid-19. This is the first report that highlights that SARS-CoV-2 may target the PBC of the brainstem that controls respiration and causes respiratory collapse of Covid-19 patients.

The scientists suggest that cerebrospinal fluid of patients and postmortem of the brain of the deceased should be assessed to better understand the route of SARS-CoV-2 entry and its spread to the respiratory centre of the brain.

Functional Medicine coaching can be a new opportunity for job seekers

Millions of people across the world have lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 induced pandemic. However, the digital world brings hope for new opportunities.

Business concepts based on digital platforms that once didn’t attract much clientele, today seem to flourish and thrive economically. Take, for instance, online learning platforms as a concept. How many institutes or learning platforms really profited out of such models?

But today, the scenario has taken a 360-degree turn.

Every institute has resorted to e-learning, and every individual has come to terms with this new normal.

Similarly, new concepts and business models are being born, although out of necessity, but have immense scope for the future. One such interesting concept is Functional Medicine. Although this concept has been existing for some time now in countries like the US and UK, it is fairly new to India and holds a key to new opportunities in coming times. Elyse Wagner, Founder and Chief Wellness Officer, Functional Medicine Coaching Academy sheds light on the concept and explains ways by which people can become a certified Functional Medicine coach.

What is Functional Medicine, and what is its proof of concept?

Functional Medicine asks how and why illness occurs and restores health by addressing the root causes of diseases for each individual. The Functional Medicine model is an individualised, patient-centred, science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying causes of diseases and promote optimal wellness. It relies on a detailed understanding of each patient’s genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors and leverages that data to direct personalised treatment plans that lead to improved patient outcomes.

Functional Medicine coaching: Our coaches come to us from all over the globe with a range of different backgrounds. Many of them leave the programme and tend to either open up a private practice (virtual or inperson), work with a Functional Medicine practitioner or doctor on a collaborative care team and/or provide support or programming in the corporate wellness world.

Roy Hall, MD – a Functional Medicine trained doctor, who sees patients for diabetes, arthritis, autoimmune and thyroid issues, hormones, and other conditions, has his network of FMCA-trained health coaches who remotely work for his platform and they have created an incredibly effective strategy for collaborating and communicating via his EMR. Adding a health coach has made a tremendous difference. People get well faster. I would never go back to not having a coach. It just does not makes sense to me.

When I look back on our first year, I feel kind of sorry for our clients because they missed out.

Does this concept involve a collaborative approach to help patients?

Yes, by nature, coaches are trained to collaborate with clients and practitioners. They take a client-centred approach and help them get to where they want to be. What does a Functional Medicine coach do? What are the benefits of working with a functional health coach?

Functional Medicine health coaches know there’s more to a healthy lifestyle than fad diets and unsustainable exercise regimens. There’s a gap between what clients know they need to do to be healthy and the intrinsic motivation they need to actually make and sustain those changes. Coaches bridge that gap.

To Our Readers

We are publishing these items in good faith, kindly consult your Doctor before you try to implement any advice. We do not hold any responsibility for its efficacy...

28 LIFESTYLE & FOOD

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4 - 10 July 2020

Beat the heat with these healthy summer foods Summer is a time to constantly hydrate, eat cold treats and snacks to cope up with the heat. It is also a time when there is an absolute abundance of seasonal fruits and vegetables, including mangoes, melons and berries.

Here are some foods that are absolutely refreshing to consume during the summer heat, and they are healthy for your body.

Melons Pure water content, w a t e r m e l o n s , muskmelons and the entirety of the melon family helps regulate body temperatures. They also help with weight loss

when coupled with exercise. We know you cannot go without that watermelon sugar high!

Mangoes Mangoes are the perfect summer treat.

With its high iron content, it can help people increase the calcium content in

their bodies. The cover face of summer fruits, it is high on Vitamins A and C which help build the immune system. It is refreshing, and can help prevent heat strokes.

Berries Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries,

you name it and Summer has it for you. These juicy fruits are known to increase the blood flow throughout the body, skin and regenerate decrease sensitivity to light. It makes the skin look brighter and improve texture. Berries are also extremely high on fibre.

Corn This handy snack is not just delicious, but also rich in starch. It helps provide the body with lutein and zeaxanthin which are helpful for eye health. The antioxidants present also help in lowering the risk of developing age-related muscular degeneration which causes blindness in older people.

Beat those face mask breakouts with these clever tricks Wearing protective gear for hours every day brings out noticeable skin reaction.

This reaction is called an unfortunate side effect called mask acne, or 'maskne'. It usually shows pimples, redness or irritation around your mouth, cheeks, and jawline.

Maskne occurs when sweat, skin oils, and bacteria are trapped on the skin while wearing your mask. This type of acne is called acne mechanica, which includes any skin issues due to pressure,

friction, rubbing, squeezing or stretching.

So how exactly to avoid maskne?

Wash your face regularly – Twice a day, before and after wearing a

mask.

Apply moisturizer to prevent dryness and repair the skin's natural protective barrier.

Skip your makeup.

Wearing too many

products under the mask can cause a build up on the skin.

Choose your masks wisely. Opt for a soft, cotton mask to reduce rubbing and irritation.

Wash your mask after every use to remove any acne-causing bacteria and oils from the mask.

How to treat Maskne?

Exfoliate and hydrate.

Use spot treatment containing salicylic acid, sulfur, zinc, or 2.5 per cent benzoyl.

Use acne-treating cleansers.

Future of Indian weddings in times of Covid-19 The new reality of Indian weddings has emerged in the era of Covid-19 as ‘digital’ continues to evolve as the new ‘prefix’ to wedding planning. The wedding industry post-Covid-19 will have a new reality which will follow new formats keeping in mind health and safety parameters and rethinking the guest experience. With the help of Indian wedding industry experts, The Knot World Wide -- a global wedding technology company - has put together the following trends that are currently being followed and also will play a key role in the future of weddings and the industry overall.

Health & safety measures Installation of sanitisation fans similar to mist fans to make sure all the guests walking in are sanitised without manual effort. Planners or venue owners will help couples ensure that sanitization is top of mind before and during every celebration. Temperature reading will be mandatory at the entrances. Hygiene kits will be given to all guests.

Ceremonies adopt socially-distanced seats Since downsizing the guestlist for weddings is the new normal, we might see ceremony venues accommodating social distancing with spaced-seating arrangements. Essentially due to social distancing, the physical placement of chairs on each table will reduce to be

able to keep a 6 ft distance from one another.”

Hair and Makeup Trends will also evolve with more focus on eyes and interesting hairstyles in case the bride decides to wear a mask. There will also be a high focus on sanitization since the make-up team works in close proximity to the bride for extended hours with most of the makeup tools being disposable and the team to wear masks, face shields and PPE kits for all appointments.

Weddings in shifts Couples who do not want any change in plans, including a full guest list, can celebrate as they initially planned, but in shifts. With shift weddings, couples can host their wedding day festivities at their original venue and with their full team of wedding vendors but the guests come in shifts, allowing them to adhere to social-distancing guidelines.

Food & Beverages While delectable food is still top of mind for couples, the manner in which dishes are prepared and served will

follow stringent safety precautions.

Most venues have confirmed that they will likely opt for a sit-down plated meal instead of a buffet. This would also mean no long queues and crowds which are a risk. Menus will largely be digital or single use, with greater emphasis on wellness-oriented food sections for healthier meals and a greater level of immunity.

Venue preferences Open-air venues will see greater demand, irrespective of the weather.

These eliminate the possibility of guests feeling confined in a closed, high-risk air-conditioned space. Would require fighting against nature’s elements like but would ensure social distancing with spaced-seating arrangements.

Go digital To limit exposure and to save time, money and energy, couples will look at creating e-invites and their own wedding website. These digital invitation cards can be emailed and WhatsApp-ed to guests, along with the link of the wedding website.

To help couples, venues and service partners navigate wedding planning during this pandemic situation, a survey was also conducted by The Knot World Wide to understand the impact of Covid-19 on weddings in India and globally. It was found that most engaged couples are being positive and not cancelling their wedding bookings (92% globally, 82% in India).

Recipe

Veggie Burger

Ingredients Boiled and mashed potatoes, Boiled peas, Sliced tomatoes, Sliced onion rings, Ginger garlic paste, Bread crumbs, Chilli powder, Cumin powder, Turmeric, Crushed pepper, Salt, Burger buns, Mayonnaise, Tomato sauce, Chilli sauce Firstly, take 2 boiled and mashed potatoes, ¼ cup boiled peas and spices. Combine everything and prepare patties.

Dip into maida paste and roll in bread crumbs.

Deep fry in hot oil or bake at 180 degree celsius for 20 minutes or till it turns golden and crisp.

Cut half the burger bun and spread sauces on both sides.

On bottom side of bun place sliced veggies, and then the aloo patties.

Cover with burger bun and press slightly.

Veggie Puff Ingredients Boiled Potatoes, Boiled Peas, Chopped Onions, Chopped Green Chilli, Gingergarlic paste, Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder, Turmeric, Garam masala, Dry Mango Powder, Cumin seeds, Oil, Store-bought pastry sheet Cook the vegetables into a nice spicy stuffing.

Cut the pastry sheets to rectangle pieces.

Place the prepared stuffing in the centre and fold half, press and seal the sides.

Place in a baking tray.

Brush the puff with butter for more golden colour.

Bake in a preheated oven at 140 degrees for 25 minutes.

How to make under eye cream We do a lot of things in the name of beauty.

Trying everything once in a while just because a celebrity swears by it or one of our loved ones told us to give it a shot and often we have been told that under eye cream are important but, do they work?

The first signs of ageing are shown near our eyes.

Under-eye creams are important because the skin around our eyes is thin as compared to the skin on other parts of our body. It is also delicate and sensitive. Thus, an eye cream used before signs of ageing show or simply after you wake up with puff eyes certainly helps a lot. If you are looking to incorporate one in your skincare regime and cannot get your hands at it, try this.

In a small bowl take a teaspoon of aloe vera gel and

add Vitamin E capsule (it is easily available at any chemist). Mix it together and add a few drops of coconut oil along with rose water. You can add your favourite essential oil like lavender, chamomile or tea tree oil too.

Mix it well and make a little batch. Transfer it to a container and store it in the refrigerator for a cooling effect every time you apply it.

This will help keep puffiness at bay.

Every time you scoop out the gel, make sure you apply in circular motions focusing on your under eyes, eyes and your eyebrow bone with soft pressure until it gets absorbed.

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4 - 10 July 2020

Anushka thanks fans for the success of 'Bulbbul' Actor Anushka Sharma, whose recentmost endeavor 'Bulbbul' released on Netflix last week, has thanked audiences for their stellar response to the film. Calling it a big risk for her and her brother/co-producer Karnesh Ssharma, she said, “Thank you for all the love!”

She also released a statement saying, “The idea that Clean Slate Filmz would one day create a genre of our own was never an intentional move by us. We, however, always wanted to create a style of story-telling that celebrates women and their spirit.”

Directed by Anvita Dutt, starring Tripti Dimri, Rahul Bose and Avinash Tiwary, 'Bulbbul' is a period fantasy

Abhishek Bachchan wants to be directed by Aamir Khan Actor Abhishek Bachchan recently reminisced about his experiences shooting for his 2013 film 'Dhoom 3', saying he was in awe of Aamir Khan who had joined the franchise in the third instalment.

He wrote, “Dhoom gave me the once in a lifetime opportunity to work with @_aamirkhan and if given another opportunity I Wouldn't act with him, I want to be directed by him!!! So Aamir, if you're reading this, kindly consider my request.

Aamir was so warm and forthcoming as a co-actor. Very helpful and accommodating. I can only imagine what a wonderful director he must be. Apart from his great talent he is so down to earth and fun loving on set despite what scene we would do.”

Bachchan Junior also shared a fun trivia about how both the actors enjoyed shooting for the film in an amusement

film. Anushka said, “Portrayal of women in our cinema has always been skewed and lopsided. I felt that as an actress I decided that I will correct this as much as I can through my productions.” She added that Karnesh and she “really put our necks on the line to make projects that we hope will be clutter-breaking.”

Anushka added, “Karnesh and I aren’t scared storytellers. We make each project thinking we have nothing to lose. We are non-conformists and that’s what has really, really helped us to explore and create. It is a huge milestone moment for us at Clean Slate Filmz because both Pataal Lok and now Bulbbul have got great reviews and janta ka appreciation,” she said.

Amazon Prime Video reveals Amit Sadh’s new series 'Breathe: Into The Shadows'

park. “One of my fondest memories was when we shot a few scenes in Six Flags amusement park in Chicago. The park was shut and it was just the unit that was allowed in. The minute Aamir and I would get the shortest of breaks, we’d run off the the closest roller-coaster and ask them put it on just for us. What a luxury!!! Good times!” he wrote.

Lockdown is the 'longest break' Radhika Apte has got in years Actor Radhika Apte calls the Covidinduced lockdown the “longest break” she has got in several years. She said, “Just to have a routine was a normal thing. But, in this period, I ate well, exercised, tried to write and watch, and did nothing, without any pressure of having to be at any place.

All these have been really good things. But, there have been too many bad things, too.”

Apte added, “That was just a small fraction of it. The consequences it has had on the economy is one thing, but just people and their livelihood – the situation of migrant workers is horrible in India.”

The actor has been spending her lockdown in London for the past couple months, and said the situation their is much better to what it was two months ago. She said, “It is way better than in India. They let us go out for a while, we can meet friends in an open space. The weather is great too, and the markets are going to open now.” Apte said she does not like the term “new normal”. Adding, “It's there until the time we find a vaccine to tackle the issue. We'll go back to normal, I believe. Once we go back there, we'll forget about this.”

Amazon Prime Video elevates the excitement level by releasing Amit Sadh’s first look in the upcoming series 'Breathe: Into the Shadows'. The actor, who is reprising his revered role as Inspector Kabir Sawant in the new series, is seen mysteriously landing up in a jail, raising curiosity among the viewers. Why is Inspector Kabir in a prison? Was it a faux play of power and deceit or did he seriously commit a crime so grave that put him behind the bars? While we don’t know the reason behind this new twist, it certainly adds an interesting layer to the mystery of this

much-awaited crime thriller.

The series mark the digital debut of Abhishek Bachchan and Nithya Menen, who will be seen in the lead roles, along with Saiyami Kher. The show is slated for release on 10 July 2020 on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories. The series is created and produced by Abundantia Entertainment and directed by Mayank Sharma. The show has been written by Bhavani Iyer, Vikram Tuli, Arshad Syed and Mayank Sharma. The trailer of the show is scheduled for launch on 1 July 2020.

30 BOLLYWOOD

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4 - 10 July 2020

Malaika wishes her 'sunshine' Arjun Kapoor on his birthday Arjun Kapoor rang in his 35th birthday last week and the entire Bollywood showered him with wishes. However, our personal favourite wish comes from his girlfriend Malaika Arora who shared a picture of the actor on her Instagram story and wrote, “Happy Birthday my sunshine”. She also shared a picture of them together as they pose with another friend who shares her birthday with Arjun, calling them “Bday twins”.

The Kapoor clan too wished the actor on social media, starting with uncle Anil Kapoor who called him “chachu”, while Sonam Kapoor Ahuja flooded her Instagram stories with several childhood pictures. His 'Ki& Ka' co-star Kareena Kapoor teased him for not being able to sport the perfect pout. She wrote, “Another

by Vallisa Chauhan

Genre: Buddy Drama Film Duration: 119 minutes

Sushant Singh’s first Bollywood outing With the passing of Sushant Singh Rajput, his films have been trending online, one of which was his first film, 'Kai Po Che' based on three friends who open a sports shop together until things start to go wrong and one of them is killed.

year... older & wiser but still unable to crack that pout. Happy birthday @arjunkapoor...it's a biggish.”

Arjun’s sister Anshula wrote a touching note on the occasion, thanking him for parenting her.

Farhan enraged by the treatment given to Sushant's family Actor and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar termed the aftermath of Sushant Singh Rajput's death “a circus”, stating that he is enraged at the treatment of the deceased actor's family. In an interview with a leading news agency, Farhan said, “It is one of the greatest tragedies that I can think of in recent times. It is a tremendous loss to the fraternity. It enrages you when you see that his family is not given the opportunity to breathe. Theories are being spun about why he did it. This is not the time for that. Let some time pass. Right now its speculation from abetment to murder to every crazy thing.”

Akhtar added, “Everyone suddenly knew what he thought, his journey and everything about him. What followed is a circus. Be kind, be more inclusive, be aware, reach out, but right now everyone is either got a sword out or holding a shield. It's ugly. We should remember him for his great work and

talent, mourn the fact that we lost somebody who had great potential.”

Talking about mental health and nepotism in the film industry, Farhan said, “Our industry functions purely on success and failure. But is there a priv-

ilege for people who're born in the film industry? Absolutely. Will it be easier for them to gain access, to pitch a script to someone or offer their services as an actor? 100%. There is no denying that.”

Disney+ Hotstar to release many Bollywood movies Alia Bhatt. Akshay Kumar.

Ajay Devgn. Varun Dhawan.

Abhishek Bachchan - those are the big names part of Disney+ Hotstar's next big announcement, the streaming service announced on its social media handles over the weekend. Disney+ Hotstar hasn't said what it's about but given that it's titled “Bollywood Ki Home Delivery” and it's amid a pandemic that's keeping theatres shut across India, it's likely that it's about Bollywood movies that are releasing straight on streaming. Reports from earlier in June have claimed as much.

Of the five aforementioned actors, Kumar's next film - the horror comedy 'Laxmmi Bomb' - was the first in talks to skip theatres entirely. A report from April claimed that 'Laxmmi Bomb' actor-producer Kumar and director

Govind is maths genius, Ishaan is an ex-district level cricketer and Omi is the nephew of a politician, Bittu.

Together they set up a sports shop and start teaching cricket to the youth. They see potential in a cricketer Ali, at the same time Ishaan asks Govind to teach his sister, Vidya maths as she has an exam coming up.

Govind ends up falling in love with Vidya but keeps it a secret. They decide to expand their business and open a shop in a newly built mall. This is all going well until there is an earthquake and the mall is destroyed, this means all the money invested in the business is lost.

Bittu’s party is Anti-Muslim and this means that Omi and Ishaan start arguing, as time goes on they all get busy in their own lives until during his campaigning Bittu sends pilgrims to the Ram temple and there is a train massacre and Omi’s parents are killed. He is left devastated and Bittu convinces him to take revenge.

When the rampages start Ishaan and Govind hide in Ali’s house and as the riots go on Bittu’s party storms into the Muslim villages and start killing everyone. A fight breaks out between Ali’s father and Bittu and in that battle Bittu is stabbed. Omi is annoyed and runs after them as Omi goes to shoot Ali, Ishaan jumps in front and is shot and dies.

Forwarding 10 years Govind has married Vidya and named their son after her brother. The film ends with Ali playing for the Indian cricket team in Australia and as he hits the ball to the boundary we see Ishaan’s spirit smile down on him as that was a shot he was taught whilst training at the academy.

Based on the book by Chetan Bhagat, The 3 mistakes of my life, 'Kai Po Che' is an enjoyable fun film to watch which brings together the love of cricket and the harsh reality of politics within India. Sushant is amazing in his role as one the leads and you are left in awe of his acting skills whilst watching the film.

You can get in touch with Vallisa: djvallisa@gmail.com

Raghava Lawrence were in “discussions” with Disney+ Hotstar. 'Laxxmi Bomb' was deep into post-production then and was said to be ready by June.

Disney-owned Fox Star Studios is the distributor, which likely had a role to play in the film's transfer to a Disney-owned platform.

Fox Star Studios is also the distributor - and coproducer - on Alia's next film, the romantic thriller sequel 'Sadak 2' from her director father Mahesh Bhatt. In an interview, producer Mukesh Bhatt confirmed that Sadak 2 is going straight-to-streaming, a further hint that Sadak 2 is part of Disney+

Hotstar's announcement.

According to a Bollywood Hungama report, Devgn is involved in two films that are headed to Disney+ Hotstar, both under his Ajay Devgn Films banner. The first is the Devgn-starrer war film 'Bhuj: The Pride of India', while the second is the Bachchan-starrer biopic

'The Big Bull.'

That leaves Dhawan, whose upcoming films including the 'Coolie No. 1' remake - have not been mentioned in any straightto-streaming conversations. As per Bollywood Hungama, Dhawan is said to merely be hosting the event, and it's “unlikely” that Coolie No. 1 remake will release on Disney+ Hotstar owing to Varun's father and Coolie No. 1 director David Dhawan's preference for the theatrical model.

Earlier reports from the same website also claim

that the Kriti Sanon-starrer drama 'Mimi,' the Kunal Kemmu-led comedy 'Lootcase', the Janhvi Kapoor-starrer horror comedy 'Roohi Afzana', the Sunny Kaushal, Radhika Madan-starrer romantic drama 'Shiddat', and the Faruk Kabir-directed romantic thriller 'Khuda Haafiz' could also be part of the Disney+ Hotstar slate.

The aforementioned films will release every Friday, as per Bollywood Hungama, starting July 24 with the Sushant Singh Rajput-led 'Dil Bechara', announced last week.

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4 - 10 July 2020

Keerthy Suresh opens up on nepotism within the industry Actor Sushant Singh Rajput's sudden demise has kicked up a storm, bringing back the issue of nepotism in the industry back to the limelight. Actor Keerthy Suresh, a popular name in the South Indian movie industries, believes Rajput's death comes as a reality check to everyone.

The National Award-winning actor said, “I don’t really know the kind of trauma one goes through to take such a drastic step. We can’t judge whether it was depression or something to do with negativity. But, this really feels bad. I believe we’re stronger than what we actually think.” She pointed out that often while running after work and money, people forget that life is also about other things. “Probably thirty or forty years ago, life was simpler. So, understand what

are the things you’re missing out on; talk to people around you, don’t stay alone,” she said.

Talking about nepotism, Keerthy gave her own example. Her parents belong to the film industry, with her father Suresh Kumar a film producer, and mother Menaka, an actor.

“My parents are from the industry, but it’s not that I keep getting a push from them now and then. Yes, I did get a debut because Priyan (filmmaker Priyadarshan) uncle is my dad’s friend. He gave me that opportunity. Going further, it’s not like I have my dad and mom telling me how to go about everything. They usually don’t get involved,” she asserts.

Ajay Devgn to play a Top stars from South cinema come cameo role in SS together for Vishal Rajamouli’s 'RRR' Vishal’s cyber crime thriller film ‘Chakra’ is gearing up for release. Debutant MS Anandan is directing the film that will be released in four languages – Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. The makers have also planned to release the trailer in all four languages. Leading stars from South cinema are coming together to share the trailer.

While the original Tamil version will be released

by Karthi and Arya, superstar Mohanlal will be releasing the Malayalam trailer. Yash and Rana Daggbuati will be sharing the Kannada and Telugu versions of the trailer.‘Chakra’ revolves around a protagonist who is in search of his father’s Ashok Chakra medal, only to realise that his whole life has been hacked. Shraddha Srinath plays a cop in the film and Vishal plays the role of an army officer.

Srushti Dange, Manobala and Robo Shankar will also be seen in important roles. The film is produced by lead actor Vishal himself and it has music by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Nayanthara and I are alive, says Vignesh Shivn In the last few days, there has been much speculation surrounding Nayanthara and beau Vignesh Shivn’s health, with many even suggesting they have tested positive for coronavirus. Today, Shivn put an end to all rumours surrounding them. Shivn took to Twitter to post an adorable video featuring the couple dancing to a popular nursery rhyme.

As soon as Vignesh Shivn posted the video, worried fans expressed their relief and showered love on the video which features a cute Nayanthara.Nayanthara met Vignesh on the sets of 'Naanum Rowdy Dhan' and they have been in a relationship since 2015. The duo is set to reunite for another exciting project titled 'Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kaadhal', which will also feature Vijay Sethupathi and Samantha Akkineni in lead roles.

Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn will be seen playing a freedom fighter in SS Rajamouli's upcoming 'RRR”. A media report said he will be seen playing a nationalist and a mentor to the characters played by Jr NTR and Ram Charan in the movie. It is to be believed that Ajay will work in the movie free of cost, as he shares great friendship with Rajamouli and has been previously associated with the latter's film 'Eega', in which he had done a voice-over for the Hindi dubbed version.

The cameo role will mark Devgn's south debut, and will be seen paired along with Shriya Saran. The two reunite after working together in 'Drishyam'. 'RRR' will be a fictional story set in 1920s pre-independent era and it will be based on few years in the lives of two real heroes and well-known revolutionaries – Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, played by Charan, and Jr NTR respectively.

The film will also star Alia Bhatt and Samuthirakani in crucial roles. Alia will be paired with Ram Charan while a foreign actress has been paired with NTR Jr.

20:30: BARRISTER BABU

TV Listing

21:00: BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE

20:00: JHANSI KI RANI

PYAAR KE

SATURDAY 4 JULY

21:00: UTTARAN

22:00: BIGG BOSS (SEASON 13)

11:00: DESI BEAT SEASON 2

SATURDAY 4 JULY

18:00: BFFS WITH VOGUE (SEASON 2)

18:30:INDIA UNLIMITED

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 6 JULY FRI 10 JULY 2020 15:30: SRIMAD BHAGWAT 16:30: SIRF 30 MINUTES

17:00: KITCHEN CHAMPION

18:00: DASTAAN-E-MOHABBAT SALIM ANARKALI

19:00: CHOTI SARDAARNI

19:00:NAAGIN (SEASON 4) 20:00:JHANSI KI RANI

21:00:KHATRON KE KHILADI

SUNDAY 5 JULY

18:30:

DESI BEAT RESET

20:00:

JHANSI KI RANI

19:00:

21:00:

NAAGIN (SEASON 4) KHATRON KE KHILADI

17:00: DHARAM THI GUJARATI

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 6 JULY FRI 10 JULY 2020 8:00:

8:30:

TERE NAAL ISHQ

BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN

13:00: SWARAGINI

15:30: JAI SHRI KRISHNA

16:00: DHARAM THI GUJARATI 16:30: RASOI SHOW

17:30: CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00: TUM KAUN PIYA 18:30: DIL KA RISHTA

19:00: MERE HUMRAHI

19:30: OM NAMAH SHIVAY

19:00: FEET UP WITH THE STARS (SEASON 2)

19:30: OM NAMAH SHIVAY 20:30: BARRISTER BABU 21:00: BALIKA VADHU

SUNDAY 5 JULY

11:00:

DESI BEAT SEASON 2

18:00:

DESI BEAT

20:30:

HERA PHERI

17:00: 19:30:

DHARAM THI GUJARATI OM NAMAH SHIVAY

32

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Clare Connor named MCC’s first woman president The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in its 233-year-old history for the first time named former England captain Clare Connor as its first woman president.

Connor, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) managing director of women’s cricket, will take over on October 1, 2021.

The 43-year-old will wait as former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara was given a second 12-month term as president due to the situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Sangakkara himself was a sign of change - the MCC’s first non-white, nonBritish head.

In a statement Connor said: “I am deeply honoured to be named the next President of MCC. Cricket has enriched my life so deeply already, and now it hands me this wonderful privilege,” she said.

“We often need to look back to see how far we’ve come. I made my first visit to Lord’s as a starry-eyed, cricket-obsessed nine-year-old girl at a time when women were not welcome in the Long Room.

Times have changed.”

The fight to get women into what was a strictly male preserve, a “gentleman’s club”, has been long and hard. It took 211 years before the issue even came up; the MCC put a proposal to include women to vote in 1998 after increasing

pressure from many quarters, including sponsors, and with all eyes on England as it prepared to host the 1999 World Cup. It did not pass. Even Tony Blair, then the prime British minister, called the club “out of step”.

After the widespread condemnation, the club reluctantly put the issue to vote again later that year.

This time, it came out in favour of admitting women.

On March 1999, the first ten women members of the MCC including England’s legendary world-cup winning captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint, who had campaigned hard for the change since 1991 - walked into the Long Room at Lord’s.

Till that day, only one woman was allowed into the Long Room - the Queen.

Connor, an all-rounder,

who made her England debut in 1995 at 19, and became captain in 2000, will now take that fledgling legacy forward.

“Now I find myself entrusted with this remarkable opportunity, the opportunity to play a part in helping MCC, cricket’s most influential club, to thrive and grow in an even more modern and inclusive future,” she said.

Sangakkara said: “The club has a significant role to play in cricket’s global appeal and with her influence, I am sure she will make a considerable contribution to MCC. With the extended leadin time until she takes office, she will have an important part to play as President Designate.”

Connor’s appointment comes amid the global ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests that have found resonance in sports that is still fighting for equality at various levels.

West Indies cricketers to wear Black Lives Matter logo on T- shirts West Indies players will wear the Black Lives Matter logo on their T-shirts during the three-Test series against England that begins on 8 July in Southampton.

The players received permission to use the logo from the Watford striker Troy Deeney, whose partner, Alisha Hosannah, created the design that incorporates a clenched fist of solidarity within a circle. The logo has appeared on shirts of Premier League players since the league resumed this month.

The West Indies captain, Jason Holder, said: “This is a

pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team. We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness.

“There must be equality and there must be unity.

Until we get that as people, we cannot stop. We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because

of the colour of their skin or e t h n i c background.”

Deeney said: “Alisha and I are immensely proud to be asked and take part in a monumental moment in world sport, this amazing decision by the West Indies cricket team to show their support for Black Lives Matter. When I got the call, I didn’t hesitate to respond, because I know as sportspersons in the

spotlight how important our efforts are to bring about change and the role we play in move towards change in our society.”

in brief BERNIE ECCLESTONE SAYS BLACK PEOPLE ARE OFTEN ‘MORE RACIST’ Former Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has claimed black people are often “more racist” than white people and questioned whether Lewis Bernie Ecclestone Hamilton’s vocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement will make any difference.

In an interview, the 89-year-old Ecclestone, who stepped down as chief executive in 2017, also said he was “surprised” to hear Hamilton had been affected by racist issues in the sport. Ecclestone said: “In lots of cases black people are more racist than what white people are.

(It’s just) things over the years that I’ve noticed, and there’s no need for it. I’m against injustice for anyone, whatever colour they are. It’s important to do something about that for a start.”

In the wake of the death of George Floyd in police custody in the United States, Hamilton criticised his sport’s failure to combat racism and referenced issues he has faced since his junior karting days.

The 35-year-old specifically referred to an incident in Barcelona in 2008 when a group of fans dressed up in blackface and aimed derogatory chants towards him – something Ecclestone claims he had “never” discussed.

He added: “(We) never needed to. I’m really unhappy if he took it seriously because I never thought he did. I never thought it affected him. I don’t think it (Hamilton’s campaign) is going to do anything bad or good for Formula One. It just makes people think, which is more important. They’re too busy trying to win races or find sponsors – really other things have little or (no) interest.”

Ecclestone’s comments come in a week in which F1 chiefs launched a new #WeRaceAsOne initiative, aimed at fostering diversity and inclusion in the sport, to which Ecclestone’s successor Chase Carey personally contributed one million dollars. F1 was quick to distance itself from Ecclestone’s comments, saying: “At a time when unity is needed to tackle racism and inequality, we completely disagree with Bernie Ecclestone’s comments that have no place in Formula 1 or society.

“Mr Ecclestone has played no role in Formula 1 since he left our organisation in 2017, his title Chairman Emeritus, being honorific, expired in January 2020.”

PAK CRICKETERS ARRIVE IN ENGLAND

Courts stand empty as Wimbledon matches abandoned Following the cancellation of the Wimbledon championship due to the coronavirus pandemic, the All England Lawn Tennis Club was eerily quiet on Monday in what would have been the first day of the tennis championship.

Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep would have been the defending champions at the worldfamous event in South West London, which was scheduled to run from Monday until July 12 - but it was called off on April 1.

This year marks the first time the competition in SW19 has been cancelled since 1945 during the Second World War, and the first time since it first took place in

1877 that it has not been played during peacetime.

Officials at the AELTC which was insured against cancellation - had discussed moving the tournament into late July or August this year, but they were concerned about too little sunlight and too much dew at that time of year.

Playing behind closed doors was also ruled out amid

concerns for the training of ball boys and girls and thousands of officials, line j u d g e s , stewards, p l a y e r s , suppliers, media and contractors being present on the grounds.

After calling off the tournament, the AELTC encouraged players and fans to 'bring the tournament to their homes'. British tennis hero Tim Henman and former Wimbledon champions Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Petra Kvitova and Pat Cash have all played their part. American star Williams, 38, practised her killer serve from her

garden and Serb Djokovic, 33, repeated his ritual of eating grass – which he has done after each of his five Wimbledon wins.

Aussie legend Cash, 55, marched up garden steps to re-enact his climb into the stands to celebrate after his famous victory in 1987.

Henman, 45, in his tennis kit, watched one of his classic Wimbledon matches on TV. Meanwhile, fans also recreated the Wimbledon spirit at home – complete with makeshift courts, umpire chairs and Pimm's, strawberries and cream.

Other fans sent in photos to Wimbledon chiefs showing them recreating much-loved viewing point Henman Hill and playing games on DIY courts in tiny gardens.

Amid Covid-19 threats, the Pakistan cricket contingent, including 20 players and support staff, arrived in England on Sunday for their upcoming assignment in which they are scheduled to play three Tests and as many T20Is in August and September. They arrived in Manchester on a chartered flight from Lahore and were then transported to Worcestershire. The team will now undergo England and Wales Cricket Board testing before completing their 14-day isolation period, during which they will be allowed to train and practice.

The side will then move to Derbyshire on July 13. Six of Pakistan's 10 coronavirus-infected cricketers Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan and Wahab Riaz - have been held back in Lahore and would be sent to England only after two of their successive tests return negative. The ECB has still not announced the dates for the series which will be played behindclosed-doors. England are currently scheduled to take on West Indies in the three-Test series beginning July 8 at the Ageas Bowl.