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BATTING FOR DIVERSITY

20 - 26 JULY 2019 - VOL 48 ISSUE 12

inside: Celebrating the Bengali heritage and their contribution to the UK SEE PAGE 16

Fostering trade ties with India: Piyush Goyal SEE PAGE 17

Priyanka Mehta

History was etched once again at Lords, on Sunday when England won the nail-biting super-over final against New Zealand to clinch the ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time. Now, Prime Minister Theresa May has said that Eoin Morgan's cricket team is representative of modern Britain, that is batting for diversity.

Continued on page 7

India aborts Chandrayaan-2 launch an hour before blast off SEE PAGE 26

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20 - 26 July 2019

onetoone WITH KEITH VAZ, MP

Shady M. Qubaty As the first Yemeni undergraduate to be admitted to Yale University, Shady has completed his third year studying Economics after completing two trimesters at Cambridge University. Shady is the co-founder of Yemen's leading international NGO 'Adalah', which has been appointed as the official secretariat to the UK Parliament’s All Parliamentary Group on Yemen. He also serves as a Vice President at the Economic Forum for Sustainable Development. At Yale, apart from being a competitive table tennis player, Shady is President of both the Arab Students Association and Middle East & North Africa Students Association and is also the President of his college council. He has directed Yale's first-ever Arab Conference: "Amalna - Paving the Road Ahead." Shady also works as a Student Assistant at the Macmillan Centre's Council on Middle East Studies and is leading the campaign to establish a fifth cultural centre at Yale for the Middle East and North Africa.

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Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in? (50 words response) Aden, Yemen which is rich in history, cultural heritage, mountainous regions, highlands and a plethora of coastal plains. The city is a hotbed of diversity with different climates, vegetation and animals.

our to lead the campaign to establish the MENA cultural house at Yale. I am also very proud of the progress we have achieved at Adalah, where we were able to grow tremendously over the past three years.

What are your proudest achievements?

(50 words response) I am proud to be the first Yemeni undergraduate admitted to Yale University and proud to have directed Yale's first-ever Arab Conference. In addition, it is an hon-

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What has been biggest obstacle in your career? (50 words response) It has been a great honour and privilege to co-found Adalah and work with our incredible team. Despite the extensive research and interviews we have conducted with various stakeholders including politicians, leaders and locals, war conditions have unfortunately limited our presence on the ground.

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Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date? (50 words response) My grandfather Mohamed Kaid Saif, who was a leading member of the Yemeni Revolutionary Command Council which deposed the Imam's rule in 1962. After his attempt to lead the 1955 coup was thwarted, his perseverance along with that of other freedom fighters’ led to success 7 years later with the 26th September noble revolution (also happens to be the day and month my sister and I were born, two years apart!)

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What is the best aspect about your current role? (50 words response) I stand for many young Yemenis who have the potential to make a marked difference in this world, but do not have the resources to do so. I wish to use my privilege to create more opportunities for them and provide a platform to project their silenced voices. By changing the dialogue pertaining to Yemen's post-war potential, I firmly believe that we can be part of the change that we wish to see.

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And the worst? (50 words response)

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What inspires you? (50 words response)

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economy we can find the means to rebuild the infrastructure ravaged by war.

John F. Kennedy’s quote: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." I aspire to play a leading role in Yemen's post war economic recovery. Through revitalising Yemen’s

It can be frustrating when your ideas are not taken seriously by individuals simply because you are not "old enough." If we want to truly achieve change, everyone should be given a real stake in society regardless of their age, race or origin.

Redbridge Disabled Women's Welfare Association raises £1,200 for Redbridge mayor's charities Redbridge Disabled Women's Welfare Association (RDWWA) has raised £1,200 for the mayor's charities.

The group arranged a lunch at Spice Khazana, High Road, Ilford to support the charities, Healthy Living Project at the Welcome Centre, Ilford,

and Imagine Independence Mental Health.

"This is our group's tradition to arrange a lunch to support and raise funds for mayor's charity," Abida Iqbal said.

Mayor of Redbridge, Councillor Zulfiqar Hussain, attended with his consort Kashif Qayyum and

Pic courtesy: Abida Iqbal

Redbridge Disabled Women's Welfare Association arranged a lunch to raise funds for the mayor's charities

deputy mayor of Redbridge, Cllr Joyce Ryan. Also in attendance was the mayor of Croydon, Councillor Humayun Kabir, along with RDWWA members.

Ms Iqbal said: "Our group has been serving the community for over 25 years and will continue in future.

We all enjoyed the delicious food which they specially prepared for us. We are very delighted to announce that we raised more than £1,200."

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What are your long term goals? (50 words response) Thinking carefully about post-war economic recovery in Yemen since this will be a huge topic of discussion moving forward and the decisions made will affect the lives of countless people. Given the pre-war limitations of Yemen’s infrastructure, reconstruction should not be viewed as an attempt to rebuild what once existed, but rather an effort to ‘build back better’: to build up a nation that is more equitable, a government that is less corrupt and an economy that promises stability, health, employment and wellness for its citizens.

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If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change? (50 words response) I would banish forever the practice of false equivalence; reporting should be about the truth and not about balance. For instance, if you are reporting on facts showing that climate change exists, then you do not need to bring in a hack to present the other side because the other side does not exist.

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If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why (50 words response) Benjamin Disraeli, to ask him about his inspiring journey and what kept him determined to climb to the top of the greasy pole. After three unsuccessful attempts, he was finally elected in 1837 as a Member of Parliament. Even then, he was criticised and ridiculed for being too ambitious and he ended his maiden speech with the following words: "I will sit down now but the time will come when you will hear me." He eventually became the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was elected Prime Minister twice and became Lord Beaconsfield.

Slough community groups come together for annual SWAMI event

More than 25 community groups came together in Slough’s High Street last Saturday to showcase their work to passers-by in an annual initiative.

This year’s Slough Windsor and Maidenhead Community Initiative (SWAMI) was the “biggest and best yet”, with Slough MP Tan Dhesi and mayor Avtar Kaur Cheema joining in the revelry.

Entertainment included performances from the Dhol Collective, a team of highly trained dhol (Indian

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drum) players and singer Michelle Bewley, while visitors browsed stands by the Samaritans and the Slough Happiness Collective.

Anthony Lewis, an organiser from the Windsor Humanists, said he was “delighted” by the event’s success. He said: “After three years it feels like the SWAMI event in Slough High Street has peaked. We have received so many positive comments, we’re delighted.”

SWAMI is led by the Slough Faith Partnership, the Windsor and Maidenhead Community Forum (WAMCF) and Windsor Humanists.

Its mission is to bring together the three towns to strengthen friendships and promote closer co-operation.

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20 - 26 July 2019

The new age of diplomacy The age of civilized diplomacy is clearly over. Talleyrand, Metternich, Eden and Molotov have disappeared into the shadows. Their unfailing courtesies towards opponents are today the stuff of legend. The barbarians are no longer at the gates; they have breached the walls and are setting new codes of conduct and of speech. John Bolton, Mike Pompeo and their master in the White House, President Donald Trump - all swagger, threats and abuse - dominate the global stage: cowboy gunslingers at the ready, no holds barred.

The British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Kim Darroch, suave, able, experienced, performed the duties expected of him by keeping his government informed of the political twists and turns in Washington. In confidential reports to his masters back home - in keeping with time-honoured practice - Sir Kim did just that in his dispatch to the Foreign Office and 10 Downing Street. He described the Trump administration as ‘dysfunctional, chaotic, and the US President as ‘inept.’ The ambassador felt President Trump’s decision to abort the Iran nuclear deal was driven by spite against his predecessor Barack Obama, whose administration negotiated it, along with European allies and Russia.

The contents of Sir Kim document was leaked to a British newspaper, following which all hell broke loose.

President Trump’s choleric reaction underlined the envoy’s correct reading of his character.

Sir Kim was due to retire in January, but in the prevailing situation, he thought it best to resign with immediate effect. Who leaked the document and why, remains, thus far, a mystery. The investigation has been placed in the remit of Scotland Yard.

There is little noble about the much touted the ‘special’ Anglo-American relationship. Its grandiose rhetoric cannot conceal the ugly colonial reality of suppliant and overlord.

The unpredictable Donald Trump with his insults and brutal contempt for supposed allies makes this clear every minute and hour of every day.

America, meanwhile, continues to flaunt its imperial muscle, with perceived adversaries great and small: Iran one day, some other power the next. Its continuing displays of tawdry Russophobia evoke justifiable comparisons with the Nazi broadsides against Soviet Russia in the 1930s. It would appear from declaration of the Pentagon’s top brass, that they believe a nuclear war with Russia to be winnable, so help us God! The foolhardy NATO expansion towards Russia’s frontiers, against which George Kennan and Paul Nitze fervent warned in their last days, moves on regardless.

Pulitzer Prize winning author James Risen writes: ‘America has become accustomed to a permanent state of war. Only a small slice of society – including many poor and rural teenagers – fight and die , while a permanent national security elite rotates among senior government posts, contracting companies, think tanks, and television commentary, opportunities that would disappear if America were suddenly at peace. To most of America, war has become not only tolerable but profitable, and so there is no longer any great incentive to end it.’ (Pay Any Price: Greed Power And Endless War) There is something rotten in the state of the Republic.

Sordid revelations about the infamous billionaire Jeffrey Epstein and his predatory debauchery with underage children and other such serial activities; his ties to the great and good, and the cover-ups through bribes and favours of every sort reveal the moral squalor of the American elite and the corruption of American justice system. The iconic Noam Chomsky’s latest publication, Requiem for the American Dream’ will repay the reader for his time.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

- Barack Obama

Virendra Sharma MP Labour MP for Ealing & Southall

Take action; Inspire change; Make Every Day a Mandela Day After an amazing month of cricket, which we were lucky to hold in the heart of Britain, we saw on Sunday the impact that an individual can have in the face of adversity and the sheer power of selfbelief. From a poor start, the England Cricket team clinched victory in the World Cup final, where once again through skill, commitment and determination, they emerged victorious. It is this spirit of determination that I want to focus on today.

This Nelson Mandela Day (18th July), I feel it would be appropriate to reflect on the power of his protest. Nelson Mandela was a politician and statesman of the highest order and set an example for idealists and pragmatists everywhere. Alongside his incredible achievements in dismantling the apartheid state and fostering racial reconciliation in South Africa, I think his greatest legacy for the world today is the model of activism he left behind.

Mandela, like Gandhi before him, never stopped believing in the power of the individual to bring about transformational change in society: “your playing small does not serve the world. Who are you not to be great?”.

UK’s highest earners, Indians, Chinese So says an report titled ‘Ethnic Pay Gaps In Great Britain’.

It’s official. Chinese and Indian employees in the UK [the latter far greater than the former as per their overall numbers in the country] have earned nearly 40 per cent more than their white British counterparts since 2012.

The ethnic group with the lowest average pay were Bangladeshi, followed by Pakistanis, according to the report. The gap data was commissioned as part of a government examination into the barriers faced by ethnic groups faced at the workplace. Pratik Dattani, Managing Director of economic research firm EPG, based in London and Ind ia, said: ‘As there are four times as

many Indians as Chinese in Britain, the data underlines the unmatched value that Indians create for the British economy.’

This does not appeared to have registered sufficiently with the BBC world service news programmes. A simple strip line on TV screens referred simply to the Chinese performance; the Indian was ignored. Why so, one wondered? Could it be sensitivity to Pakistani vote banks in the UK, or from the perception that care should be taken not give offence to the Pakistan establishment back home? Maybe not, but one never can be sure in this day and age.

India’s World Cup dreams end in heartbreak India’s overall performance in the ODI cricket World Cup in England and Wales was praiseworthy. India headed the league table going into the semi-final knockouts. The hopes of millions dissolved under the grey skies and spitting rain of Old Trafford, Manchester, where underdogs New Zealand out smarted and out played the favourites to emerge worthy winners.

India’s top order collapsed for the first time in the

tournament, exposing the soft underbelly middle order to a penetrative New Zealand bowling attack. The notable exception Ravindra Jadeja , blitzed a memorable 77 runs, but his was a magnificent solo effort. The print media coyly omitted mention of wicketkeeper Dhoni’s dropped catches, the one involving Ross Taylor cost India dear. The revelation, the scribes feared, might impede Dhoni’s chances of selection for the next World Cup in 2023!

All the Prime Minister's Men The journalistic principles of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are alive even today despite authoritative governments desperately trying to throttle them in an example of Saudi correspondent Khashoggi's murder. The relationship between the media and governments that are trying to observe democracy has always been murky especially at the height of an exacerbated “nationalism” debate. As far-right political parties surge across the EU, South Asia and the US, the survival of factual journalism is threatened with media houses compelled to become propaganda outlets for the incumbent government.

“A politician calling for support for free media might sound like a turkey advocating for Christmas,” joked Jeremy Hunt in the recently conducted Global Conference for Media Freedom.

As the foreign secretary, Hunt sits in a comfortable

position to speak about media freedom considering the UK has jumped seven ranks in this year's World Media Freedom Index according to Reporters Without Borders.

But would that accountability extend if he were to assume the throne and become the UK's next Prime Minister?

Especially considering his term as Health Secretary when “his door was always open to the junior doctors” and yet, Rachel Clarke, was never able to get her answers.

In the meantime, Hunt's rival and former journalist Boris Johnson has also defended media freedom in his show of support to Kim Darroch following the leaked diplomatic message about Trump. “Prosecuting journalists over diplomatic work would be a chilling infringement of press freedom,” he had said.

What remains in store for journalists in the coming years, only time will tell!

Virendra Sharma with Richard Ratcliffe

Today we feel plagued by problems that seem to be completely beyond our control. Brexit aside, our society is dogged by injustice and racism, climate change, rising homelessness and the crumbling state of public services, all of which are being tragically ignored by this Government. However, we can also see the power and dedication of individuals and activists today who refuse to be found “playing small”. Greta Thunberg, the 16-year old Swedish climate change campaigner and pioneer of the school strikes, has built an international movement and arguably done more than anyone else to move climate change to the top of the political agenda.

Richard Ratcliffe, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, is another courageous campaigner, who I was lucky enough to meet a few weeks ago. His wife Nazanin has been unjustly and unlawfully imprisoned in Iran, and Richard has been protesting outside of their embassy for several weeks now, culminating in his hunger strike. When I met him outside of the Iranian Embassy, I met a wonderful man who was utterly humbled by the support he has received from people across the country and indeed the world, but also from his own family. His sacrifice, courage and determination will help to see her home, I am sure of it.

Continued on page 8

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Rathayatra Chariots Festival in Leicester Visitors to Leicester city centre were treated to one of the most eye-catching spectacles possible as they witnessed Hare Krishna devotees pull a giant, 40ft high chariot through the streets.

The annual Rathayatra Festival of Chariots is one of the most vibrant and colourful in the city’s festival calendar – and the second largest of it’s kind to be staged anywhere in Europe.

Thousands of people gathered in Granby Street to watch the start of today’s procession, celebrating the 50 anniversary of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskon).

Organised by the society’s Leicester chapter, it honours the Hindu tradition when God goes out into the streets to share his joy with the people.

The giant chariot carried the deities Lord Jagannatha (Krishna), his sister Subhadra and Lord

Balarama – and was accompanied by music, singing, and dancing.

The event began with an inauguration ceremony involving community leaders at the Hare Krishna Centre, in Granby Street.

The procession then made its way along Gallowtree Gate, passing the Clock Tower and heading out along the Golden Mile.

Its destination was Cossington Park, in Belgrave, where thousands of people were invited to

enjoy a free festival offering vegetarian food, more music, drama and other family entertainment.

One onlooker said he’d made a special effort to come into town to enjoy the party atmosphere.

“I saw the procession for the first time last year and made a point of coming into town to watch watch it again,” he said.

“It really is the most colourful and joyful of occasions – everybody is smiling and soaking up the atmosphere. It’s one of my favourite festivals held in

the city.”

The traditional Jagannatha Rathayatra is a celebration over 5000 yearsold, observed in the ancient holy city of Jagannatha Puri in Orissa, India, making it the oldest street festival in the world.

Devotees believe that if they get the honour of pulling the ropes of the giant chariot, carrying Lord Krishna, known as Jagannatha – Lord of the Universe, then at the end of this life, they will be granted a place in the spiritual world.

Men arrested after dad and son were injured in hit-and-run crash Four men have been arrested in connection with a hitand-run crash in which a dad and son were injured as they walked home from prayers at a city mosque.

The men, who are in their early 20s, were arrested at an addresses in Leicester last Wednesday. They are being questioned by police about the collision in the Humberstone Road area of the city in the early hours of Thursday, May 30.

Mazoomy Mohamed and his 15-year-old son, Aakif, were hit as they walked home from latenight prayers at the nearby

Masjid At-Taqwa mosque, in Harewood Street.

Aakif suffered a minor injury, but father's injuries were far more serious. Mr Mohamed remains in hospital with "life-changing injuries", Leicestershire Police confirmed.

Mazoomy’s brother Manaz last month filmed an emotionally-charged appeal for anyone with any information to speak up. He said: “We humbly make this appeal for any information about the driver of the car or the whereabouts of the car to come forward. The perpetrator is somewhere among

us. Please come forward and help us to find the person who ruined my lovely family’s life. This should not have happened and should not happen to any other human being. We beg anyone with even the smallest amount of information to please come forward and pass on what you know to police.”

In a statement, Leicestershire Police said: "One of the men, aged 23, and from Leicester has been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice.

"This man was previously arrested in May on suspicion of the same offences in connection to the incident and released under investigation at the time. The other arrests made are two men, aged 24, and both of Leicester, who have been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and a man, aged 23, of Leicester, arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender."

Despite some initial reports to the contrary, police have emphasised that the incident is not being treated as terrorist-related.

Parents of sick girl, 5, launch legal bid to force doctors to keep her alive The parents of a seriously ill schoolgirl who doctors say should be allowed to die have launched a legal bid to keep her alive.

Tafida Raqeeb, five, suffered a devastating brain injury in February, and doctors have told her family there is no hope of recovery.

But mum and dad Shelina Begum and Mohammed Raqeeb say a hospital in Italy is willing to treat her, and plan to seek a judicial review at the High Court.

Tafida, from Newham, in East London, suffered a burst blood vessel in her brain as she slept, and was transferred to the Royal London Hospital in April.

In a blog post her mum Shelina wrote: "Throughout the past five months, we have been repeatedly told Tafida was dying, however she continued to fight for her life. She survived the ini-

tial critical period which they said she wouldn’t; she then survived three surgeries and continues to fight.

It is only fair that she is given a chance to make a recovery."

The parents sent a letter to Barts Health NHS Trust informing the organisation of their plan to launch a judicial review at the High Court today, Mail Online reports.

Shelina said: "We are in a desperate situation and just want to save our daughter. She is not brain dead, she has shown signs of progress such as opening her eyes and moving her limbs. There are experienced and respected doctors who are willing to treat Tafida, to give her the chance at life she so deserves. We simply want the chance to be allowed to try. It breaks our hearts to be told that she is not allowed

in brief MALIK HUSSAIN MURDER APPEAL Detectives are continuing to hunt the killer of a Birmingham father who was stabbed to death in Sparkhill. It is nearly 72 hours since Malik Hussain was murdered in Baker Street, near to the junction of Warwick Road and Golden Hillock Road, late last Friday. The brutal death of the family man has sent shockwaves through the local community but despite pleas for help, police have not yet made any arrests.

Officers believe Malik Hussain may have been targeted by the person who stabbed him and have stepped up their appeal for dashcam footage of a car which was seen in the area around 11pm.

Emergency services dashed to the scene, outside Thunder Road motorbikes and opposite Arden Primary School, but the 35-year-old was pronounced dead.

Camera footage taken in the aftermath of the death show a crowd gathered with police and the ambulance.

Detective Inspector Caroline Corfield, from the force’s homicide team, said: “A man has sadly lost his life and we’re working to establish the circumstances around his death.

“He was discovered in the street with serious injuries and we’re particularly keen to gather information about a car which fled from the area. At this stage we believe this may have been a targeted attack and we’re keen to hear from anyone with information which can assist our enquiries.”

A post mortem is set take place in due course.

Flowers, marked to ‘a special brother’ and a balloon with the words ‘R.I.P Son’, were left on the spot where he died.

Meanwhile, tributes continue to pour in on social media.

POLICE INVESTIGATING HIRAN CHAUHAN MURDER ISSUE URGENT APPEAL Police investigating the murder of Northern Quarter chef Hiran Chauhan want to speak to anyone who may have seen a silver Suzuki Swift. Hiran, 24, was reported missing on Thursday, July 4 after he failed to turn up for work at Mexican restaurant El Capo. He was last seen two days before when he finished work on Tuesday, July 2 at around 10.30pm and got the Metrolink towards his home in Seedley, Salford.

Relatives say CCTV footage shows Hiran got on in the city centre, changed at Cornbrook and then got off at Langworthy at around 11.08pm. His body was found wrapped in plastic in woodland off Eccles Old Road on Tuesday morning by children walking to school.

A 32-year-old man, from the Salford area, was arrested on suspicion of murder and has been bailed pending further inquiries.

Detectives investigating the case have made a specific appeal for anyone who has video or photos from Eccles Old Road, between Weaste Lane and Castleway including Rivington Road, between 11.10pm on Tuesday, July 2 and 9am Tuesday, July 9. Police are also interested in any sightings of a silver Suzuki Swift registration number DG03XKE in the same period of time. According to DVLA records, the car was first registered in March 2003. It is taxed until July 1, 2020, but the MOT expired on July 2 this year.

Reacting to the tragic news of his death, Hiran's family have said they are 'distraught' and now 'hope for justice'. His cousin Jeana Parmar-Joyce wrote on Facebook: "We have had the worst possible news we could have ever imagined.

Our beautiful Hiran has been taken from us and we hope that we will get justice for him. Thank you all for your messages of support, help and shares in trying to find Hiran over the past week. We are all distraught and would appreciate some space for us to process this information.”

TWO WOMEN THROWN OFF GATWICK FLIGHT Tafida Raqeeb was 'bubbly, happy and healthy' until being struck down in her bed by a sudden brain injury called AVM, which starved the brain of oxygen. She was rushed into surgery and given a one per cent chance of surviving the operation.

to leave the hospital."

In a statement the hospital said it was a "very sad case" but said: "Our expert clinicians caring for the child have determined, in discussion with additional independent medical experts elsewhere in

London, that further invasive medical treatment is futile. As such we are engaging with the family to ensure we uphold the child's best interests, recommending withdrawal of life sustaining treatment and instigating palliative care."

Two women were thrown off a Thomas Cook flight from Turkey to Gatwick after they allegedly said three Muslim men in white prayer shawls were “terrorists” and a “threat” to the safety of the plane, other passengers have claimed.

Videos of the incident, which took place after 1am on Friday, show one of the women, who are believed to be British, removing her bag from the overhead luggage rack before being escorted off the plane by police. The incident meant the flight from Dalman to Gatwick was delayed by over an hour.

In a statement, Thomas Cook told The Mirror: “Two passengers on flight MT105 from Dalaman to London Gatwick were removed from the aircraft by police following offensive behaviour on board. The safety of our customers and crew is always our first priority and we do not accept this kind of behaviour on our aircraft. We are sorry to our customers for the delay this caused to their flight.”

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20 - 26 July 2019

Nominations for the Asian Achievers Awards are now open As countdown to the annual Asian Achievers Awards begins, we have begun rounding in nominations. Just like the last 18 years, we are looking for some of the most successful and gamechanging British Asian individuals who have set an example for the community. AAA recognises the outstanding work of the individuals from across all business and professions within the Asian community and acknowledge the accomplishments of the finest in the UK's Asian community.

Attended by Lords and Ladies, Members of Parliament and celebrities alike the awards is a key event in the social calendar. The awards are hosted by and the highlight of the Asian Business Publications, currently in its 19th year, to be held at Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane.

The night is dedicated to recognise the outstanding work of individuals and acknowledges the accomplishments of the finest across the Asian community reflecting the publication’s 48 years of service for the community.

The event is consistently favoured by the community and is the most prestigious and highly respected awards ceremony on the calendar.

Like every year, the awards

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Achievement in Media, Arts and Culture winner Babita Sharma with Lord Swraj Paul and Suresh Vagjiani of Sow & Reap

night will have a Charity Partner for which the awards will help raise funds. Since its inception, AAA has helped various charities raise millions of pounds, and this year, the chosen charity organisation is Yuva Unstoppable, one of premier youth movement in India consisting volunteers to benefit over multiple underprivileged children across 32 cities of India.

Each year, the awards celebrates a certain aspect of the society and this year, the theme is 'Inclusivity'. We urge all members of the society to nominate at least one person from the LGBTQ com-

Entrepreneur of the Year winner Adarsh Radia with Air Marshal Michael Wigston CBE and Selva Pankaj of Regent Group

munity. We feel it is about time we involved people from all walks of life and gave them the recognition they deserve. There are ten categories for the awards and this week, we will have a look at Media, Arts and Culture, Young Entrepreneur, Business Person of the year, and Lifetime Achievement Award.

For Media, Arts and Culture, the award will be given to someone who has made a mark in media including print and broadcast media, cinema, art and culture.

A young, aspiring entrepreneur with a proven track

record of operating a successful business enterprise will be awarded the Young Entrepreneur award.

The Business Person of the Year is someone who is successful in every sense of the word and also demonstrates a passion for social issues.

AAA also has the special Lifetime Achievement Award that honours individuals who have made immense contributions in any given field to their community and the country.

Last year the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to long serving NHS profes-

sional and philanthropist Dr Hasmukh Shah BEM. Atul Lakhani, CEO of multi-award winning catering and event management specialists Sanjay Foods was presented the Business of the Year award. Adarsh Radia – Cofounder of Indian restaurant chain Dishoom and eyewear startup KITE won the entrepreneur of the Year. The winner of Media, Art & Culture was Babita Sharma, BBC News anchor and documentarian.

If you know any one who has excelled in their respective fields, nominate them. Nomination closes on 31st July 2019.

PLEASE NOMINATE th

For

®

s there someone you know who has broken boundaries and deserves recognition for their unique contribution to the Asian Community or the Nation ?

I

Deadline for nomination 31st July, 2019

AWARDS CATEGORIES Achievement in Community Service Woman of the Year Sports Personality of the Year Business Person of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award Uniformed and Civil Services Entrepreneur of the Year Professional of the Year Achievement in Media, Arts and Culture The prestigious Asian Achievers Awards is hosted every year by UK’s leading news weeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar to honour British Asians par excellence.

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pply online

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UK government and City East Bengal FC centenary to be of London hosts India Day celebrated by diaspora worldwide Department for International Trade and City of London Corporation hosted India Day – a day long programme of speeches, panels and discussions at Mansion House, after first-ever India Day was marked in the Houses of Parliament on Monday 24 June.

The Lord Mayor during his speech specially highlighted two new deals signed between UK and India: an agreed partnership between R5FX with Edelweiss GIA to improve their offer through their Fintech expertise. And Indian challenger bank TMW Pay to expand internationally and be operational in London having invested £20 million and creating 100 jobs.

The themes for the day included Innovation in financial services, opportunities in India's growing economy, investing in stressed assets, the future of insurance, green infrastructure and investing in innovation.

Keeping the current trend in mind, Asian Voice’s annual Finance, Banking and Investment magazine this year was themed on the UKIndia bilateral relationship, with a focus on FinTech, sustainable developments and innovation. The magazine was launched in the Houses of Parliament on 4 July.

The India day at the City explored new opportunities for collaboration in financial and professional services, and a precursor to the Lord Mayor's planned India visit in September. Besides the Lord Mayor and London's Deputy Mayor for Business Rajesh Agrawal, the panellists and speakers included Piyush Goyal Current minister of Ministry of Railways and Commerce in the Government of India, Britain's Cabinet Ministers and senior leaders from leading UK and Indian financial services organisations.

Importance of India after Brexit Speaking at the event, Lord Mayor Alderman Peter Estlin highlighted India’s importance to UK as a Commonwealth nation, more so after Brexit. He said, “For over a century, India has been an important partner.

In fact, some of our most long-standing businesses in the City are Indian – with the State Bank of India having offices here since the turn of the century. Today, the London Stock Exchange is the leading centre for the issuance of ‘Masala bonds’.

And the City of London Corporation has had offices in Mumbai for over a decade.

“This long-dated friendship has led to an incredible business partnership, one that continues to improve.

UK's exports to India increased at the fastest rate

Lord Mayor Alderman Peter Estlin

among our top trading partners outside the European Union, with an almost 20 per cent hike in goods and services trade in 2018. In fact, the UK imported more from India than any other Commonwealth country.

And I believe that the most innovative and dynamic part of this trading relationship is in our financial and professional services…”

Speaking about India’s recent budget and his successful visit last year, he added, “As the most recent budget announced by the new Indian Finance Minister shows, there’s a lot of opportunity for collaboration.

Whether it is developments in the insurance sector, raising capital from external markets or infrastructure expertise – the City is well placed to help…

“And we can work together on more innovative and emerging industries, like Fintech, green finance and infrastructure investment. I was India with the Late Lord Mayor last October, where we visited Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. We brought with us a business delegation of 11 Fintech companies, and we had great success following the trip…

“Since then, we have made great progress…and thanks to that trip I can announce today two new deals. UK firm R5FX have agreed a partnership with Edelweiss GIA to improve their offer through their Fintech expertise. And Indian challenger bank TMW Pay are expanding internationally they are now here and operational in London having invested £20 million and creating 100 jobs.

“This is great work and testament to the strong bonds of friendship and business between the UK and India… bonds I hope to build on as I am finalising plans for my next visit to India in September with a focus on new areas for collaboration…”

Emphasising on the growing importance of the Fintech industry he said, “Areas like Fintech, which can help drive financial inclusion, contribute to economic growth and provide a chance for us to learn from each other’s success…

“Since 2014, Indian Fintech start-ups have seen

London's Deputy Mayor for Business Rajesh Agrawal

almost £4.5 billion pounds invested across 660 deals…

And here in the UK we have the people, the talent and the capital to help create opportunities for Indian Fintech to grow and test their Fintech products...”

Relaxation of immigration rules Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Theresa May said, “The innovators and entrepreneurs, the thinkers and the do-ers, who are working hand-in-hand with colleagues and counterparts on the other side of the world to grow our economies and, in doing so, help all our people grow too.

“Our nations are many thousands of miles apart, our cultures in many ways very different...But for all that diversity, the UK and India have much in common. Our countries are twin pillars of the Commonwealth. Each is built on shared values of democracy and the rule of law. We are equally committed to open markets, to free trade and the international order.

“Both governments are dedicated to tackling the global challenges – from security to climate change that no one nation can defeat alone…

“In 2019 the story of the UK and India is not a story of our complex and intertwined history, but of the flows of capital, technology and business.

"Of the 'living bridge' of people and ideas that make us, in the words of Prime Minister Modi, an “unbeatable combination” – both today and for the future…"

Adding about relaxing of the immigration rules for Indians after Brexit, she said, "Over the past three years, Indian companies have raised £2 billion through green bonds listed on the LSE. We are in the midst of an immensely productive period of economic relations between India and the UK...

"When the Indian government raises its first ever international sovereign bond later this year I hope they do so in the City of London – whose capital markets, with their unrivalled depth and liquidity, are the best in the world.

"Yesterday saw the lat-

100 years commemoration of the East Bengal Football Club will be celebrated worldwide in coming August with much pomp and gaiety. It will be observed by the community across 6 continents- Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and Australia with same jubilation, led by Bengal Heritage Foundation, and supported by a fan club of East Bengal FC. Yellow and red striped club flag will be hoisted in 100 different locations across the globe on 3 and 4 August as part of the East Bengal centenary flag hoisting ceremony.

Speaking to Asian Voice, Anirban Kumar Mukhopadhyay, one of the key organisers from BHF- a brain behind this initiative said, “We start in Dhaka on 3

August at 12 noon and then move west to India, Middle East, Africa, Europe, UK, US, Canada, Brazil - all hoisting flags at 12 noon - then cross the international date line into Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia Malaysia and Singapore - all on 12 noon on 4th August - till it comes back to India for the closing ceremony of the East Bengal centenary global flag hoisting initiative in Kolkata on 4th August at 12 noon.”

Kolkata in India will see

the formal celebrations by the Club first, starting on 1 August. The first flag hoisting ceremony will be at Kumortuli, in Kolkata from where the journey began 100 years ago. East Bengal fans will wave the club flag in various significant parts of the city, sign on them, take photographs, creating memories – all of which will be documented in the future and displayed in various museums.

In Belgium the flag will be hoisted by former coach Philippe De Ridder. In the UK, Chima Okorie will be present either in Manchester or London during the hoisting ceremony.

In Brazil’s Sao Paulo, the flag will be hoisted by Douglas Silva and in Ghana it will be the famous Sule Musa.

Very first statue of Sister Nivedita installed in Devon The very first outdoor statue of Sister Nivedita has been installed at the Great Torrington family cemetery in Devon, UK on July 4, at the behest of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and will officially be unveiled on 27th July by Swami Girishananda, Treasurer of the Shri Ramakrishna Mission.

Speaking to Asian Voice, London based Sarada Sarkar, who is involved in the project said, “Our heartfelt thanks to Swami Suviranandaji Maharaj and the West Bengal Government, especially Honourable Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee.

We would also like to thank Tushar Maharaj of Sargachhi Mission who made the statue, Swami Jnasudhanandaji for taking care of the paperwork and Swami Girishanandaji Maharaj, who kindly agreed to unveil the statue. Last but not least, our heartfelt thanks

to Swami Sarvasthanandaji Maharaj for his continuous guidance in this matter and to Torridge Council, for their help and support and willingness to recognise

Sister Nivedita.

“When we got permission for the space in the cemetery I didn't have a clue where the money will come from. I am sure the holy mother would have heard the prayer and the

rest is history!”

Sister Nivedita was an Irish teacher, author, social activist, school founder and disciple of Swami Vivekananda, who met her in London in 1895 and took her to Kolkata, India. He christened her as ‘Nivedita’, which means dedicated to God. She died in Darjeeling in 1911, and cremated there. Her ashes were then sent to England, which was received by her b r o t h e r Richmond Noble and buried with the family in the cemetery.

C h i e f Minister Mamata Banerjee unveiled a blue plaque in 2017 at 21 High S t r e e t , Wimbledon, London where Sister Nivedita lived with her mother, brother and sister in 1901. Blue plaques, erected by the English Heritage, celebrate important personalities and the buildings they lived or worked in the UK.

est edition of the highly successful JETCO trade dialogue, at which representatives from both our nations discussed our approach to the removal of trade barriers in the years ahead.

"And once we leave the EU, our new immigration rules will see an individual’s right to work in the UK determined not by where they were born, but by what they can bring to our nation – a boost for Indian employers who want to do business in the UK…”In 2018, the

combined turnover of Indian companies in the UK reached almost £50 billion, more than trebling in just five years. Indian FDI in the UK is growing faster than that from any other country, soaring by an incredible 321 per cent in just 12 months.

Bilateral trade rose by 14 per cent last year. The British Development Finance bank, CDC Group, invests more in India than anywhere else in the world – more than 300 investments totalling over £1.3 billion and directly sup-

porting around 350,000 jobs.

Venture capital firms like Pontaq and Blume are seeking out innovative startups in both nations. Joint ventures such as HDFC Life and ICICI Prudential are India’s leading private sector insurers.

London-based companies like Greensill are expanding their financing platforms in India. And, in the past three years, Indian issuers have raised over £7.5 billion of bonds on the London Stock Exchange.

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20 - 26 July 2019

BATTING FOR DIVERSITY Continued from page 1

History bears testimony to the fact that cricket brings the debate around nationalism, immigration, and multiculturalism to the forefront. And English cricket has been no exception to this rule. From the era when Norman Tebbit questioned the loyalties of a multi-cultural society in supporting their home team to today sporting one of the most diverse sports teams in the world, England has witnessed a gradual yet, a paradigmatic change.

Perhaps, this celebration of an integrated society was at best when the English cricketers pumped on adrenaline lifted the World Cup for the first time.

“When the champagne was sprayed on the podium during the world cup celebrations, we saw Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, stepping out of the frame and that is what London is all about. It is all about respecting each other and celebrating the different faiths,” said former left-arm spinner, Monty Panesar to Asian Voice.

Rashid and Ali have been part of the team since the last World Cup in 2015.

However, it was the 25year-young debutant Jofra Archer with cultural ties from Barbados who only actually qualified to play for England in March this year. This was following the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) decision to relax its residency ruling from seven to three years from January 1, 2019.

But this is not the first of the measures adopted by the ECB to ensure greater participation from members of the BAME communities.

Last year in its efforts to integrate cricket players from different faith and religious backgrounds, the ECB launched the South Asian Action Plan in consultation with the South Asian communities.

South Asian Action Plan and street cricket “The ECB has interacted with the South Asian Cricketing community to understand the areas that were effecting the progress, growth, and participation for cricket players from the South Asian diaspora.

“Today, over 35% of all recreational cricket in the UK is played by the South Asian cricketing community. But, the reach from those communities into professional games whether it is in the field of coaching, umpiring, other administrative services, their footprint, and proportion is not as it should be.

“This is what the South Asian Action Plan hopes to

achieve. It won't be an immediate change but we will see the growth of the seeds planted in the next five to seven years,” said Gulfraz Riaz, Chairman of National Asian Cricket Council.

As part of the plan, the ECB has heavily invested in core cities such as Leicester, Birmingham, Bradford, Leeds, Luton among other Monty Panesar

When the champagne was sprayed on the podium during the world cup celebrations, we saw Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, stepping out of the frame and that is what London is all about. It is all about respecting each other and celebrating the different faiths, cities and towns with a sizeable South Asian population. This plan witnesses the ECB working at a grassroots level with faith schools, religious organisations, and community centers. It includes hosting cricket competitions at mosques and temples, the introduction of alcohol-free zones,

Gulfraz Riaz

prayer rooms, halal and vegetarian food at grounds to enhance the appeal of the game.

“Cricket is a game for everyone – it brings people together and unites communities. We believe the sport brings profound benefits

and that is why we are working hard to make sure that the game is as accessible and inclusive as possible. We are doing this through our South Asian Action Plan and our game-wide strategy, Inspiring Generations.

“Over the past few weeks, our men’s team has inspired a nation and will hopefully help create a new generation of players and fans.

Both our men’s and women’s team represent the very best of our sport and we are proud to call them double World Champions,” said Vikram Banerjee, ECB Director of Strategy and Corporate Development.

Some of the British Asians who have played for England at Test or one-day level in recent years include Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Monty Panesar, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, and Haseeb Hameed. But, this time's world cup team was perhaps the greatest examples of unity in diversity with Irish cricketer and batsman Eoin Morgan leading the attack. As the English team battled against New Zealand's bowling attack, taking the match to a superover, Morgan decided to send Stokes and Butler to knock boundaries while handed over the bowling attack to the courageous Jofra Archer. While Stokes' father rooted for New Zealand, the English born cricketer managed to drive England to victory after the team had initially appeared

to be on the verge of losing.

There was also heightened discussion around how the ECB could have selected seasoned players over the more younger and IPL-ready team.

“The IPL is a platform for people to develop their skill under intense pressure and super-over was the perfect example of this. Stokes, Butler, and Archer all had the common thread of being star performers at the IPL,” said Monty Panesar.

But, perhaps the respect for players from different religious backgrounds and faiths was best highlighted during the post-match discussion when Morgan disclosed his conversation with Rashid.

“I spoke to Adil (Rashid), he said Allah was definitely with us,” said Morgan.

It is in light of this that Gulfraz believes that “it is

pretty accurate of the Prime Minister to say the team is representative of modern Britain especially if one looks at the make-up of the team.

“There are two players of Pakistani heritage who are Muslims. Archer has his cultural ties with Barbados while the others have ties with New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland.”

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HFB calls on authorities to not adopt The redundant ado over caste APPG 'Islamophobia' definition CB Patel

Dear Readers,

It is a new story in the press every single day. The latest brouhaha to catch my attention and pick on my nerve is that of Sakshi Misra. The daughter of a BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh, has struck headlines recently after she married a man from the Dalit background. Personally, I see two people wishing to spend the rest of their lives together, regardless of their caste, faith and religion as their personal choice and conforming to our culture. However, I was mistaken. The larger chunk of our society saw two people from separate castes coming together in an alliance in a way where they did not follow basic rules.

Today, I would like to take this opportunity to clarify a few common misconceptions. The Manusmriti, one of Hinduisms many Dharmasastras is often misquoted and used out of context. The whole division of Hindus into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishhyas, and Shudras is believed to be hereditary. However, that is not the case. I have read pieces of Manusmriti and know for a fact that the division of castes was merely based on occupations, and was karma-based. I believe the four castes were not bestowed upon people as per the families they were born in.

In fact, no vedas or upanishads have ever mentioned God or the much-talked about caste system. They only speak of values and morals. As per my humble knowledge, after the 11th to 12th century, when India first became acquainted to Afghan and the Muslim population, attempts of religious conversion of people became rampant. The caste system was used by Gurus and Hindu leaders then to help people. And in a way, it even did.

Caste has mostly remained an outline of how certain spiritual and other leaders wanted the general public to live. It hasn't necessarily meant that ALL of them followed the guidelines. It is evident in the Puranas too. So much has been written on Rishis who were not Brahmins and kings who were not Kshatriyas. There is a Guru in Maharashtra who is by caste, a Vankar.

Back in those days, caste worked as a shield. But times have changed now.

The new, progressive, global India does not need such suffocating notions.

The caste-based society is binding our population into a concrete box. The system is of no importance to Indians within the country and overseas. It is only those people with their vested interests who use it as a crutch and every so now and then, use it to push other people down.

BR Ambedkar's wife was a Brahmin

and they lived a long happy married life.

Be it Kabir or Sai Baba, neither believed in caste and saw beyond it and the effect they had on so many lives now remains alive in history.

What I am trying to say here, is that it's an unnecessary arrangement that is creating confusion. It is confining the community and hindering growth, not to mention that its especially cruel on the young.

In the last 70 years of Indian independence, caste has managed to permeate in a person's day to day life despite Ambedkar's best of efforts. What do you think reservation is? It is purely caste-based politics.

No political party in India has any shame in exploiting the system. Their leaders are so used to resorting to caste to appeal to the public that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 10 per cent reservation for the economically backward class seemed worth opposing to them. In this day and time, if India wants to develop as a nation and explore democracy then secularism, inclusiveness, and unity are paramount. However, that seems to be the least of the priorities to several political gundas.

Sooner the caste-based social fabric is buried, the better. This is in no way related to the common good. But most importantly, it gives India a negative image- an intolerant image.

One shining example of defying the caste system is of a man whose legacy is unfortunately not very well-known.

Ambubhai Patel was in Kenya during the Mau Mau uprisings. He used his experience as an Indian freedom fighter to take an active role in attaining freedom for Kenya. Patel had worked closely with Jomo Kenyatta and even took in his daughter Margaret into his home when Kenyatta was detained.

There is one incident that draws the difference between Kenyatta and Ambubhai. The two were once in car in Nairobi when Ambubhai became critical over Kenyatta's exploitation of people.

The latter made the driver stop the car and ordered Ambubhai to get down.

Ambubhai later went to India and resided in Anand, Gujarat. His daughter Lakshmi presented her intentions to marry a harijan. The ever so progressive-thinking man, he readily made arrangements and printed wedding cards that stated his daughter is marrying a harijan and guests are invited to come in and give the couple their blessings.

Even in the 1960s, there were people who took such bold steps and did their bid in changing the society. It is about time.

The nation needs to wake up.

Victim of forced marriage escapes husband while on honeymoon A young British woman flew back to the UK on her own after fleeing a forced marriage, it was revealed Tuesday. She returned to Heathrow by herself after escaping from her husband while on her honeymoon.

When he returned he was intercepted at the airport but it is not currently clear if a criminal probe is underway.

Check-in staff and cabin crew at airlines, including EasyJet, are being trained to spot victims of forced marriage, FGM and modern slavery. But police stressed airport interventions are a last resort, with the focus on changing attitudes and pre-

vention.

The woman’s story emerged as Scotland Yard launched an operation at the UK’s busiest airport to raise awareness of forced marriage. Police officers, along with Border Force, are aiming to identify victims and perpetrators of the practice, as well as those at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM), honour-based abuse and breast ironing, as they return to the UK. The operation is part of a national week-long crackdown on forced marriage, dubbed Operation Limelight, focusing on flights to and from countries where the practice is

the most common.

Last year, the Home Office supported victims in 1,764 suspected cases of forced marriage, 574 of which involved under-18s.

These cases were linked to 74 different countries, the most common of which involved travel to Pakistan (769 cases), Bangladesh (157 cases) and India (110 cases).

Officials say real numbers are likely to be much higher because the crime goes unreported.

Polly Harrar, founder of the Sharan Project charity, said forced marriage victims have been identified between the ages of two and 80.

Multi-faith organisations led by Hindu Forum of Britain are urging local authorities, community leaders and MPs across the UK, not to adopt the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia, before Home Affairs Select Committee has formally approved it.

This came after HFB recently received an extensively researched letter, asking pertaining questions about the definition.

It said, “We are concerned that this definition, which can be used to accuse a person of being criminally racist, is being accepted and passed, often without debate and even prior to Parliamentary scrutiny. We are concerned that “MuslimPhobia” which is clearly unacceptable and already dealt with within the scope of existing protected characteristics of Equality legislation, is being conflated with Islamophobia, fear of an ideology…”

Giving examples, it also raised topics such as the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pundits and asked if they could be labelled as racists if they lobbied against their own 'troubles' in the hands of ‘Islamists’.

“Perhaps a query regarding the Palestinian disbursement of publicly donated funds could also be deemed Islamophobic since Palestine and Kashmir are specifically named in the proposed definition,” it further added.

Signed letter to Home Secretary Sajid Javid The first meeting of the APPG Hindu Group took place on 19 March 2019, and collectively with other faiths they signed an open letter that was sent to the Home Secretary condemning hate crimes against Muslims.

However, the same letter that came right after the horrific New Zealand mosque attack, criticised the vagueness of the definition, and raised alarms about its negative consequences on the freedom of expression and threats to civil liberties.

The letter, signed by almost 40 cross community and religion members said, “This vague and expansive definition is being taken on without an adequate scrutiny or proper consideration of its negative consequences for freedom of expression, and academic and journalistic freedom. The definition will also undermine social cohesion – fuelling the very bigotry against Muslims which it is designed to prevent.

“We are concerned that allegations of Islamophobia will be, indeed already are being, used to effectively shield Islamic beliefs and even extremists from criticism, and that formalising this definition will result in it being employed effectively as something of a backdoor blasphemy law.”

The letter further said that accusation of Islamophobia has already been allegedly used against people, including journalists, opposing religious and gender segregation in education, halal slaughter on

the grounds of animal welfare, LGBT campaigners opposing Muslim views on homosexuality, ex-Muslims and feminists opposing Islamic views and practices relating to women, as well as those concerned about the issue of grooming gangs.

“We are concerned that the definition will be used to shut down legitimate criticism and investigation.

While the APPG authors have assured that it does not wish to infringe free speech, the entire content of the report, the definition itself, and early signs of how it would be used, suggest that it certainly would. Civil liberties should not be treated as an afterthought in the effort to tackle anti-Muslim prejudice. The conflation of race and religion employed under the confused concept of ‘cultural racism’ expands the definition beyond antiMuslim hatred to include ‘illegitimate’ criticism of the Islamic religion,” it added.

According to the signatories, no religion should technically be given any special protection against criticism in a democratic country. They therefore emphasised that current legislative provisions are sufficient, as the law already protects individuals against attacks and unlawful discrimination on the basis of their religion.

Rather than helping, this new definition is likely to create a climate of self-censorship and therefore effectively shut down open discussions about matters of public interest, aggravating community tensions further, without solutions.

London Bridge terrorists lawfully killed after ignoring police warnings The London Bridge terrorists, who killed eight people and injured 48 others, were lawfully shot dead by police, a jury has ruled.

Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba (Pic: Met Police) mowed down pedestrians on the bridge before stabwhen the attackers conbing random members of fronted three armed police the public around Borough in Stoney Street.

Market.

The Old Bailey heard They were armed with that the officers shouting ceramic knives and had fake warnings and opened fire as suicide belts strapped Butt, Redouane and Zaghba around their waists during came at them. the marauding attack on the In the hail of bullets, a evening of June 3 2017. man in the nearby The rampage was halted Wheatsheaf pub was hit by a after less than 10 minutes stray round but survived.

Fearing Butt and Redouane could still detonate explosive devices as they lay injured, the police officers shot at them again, jurors were told. A bomb disposal expert told the court he only realised the suicide belts were fake after he cut them off the dead bodies and held them up.

A separate inquest concluded victims Xavier Thomas, 45, Chrissy Archibald, 30, Sara Zelenak, 21, James McMullan, 32, Kirsty Boden, 28, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Sebastien Belanger, 36, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39, were unlawfully killed.

Take action; Inspire change; Make Every Day a Mandela Day Continued from page 3

I think that we should all look to their examples and as Gandhi memorably said, “be the change that you wish to see in the world”. On an optimistic note, I believe that the passion and enthusiasm that young people have for politics and campaigning

today means that we have a bright future ahead of us.

Their energy can help us to tackle injustice and make a society fit for many, not just a few. But politics is far too important to be left to others. It is up to all of us to be the change, whether it is through participating in a political

party, trade union or perhaps a local campaign in your community. After all, as Mandela said, “what counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead”.

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Ex-Uber driver accused of planning ISIS-inspired firearms attack in UK Sister charged with failing to inform authorities of activities A former Uber driver and his sister have appeared in court accused of plotting a terror attack and failing to disclose information.

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 28, is accused of accused of preparing acts of terrorism and his sister Sneha Chowdhury, 25, is accused of failing to disclose information.

The pair were arrested following a vehicle stop in Luton on July 3 as part of an investigation by the Scotland Yard's CounterTerrorism Command.

It is alleged that between January 12 and July 3 this year, Mohiussunnath booked a firearms training course, requested and selected a firearm and

researched potential attack targets and asked another person to do the same. It is also alleged that he undertook weight and fitness training, martial arts training and purchased and trained with wooden training swords called bokkens.

Mohiussunnath, a university drop out and former Amazon delivery driver and Uber driver, is charged under the Terrorism Act 2006. He also allegedly disseminated a terrorist video called 'The Establishment of the Islamic State Pt 6' on March 19 this year, also contrary to the Terrorism Act 2006.

A third charge accuses him of possession of an ISIS instructional manual called

'Guidelines for doing just terror operations' on July 3 this year.

His sister Sneha Chowdhury is accused of two charges of failing to disclose information about terrorism between 24 January 24 and July 3 this year. It is alleged she had information which she believed might be of assistance in preventing an act of terrorism and failed to disclose the information as soon as reasonably practicable to a police officer.

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser Tuesday remanded Mohiussunnath Chowdhury in custody, but bailed his sister under a number of conditions. They will appear at the Old Bailey on July 29.

Foreign doctors behind 60% of sex assaults on patients Foreign-trained doctors are responsible for 60 per cent of sex assaults on patients despite making up just a third of NHS medics. They accounted for 23 of 38 proven sexual misconduct cases in the last three years with allegations including rape and sexual assault.

The figures - obtained by the Mail on Sunday were revealed after NHS chiefs introduced targets to reduce the number of black and ethnic minority staff being hauled before disciplinary hearings.

Britain's army of 95,000 black and ethnic miniority doctors are twice as likely to be referred to the GMC than their white colleagues.

NHS chief people officer Prerana Issar siad in a report: "It is not acceptable that if you come from some backgrounds, you are more likely to enter the formal disciplinary process, stay in it longer and have more career-limiting outcomes.

"We must change this and quickly."

A recent GMC report found "no evidence of

[racial] bias" in disciplinary procedures.

It said doctors were "isolated" and felt they were "treated as outsiders".

An NHS spokesman said: "Where allegations are made it is right that they are thoroughly investigated and any appropriate action taken, regardless of someone’s ethnicity or where they trained. But it is also right that all NHS staff feel they will be treated fairly and not face discrimination, which is what this guidance sets out to achieve."

Dr. Rami Ranger CBE Chairman, Sun Mark Ltd.

Boris Johnson: Road to the UK's future To Asian Voice readers, We run an international business sustaining thousands of British jobs by exporting British products to over 130 countries in the world.

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We are writing to endorse the Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson MP in his bid to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

We believe that as Prime Minister, Boris will be a forceful champion for the free market and dynamic enterprise. His record as Mayor of London shows that he understands that a healthy business sector is vital for a thriving economy and world class public services.

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We are all agreed that the biggest threat to the UK's prosperity is not our departure from the EU but the Leader of the Labour Party. Boris Johnson is the only candidate that can decisively defeat Jeremy Corbyn, preventing him from imposing his anti-business and anti-prosperity agenda on the country.

We are backing Boris as the best choice to end the Brexit uncertainty once and for all, unite our country and restore belief in Britain’s future.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed by any of our contributors are their own and not reflective of Asian Voice)

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10 READERS VOICE

AsianVoiceNews

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20 - 26 July 2019

Loomba Foundation

World Cup inquisition

The future of Brexit UK

Dear readers of Asian Voice, Thank you very much for all the donations received last month after the appeal via our brochure. I am really grateful for all your donations and for the kind words that many of you wrote regarding the work we carry out to help widows in India. I'm proud to make a difference to the lives of widows and while we have made lots of progress over the years, awareness of their plight is still very low. Nevertheless, we are working hard every day to raise money and to spread awareness.

The women that we featured in the brochure are real examples of widows that have suffered and been treated badly simply because of their marital status. It is heartbreaking to see their treatment and to imagine what their children are going through. Your donations will enable us to help widows just like them, so thank you once again.

If you didn't manage to make a donation and would like to find out how you can contribute please contact us via email (safdar@theloombafoundation.org) or you can call us on (020) 8102 0351.

Lord Loomba CBE The Loomba Foundation Founder and Chairman Trustee

The Cricket World Cup competition has indeed become as popular as Football World Cup, at least in countries once ruled by Britain. That is mainly due to the success of IPL in India, drawing huge crowd, sponsorship galore that has made Indian cricket the most attractive, at least financially, giving BCCI an influential position and a say that was unimaginable before IPL. The most encouraging aspect is that even ladies, young and 87 years old grandmother are equally absorbed, dedicated and avid supporter of Indian team.

The defeat of Indian team by a tiny nation New Zealand has indeed raised an inquisition on all fronts. Even Dhoni and Kholi have not been spared, as India was favourite to lift World Cup. Virat Kholi, world’s leading batsman by far, has failed to reach even double figure in his three semi-final innings, scoring a total of just 11 runs. His dismissal for one against New Zealand started the collapse that even Dhoni could not stop.

Dhoni has been widely criticised in Indian press for his slow start, putting undue pressure on Ravindra Jadeja who was playing brilliantly, an all-round performance that reminded us of Youvraj at his best.

While India had world cup winning bowlers, both in spin and speed category, India badly lacked middle order batsmen who could steady the ship if the openers went early. India was unfortunate to lose Shaker Dhaven and Shankar due to injury, thus forcing K. L. Rahul to open batting who could have strengthened the middle order batting.

Even the selection of the team was criticized with three wicketkeeper batsman, especially Kartik who had a bad IPL season and was out of form, as well as omission of allrounder Ashwin and Ambait Rayudu who announced his retirement in disappointment. No one will be surprised if there is a wholesale change on the management side!

Kumudini Valambia By email

Initially there will be shocks like swathes of job losses as companies, foreign and British, relocate to more fruitful pastures. There are also sure to be pleasant surprises when Brexit UK bags major trade deals across the world and rejoices in showing two fingers to Europe, with Europe reciprocating the rude gesture whenever they triumph.

We shall also see tit-for-tat trade tariffs imposed with a vengeance, plus long queues of traffic on both sides of the English Channel as the two adversaries spitefully insist on time-consuming bureaucratic processes to upset each other.

However, as the years click by, I think the UK and EU will steadily see sense in forming a mutually beneficial new trading relationship, co-existing in perfect harmony on every level.

Do you agree?

Rudy Otter By email

Supporting India over England leaves me stumped!

I read with interest the piece written by Lord Dolar Popat and it reminded me of the terribly infamous ‘Tebbit Test’ that was invoked by yet another peer many years back. It was roundly criticised by everybody. This article deserves the same treatment.

There is a common mistake made of mixing ethnicity with nationality. The two are quite different. You might be a white UK individual who has migrated to Australia or New Zealand and have acquired their citizenship. If you supported a visiting England team rather than your adopted country, it would be seen as natural and normal, not immoral or unpatriotic. It is only a game, not war.

I think we should look at it in the same way as far as Indians in the UK and their support for the Indian cricket team is concerned.

Let us also remember that not only the Indian but Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Afghani as well as many West Indian cricket lovers also supported their ‘native’ countries. Were they all also unpatriotic? Of course not!

It is wrong to ‘blackmail’ these people by saying ‘Look at all the opportunities we gave you and your children’. It is a two-way process.

The UK has also benefited enormously by the huge contribution made by BAME communities to economic, cultural, spiritual, social, intellectual and moral development and continue to do so. They have all come up through their own hard work and sacrifices, not by relying on any state handouts or kindness. They are all patriotic and proud UK citizens who do not deserve to be questioned over their loyalty to the country by anyone.

Perhaps, a more valid question that the English lady from Shadwell needs to ask is ‘Where were the English cricket fans?’ Why in a country of 65 million people can we not find enough English people to fill the grounds on their own?

Why is Cricket almost never on screens in English pubs or restaurants? Why is Cricket absent from free-to-air television? If all that is linked to the sharply declining interest in Cricket in England, why blame the Indian cricket fans?

Jayant Tanna By email

Up to speed The only papers to which I subscribe are Asian Voice (AV) in English and Gujarat Samachar (GS) in Gujarati. Besides the free dailies that one can get on the trains and buses, I see no need to read any other paper.

I consider that AV in English, and GS in Gujarati, satiate my hunger for the written word and for being kept up to speed on what is happening in this country and in our motherland.

As always, I first glance at the headlines on the front pages and then go through the “Comment” and “Your Voice” column in AV and the “Amare pan kain kahevun chhe” column in GS. These make me au fait with the world affairs.

I then read other pages and try to put my teeth into the crossword puzzles at leisure. I must add that if you subscribe to AV and GS, you do not need to buy any other daily newspapers or weeklies. All your food for thought could be gleaned from the vast amount of information contained in these two weeklies.

If you subscribe to both AV and GS, for two years, you will get these papers (about 208) copies for £66.50. This comes to about 30p per copy which is less than the price of the postage stamp!

I also get a chance to get involved and express my views in “Your Voice” column in AV and the “Amare pan kain kahevun chhe” column in GS. Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Rise of sea levels Climate change is predicted to raise global temperature by 2*C in few decades, if not earlier, unless world leaders take drastic action, to neutralise carbon discharge not later than 2050. So far only Britain has promised to meet this target.

But many experts believe it is unachievable for a major economy like ours.

Most worrying aspect is rise of sea level by five to seven feet, mainly due to melting of ice at both poles. This may lead to submergence of many low lying islands and that include Maldives, Andaman and Nicobar in Indian Ocean, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga and many more in the South Pacific, as well as low lying countries like Bangladesh and Netherland.

While on holidays, I like to read local papers, especially in English speaking islands of Malta, Gozo and Cyprus, as their newspapers are so much more interesting to read. One article that caught my imagination was how to negate rise of sea level and save hundreds of islands from disappearing from the world map.

One solution proposed in the article was to bring to life some of inland seas that have lost most of their water, through evaporation and diverting river waters for agricultural purpose, thus depriving these inland seas and lakes of their natural source of water that would keep them healthy.

One prime example is “Dead Sea” bordering West Bank and Jordan, has lost 60% of water over a century. The water is so salty that it is barren of sea life and people can float on water if they are brave enough to enter such a salty sea.

Another one is Caspian Sea where waters from river Volga were diverted for agriculture during Soviet era, sea losing 25% of surface water. Besides refilling these inland seas, it was also suggested to build vast inland seas in countries with vast land area but low density of human population.

Countries, areas named were Australia, Saudi Arabia, Nevada, Sahara and Kalahari deserts and few more, with detail maps, costs and effect it would have on the sea level.

These measures could drain oceans of trillions of gallons, thus negating climate change, even lowering sea level if beneficial.

Cost at the time was estimated between $75 and $100 billion, not prohibitive compared to what we spend collectively on armament but would pose numerous obstacles, political, cultural, terrain and finance, could only be carried out under UN mandate.

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

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UK News

Asian man found murdered in layby with shotgun wounds An Eastleigh man was found dead in a layby over the weekend in what police believe to be a targeted murder.

Hampshire detectives have launched a murder investigation following the discovery of a man’s body in Corhampton on Saturday 13th July.

The police were called to a layby in Shepherds Farm Lane at 9.58am by a member of the public, who discovered the body in a car.

The dead man has been named as 41-year-old Gurinderjit Rai from Eastleigh. His next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers. The family request that their privacy is respected at this time.

A post mortem examination has confirmed the man died as a result of shotgun wounds. Hampshire Police believe it was a tar-

geted attack.

A road closure was in place on Shepherd Farm Lane near Corhampton Golf Club, while the police undertook an investigation of the scene.

Detective chief inspector Dave Storey said: “We are in the very early stages of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding this death and are asking for the public’s help. We would like to hear from anyone who was in the area of Shepherds Farm Lane between 11.30pm on Friday, July 12 and 10am on Saturday, July 13. We’d particularly like to hear from anyone who drove along that road or has dashcam footage.”

Three men from Winchester, aged between 25 and 29, and a 31-year-old man from Eastleigh have been arrested and are in police custody.

Young black and Asian prisoners outnumber whites for first time According to government figures there are more black, Asian and minority ethnic youths in young offender institutions and secure units than white people for the first time.

The announcement comes as a Labour MP said that jurors favoured white, middle-class defendants.

Ministry of Justice figures show that in May there were 415 black, Asian and minority young people in custody in England and Wales compared with 396 white young people, or 51 per cent to 48 per cent, with 1 per cent “not known”.

It was the first time the monthly youth custody figures had shown a higher number of black and minority ethnic under-18s than whites in young offender institutions, secure training centres and secure children’s homes.

The 2011 census from

the Office for National Statistics showed that 20 per cent of the under-18s in Britain were not white.

Pippa Goodfellow, director of the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, said: “The latest youth custody statistics are a cause of great concern, as they demonstrate the sheer extent to which the criminal justice system is disproportionately propelling black and minority ethnic children into prison.”

In the past ten years the number of under-18s in custody has fallen from about 2,900 to just over 800 in May as part of a government policy to reduce numbers by diverting youngsters away from the formal justice system.

However, the figures show the proportion of whites in custody has fallen at a greater rate than for black and minority ethnic young people.

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AsianVoiceNews

EDUCATION

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

11

20 - 26 July 2019

Gender pay gap even extends 'Grade inflation' means 80% to pocket money as girls get more top degree grades five per cent less than boys The gender pay gap exists all the way down the age scale to girls as young as eight, according to a study of pocket money and earnings for the nation’s youngsters.

Based on annual pocket money receipts, including payments for chores, girls of eight get an average of £265 a year – £5.10 a week – which is £14 less than boys.

This same disparity can be seen all the way through to those aged 15 with the biggest gender pocket money gap occurring at 11 – with £371 a year for girls compared with £404 for boys.

The figures, which show an average gap of 5 per cent,

are based on a sample size of 75,000 youngsters aged six to 18 and combined with evidence collected by experts at University College London’s Consumer Data Research Centre.

And they are expected to spark some heated debates over the nation’s breakfast tables as young girls insist

on greater pocket money parity with their brothers.

The research was sponsored by Gohenry, which is the prepaid pocket money card and app for six to 18year-olds, and designed to measure the income and shopping habits of Generation Z – those born after 1998.

Chief executive and cofounder of Gohenry, Louise Hill, said: ‘The key thing with this generation is to make sure they’re learning to manage their money from an early age so that when they go out into the world they’ve got the money skills they need to navigate it successfully.’

Government 'too slow' to tackle LGBT school protests The government was "too slow to respond" to "mob" protests over LGBT teaching outside Birmingham schools, according to the woman tasked with challenging extremism.

Sara Khan told the BBC's Panorama more support should have been given to head teachers dealing with demonstrations.

Ms Khan was appointed by the home secretary to lead the Commission for Countering Extremism.

She said the Department for Education "could have done so much more".

"I think they were too slow to respond. There's a lot of confusion about what's actually being taught and I think the DfE could have played a very impor-

Protesters descended on primary schools in Birmingham

tant role in clarifying to parents this is what's actually being taught, not the misinformation that we're seeing out there," said Ms Khan.

Protests began at Parkfield Community School, where most pupils are Muslim, in February.

Parents called for an end to the use of story books fea-

turing same sex couples, as part of a programme teaching about equality.

Protesters chanted "Our children, our choice", arguing their religion did not accept homosexuality.

Weeks later, the school suspended its "No Outsiders" programme, to consult with parents.

The proportion of students in England awarded firstclass degrees continues to increase - rising by 80% since 2010-11, the university watchdog says.

The Office for Students, warning of grade inflation, says for almost three-quarters of universities such increases in top grades are "unexplained".

The University of Surrey increased its proportion awarded first-class degrees from 23% to 47% of students.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds warned against "unfair practices".

"Worries about grade inflation threaten to devalue a university education in the eyes of employers and potential students," said Susan Lapworth, director of competition for the Office for Students.

The higher education watchdog also examined why the proportion awarded top degrees might have risen from 16% to 29%, such as students arriving from school with better qualifications.

But the analysis found much of the increase could not be explained.

The figures showed over 40,000 more students graduated with firsts last summer than in the cohort of seven years before.

Mr Hinds said that if universities were giving many more top degrees without a legitimate reason, it was unfair on those who had studied to the same standard in previous years.

"We owe it to the hardworking students and institutions who play by the rules to stamp out this unfair practice. Today's figures are disappointing and risk compromising the pub-

lic trust in the high standards of our universities," said the education secretary.

The watchdog showed the changes in students awarded first-class degrees between 2010-11 and 201718, including: l Imperial College London from 31% to 46% l University of Huddersfield: 15% to 40% l University College London: 24% to 40% l Durham University: 18% to 38% l University of East Anglia: 14% to 39% l University of Northumbria: 16% to 35% l University of West London: 13% to 34% l Staffordshire University: 14% to 34% The study also looked at those awarded either first or upper-second class degrees (2:1s). These now account for the great majority of degrees.

In the University of Bristol, 92% of students are awarded either a first or 2:1 and at Cambridge 94% reach this threshold.

Meanwhile, record numbers of 18-year-olds in England have applied for a place at university, figures from Ucas reveal.

The admissions service statistics show 236,350 school leavers - 40% in total

- had applied by this year's deadline of 30 June - 3,970 more than in 2018.

This comes as a government review recommended cutting tuition fees in England from £9,250 to £7,500.

Across the UK as a whole, 275,520 young people have applied to university this year - up from 272,910 at the same point in 2018, but down from 278,130 in 2017.

The figures also show that there are record numbers of black, Asian and mixed race 18-year-old applicants, while the number of white applicants continues to fall.

Despite uncertainty over Brexit, the number of applicants, across all age groups, from the European Union has risen by 540 from 50,120 in 2018 to 50,660 this year.

The Ucas figures also show a record number of applicants from outside the EU applying to UK universities - 81,340 students have applied to study in the UK, an increase of 8%.

England's universities minister Chris Skidmore said it was "fantastic" to see record rates of 18-year-olds applying to university, "along with increasing numbers of applications from international students too".

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12 MEDIA WATCH

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

20 - 26 July 2019

SCRUTATOR’S A sordid political struggle for power is underway in Bangaluru, Karnataka. Defections, money laundering and much else feature in this set piece drama. The saving grace is the integrity of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, who has refused, thus far, to recognise the validity of floor crossings and tailored MLA majorities thereof (Hindu, Times of India, TV channels July 6-10).

Gujarat leads in urban housing

RIL tie-up with Turkish firm

Gujarat is only one among India’s large states to have completed construction of over 50 per cent of the housing sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Awas YojanaUrban. Gujarat also heads the chart with the highest number of houses under construction.

Gujarat leads other states in implementation (Business Line, July 9).

Reliance Industries Ltd, the world’s largest integrated polyester manufacturer has joined forces with Turkey’s textile giant Kivanc Tekstil to produce sustainable fabric R1Elan Green Gold fibres to leading global apparel brands. Kivanc will also distribute Recon Green Gold fibre for spinners, yarn manufacturers and knitters across Turkey. The company also caters to major European and American fashion brands and retailers (Business Line, July 9).

Mumbai leads in homes sold Residential launches have gone up 21 per cent, while sales increased 4 per cent in the first half of 2019 compared with the same period last year, according to according to a report by real estate consulting firm Knight Frank. The report said that 51 cent of the launches in the residential sector were in the Rs 50 lakh segment and 28 per cent under Rs 1 crore.

Major cities Among the eight major cities, the report covers, Ahmedabad registered growth of 157 per cent in new launches to 3,398 residential units in the first half of 2019, from 3123 in the same period last year. Hyderabad and Pune are other cities which have performed well in the housing sector (Business Line, July 10) Monsoon enters Gujarat The monsoon having hit Mumbai and much of Mahrashtra with a bang, has gained traction over most of Gujarat including Saurashtra, and southern districts of the state. The Sardar Sarovar

The Chief Guest at Vladivostok will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will partner President Vladimir Putin at the annual Indo-Russian summit (Statesman, July 10).

Enhancing bilateral ties in agriculture NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar, discussed ways and means to deepen India-Russia cooperation in agriculture, agroprocessing small and medium scale industries, digital economy, trade, banking finance, transport infrastructure, with Russian Deputy Minister for Economic Development Timur Maksimov in New Delhi . These exchanges occurred under the India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue launched earlier this year to enhance non-military ties between the two countries (Business Line, July 11).

TCS keeps rolling

The Association of South East Asian Nations [ASEAN] have urged India to end its stalemate with China on access to the Indian market in order to facilitate formation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Trade ministers of Thailand, Indonesia and ASEAN Secretary-General met with Indian Commerce Minister Piyus Goyal to speed up negotiations to finalise the pact by the end of the year. Indian manufacturing industry reprtesentatives had pressed Commerce Minister Goyal not offer zero duties on more than 42 traded items to China as most domestic producers would unable to handle the competition thereof (Business Line, July 10).

Andrabi’s house attached The National Investigation Agency has attached the house of woman jihadi Asiya Andrabi under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (Section 25). Dukhtaran Millat, the organisation, she heads and

Mumbai India-Russia deals India and Russia have arrived at a long-term solution to their financial transactions by avoiding payments for goods in US dollars, and hence in a bid to circumvent US sanctions. Their agreement is confidential, but it opens up vast areas of economic cooperation, including trade and investment.

India will be acquiring Russia’s highly prized S-400f missile defence system in phases, which should be completed by 2024. Of more immediate significance, the new payments system opens up new vistas of Indian acquisitions of around 114 frontline Russian fighter aircraft and conventional submarines, all of which will be built in India under the government’s ‘Make in India’ programme (Economic Times, July 10).

Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest software services provider has reported a 10.8 per cent gowth in consolidated net profit at Rs 8.131 crore for the first quarter of the current financial year ending June 30. Revenue grew by 11.4 per cent to Rs 38. 173 crore.

Pakistan’s fake news

Confidence

In this context, Pakistan media reports stated that Prime Minister Imran Khan had been invited by

‘We have had a steady start to the new fiscal year. We see customers continuing to spend their growth and transformation initiatives, and that is showing in our strong order book and deal pipeline this quarter,’ said TCS CEO and Managing Director Rajesh Gopinathan (Statesman, July 10).

Nepal bans celebrations of Dalai Lama’s birthday Dalai Lama

Kowtowing to their Chinese overlord, the Nepalese government has banned Tibetan refugees celebrating the birthday of the Dalai Lama. Nepal has also prevented Tibetans fleeing their country from travelling to India.

(Times of India, July 8).

New DRDO base on Andhra coast A new missile test base is coming up on the Andhra Pradesh coast off the Bay of Bengal, and a supporting Technical Facility nearby in the Krishna district.

Work for this project has been cleared for the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) by the Ministry of the Environment, Forests and Climate Change. All the necessary procedures for the construction work to begin have been completed (Hindu, July 10).

India, US trade talks underway

Tata Consultancy Services CEO Rajesh Gopinathan

leads, is committed to the formation of an Islamist entity conjoined with Pakistan (Times of India, July 11).

Trade talks between India have commenced to sort out differences over tariffs and related issues on market access.

US President Donald Trump has been increasing his pitch against what he perceives as Indian barriers to US goods seeking entry into India. With the goal of achieving an amicable solution India offered negotiations (Hindu, July 11).

World Heritage Site for Jaipur

ASEAN for speedier Indian market access

Sardar Sarovar Dam

Dam on the Narmada river has received huge inflows of water from the catchment area in Madhya Pradesh. The Met Office has forecast further heavy rain across Gujarat during the coming weeks (Business Line, July 9).

Moscow to be Chief Guest at the Vladivostok Economic Forum in September, received a polite rebuttal by the Russian government. Pakistan has just received an IMF bailout of $6 billion - which reflects its global standing.

Jaipur’s walled Pink City

Commerce Minister Piyus Goe

UNESCO has given Old Jaipur – the walled Pink City built in 1722 – the status of a World Heritage Site, as it did the walled Old Ahmedabad a few years ago (Times of India, July 7).

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AsianVoiceNews

UK

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

13

20 - 26 July 2019

Can Women Have It All?

I write to you as I celebrate my birthday. But also the 50th anniversary of the first manned mission to the moon leaving earth. NASA has announced a programme to send a man, rather a woman, to the moon (obviously not leave her there). I am also writing just a few days before the second ever female PM leaves office. This one famously without children.

The next PM will have to do more to encourage women into the work force, provide more support. But what kind? These are the words of my wife and new mother: “I studied hard, got straight A’s, was featured in local newspapers (my first encounter of feeling that I could achieve anything). I went to Kings College London got a first (the only female on my course to do so) and landed a place on Accenture’s prestigious graduate program.

If you were born in the 1980s, an offer from a top tier management consultancy was the dream. Fast forward almost 10 years and I was working at the Cabinet Office.

This was surreal at times - I was in and out of Number 10, had weekly meetings with Cabinet Ministers, wrote speeches for the Prime Minister and so on. I was on fire. I then landed the role to lead the Venture Capital Unit for Government.

If you grew up like me in a working class suburb, went to state school and were an ethnic minority female this was a huge achievement. Here I was travelling the world, meeting high profile investors managing a large team of 14 people. If you consider Maslow’s hierarchy, I was pretty high up on the self fulfilment measure.

Then I get pregnant. I was 34 and had alot invested in my career by this point but was equally so excited to be a mum. I continued working hard through my pregnancy but things began to change. I stopped travel-

ling due to sickness, I started leaving work earlier as I was so exhausted and was constantly anxious about any promotion discussions.

For me returning back to work was inevitable as I just could not continue being a stay at home mum. So I started work this week and the reality of trying to have it all (something I always imagined was possible) – be a hands on mum and maintain a senior career is hitting me hard.

In all honesty I don’t even think that I would hire myself right now.

Not because I am no longer good at my job. I am probably better in some ways as I can multi task in ways I never imagined. But like many mums, I am besotted with my baby and have been unimpressed with the quality of nurseries around so I have worked out the minimum number of viable hours I can work just to maintain my career. For me that is 3 days a week. Will I attend evening events? Nope, not unless the Prime Minister is attending, even then I will be trying to get out of the door to make it home for the bedtime routine. Will I continue overseas travel?

Nope, I can’t bear the thought of being away from my bundle of joy for long periods.

My male colleagues in contrast (please note that many of them are dads and I am generalising here) continue to work 5 days a week, network in the evenings and travel without flinching.

A fellow high achieving female colleague of mine agreed that the structures don’t work for working women but she also very passionately said to me “lets change them!”.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions on this topic, I would love to hear from you as I REALLY do want to have it all.”

Aekta Patel (nee Mahajan) (Mum to Reyaan and part-timer)

Rare conjoined twins, 2, separated Rare conjoined twins have been separated at a London hospital in a series of operations taking a total of 55 hours.

Two-year-old sisters Safa and Marwa Ullah had three major operations to separate their heads at Great Ormond Street.

More than 100 members of staff were involved in the procedures, which were carried out over a span of four months.

Surgeons separated their brains, intertwined in their shared skull, repositioned them and then cut the head apart.

They then reconstructed their skulls – sharing shards of bone between the two girls to make it stretch over the top of their new heads.

The girls, from northern Pakistan, had their final operation in February.

They are now recovering in London and plan to return to their homeland in 2020.

The operation was paid for by Pakistani businessman Murtaza Lakhani.

The team at Great Ormond Street, led by neurosurgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani and plastic surgeon Professor David Dunaway, have performed the procedure twice before, in 2006 and 2011.

But they said Safa and Marwa’s case was the most complex yet.

To prepare, the team modelled their heads using virtual reality and made a 3D replica.

Last October, they separated the brains and arteries.

In a second operation, a month later, they separated the veins. But the girls started to bleed after clots formed in Safa’s neck and

she began to shunt blood to her twin.

Doctors gave her a key vein that the twins shared but Safa suffered a stroke less than 12 hours later. In January the surgeons inserted sacs to stretch their skin, and in February, the girls were cut apart and the team built new skulls using the girls’ own bone.

The twins are now undergoing physiotherapy.

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Petition for Jain inclusion in the 2021 UK Census On July 11, members of the UK Jain Community, delivered a petition which urged Prime Minister Theresa May for the inclusion of a Jain tick box in the UK Census 2021. The petition has accummulated 5,000 signatures online and offline and also witnessed London Assembly Member, Navin Shah AM, highlighting the importance of the Jain community. Jains should be “formally recognised” and “duly considered when it comes to public bodies making policy decisions” so their “needs and aspirations” are taken into account, stated Navin Shah.

Those behind the petition argue that the inclusion of the Jain faith on future censuses would ensure that it is more widely considered in decision making processes and will boost its recognition as a key religion in the UK. The petition is promoted by ‘OneJAIN’, the Institute of Jainology and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Jains, and delivered at 10 Downing Street

by Chairman of the Institute of Jainology and OneJAIN, Nemu Chandaria.

“There is so much confusion in the census terminology and Jainism is the only major religion not to be included in the next census.

Delegates delivering the petition at 10 Downing Street

The 2011 Census only captured 30% of the known UK Jain population and the current plans from the Office for National Statistics will not significantly improve that,” said Nemu Chandaria.

Chair of the APPG for Jains, Gareth Thomas MP, alongside three other representatives of OneJAIN, Amit Lathia, Jaysukh Mehta and Himamshu Jain were also present.The national census informs policy and funding decisions made by public bodies such as local authorities, central government departments and the NHS.On the current census form, the voluntary ‘What is your religion?’ question contains tick boxes for ‘No religion, Christian (including Church of England, Catholic, Protestant and all other Christian denominations), Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh’ and an ‘Other’

option.

The Mahavir Foundation, a Jain charity based in London, have determined the number of Jains in the UK to total between 25,000 to 30,000. However, Gareth Thomas MP has claimed that studies show the figure is likely to be much higher at around 60,000. The 2011 census recorded 20,000 Jains in the UK under the ‘Other’ option.

“The Jain community makes a significant contribution to our local community and to the UK as a whole.Belonging to a religion of major significance, we need to ensure that they are formally recognised in future censuses and duly considered when it comes to public bodies making policy decisions so the needs and aspirations of Jains are taken into account,” said Navin Shah.

14 UK

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

20 - 26 July 2019

Survey reveals shift in attitudes Hindus and Jains launch towards organ donation among campaign to explain change black and Asian communities in law on organ donation Attitudes towards organ donation among black and Asian communities are becoming more positive after new research revealed more people may consider becoming a lifesaving donor. Last year more than a third of people said they did not want to donate when surveyed ahead of the launch of a Government campaign by NHS Blood and Transplant to address an urgent shortage of donors from these backgrounds.

However, new research reveals this figure has almost halved over the last year while the proportion of people unsure whether they want to be a donor has grown, indicating a shift in attitudes from a negative to a neutral position. And the number of black and Asian people who would definitely donate some or all organs after their death has risen from 11 to 15 percent.

The latest findings also indicate that people from these communities feel much better informed about organ donation compared with a year ago. Almost double the number were aware that organs matched by ethnicity had the best chance of success. And three times as many people knew that those from black and Asian backgrounds are more likely to need an organ transplant than white people.

The survey results have been released to coincide

with a fresh call for community and faith or beliefbased organisations to join the campaign to address the urgent shortage of black, Asian, mixed race and minority ethnic donors.

NHS Blood and Transplant is inviting applications for funding for projects that can help break down myths and barriers and increase support for organ donation at a community level.

Funded by the Department for Health and Social Care and Welsh Government, the community investment scheme is open to any faith or community-based organisation working within black, Asian, mixed race or minority ethnic communities in England and Wales.

This is the second round of the scheme. Under the first round in 2018/19 funding was awarded to 25 projects led by organisations representing Jain, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Swahili, black and Asian Christians, black African and Caribbean and multi-faith groups.

The projects reached people across the Midlands and the North West of England as well as in London, Cardiff, Bristol, Leeds and Newcastle.

Activity included information workshops, an ambassador programme, a mobile app and a social media campaign.

An estimated £200,000 will be available for projects in England in this round of the scheme whilst £20,000 will be available for projects in Wales.

From spring 2020, the consent system in England will move to ‘opt out’. Just like the current system, people will still be able to decide whether or not they want to donate their organs when they die, and families will always be approached about whether their relative would have wanted to be an organ donor and belief and cultural considerations will be discussed with families. All adults in England will be considered as having agreed to donate their own organs unless they record a decision not to donate or are in one of the excluded groups.

Chigwell elects their youngest Indian origin Councillor Energy, engagement and innovation were the key campaign messages which resulted in Chigwell's youngest elected Parish Councillor to win a fiercely contested by-election against the Liberal Democrats on 11 July 2019.

Pranav Bhanot, 30, was successfully elected and hopes to kickstart his tenure immediately through introducing grassroot community engagement projects, innovation through technology to deal with casework and to ensure Chigwell Row residents are provided with a robust voice on the Council.

Cllr Bhanot is also keen to deal with issues relating

Pranav Bhanot

to social isolation among senior aged residents and empowering more young people to enter politics, in particular minority groups.

He is the author of the book "Get me Elected. Strategies,

Tips and Tactics for Election Success" and planning to give free copies to young residents interested in entering politics.

He told Asian Voice, “I am delighted to have been elected as a councillor. Over the past few weeks I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting the majority of residents living in the ward and now look forward to rolling my sleeves up and working hard alongside my colleagues to make Chigwell and Essex even better. I hope to see more young people getting involved in local and national politics.”

A campaign which sets out to raise awareness of the upcoming change in law around organ donation in England was launched at a packed meeting of Hindus and Jains in Parliament on 10 July 2019.

The meeting was chaired by Lord Jitesh Gadhia and the chief guest was the Rt Hon Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Hindus and Jains are generally positive about organ donation but there is a huge need to explain organ donation to members of both communities in the context of the change in law, which will come into force in England from spring 2020.

Lord Jitesh Gadhia said, “The forthcoming change in the law has provided a new impetus to understand how Organ Donation impacts the British Indian community and how we can best respond and get ready.

It is particularly important to understand the facts and not be taken-in by fake news.

“I do appreciate that what happens at the time of death is always a sensitive topic in all cultures. There is natural human instinct to mentally block-out this subject. But I sincerely believe that we owe it to ourselves and our families to have these difficult conversations at an early stage. It falls into the same category as writing a will.

“The legal change allows us to influence social acceptance and gain access to new resources such as the Government’s Community Investment Fund and the Faith Specific Donor Card. It also allows us to push for appropriate investment in shortage areas for example the recruitment of more Specialist Nurses for Organ Donation, ensure that we collect the right data to inform policy and not forget about the vital role which living donation can also play.”

Jain and Hindu Organ Donation (JHOD) steering group A national group called the Jain and Hindu Organ Donation (JHOD) steering group was established last year to lead on this work.

JHOD has been working in partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant, the organisation responsible for organ donation across the UK, in developing videos and leaflets on the change in law from a Hindu and Jain perspective.

Rt Hon Matt Hancock said, “I was delighted to join the Jain and Hindu Organ Donation event on Wednesday. This campaign is a brilliant example of the community-based work that is vital to raising awareness and understanding around organ donation. When the change in law comes into force next year, everyone must be provided with the right information and support to make the best possible choice for themselves.

"It was inspiring to see so many supporters from the Hindu and Jain communities

come together for this new campaign, stimulating conversation on this important topic. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has worked on this campaign.”

Mille Banerjee, Chair of the NHSBT Board, spoke at the meeting and said, “It is wonderful to see so many Hindus and Jains coming together to show their support for the organ donation law change which will come into force next year. It is so important for people to keep talking about organ donation and sharing their decision with their families.

I would like to personally congratulate all of those working so hard to raise awareness of organ donation across the country and amongst different communities and religious groups. I very much hope that these fantastic efforts will see more people prepared to donate and ultimately more lives saved.”

JHOD will now encourage Hindus and Jains to start talking about organ donation in the lead up to the law coming into force next year.

Kirit Modi, Chair of JHOD steering group told Asian Voice, “We have a unique opportunity over the next nine months to encourage members of the Hindu and Jain communities to make a decision about organ donation based on facts.

Many Hindu and Jain communities are keen to get this information to their local community members.

JHOD is ready to support such activities by offering practical support by using the extensive experience of members of its steering group. Hindus and Jains can make a significant contribution to organ donation and help save lives”.

Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East, who has many Hindus and Jains living in his constituency told the newsweekly, “This is a very serious issue and I am happy that we now have an ongoing dialogue and the event on Wednesday evening is testament to the progress made. Religious leaders can greatly aid the cause by promoting the donation of organs to enable transplants to take place as a part of their sewa."

Call to Action There was great enthusiasm and support for organ donation expressed at the meeting and many community leaders present at the meeting responded positively to the “Call to Action” to meet this challenge.

For more information about the change in the law around organ donation in England and for information on the Jain perspective on organ donation, visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk

Books by Asians, BAME backgrounds to be taught in UK schools Britain’s biggest exam board has decided to include books

by Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds in its English GCSE syllabus, following complaints about there being too many “dead white men.”

Pearson owned Edexcel

announced that from this September, schools will be offered more poems, plays and novels to choose from, including those written by authors from black, Asian and BAME backgrounds.

Katy Lewis, Pearson’s head of English, drama and

languages, explained that the move followed calls for the selection of texts on offer to be more representative of different cultures and ethnicity.

Calls to “decolonise” the curriculum are gaining pace at universities, where stu-

dents have urged faculties to update reading lists.

The GCSE poetry anthology will include the Pakistan-born Imtiaz Dharker (mother of actress Ayesha Dharekar) and Grace Nichols, who is Guyanese among the works of William

Wordsworth and Robert Bridges. Meanwhile, the post-1914 literature paper will feature plays by Tanika Gupta, who is of Indian heritage and Asian Achievers Award winner, and Benjamin Zephaniah whose parents are from Barbados.

Other new texts include the novel 'Coram Boy' by Jamila Gavin, who was born in India, and 'Boys Don’t Cry'

by Malorie Blackman, the former children’s laureate whose parents are from Barbados. The change will affect 50,000 students.

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

SP

Dar Barot On Hair Design Dar and Miss England

Sunetra Senior “I welcome challenging hair,” Dar, the lauded celebrity hair stylist and designer told us. This is likely because his couture creations have consistently proven the perfect modish answer.

Over the last few years, Dar has popularised the ‘blunt bob’ (pictured): a traditional ‘bob’ cut, with the scissorsmith’s trademark sashaying spin.

“The hair hangs freely at the bottom, showing the aesthetic boldly.” This has transformed the look of famous personalities such as the international fashion designer, Karen Millen, to radiate a noticeable “youthfulness and glow.”

Additionally, Dar also recently created a short elegance for the prolific journalist and author, Candida Crewe, who wished to keep her hair longer without compromising a strong media image. In the public eye, it is customary to revert to classic cuts, such as the iconic bob, which originated “through the Thirties and Forties”, as a woman grows older. However, Dar has discovered a way to preserve length alongside the classiness. “It’s about having longer layers which make the hair voluminous.” As opposed to falling as if a drab

Blunt Bob

“blanket”, the shape is tapered off to a sharp central point at the back. One can still boast trendy, cascading tresses with half of the heavy inches. *** Dar then possesses an imitable ability to infuse timelessness into his tactile imagination. Indeed, currently based near Buckingham Palace, the stylist has worked with a range of high-profile clients, from royalty and actresses such as the Queen of Malaysia, and Goldie Hawn, to younger stars such as Aishwarya Rai, cast members of ITV’s show, Love Island, and Miss England 2017/18. His wonderous work has also featured in top fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Tatler, and he has styled Bond girl, Maud Adams, of Octopussy, early on in his esteemed career.

Dar elaborated on the subtle power of hair: “Just a trim doesn’t exist in my opinion. At the end of the day, you might remove your make-up, clothes and jewellery, but your hair stays with you. It is as if a crown so it must be

treated with respect. In fact, the most rewarding part of my job is the joy felt by customers after a cut as they feel a new, emanating pride.” No doubt this philosophy is the reason the talented hair designer opens his salon to the general public, making the glamour of his impressive portfolio available to all.

He continued on the natural allure of a majestic mane: a concept embodied by the full, flowing hair of one of his most sensational clients – Nicole Scherzinger. “People spend money on getting a new jumper, or expensive beauty products, including anti-ageing creams etc. but why not hair that’s in plain sight? It’s inherently worth the

Dar and Aishwarya Rai

push hair styling onto my clients. I will go with their vision.

As a technique, I’ve always enjoyed blow-drying hair so that one can see the full effect of my creativity.

What makes a good stylist?

You need to be in control of the client while remaining collaborative.

Your experience and knowledge should speak for itself, as should your awareness of the latest trends. You must be able to combine that with personal tailoring. This includes having a dialogue with people. You need to design the vision together. Don’t dominate their picture.

Dar and Goldie

How does one make hair colour look good?

I look at colour as if it is the makeup for hair: where you might emphasise the eyes and cheekbones with powders and so on, I will highlight the cut by brightening certain areas of the hair e.g. with highlights, you might simply need to colour the top, near the eyes as opposed to everywhere. As if you’re being animated by the light of the sun.

This gives a healthy look, instead of looking monotone and grey.

investment: one that everyone deserves.” Dar then rightly taps into a priceless source of everyday confidence. In his sessions, he talks at length with clientele to familiarise himself with their personality and really help complement their particular lifestyle: “I have serious conversations. I want to get an idea of who someone is. Each person inevitably requires a different style.” However, he will unfailingly What have been some of your focus on “the individual features of the favourite projects? person’s face to inform the cut.” He When I did Miss World in 1989, and emphasised: “a good hair cut will make then again in1992. I also had a TV the eyes pop, and bring out the neckChannel, on which I would discuss line. If you focus on this, you can’t go hair: tips, trends etc. wrong. A haircut must exaggerate someone’s unique facial beauty.”

Finally, do you want to open up a And so, a veritable combination of line of your own products? high concept and visuals, Dar highlights the exciting niche of his profesI am doing that actually. I was born sion: working closely with the human in Malaysia as my father served in the spirit, hair design emerges a most perBritish Army, and was stationed fightsonal artform. “I definitely think of ing the Japanese. We then moved to a myself as an artist,” the stylist concludPunjabi village where my father bought ed. “In fact, there are so many times quite a bit of land. We had female I’ve picked up magazines, or workers on the farm; they seen a film, in which my would sit on each other’s stylings appear cinematically "Hair is a laps, open their hair and in a still or on set: through apply mustard oil onto crown you the background models I’ve each other’s heads. worked with, as well as the never When I started getting main stars. It can be surreal.” into fashion, I had similar remove" Dar truly elevates, helping beginnings: getting coffees people feel good through a vital and sweeping hair. Soon, I canvas. ascended into the western fashion world. I would present to different Tell us of some more memorable European hairdressers such as Wella celebrities you have styled? etc. However, I have noticed that the Cricketer and 22nd Prime Minister focus on enhancing hair products, such of Pakistan: Imran Khan. He is a dear as conditioner, was always just on the friend to this day. Through my career, hair, and not the scalp as it is with I’ve met so many great people: starting Indian beauty. I’ve been working on from my time at Vidal Sassoon to pop bringing the Neem oil of India to the videos over time. The latter Paul market: to encourage the growth of McCartney, Kate Bush and Boy George. healthy, beautiful hair from the roots. I want to be able to formulate it for masWhat contemporary trends have sage to relieve stress, and promote caught your eye in hair design and well-being. fashion?

Maybe the beachy look: the wavy, naturally messy hair. However, I don’t

UK

TLIGHT

W: https://www.hairbydar.com/

15

20 - 26 July 2019

CIIr Ketan Sheth

Councillor for Tokyngton Wembley Brent Council’s Chair of Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee

New Moorfields Promises Better Eye Care for Brent Patients The iconic Moorfields Eye Hospital is proposing to move after more than 120 years of treating people from its main hospital at City Road in Islington.

The proposal is to build a brand new centre on land that has become available at the current St Pancras Hospital site, just north of King’s Cross and St Pancras stations. Once the new facility is up and running, all of the services at the current City Road hospital, the Richard Desmond Children’s Eye Centre and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology would move into the new building.

The aim is to create the world centre for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of eye disease by bringing together excellent eye care, ground breaking research and world’s best education in ophthalmology.

Over the next few months, Londoners and people from all over the country have an opportunity to have their say on this proposal. The NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), including Brent CCG, are running a joint public consultation until 16 September 2019.

If the move were approved by January 2020, construction could begin in 2022 and the new centre could be open by 2026.

So what does this mean for us in Brent?

The services provided by Moorfields at Northwick Park and Ealing hospitals would not be affected by the proposed move.

For around 11,000 people from Brent who visit Moorfields at City Road every year, the proposal promises a better patient experience with shorter waiting times in comfortable surroundings and access to the best that modern eye care has to offer.

But the biggest significance of the proposed move is the potential impact on eye care itself.

Losing sight has a profound effect on people’s lives.

Affecting some of our most basic needs in daily life, it can lead to social isolation and other physical and mental health problems.

According to the Royal National Institute for Blind People, sight loss affects around one in five people over 75 and one in two people over 90. We also know that the risks of sight loss at an earlier age are greater for people from Black and Asian origins.

The proposed new eye care centre offers the muchneeded space to expand and develop new models of care.

Researchers are already working on breakthrough treatments for macular degeneration, the most common cause of sight loss.

On our own patch, Brent has an excellent community ophthalmology service based in our Sudbury Primary Care Centre and Willesden Centre for Health and Care providing with a team that can spot the risks of eye disease at an early stage and help people to avoid deterioration for as long as possible.

We need a centre that not only offers better care for our future patients but also drives our ability to prevent serious eye conditions and support people at home or locally, as well as in a specialist hospital centre.

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18 FINANCE - UK

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

20 - 26 July 2019

Consultant Editor Financial Voice Alpesh Patel Dear Financial Voice Reader, Adding to the wealth of my country has been a privilege over the past few years. It's been one of the honours and most fulfilling things in my life - being one of the UK Government's Dealmaker - doing deals to bring global tech companies to the UK for over 15 years now. Hundreds of jobs created, taxes paid! The government auditors estimate our small team of 15 have brought in over a billion dollars of investment into the UK since I started in 2005.

Dealing with foreign governments from India to China and Singapore UAE Malaysia and the differing cultures have been a joy.

But most of all the laughter. The stories. It's been so so much fun. I never knew it would be such a huge part of my life. Though there were times of exhaustion, medical drips, there were highs such as when the UK PM launched my initiative of UK India Business Angel network and I got to share the stage with the PM and when I got to show their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess around some entrepreneurial companies and introduce them to...my wife!

Trying to run a business at the same time meant business suffered. My own personal ambitions came second to those for my country. For that it was worth it. As I said to one of our team...we get to put on the England shirt or rather the Team UK shirt. So bleed for this or leave the fricking team.

To all the entrepreneurs I met, with all their energy, all the Foreign Office staff from Ambassadors to the new members - they've always been a pleasure to work with...okay maybe one or two were not...but we got rid of them đ&#x;&#x2122;&#x201A; Speeches to our department on leadership and on "getting the most out of teams to excel globally" were an added perk.

Being asked by the Minister to open the China market for the Programme was another highlight.

After this I never craved being a Minister.

Not fun: having my encrypted hard drive stolen, due to my breaching Government rules, and having to report that - embarrassing.

Putting on the UK shirt, for Department for International Trade (DIT) Global Entrepreneur Programme has always been a fulfilling privilege. And messages like this from Air for Life are one reason why.

Representing your country is it's own reward. This is one of the companies whose technology we've brought to the UK, exports globally. A worldclass cleantech company. We look to bring the best tech and entrepreneurs to the UK for their global HQs. Here are some links which may assist your entrepreneurial venture make wealth for yourself: Workspaces https://maps.london.gov.uk/workspaces/ Find an Expert You Need: DIT Directory https://www.great.gov.uk/investment-support-directory/ Funding and grants from Innovate UK See https://www.innovateuk.org/funding-support# Other funding: https://www.gov.uk/business-finance-support?page=2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for business funding for your region https://www.fairfinance.org.uk/business-loans/ - business loans for those refused elsewhere https://www.fundingcircle.com/uk/businesses - Peer to Peer funding, unsecured loans http://www.socentxchange.net/ - Social Enterprise Grants

Heathrow airport marred with strike threat The Unite union has threatened to "shut down" Britain's biggest airport Heathrow this summer after calling a series of strikes over pay. Disruption is also expected across other London airports in separate disputes over pay and conditions. Pilots of the British Airways have, meanwhile, balloted for a strike. Unite has said that over 4,000 employees, including security guards, engineers and passenger service staff were set to walk out for six days, including two of the summer's busiest weekends.

No-deal Brexit likely to hit interest rates: bank official One of Bank of England's key policymakers believes a no-deal Brexit could result in a prolonged period with interest rates at a record low level of almost zero. Gertjan Vlieghe, member of the ratesetting monetary policy committee, said he would be prepared to cut borrowing costs aggressively in the event that the UK left the EU without a transition agreement on October 31 this year. The Bank's official position is that interest rates could move in either direction in the event of a disruptive no-deal scenario, as it would need to assess which was the greater threat- recession or rising inflation.

In a talk he gave in London to indicate that he saw the risks of a collapse in demand as greater than the risk of inflation caused by the higher costs of imports

triggered by a fall in the value of the pound or by the imposition of tariffs. In his speech, Vlieghe said, "On balance, I think it is more likely that I would move to cut bank rate towards the effective lower bound of close to 0 per cent in the event of a no-deal scenario."

Interest rates were cut to a record of 0.25 per cent in the aftermath of the EU referendum but have since been raised twice to stand at 0.75 per cent. Vlieghe's comments suggest that he would be prepared to support something even more drastic than the emergency rate cut announced in August 2016.

"It is highly uncertain when I would want to reverse these interest rate cuts, which would either be driven by an improvement in the underlying economy as the disruptive impact of

Gertjan Vlieghe

no deal fades, or by upside risks to inflation if the exchange rate and tariff driven boost to inflation puts upward pressure on medium-term inflation expectations," he said.

Possibilities of Britain leaving the bloc without a transition agreement has grown since Theresa May announced she was stepping down as prime minister.

Tory leadership candidates Jeremy Hunt and Boris

Major car dealership Britain plans to train Lookers blames Brexit youngsters as future trade negotiators for profit warning One of Britain's biggest car dealerships, Lookers, has suffered a major setback as shares of the company tumbled another 30 per cent after the firm issued a profits warning blaming increasingly challenging trading conditions. Lookers has warned that weaker margins will push first-half profits down by 25 per cent to about ÂŁ32m, and full year figures will also fall below forecasts, as customer confidence is hit by continuing political and economic uncertainty.

Britain's car manufacturers and traders have been buffeted by headwinds, including the collapse in diesel sales after the emissions scandal, and Britain's looming exit from the EU. Lookers chief executive, Andy Bruce blamed Brexit for the falling sales, preventing a "record car market" from developing. The company said the recent challenging conditions are likely to continue, made worse by weakening consumer confidence amid political

and economic uncertainty and the growing pressure on used-car margins.

The company imports several vehicles it sells from multiple manufacturers, including Volkswagen, Ford, and BMW, and are now at their lowest point since 2009, valuing the firm at ÂŁ180m. They took a hit by halving overnight after the 2016 referendum and tumbled 20 per cent last week when Lookers disclosed that the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, had opened an investigation into its sales processes. Things only worsened when its chief financial officer, Robin Gregson announced his departure.

New car registrations in the UK fell 4.9 per cent in June, while British car production fell by 15.5 per cent in May, the 12th successive month of declining output. Analysts at Liberum said that while Lookers had outperformed the car retail market in recent years, "this momentum now seems to be lost".

The British government has launched a scheme to recruit and train schoolleavers as future commerce experts as it prepares to carry out its own trade negotiations for the first time in decades. The Department of International Trade, which was created after the 2016 vote to leave the European Union, said its two-year scheme would include placements with teams working on future trade deals and supporting British companies exporting.

Trade minister Liam Fox while launching the programme said that he wanted young people to take up world of trade as a profession and join it.

Britain cannot formally sign trade deals with other countries until it has left the European Union but has been working to amass expertise, replicate agreements it is part of as a member of the EU and lay the groundwork for new deals. Those applying for the scheme, which will pay around 30,000 pounds a

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from ÂŁ100K to ÂŁ30M

Johnson have said they are prepared to opt for no deal if necessary.

Vlieghe said that even with a smooth Brexit, he envisaged that it would be a year before interest rates were raised to 1 per cent and two years before they hit 1.25 per cent. By 2022, depending on the state of the global economy, they might still only be 1.75 per cent, well below their 5 per cent level at the time of the banking crash of 2008. Just earlier this week, Silvana Tenreyro, another member of the nine-member strong MPC, also warned that the state of the economy made it unlikely that she would vote for higher interest rates. She said, "Coupled with signs of a weaker global outlook, recent developments likely lengthen the period until there is a sufficient pickup in the next few months."

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Liam Fox

year, do not need to have any qualifications. The department expects most candidates will either be 18year-old school-leavers or people wanting to switch careers.

It will also include a sixmonth posting in one of Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trade offices around the world. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you want to sell Britain properly you have to know what Britain has to sell but you also have to understand the markets that we are selling into,â&#x20AC;? Fox said. Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chief trade negotiation adviser Crawford Falconer said the scheme was not about filling a gap in trade negotiating talent in Britain.

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We attended an auction last week in order to close a deal. The property was the office block I wrote about last week, consisting of 12,263 sq. ft. close to the Heathrow expansion but luckily not in it; as then it would be potentially liable for a CPO, Compulsory Purchase Order.

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap London Property Investment

The idea was two fold, one to convert the office to residential. The other to convert the car park, later on down the road. The benefit is there is no minimum square footage requirement for the residential units. Our plan was to make them 230 sq. ft. each. This is the model we are implementing in our development in St John’s Wood and our soon to start development in Harrow on the Hill, which is in planning at the moment.

The property was guided at £975,000. I’m pretty sure this was a ruse by the auctioneers, to put the guide price so low half of the town comes to the auction room to purchase; which is what actually seemed to have happened. The bidding was coming from all angles in the room, and the property ended up going for a stonking price of £2.54M to the bidder sitting next to me. More than two and a half times the price. I asked the winning bidder what he aimed to do with the property. He claimed he hadn’t thought about it properly and simply wanted to invest some

20 - 26 July 2019

money he had sitting in the bank.

We approached him for a JV, as we had pretty clear plans as to what we wanted to do with the property and had two prototypes in the pipeline. But he wasn’t taking any partners in the deal.

Do I think he over paid? No, I do not. Our top end bid was about £1.75M. However, this location is going through a lot of fluctuation, by the time the building will be converted this location will be different, for the better. By the time the car park has been developed it will again have shifted.

Often with property investors, they only look at the current terrain, and the past. They do not try to see the future. Only when the wave has risen do they start to take notice, then it is often too late. The idea is to try and see which wave is going to rise before it actually does. It’s not actually difficult. The information is out there in plain sight.

Regeneration plans don’t simply pop out one day, they are years, if not decades, in the making.

There are areas we know for pretty much sure that will rise back to back for the next 5-7 years.

These locations are backed by our 18 page in depth report which goes into granular detail as to why these locations will rise strongly. We are buying aggressively here on behalf of our clients and will continue to do so in the coming years.

The delay of Crossrail means the window is open for longer.

AGONY AGENT IS HERE TO HELP! Q: What do I do if there’s a dispute with the deposit?

A: Deposit Protection Schemes (DPS) and the procedure of returning or keeping the money are in the hands of a third party – the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service. Here are a few things to keep in mind: l

The deposit belongs to the tenant until decided otherwise

The deposit is automatically the tenant’s.

This means that you cannot make personal use of it throughout the tenancy, especially not to jet off to the Bahamas. If a dispute arises, you must put the disputed amount into the scheme in the allotted time frame you are given by the administrator.

l

Proving a case is the landlord’s responsibility

If there is a dispute, the burden of proof rests on you because it is the tenant’s money. This is why an in-depth inventory should always be taken before the tenant moves in. l

Avoid the dispute in the first place

Arguing over deposit money often means going around in circles, particularly if the proper preliminary measures haven’t been taken. These include a wellplanned tenancy agreement, a list of reasonable tenant instructions and a detailed inventory. The inventory is the most important document you can have when involved in a deposit dispute. If it is thorough, contains clear photographs and has been signed and dated by both

BUY TO LET OPPORTUNITY

19

parties then it will be able to prove whether or not the tenant has damaged something. If you can convince your tenant that they don’t have a leg to stand on (in the nicest way possible!), you may well avoid the extra hassle of the ADR. Also, remember that a landlord can’t claim for fair wear and tear – a deposit is not a general maintenance fund to spruce things up between tenancies – so try to be reasonably forgiving if it’s a borderline issue. l

Keep records

Communicate clearly with your tenant about the deposit and try to come to an agreement before going further. Try to do it by email so that you have proof of your interactions. Make notes of phone conversations. This will come in handy if the dispute makes it to the ADR. As

well as the inventory, you’ll need any relevant invoices, receipts and quotes for repairs and/or replacements, bank statements, and bills. l

Dealing with a formal dispute

If you and your tenant are at odds over deposit money, your DPS provider will arrange an ADR. The precise details of the procedure will vary according to your particular scheme but there are some general rules. Neither party is required to meet with the adjudicator, nor will the adjudicator visit the property. The process is purely evidence-based. Before an ADR can go ahead, it requires both parties’ consent.

The decision is binding, although it can be challenged in the Courts, always seek legal advice before proceeding with this final step.

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20 FINANCE - INDIA

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

20 - 26 July 2019

HC asks Goyal to deposit £1.8 bn to travel abroad The Delhi high court refused to allow the promoter of now grounded Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal, to travel overseas. Justice Suresh Kait said no interim relief can be granted to Goyal at this stage and added that he may deposit £1.8 billion, the amount Jet owes to its lenders if he wants to travel to a foreign country now. The court was hearing Goyal's plea challenging the look out circular (LOC) issued against him on the ground that as on May 25, when he was de-boarded from a flight and restrained him to travel overseas. Justice Suresh Kait turned down Goyal’s plea that he needed to travel to Dubai to arrange funds for the revival of the airline saying the money he was seeking to get could be

Naresh Goyal

transferred through RTGS from abroad. “If you are ready to give £1.8 billion bank guarantee, you can go (abroad).”

Goyal’s counsel and senior advocate Maninder Singh contended the LOC was not warranted as the promoter of Jet was neither an accused in a case nor had he been named in any

FIR or complaint made by the ED and that an LOC can only be issued in accordance with law made by legislature as it concerned individual’s right to travel abroad.

The senior advocate described his client as a lawabiding citizen. Goyal also emphasised that he had been a non-resident Indian citizen since 1991, and this required he stayed abroad at least for 183 days a year for income-tax benefits and to maintain his residency visa in the UK and UAE. The plea was opposed by Additional Solicitor General Maninder Acharya and central government standing counsel Ajay Digpaul, saying it is a serious fraud of £1.8 billion and

the investigation was going on by the SFIO. The government counsel said Goyal must join the investigation and sought time to file response to his petition.

While Justice Kait agreed to issue a notice to the Centre in the light of points raised by the senior advocate, he refused to grant interim relief to Goyal while posting the matter on 23 August for further hearing. The cash-strapped Jet Airways, which stopped all operations on April 17 due to financial distress, is being probed by multiple agencies, including the corporate affairs ministry and IT department for alleged irregularities. The LOC was issued following the probe by the ministry which found largescale irregularities at the airline.

India to have sovereign benchmark: Economic adviser India is working to have sovereign benchmark like London interbank offered rate (Libor) by this September, which would make external borrowing easier for India Inc. The country does not have such a benchmark, which some advanced economies have. This would help reduce cost of capital, feels Sanjiv Sanyal, the principal economic adviser of Union ministry of finance.

"The sovereign benchmark

will be useful for raising borrowings abroad and it will be announced later in the year by the government", Sanyal told reporters on the sidelines of annual general meeting of the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

Sanyal made it clear that in order to achieve an investment level of 35% of GDP, the cost of capital has to be brought down.

“The investment architecture has to be changed. We know that inflation rate five-six years

back was 8-10% which has come down to 3-4% in last five years.

So, there has been 600 basis points decline in inflation but lending rate has not come down to that extent and as a result real lending rate has actually gone up,” he said.

Sanyal pointed out that even good companies are borrowing at 10%. According to him, primary deficit of the government is only 0.3% and 90% of the fiscal deficit is due to

highest ever, and revenue from digital – which is where customer IT spends are increasingly moving to – grew by 41%. The revenue acceleration provides much-needed impetus in a lacklustre environment characterised by macroeconomic headwinds, higher visa costs and appreciating rupee.

“We have had a very strong start to the year,” Salil Parekh,

CEO and MD of Infosys, said.

“The large deals performance was critical. Many of our sectors are growing in doubledigits including communication and energy, utilities and resources.

We see a lot of things with respect to growth well in place.

We see a strong client connect and relevance with our digital offerings that’s giving us some level of confidence to raise our guidance,” he said. Digital revenue crossed $1 billion for the second consecutive quarter, and now comprises 35.7% of overall business.

However, the traditional business remained almost flat at $2 billion, which

ED SEIZES MEHUL CHOKSI'S DUBAI ASSETS The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties, valuables, vehicle, bank account having total value of £2.48 million of accused Mehul Choksi under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the £1.3 billion Punjab National Bank scam. The attachment includes three commercial properties in Dubai, valuables, one Mercedes Benz E280 and a fixed deposit account controlled by the accused, Mehul Choksi. Acting against Mehul Choksi, who is in Antigua, till date, the probe agency has seized properties worth £ 253.47 million, including the recent attachment of £2.48 million.

HC DENIES INTERIM RELIEF TO MALLYA The Bombay High Court has refused to grant a stay on proceedings before a special court on the confiscation of properties of the embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya. A Division Bench of Justices Akil Kureshi and S. J. Kathawalla dismissed Mallya's application sought for a stay on the proceedings, or that any order passed by the lower court during the proceedings be subject to the final decision on another petition filed by him, challenging the validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. The court said it did not find any reason to grant the relief sought by Mallya.

TCS IS ONE OF US’S BIGGEST JOB CREATORS

Sanjiv Sanyal

the interest payment and this is the problem of both government and corporate. Sanyal also feels that the spread between deposit and lending rate is very high in India and that is because of inefficiency and high provisioning.

Infosys moves ahead of TCS after long time Infosys recorded a robust 12.4% year-on-year increase in revenue in constant terms in the quarter ended June. The performance sent its share price soaring by 67% last week. The growth was faster than that in the previous quarter, and after a long time, it pulled well ahead of TCS. The latter, which announced its results earlier this week, had seen growth slow down to 10.6%, from 12.7% in the previous quarter. Infosys’s performance allowed it to raise its revenue growth forecast for the year to 8.5-10%, from 7.5-9.5%.

The company said large deal signings, at $2.7 billion, was the

in brief

could be a cause for concern.

And despite the tailwinds from digital, revenue per employee has dropped to $54,000 in the June quarter, compared to $54,900 in the year-ago period.

Its net profit dropped 4.2% yearon- year to $642 million.

Operating margin dropped to 20.5%, from 21.5% in the previous quarter due to higher visa costs and higher compensation outgo.

“Q1 is a seasonal quarter from margin perspective (because of salary increments).

We have maintained our margin band of 21% to 23% for the 2020 fiscal,” said CFO Nilanjan Roy.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is one of the top job creators in the US, the company’s global HR head Milind Lakkad said. He did not disclose any numbers, but sources said the company has about 40,000 people in the US - almost 10% of its total workforce, and the highest among its Indian IT peers. Currently, the company has 872 open positions in the US, including 644 in technology. Asked whether TCS would make higher net additions onsite in the coming quarters, Lakkad said the numbers are not going to change significantly. “We already have a significant number,” he said. When TCS’s employee strength was 318,000, Amsterdambased The Top Employer Institute had said TCS has over 30,000 people in the US working across 450 locations.

INDIAN EXEC TO TAKE CHARGE OF AUDI INDIA Balbir Singh Dhillon, an industry veteran who has spent nearly 12 years in the Volkswagen group, will take charge of the company, replacing German born Rahil Ansari, who is moving to the group’s global headquarters in Germany, nearly six months ahead of the usually-stipulated three year term. Dhillon is currently the head of dealer development of Audi in India. He will take charge from September to revive the down spiraling sales since last year. Audi feels a leadership change and introduction of new models (last launch happened in January 2018) will lead to revival of business. It plans to launch A6 and A8 sedans, Q8 SUV, and e-Tron electric. The non-electric cars will come only with petrol versions, in line with the government’s focus to push clean mobility.

Indian tariffs on American products no longer acceptable, reiterates Donald Trump US President Donald Trump reiterated his complaints against India, saying New Delhi's tariffs on US products were unacceptable but not giving other details about any possible action amid the two nations' ongoing trade row. "India has long had a field day putting tariffs on American products. No longer acceptable!" Trump tweeted.

Earlier in June, just a day ahead of G20 meeting with PM Narendra Modi in Japan's Osaka, Trump in a Twitter post, demanded the withdrawal of tariffs imposed on 28 goods. “I look forward to speaking with Prime Minister Modi about the fact that

India, for years having put very high tariffs against the United States, just recently increased the tariffs even further. This is unacceptable and the tariffs must be withdrawn!" Trump’s tweet read. New Delhi slapped tariffs on 28 US products exported to India, after Washington withdrew its longstanding trade concessions for India on 1 June. Trump said the preferential status had allowed India to sell goods worth $5.6 billion duty-free. The US move was in line with Trump’s policy of reducing trade deficits, that is, equalizing the import and export between the US and others nations.

President Trump, championing his 'America First' policy has been a vocal critic of India for levying "tremendously high" duties on US products, has described the country as a "tariff king". The timing of the tweet is important as a team from the US Trade Representative’s office is scheduled to visit New Delhi later this week to hold talks with their Indian counterparts. The two teams are expected to negotiate a limited trade agreement. The deal had been suspended when the US decided early last month to withdraw a scheme offering dutyfree entry to over 3,000 products from India.

Donald Trump

India then imposed retaliatory tariffs on 28 US products with effect from June 16, 2019, after delaying them for a year. Those were in retaliation to the US not acceding India’s request for the withdrawal of penal duties on its steel and aluminium last year.

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in brief TWO INDIAN EXPATS HIT JACKPOT IN DUBAI Two Indian expats won USD 1 million each in the Dubai Duty Free raffle while another won a Mercedes Benz car. Jaya Gupta and Ravi Ramchand Bachani are the two lucky Indians who won USD 1 million each in the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire draw. Jaya, resident of Dubai for the past 35 years, said that she has been buying the tickets for the raffle for the last 15 years and had bought the winning lot before flying to Mumbai. Ravi Ramchand Bachani, who will also collect USD 1 million in the raffle, is a Dubai-based Indian national for 14 years, runs a garment business and is a regular participant of the million-dollar promotion for the past 10 years now. He bought the winning lot while travelling to Croatia during Eid holidays.

PAK NEWS ANCHOR GUNNED DOWN IN KARACHI Mureed Abbas, an anchor who worked in a Pakistan-based news channel, was killed outside a local cafe in Khayaban-e-Bukhari area in Karachi over personal enmity. A friend of the victimorperson, Khizar Hayat, also received two bullets in the same incident. Police said that an assailant identified as Atif Zaman opened fire at the journalist from a car. Hayat was shifted to a private hospital and was pronounced dead sustaining multiple bullet wounds on chest and abdomen. The security forces caught the suspected gunman who was attempting to commit suicide while his residence was raided. The suspect shot himself in the chest and was shifted to a hospital in a critical condition. Chief Minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah issued directions to maintain law and order following the incident.

Pakistan reopens its airspace after 6 months ISLAMABAD: In a massive relief for air travellers as well as the airline sector, Pakistan reopened its airspace for all flights early Tuesday after a gap of six months since the IAF’s strikes on Balakot. Hours after the announcement, an Air India flight from San Francisco, which was en route to Delhi, became the first Indian airline to fly over the neighbouring country and reach 90 minutes earlier.

The curb meant airlines had to take a longer route to reach their destinations and burn more fuel, stop midway for refuelling as well as roster more pilots and cabin crew, as their duty hours are regulated. An increase in fuel expenses, which constitutes 40% of an airline’s operational costs, resulted in an increase in fares and in some cases cancellation of flights,

leaving passengers with fewer options to choose from.

“Pakistan has cancelled the NOTAM [notice to airmen] for its airspace with effect from 0038 IST, consequential NOTAMS by India also cancelled. Airlines likely to resume normal routes through Pakistan airspace,” an official of the India's Ministry of Civil Aviation said. The move will benefit Indian carriers as well as those airlines that enter or exit

Indian army hands over body of boy who drowned in PoK to Pak army existing tension between the two countries.

In February, the Indian Air Force targeted a Jaish-e-Mohammad training centre in Pakistan after its local operative in Kashmir triggered a deadly explosion that killed 40

HAFIZ SAEED CONTESTS CHARGES AGAINST HIM Mumbai attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed and his six aides challenged the charges of terror financing and money laundering against them in a Pakistani court. The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police on July 3 registered 23 FIRs against 13 leaders of the Jamaatud-Dawah (JuD) including its chief Saeed on the charges of "terror financing" in different cities of Punjab province. Despite the Punjab police's claim that all those nominated in the terror financing FIRs will be arrested, no action has been taken against them so far. Seed and other six JuD made the federal and the Punjab governments, and CTD respondents in the case. The petitioners prayed to the court to declare that they (petitioners) are not linked with the LeT and therefore the CTD's FIRs be declared illegal.

PAK JUDGE WHO JAILED SHARIF SACKED The Islamabad high court asked the Pakistan law ministry to remove accountability court judge Arshad Malik who had allegedly confessed in a video that he had been “pressured and blackmailed” to convict former PM Nawaz Sharif in a corruption case.

Subsequently, the law ministry stopped Malik from working as a judge. Last week, Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz screened a video in which Malik could be seen meeting Nasir Butt, a PML-N sympathiser. Maryam said the judge had admitted before Butt that there was no evidence against Sharif but he was forced to announce an unfair verdict. The Islamabad HC decided to remove the judge after he submitted an affidavit in court claiming he was offered bribes by PML-N representatives to force him into issuing verdicts in favour of Sharif. In a letter to Islamabad HC, Malik refuted Maryam’s allegations. The Islamabad HC spokesperson said Malik’s affidavit and letter have been made part of Sharif’s acquittal plea.

Pakistan from its eastern border with India, such as South East Asian airlines, as Pakistan had lifted its curbs for most other airlines. Until now, only two of the 11 routes between the two countries had been opened by Pakistan.

Around 3 a.m., Turkish Airlines’s Istanbul-Delhi flight became the first to use the Pakistan airspace. An hour later, Air India’s flight from San Francisco to Delhi followed it.

An Air Indian official said all its flights between Delhi and destinations in the US and Europe have been flying through from early Tuesday. SpiceJet’s Jaipur-Dubai flight, too, flew over Pakistan, and is yet to announce the resumption of its flights to Kabul.

IndiGo, whose flight to Istanbul had to take a long detour via Qatar and stop there for refuelling, doubling its flight duration, says it is awaiting clearances to start operations on the reopened route.

Afghanistan’s Ariana Afghan is expected to resume operations between Kabul and Delhi next week and Kazakhstan’s Air Astana, which resumed four flights from Almaty to Delhi says it will return to its 11 flights a week mid-August after demand picks up.

SRINAGAR: In a humanitarian jesture, the Indian army broke protocol and handed over the body of a seven-year-old boy who had drowned in the Kishenganga river to the Pakistani army. The minor's body was washed up in Gurez sector on the Indian side of the Line of Control. The boy had drowned in Minimarg area of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), they said.

Abid Sheikh had accidentally fallen into the Neelam river, which is called Kishenganga in India, in Gilgit area across the LoC. By the time his body was fished out, it had travelled several kilometres, frequently hitting boulders in the furiously flowing river. "The body was in a decomposed state, with a lot of marks on it," an Army official who was part of the team that handed over the body to its Pakistani counterparts said.

Lt General KJS Dhillon, General Officer Commanding of the 15 Corps who heads the Army in Kashmir, closely monitoring the handover. "We ensured that the body was handed over at Gurez, which is near the place of the accident. The Pakistan army had told us to transfer it at Teetwal, but we preferred Gurez since it was closer for the distraught family," he said.

Dhillon said that the sensibilities of the family were taken care of and the body handed over respectfully. "A 'moulvi' (cleric) was called to supervise the special prayers and we were keen the rituals were in accordance with his religion," he added.

India and Pakistan have frequently exchanged stranded civilians who have strayed along the LoC or the International Border or the bodies of its civilians who slip to death in the bordering rivers.

According to sources, the Army acted after Pakistani authorities flagged the issue of sending back Sheikh's body. But it was an emotive appeal by the boy's father and uncles on social media that prompted the Army to act swiftly. The incident came amid the

CRPF men in Pulwama. Indian and Pakistani armies exchange mortar and bullet firing on a daily basis, but handing over the minor's body in Gurez will come as a major relief to the pro-peace efforts.

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Lanka plans to revive visa on arrival programme COLOMBO: Months after the Easter Sunday bombings, the Sri Lankan government thinks of reviving the visa on arrival and free visa programme for citizens of 39 countries, excluding India and China, from August 1. Lanka had on April 25 suspended its plans to grant visas on arrival to citizens of 39 countries after the devastating suicide bombings on April 21 that killed 258 people.

The visa on arrival pilot programme was part of a larger initiative to increase tourist arrivals to the country during the six month off-season period from May to October.

Sri Lanka's tourism industry, which accounts for around five per cent of the country's GDP, is likely to suffer due to the blasts, according to industry analysts.

Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga said that his ministry along with the Department of Immigration and Emigration are jointly working to put forth the proposal before the Cabinet seeking approval to revive the free visa and visa on arrival programme.

He noted that the programme will be implemented as a trial for a period of six months, excluding the country's top source markets of India and China. However, he said that the programme could be extended to these two counties as well in the future based on the success

of the trial run. The minister emphasised that a monitoring system would be put in place to prevent undesirable people entering the country. The countries that will be included in the visa on arrival programme include Austria, the UK, the US, Japan, Australia and Canada, the report said.

The island nation received 7,40,600 foreign tourists in the first three months of 2019.

Around 450,000 Indians visited Sri Lanka last year and the island nation was expecting the total Indian tourist arrivals to cross one million mark in 2019.

Tourism revenues in Lanka increased to USD 362.7 million in November from USD 284 million in October 2018, according to reports.

Sirisena now blames drug gangs for Easter Sunday bombings COLOMBO: International drug syndicates orchestrated Sri Lanka's deadly Easter Sunday bombings, President Maithripala Sirisena claimed, despite earlier blaming the attacks on Islamists. The statement comes amid a nationwide narcotics crackdown, with president Sirisena aiming to reintroduce capital punishment for drug offences.

Authorities have said local jihadist group National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) were responsible for the suicide bombings in churches and hotels that killed at least 258 people in April. The attacks were later claimed by the Islamic State group. Sirisena's office said the day after the bombings that local terrorists and international terror groups were responsible for the attacks.

But in a statement issued by his office on Monday, Sirisena

said the attacks "were the work of international drug dealers".

"Drug barons carried out this attack to discredit me and discourage my anti-narcotics drive. I will not be deterred," he said. Sirisena is waging a battle against efforts by his governing coalition in parliament to abolish capital punishment, which has been subject to a moratorium since 1976.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe discounted the president's claims. "Police completed the investigations within about two weeks," Sudarshana Gunawardana said. "There is no mention of drug dealers being involved. We have no reason to doubt our investigators."

Wickremesinghe against capital punishment He said speedier justice would be a bigger deterrent to drug traffickers than the threat of capital punishment. "We don't

believe hanging people will address the issue, especially considering that it takes several decades to get a conviction." Sri Lankan courts take on average 17 years to complete criminal trials for grave offences such as murder and rape.

Gunawardana said Wickremesinghe was opposed to capital punishment as it was against the policy of his United National Party, and noted that there was cross-bench support in the legislature to completely abolish it. Police officials said investigations into the April 21 suicide bombings were still ongoing, and more than 100 people in custody were Sri Lankans.

"We are going on the basis that this was a crime planned and executed by a group of radicalised Sri Lankan Muslims," a senior police official said.

"Everyone involved in the attacks is either dead or in

houses for them. Referring to the influx of 1.1 million Rohingyas into Cox’s Bazar, the PM said they outnumbered local people. “As many as 40,000 Rohingya babies have so far been born in the Rohingya camps,” she said. In reply, the French ambassador said her country will continue to support Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue. “We started supporting Bangladesh on the issue right from the beginning and it will continue,” she said. MarieAnnick Bourdin, however, said the situation in Myanmar for the return of Rohingyas was not conducive at present. The ambassador also said the role France is playing in the climate change issue will continue.

Man Miraculously survives niagara Falls plunge An unidentified man who was swept over the largest of the Niagara Falls was found alive, sitting on a rock in the river below with nonlife threatening injuries, Canadian police said.

The man was near the brink of Horseshoe Falls, a 188-foot (57-meter) plunge. Officials responded to the call about a “man in crisis.”

When the police arrived, the man climbed over a retaining wall into the river and was swept over the waterfall's edge. He ended up on the Canadian side of the falls, which straddle the US-Canadian border. The incident marks the fourth time an adult is known to have survived going over without protection, reportedly.

Belgian sits in toilet For Five days A Belgian man sat on a toilet for nearly five days in a bid to set a world record. Jimmy De Frenne, a 48-year- old who is learning to be a bus driver, set himself a challenge of sitting for 165 hours on a toilet set up specially for the feat in the middle of a bar, but gave up after 116 hours. “Self-mockery is the best humour there is. Why am I doing this? Why not? There is nothing I like more than people making fun of me, because then I can do the same with them,” De Frenne said. De Frenne was allowed five minutes off every hour, which he could accumulate over several hours to allow him to sleep. Ironically, he needed toilet breaks as his bar toilet was not plumbed in.

French Minister under Fire over loBster dinners Maithripala Sirisena

custody."

Sirisena has marshalled public support for an end to the moratorium on the death penalty, saying that hangings would deter the illegal drugs trade.

"If the government brings legislation to abolish capital punishment, I will declare a day of national mourning," Sirisena said in the statement, adding that public opinion favoured hanging of condemned criminals.

Myanmar must take back all Rohingyas, reiterates Sheikh Hasina DHAKA: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reiterated her call to Myanmar to begin the repatriation of the Rohingyas and said that the country must take back them from Bangladesh.

“The repatriation process should start. How long will we bear the burden? … The sooner the Rohingyas are repatriated, the better it will be for all,” she said.

The PM made the comments when French Ambassador Marie-Annick Bourdin paid a farewell call on her at the Gono Bhaban. She said international organisations and UN agencies should work inside Myanmar for the rehabilitation of the displaced Rohingyas. The work should include construction of

in brief

France’s widely lampooned environment minister denied having a taste for the high life and said he would not resign over accusations he squandered taxpayer money, in a scandal that risks upsetting the government’s reform drive.

Investigative website Mediapart reported Francois De Rugy and his wife hosted lavish dinners at his official residence while he was speaker of parliament from June 2017October 2018. Mediapart published images of lobsters and €500 wines at one dinner. De Rugy denied any wrongdoing. “I don’t like it, I don’t eat it, I have an intolerance for shellfish,” said De Rugy. “I don’t like oysters ...

I hate caviar and champagne gives me a headache,” he told BFM TV.

duBai slaps ‘dirty car’ tax oF 500 dirhaM on locals Leaving an unkempt, dirty vehicle in public parking places in Dubai can bring more than just an eye sore. Dubai Municipality has warned residents not to leave their cars unwashed for a long time or else they will have to shell out dirham 500 as a fine. City's image-conscious authorities said leaving their cars parked on public parking spaces can “tarnish the aesthetic appearance of the city”.

France to slap ‘ecotax’ oF €18 on airFares Sheikh Hasina with Marie-Annick Bourdin

While talking about the issue, Hasina said the Paris Agreement should be implemented. Hasina said Bangladesh was contributing less to the case of carbon emission, but the country was the worst sufferers in the event

of climate change. “Coastal districts of the country will be affected for the climate change,” she said.

The premier mentioned that the government has set up a climate change resilience trust fund to combat climate change.

France declared to introduce an “ecotax” of up to €18 on tickets for all flights leaving the country. “We have decided to put in place an eco-tax on all flights from France,” transport minister Elisabeth Borne said. She added the tax, which is expected to raise around €180m annually from 2020, would finance daily transport in France. The tax will range from €1.50 for short-haul flights and up to €18 for long-haul journeys in business class.

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in brief MAN SLIT TEEN'S THROAT FOR LISTENING TO RAP MUSIC A 17-year-old boy was brutally stabbed in Arizona by a man who said the rap music the victim was listening made him feel “unsafe”, police said. The victim, Elijah AlAmin of Glendale, had finished work at a sandwich shop and stopped at a convenience store. He was standing at a soda machine when Michael Paul Adams, 27, who was released from prison two days earlier, stabbed him in the back and slit his throat, witnesses told police. The two were not believed to have known each other.

Elijah fled the store, bleeding and collapsed in the parking lot. He died 20 minutes later.

The witnesses told police that Al-Amin hadn't done or said anything to provoke the attack. Police found him nearby and he admitted to the killing. Adams, who is white, told cops that Elijah, who was multiracial, had been listening to rap music before he entered the store, which made him “feel Unsafe” because in the past he had been “attacked by people (blacks, Hispanics and Native American) who listen to rap music.”

US SPA FINED FOR DENYING SERVICE TO BLIND CUSTOMER A spa in Los Angeles has agreed to change its policies and pay damages to a blind man denied access to the facility on grounds “his kind” would not be able to follow instructions. Spa Palace settled the case with the US department of justice after the man filed a complaint. The man went to the spa in 2017. An employee told him that he couldn’t enter the facility or receive a massage as “his kind” would not be able to follow instructions and the therapist couldn’t care for him. Spa Palace said the man was not denied service but was told that he would need to be accompanied by his friend at all times - a policy that will now be changed.

XI TOLD OFFICIALS NOT TO ‘SPEND WHOLE DAY EATING’ Chinese officials must not use the fight against corruption as an excuse to sit around and do nothing, idling their time away and “spending the whole day eating”, President Xi Jinping told a meeting of Communist Party members. Since Xi began his war on graft after assuming power in 2012, the party and government have scolded officials who think they can avoid punishment by trying to keep a low profile by not doing their jobs or making decisions.

Xi said it was important to “correctly handle the relationship between being clean and being responsible,” Xinhua news agency reported. “Don’t be muddle-headed officials who are politically apathetic and do things halfheartedly; don’t be lazy officials who spend the whole day eating and idle their time away."

JAINA convention in California attracts over 3,500 people CALIFORNIA: JAINA, the Federation of Jain Associations in North America, along with Jain Center of Southern California and Jain Center of Los Angeles, hosted its 20th biennial convention at the Ontario Convention Center. Over 3,500 people attended the convention.

The theme was “Celebrating Jain Religion in 21st Century.”

Convention convener Mahesh Wadher and co-conveners Dr. Nitin Shah and Dr. Jasvant Modi explained the theme and purpose of the convention and its five distinct tracks of learning about Jain principles and practices, representing the five elements – Seva, Satsang, Samarpan, Sadhana, and SelfRealization – and other tracks on focus groups, including for young Jain professionals, young adults, youths, and ‘Jain Connect’.

Pre-recorded speeches from

Jain acharyas Acharya Shri Yashovijayji Maharaj and Acharya Shri Vijay Ratna Sundar Suri Maharaj from India were played at the event.

The convention was sanctified by 22 invited sadhus, sadhavis, and spiritual guides, such as Acharya Shri Chandanaji, Acharya Dr. Lokesh Muni, Acharya Namra Muniji, and Gurudev Shri Rakeshbhai Jhaveri.

Keynote addresses were delivered by dignitaries from multiple faiths. These included Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Ingrid

Newkirk, Philip Wollen, Gaur Gopal Das, and Nipun Mehta, among others. They spoke on the significance of a lifestyle that embodies Jain principles of nonviolence, non-possessiveness and multiple-viewpoints – the main tenets of the Jain religion.

There were 90 distinguished speakers, including professors, doctors, scientists, authors, scholars, and experts in various subjects. Besides 12 keynote sessions, the convention featured 86 breakout sessions among its eight tracks.

Gaur Gopal Das, a monk

from ISKCON and a lifestyle coach, imparted life-long lessons on bringing balance and purpose to our lives. PETA president Ingrid Newkirk and Philip Wollen, a former Citibank vice president and “venture capitalist for good causes,” spoke about the virtues of being vegan and why veganism is important in today’s time.

Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace, shared his message on seva, compassion, and humility and encouraged the audience to make the smallest, simplest acts of kindness to experience how they can radically transform your life.

Rahul Kapoor Jain, a motivational speaker from India, hosted interactive sessions on harnessing the inner powers to reinvent ourselves.

The BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir of Los Angeles prepared food for the participants.

Indian boy dies in Canada, mother alleges bullying TORONTO: A 12-year-old Indian boy from Bengaluru allegedly committed suicide in Canada because of bullying he faced in school, his mother said.

The woman found a suicide note in her son's notebook but could not confirm if it was written by him. The boy’s death was preceded by months of bullying in school by two classmates, according to his mother.

The boy’s body was found on June 21 near an apartment

building where he had gone to meet a classmate. She said a police officer visited her three hours later to inform her that her son had died. She said she was taken to a hospital to identify the boy’s body. “When I saw my son’s face, there were no injuries on it. But there was blood in his mouth” said the 39year-old single mother, who moved to Canada from Bengaluru in March 2018.

“Investigation is open and

right now I don’t have any definite answers,” she said. “I came to here to give him a better life. Now I have nothing left.”

She also alleged that her son could have been racially attacked. She hinted that the child could have been murdered.

“While I was away at work, the two boys used to come to our home to play computer games.

They started telling my son not to inform me about this.” She said when she came to know

about it, she restricted her son’s contact with the two boys.

“In revenge, the two boys started bullying my son,” she said. She said they informed the vice-principal of the school who assured them of putting a stop to the bullying. She said her son was beaten up and punched by the two boys in retaliation. She alleged the vice-principal did not intervene when the bullying escalated. The boys even accused her son of stealing, she added.

Indian American appointed as Michigan-Flint university chancellor MICHIGAN: Indian American Prof. Debasish Dutta has been appointed as the next chancellor of the University of Michigan at Flint and will take charge from Aug. 1. Dutta’s five-year appointment was approved by the Board of Regents. He succeeds Susan E. Borrego, who will step down from her position at the end of her tenure in July.

As UM-Flint chancellor, Dutta will serve as the chief executive officer of the Flint campus and also an executive officer of University of Michigan.

“I am thrilled to return to

the University of Michigan to lead UM-Flint,” Dutta said in a statement.

Dutta is a distinguished professor of engineering and the former chancellor at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. He began his career at U-M as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in 1989 and moved through the ranks to professor in 2000.

While at Michigan, he was the director of the College of Engineering’s Program in Manufacturing and the founding director of its

Interdisciplinary Professional Programs.

“Dr Dutta brings a lifetime of academic leadership experience and accomplishment to his new position at the University of Michigan-Flint,” president Mark Schlissel said.

Dutta holds a doctorate in industrial engineering from Purdue, a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Evansville, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Jadavpur University in Kolkata.

He is an elected a Fellow of the

Prof. Debasish Dutta

American Association for the Advancement of Science and has served as a scholar-in-residence at the National Academy of Engineering.

Former SA President Zuma denies breaking law with Gupta Brothers JOHANNESBURG: Former South African president Jacob Zuma struck a defiant tone and told a corruption inquiry that he had never broken the law with the Gupta Brothers, describing the businessmen at the centre of an influence-peddling scandal as friends. Zuma also said he was the victim of a conspiracy by enemies who had tried to get rid of him for more than 20 years. His appearance at the inquiry – set up to test allegations that Zuma allowed cronies to plunder state resources and influence government appointments – marked a dramatic fall from grace for a politician who long dominated the country’s politics.

Former South African president Jacob Zuma

Referring to the three Gupta brothers, Zuma said, "I never did anything with them

unlawfully, they just remained friends. …

Never, never did I discuss any matter that does not belong to them. They were business people and successful business people," Zuma continued. "I'm not a business person, I know nothing about business, I'm a politician, I know something about politics."

Zuma, ousted by the governing African National Congress (ANC) in February 2018 and replaced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, has consistently denied wrongdoing over his nine years tenure.

Under pressure from rivals in the ANC, Zuma set up the corruption inquiry he now sits before in his final weeks as president, as

a number of his colleagues, including Ramaphosa, feared scandals surrounding Zuma could indelibly tarnish the party's reputation.

Zuma had avoided establishing the inquiry since a 2016 report by South Africa's anti-corruption watchdog, the public protector, instructed him to do so to investigate allegations that three Gupta brothers had been able to influence ministerial appointments and had won state contracts improperly.

The Gupta family denied the accusations and left South Africa around the time that Zuma was ousted.

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Karnataka govt's fate now hangs at SC verdict on rebels' plea BENGALURU: The fate of Karnataka government now hangs on the verdict of the Supreme Court on the pleas of 16 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs seeking direction for speaker K R Ramesh Kumar to accept their resignations from the assembly.

The court will deliver its verdict on Wednesday, July 16. A bench headed by Chief Justice Rajan Gogoi concluded the hearings of the rebel MLAs, the speaker and CM Kumaraswamy.

Kumaraswamy said rebel lawmakers were "hunting in pack" to destabilize his government.

"The Speaker has to take notice of the fact that 15 MLAs (lawmakers) are hunting in pack...they went to the hotel together," said senior lawyer Rajeev Dhavan, representing the Chief Minister. He said the Speaker was bound to conduct

HD Kumaraswamy

an inquiry on whether the resignation letters were "genuine and voluntary". The Speaker further requested the court to end status quo on any action against the lawmakers, asserting that he would decide on their resignation or disqualification by July 17.

The dissidents said that the Speaker was implying coercion without proof and pleaded that their resignations must be accepted by the Speaker.

"Irrespective of disqualification proceedings against a lawmaker, if he wants to resign, he should be allowed to," said Mukul Rohatgi, representing the rebels.

They argued that they could not be "forced to attend the assembly".

They also requested the Supreme Court to give the Speaker - whom they described as partisan - a time-frame to decide on the resignations.

As many as 16 MLAs - 13 from the Congress and three from JD(S) - have resigned from the assembly while two independent MLAs have withdrawn their support to the coalition government. With en masse resignation, the

government has been pushed to the brink of collapse. In a surprise move, Kumaraswamy had also announced he would seek a trust vote on July 18 to end the 'confusion' caused by resignations of rebel MLAs while asserting he was "ready for everything".

The ruling coalition's total strength is 116 (Congress-78, JD(S)-37 and BSP-1), besides the Speaker. With the support of the two independents, the BJP has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House, where the half-way mark is 113. If the resignations of the 16 MLAs are accepted, the coalition's tally will be reduced to 100.

The BJP issued a notice to Speaker during the Business Advisory Committee meeting attended by party leader BS Yeddyurappa seeking to move the no confidence motion.

PUNJAB

Govt bans pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice NEW DELHI: In a move to prevent anti-national activities, the government has banned the pro-Khalistan outfit, The Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), and declared the group an “unlawful association” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. “SFJ is in close touch with the militant outfits and is supporting a violent form of extremism and militancy in Punjab and elsewhere to carve out Khalistan out of the territory of India,” a Union home ministry notification said.

Officials said the ban has been slapped in consultation with state governments, including Punjab, after intelligence agencies raised a red flag about its “subversive activities and support to militancy”.

The US-based secessionist party pushes for Sikh Referendum 2020 as part of its separatist agenda and has its top leadership base in US, UK and Canada. The group's primary objective is to establish an

"independent and sovereign country" in Punjab. It openly espouses the cause of Khalistan and in that process challenges the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, an official said.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh supporting the Union government's decision, said the group deserved to be treated as a "terrorist organisation". Singh termed the move as the first step towards protecting the nation from "anti-India or secessionist designs" of the ISI-backed organisation. "Though the outfit deserved to be treated as a terrorist organisation, the government of India has at least taken a long-overdue stand against the SFJ, which had unleashed a wave of terror in Punjab in recent years," Singh said in a statement.

With this step, the Centre has finally shown its muchneeded intent to crack down on the organisation, which was

"overtly being backed by Pakistan's ISI in its conspiratorial campaign" over 'Sikh Referendum 2020', launched in 2014, said the CM. He, however, asserted that the central government would have to take more proactive measures to aggressively crack down on SFJ and its affiliates or operatives in the interest of national security.

"SFJ's activities went beyond being unlawful and posed a major threat to the very existence of our nation," said Singh.

The recent years had seen blatant attempts by SFJ to radicalise, fund and motivate some poor and gullible youngsters of Punjab into committing acts of arson and violence, Singh pointed out.

The outfit had also been making efforts to enlist the support of gangsters and radicals in the state and exhorting them to fight for the "liberation of Punjab" from the

Indian government, he added.

The chief minister said that the Punjab Police, over the last three years, had registered several criminal cases against such youngsters as well as SFJ leaders based in various countries and working under the command of SFJ promoters, operating from US, Canada, UK, Malaysia, etc.

The recovery of arms and ammunition from them has exposed a major network, spread across various south-eastern, western and even African countries, and using money transfers through hawala channels to finance the violence and illegal activities, he added.

SFJ is known to be radicalising Sikh youngsters by distorting reality, fanning communal hatred and promoting secessionism in the garb of an unofficial referendum for self-determination of Sikhs.

SFJ plans to hold the referendum in November 2020 across India and other countries with a notable Sikh diaspora.

WEST BENGAL

Apologise to people for mistakes, Mamata tells TMC leaders KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave a pep-talk to her party MLAs to not leave an inch of space to the BJP and asked them to be more humble while reaching out to people and apologise for any mistakes committed in the past.

At a meeting of her party MLAs her first since the Lok Sabha polls in which the BJP won 18 of the 42 seats in the state, just four less than the TMC - Mamata told them to gear up for the Assembly elections, which is just two years away, and exuded confidence that her party will regain power

in the state for the third consecutive time.

A senior TMC leader said at the meeting, Mamata exuded confidence that her party will bounce back in the 2021 Assembly polls and asked workers to prepare for it and bring old-timers back to the party fold. "Our party supremo has asked all MLAs to be more humble and reach out to the masses. She has also asked us that if needed the lawmakers should apologise for their mistakes committed in the past," a TMC lawmaker said.

She has asked party leaders to

not leave an inch of space to the BJP. She said that political programmes will have to be organised in each of the 294 constituencies to counter the BJP. She also directed the MLAs to remain in their areas and not visit Kolkata frequently. She has asked them to form four- Mamata Banerjee member teams in every area TMC leader said quoting the CM. to remain updated about Political strategist Prashant political developments,” another Kishor was also present in the party leader said. The fourmeeting for a brief period. member team would comprise Sources said that ahead of the two booth-level workers, one meeting, Kishor met Mamata social media activist and a and her nephew Abhishek district level functionary, the Banerjee.

in brief PARCHED CHENNAI FINALLY GETS WATER ON TRAIN Chennaites finally heaved a sigh of relief as the first train carrying water from Jolarpet near Vellore arrived in Chennai last week carrying 2.7 million liters of water in its 50 wagons.

According to officials, this transportation of water to Chennai, will continue for the next six months. During this period, the train with watercarrying wagons, which has been brought from Rajasthan, is to ferry up to 11 million litres of water everyday from Jolarpet. The transportation cost is estimated at Rs 867,000 for each trip and the state government has allocated a sum of £6.5 million for the project.

From Villivakkam station, the pipelines will carry the water to the water processing unit in Kilpauk before it is released for public consumption.

Water scarcity has forced the Chennai Metro Water authorities to reduce supply from the usual 840 MLD to 525 MLD, especially after major water sources fully dried up.

BOY DECLARED BRAIN DEAD COMES ALIVE DURING FUNERAL In a shocking incident, an 18-year-old boy who was declared brain dead after being in a coma for more than a week came alive during his own funeral. Gandham Kiran, a college student, had been taken to the hospital on 26th June due to high fever and vomiting. The teenager slipped into a coma and on July 3, where the doctors declared him brain-dead with least chances of his survival. Though doctors suggested removing the life support, his mother refused and brought him home along with the lifesupport system. Amidst the preparation of the boy's funeral, his mother noticed tears flowing from her son’s eyes. On consulting a local medical practitioner, they found his pulse was still beating and was immediately taken to the hospital. Within three days of treatment, Kiran came to senses and started talking, albeit in a low tone.

SIDHU RESIGNS FROM PUNJAB CABINET Cricketer-turnedpolitician Navjot Singh Sidhu has resigned from the Punjab cabinet amid ongoing tussle with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Sidhu released a copy of his resignation on Twitter, which he said was submitted to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on June 10, 2019. "Today I have sent my resignation to the Chief Minister Punjab, has been delivered at his official residence," Sidhu wrote on Twitter. After the cabinet reshuffle on June 6, the Chief Minister divested Sidhu of the Local Bodies portfolio and allocated him the Power and New and Renewable Energy Sources portfolios. Sidhu was not happy with the change of portfolio and abstained from joining the new ministry.

TMC LEADER SHOT DEAD IN WEST BENGAL The political killings continued unabated in West Bengal. In the latest incident, a Trinamool Congress leader was shot by some unidentified assailants in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. The TMC leader has been identified as Humaipur village head Ardosa Bibi's husband, Sofiul Hasan. The incident happened when Hasan was on his way towards Hariharpara. The reason behind the murder has not been ascertained and the investigation is underway.

The ruling TMC blamed BJP-backed miscreants for the incident. TMC called for a 12-hour shutdown in Chinsurah to protest against the incident.

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20 - 26 July 2019

Lal Bahadur Shastri on his successors after death!

• First choice was Indira if died in two years followed by Y. B. Chavan • Morarji never forgave Kuldip Nayar for spoiling his chance to be PM ometimes the history is not only politicized but is also polluted. So is in the case of Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s untimely death in Tashkent immediately after signing the declaration with Pakistan President Ayub Khan on 10 January 1966 following the 1965 war. India was to return the two conquered posts of Haji Pir and Tithwal to Pakistan. Even today the public debate is being raised in India whether Shastri was poisoned. Some raise fingers at his Information and Broadcasting Minister Indira Gandhi but Morarji Desai, an outspoken Gandhian who was an arch critic of Shastri and Indira both, records in his autobiography “The Story of My Life” (Volume II): “He (Shastri) had had two heart attacks before this. Several doubts and suspicions have been expressed in many quarters with regards to his death. But looking to all the circumstances, I do not find any ground for these doubts. I do not believe in the allegations that he did not die a natural death but was murdered.”

S

Desai was keen to be the Prime Minister immediately after PM Jawaharlal Nehru died in May 1964. A Nehru loyalist Morarji was a Union Minister in the Indian Government headed by Pandit Nehru. He lost to Shastri since the Congress President K. Kamraj and others favoured Shastri and even ‘smart’ Lal Bahadur ‘begged’ support of Indira Gandhi for a stable government. Desai again threw his hat in the ring after death of Shastri but was defeated by Mrs. PM Shastri with his confident "Lamboo" Kuldip Nayar Gandhi by a big margin. He had to wait Despite everyone knowing Indira to be till 1977 to fulfill his ambition. All the three Nehru’s choice as his successor, Morarji was i.e. Shastri, Morarji and Indira nourished her staunchest opponent. Shastri aspired to ambition to be the PM but continued to be the PM. Thanks to Morarji calling her pose as if they were not keen for the highest ‘that chit of a girl’ and rejecting a consensus post. Even Gulzarilal Nanda, two time name, Congress President K. Kamraj interim PM, was desparate to get confirmed preferred Shastri. Nayar notes, ‘He (Shastri) as PM. was considered a key which can fit into any Nehru’s weakness was his daughter, lock.’ After Nehru’s death, Kuldip had Indira Gandhi. He may have denied in the written an exclusive for UNI, saying ‘Morarji public, but in reality he wanted her to was the first one to throw his hat in the ring’ succeed him. The book “On Leaders and and this dispatch had devastating impact on Icons from Jinnah to Modi” by Kuldip Nayar, Desai’s chances to become PM! Morarji published after his death with a foreword by could not pardon the celebrated journalist Mark Tully, reveals two names as successor for life and believed that the story was at the of Shastri. Kuldip quotes his conversation instance of Shastri. During Janata rule even with Swaran Singh after Lal Bahadur’s when External Affairs Minister Atal Bihari death: “Shastri had himself told me a few Vajpayee proposed Kuldip’s name as India’s months earlier, ‘If I die in the next two years, Ambassador to Rome or when Home my successor will be Indira Minister Charan Singh wanted Gandhi. If I survive, it will be Next Column: to appoint Nayar as joint Y.B. Chavan (then the Defence Danta Maharana did not Governor for Punjab Minister).” Chavan, who was sign Accession and Haryana, PM also part of our group that day, commented, ‘Kuldip, make sure you write Dr. Hari Desai Desai stood in this down somewhere.’ It seems Shastri had the way and (The writer is a Sociopremonition of his death. Needless to say, vetoed both political Historian.

Kuldip was not only on the staff of the late the proposals! E-mail: haridesai@gmail.com) PM Shastri but was also his confident.

Rajkot's Atul Auto to launch e-rickshaws in UK Rajkot’s Atul Auto will soon launch e-rickshaws on the roads of UK. The company is well known for its diesel three-wheeler – Chhakdo - a common mode of conveyance in Rajkot.

Having fulfilled all the requisite conditions, the company received green signal from the UK government. These made in India e-rickshaws will be launched in the UK over the next 3 months and after tracking the response, the automobile company will to launch this vehicle in other parts of Europe.

Atul will become the first company to export erickshaws in Europe.

Regarding the UK project, Chairman & MD of Atul Auto Jayantibhai Chandra said that, “this is first time that electric rickshaw is being exported to the UK from India. We got this chance after fulfilling all the required norms of the UK

government. After studying the response in the UK, we will try to establish markets in other European countries. He added that electric vehicles are already accepted in Europe, hence their charging infrastructure is better and stronger than India.

Atul Auto's Rajkot plant has the capacity to produce 60,000 vehicles per year. As a part of the expansion, the company is now establishing a new unit at Changodar, near Ahmedabad. Phasewise investment of £40 million is proposed by the company in developing this new plant, of which the company has already invested £15 million. The new plant is expected to be functional by December this year. E-rickshaws will be manufactured in this new plant.

The company is also in talks for the joint venture of Lithium batteries (used in

Diary of a new Canadian Immigrant Mitul Paniker

Climate change and local water crisis Dear Readers, Climate change is the real deal. It is happening now and we need to act on it if we want our future generations to live the kind of life we have been through. I have been keeping updates on the Indian water crisis. The crisis is a siren on how climate

Meanwhile, in Chennai, people are paying twice as much for water from tankers. While that works for the middle and upper-middle class, the effect of lack of water has on the people is limitless.

Statistics show, inadequate water and sanitation kills approximately 800,000

change is quickly turning into an international emergency. The plight of Chennai and 21 other Indian cities is our worst dreams coming true.

There are areas where piped water hasn't reached in over five months. People rely on water tankers, sometimes waiting for them at night. The delayed monsoon is not doing much for the environment either. Who am I to complain though, I am just as much to blame as every one else on this planet currently.

It is not only India. Residents of Attawapiskat, Canada are going through something similar. Trying to pass through life on contaminated water is just as bad, if not more, than not receiving water at all.

Eabametoong First Nation declares State of Emergency.

High levels of contamination have been detected in their remote water distribution system as well.

The most vulnerable categories, children and the elderly have been consuming the water and face major health risks now.

people across the globe each year. The number is high and could have been avoided if only we knew better to respect Mother Earth.

While climate change and global warming is an international crisis, the effects are local and minute in size. Which is why, it is up to the local governments to come up with solutions. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on his way to achieve his promise of piped water for all Indians by 2024, the road is long and rather bumpy.

As mentioned in an article in The New York Times, with 90 per cent of the country's precious freshwater going to agriculture, India could also support established conservation practices. The country is after all urbanising at an unbelievable pace and in it lies its issues and opportunities.

India needs answers at a small scale and maybe, just maybe, it is time we accepted climate change as our present truth.

SC to hear Ayodhya pleas from July 25 if talks fail electric rickshaw) with two world leading companies LG and Bosch. At present, no proper vehicle charging network is available in India.

Considering this, Atul Auto will establish battery swapping network at petrol pumps for ease of its customers. They are in dialogue with two top players and are soon to come to a conclusion. Chandra said that rickshaw is the only source of earning for many who cannot afford the loss of business due to battery charging time, hence we are establishing battery swapping network instead of charging station.

The Supreme Court has decided to begin dayto-day hearing to settle ownership of the 2.77-acre Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land in Ayodhya from July 25 if the mediation committee gives the word that negotiations with Hindu and Muslim parties are not working. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazir requested panel chairman, former SC judge F M I Kalifulla, to submit a report by July 18 detailing the “progress of mediation till date and the stage at which the said process is presently at (sic)”.

“We also make it clear that if this court comes to a conclusion (on July 18) that, having regard to the report of Justice Kalifulla, the mediation proceedings should be ordered to be concluded, the court will do so and order commencement of the hearing of appeals before it, tentatively on and from July 25.

Hearings, if required, will be conducted on day-to-day basis,” the CJI-led bench said in its

order. The order came after Hindu parties joined hands to demand an end to the mediation process which has been favoured by the Muslim side. Both Hindu and Muslim parties to the dispute have challenged in the apex court the September 30, 2010 judgment of Allahabad high court which had divided the 2.77-acre disputed land into three equal parts and given ownership of one part each to Ram Lalla (idol), Nirmohi Akhara and Sunni waqf board.

Amid the heat of arguments, the SC on March 8 brushed aside vehement opposition from Hindu parties and suo motu set up a three-member panel comprising Justice Kalifulla, renowned mediator and senior advocate Sriram Panchu, and spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankar to explore the possibility of a negotiated settlement. While the Sunni waqf board has consistently supported negotiations, the Nirmohi Akhara broke ranks with Hindu parties and lent its support for mediation.

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India aborts Chandrayaan-2 launch an hour before blast off India called off the launch of much awaited second lunar mission scheduled on 15 July shortly before the lift-off citing a technical snag. The spacecraft which was intended to soft-land on the far side of the moon delayed its bid to become only the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on the Moon.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission is part of India’s ambitious space programme, and its success would have propelled India into rarefied company Russia, the United States and China are the only countries to have landed craft on the Moon.

President Ram Nath Kovind was present at the Sriharikota space centre for the planned launch.

The spacecraft looked

ready for launch on top of a Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle Mk III – India’s most powerful rocket with a height of 144 feet, weighing over 640 tons – from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, but countdown was halted 56 minutes and 24 seconds before the planned lift-off.

“A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system at one hour before the launch,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

“As a measure of abundant precaution, Chandrayaan-2 launch has been called off for the day. Revised launch date will be announced later.” However, the agency did not say when it would attempt the launch again, nor share any details about

the technical issue.

Dr. K. Sivan, chairman of the ISRO, said at a news conference earlier that India has spent about $140 million

on Chandrayaan-2 – designing and building almost all of its components domestically – and hailed the mission as one of the

cheapest ever. A soft landing on the Moon would be a giant leap forward in India’s space programme. National pride is at stake as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to launch a crewed space mission by 2022. With nuclear-armed India poised to become the world's fifthlargest economy, the ardently nationalist government of Modi is eager to show off the country's prowess in security and technology.

India’s past successes in space have come from lowcost, homegrown technology that has helped to achieve breakthroughs such as the discovery of water on the surface of the moon.

The space programme, a source of national pride, has allowed

the country to develop more-accurate weather forecasting and improve navigation systems for its missiles.

Because of repeated delays, India missed the chance to achieve the first soft landing near the lunar south pole.

China's Chang'e 4 mission landed a lander and rover there last January.

Chandrayaan-1 mission orbited the moon in 2008 and helped confirm the presence of water.

The ISRO wants its new mission's rover to further probe the far side of the moon, where scientists believe a basin contains water-ice that could help humans do more than plant flags on future manned missions.

Millions in danger as floods ravage India, Nepal and Bangladesh The death toll in South Asia continues to rise after flooding and landslides ravaged the border region of India and Nepal, leaving tens of thousands displaced and millions affected. At least 29 have died in the northeastern Indian states of Bihar and Assam. Flash floods have also ripped through Pakistan and Bangladesh, which border India on the east and west, respectively. Twenty eight have died in Pakistan, and 16 in Bangladesh, according to authorities from each country.

The rains have stopped in Nepal, but the disaster is far from over - with heavy downpours expected to continue in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan in the coming days. Across the border area, over a million hectares of cropland (2,471,054 acres) has been submerged, roads and homes have been damaged, livestock has been swept away and killed, and entire wildlife sanctuaries have been cut off. Federal and state agencies are working round the clock across all four affected countries to evacuate those in high-risk areas.

Dozens killed in Nepal Nepal appears the worst hit so far. Officials in Nepal said flooding and landslides killed at least 78 people and 32 others are missing, either swept away by swollen rivers or buried by mudslides since monsoon rains began pounding the region. The National Emergency Operation Center said 14

highways across the nation were blocked by floods or mudslides and attempts were being made to clear the debris and open them for traffic. More than 42,000 security personnel in Nepal have been mobilized for rescue and relief efforts including the police, army, and paramilitary forces.

Floods ravage northeastern India More than 6.7 million people in India have been directly affected by the floods, according to official statements - about 2.5 million in Bihar and 4.2 million in Assam. Floods and mudslides have also hit some other northeastern states, including Meghalaya, Sikkim and Mizoram. After causing flooding and landslides in Nepal, three rivers are overflowing in northeastern states of Bihar and Assam, submerging parts of the region. At least 14 people were killed and more than 2 million people are displaced, official said.

Pratata Amrit, a government official, said about 200,000 people left their flooded village homes in Bihar state, with 50,000 taking shelter in 152 state-run relief camps.

In remote northeastern India, 17 others were killed by flooding and mudslides and more than 2 million were affected by flooding in Assam and other states in the past four days, officials said. Nearly 80% of Assam's Kaziranga National Park, home to the endangered one-horn rhinoceros, has been flooded by the mighty Brahmaputra river, which

flows along the sanctuary, forest officer Jutika Borah said.

Assam’s State Disaster Response Authority said around 900,000 people spread over 21 of the state’s 33 districts have had their homes submerged. Several thousands are living in government-run relief camps in the state.

Disaster relief agencies are now scrambling to provide housing and crucial supplies for families who have been displaced. Over 116,000 in Bihar and 83,000 in Assam have been evacuated to temporary shelters, and state agencies are distributing rice, biscuits, baby food, and candles to hundreds of relief centers, according to state officials.

“My appeal to people is to be on alert and those living in lowlands should move to safer higher grounds,” said Pema Khandu, chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, the state closest to China’s Tibet region.

“Disaster management agencies as well as police and paramilitary officers have been put on alert, and residents have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel.”

Said Arunachal Pradesh’s home minister.

Disaster on top of tragedy Bangladesh, with 160 million people and more than 130 rivers, is prone to monsoon floods because of overflowing rivers and the heavy onrush of water from upstream India. The lowlying nation is also one of

the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which is slowly driving up sea levels.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned that the situation could get worse as the World Meteorological Organization has forecast that in July, Bangladesh will be hit by the highest amount of rainfall for all of 2019, with more than 730mm of rain (about 29 inches) expected over an average of 22 days.

Meanwhile in Bangladesh, many people live in homes made of bamboo, mud, or timber -

which provide little to no protection in floods, said Azmat Ulla, head of the the Bangladesh office of IFRC. More than 200,000 Bangladeshis have been displaced and are living in temporary camps, according to the country's state minister for disaster management and relief.

Rohingya refugees in the south eastern corner of Bangladesh are particularly vulnerable.

One million Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in nearby Myanmar are now living in overcrowded camps - and 400 of these makeshift homes have been destroyed

by the floods, leaving 3,000 refugees displaced, said Ulla.

Hydrologists and conservationists expressed grave concern over increasingly extreme seasons across South Asia.

Just last month, swathes of India - including the major cities of Mumbai and Chennai - nearly ran out of water, with people lining up for hours for meager daily allocations of governmentprovided water. “In the end, this is a clear case of climate change impacting on our ecosystem,” said Nayan Sharma, a prominent hydrologist and professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

10 killed in Mumbai building collapse Ten people, including three women, were killed and around 40 to 50 people are feared trapped under the debris of a four-storey building that collapsed in Mumbai's Dongri area on Tesday morning. The Kesar Bhai building, located near the Abdul Hamid Dargah on the Mohammed Ali Road, came crashing down suddenly, the officials said.

“The entire structure has collapsed and we have sought help from the National Disaster Response Force [NDRF], apart from other agencies like the BMC and the Mumbai police,” a Fire Brigade officer said.

Mumbai police PRO has said that eight

people, including two 3-year-old children, have been rescued so far.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that while the building was 100 year old, it wasn’t in the list of dangerous buildings. “It was to undergo redevelopment,” he added.

The building was a residential cessed structure and a No-Objection Certificate to redevelop the building was given in 2012 to a private developer. It did not feature in the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority’s annual list of dangerous buildings.

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20 - 26 July 2019

Air pollution 'ages lungs by two years and increases risk of deadly disease' Air pollution ages our lungs up to two years and increase our risk of a deadly lung disease, research suggests.

A study found exposure to pollutants in exhaust fumes and factory emissions is fuelling a rise in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is an incurable condition that occurs when the lungs become inflamed, damaged and narrowed.

Over time, patients can develop breathlessness, suffer frequent chest infections and even cough up blood.

The study also found people on low incomes are more at risk than their wealthier counterparts even when their air pollution exposure is the same.

The UK researchers blame this on poor housing,

Air pollution over London

limited access to healthcare and the lingering effects of air pollution exposure during childhood.

The research was carried out by Leicester University and led by Professor Anna Hansell, of the UK Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability.

'In one of the largest analyses to date we found outdoor air pollution exposure is directly linked to lower lung function and increased COPD prevalence.

We found people exposed to

higher levels of pollutants had lower lung function equivalent to at least a year of ageing. Worryingly, we found air pollution had much larger effects on people from lower income households,' she said.'

COPD describes a number of lung conditions. These include emphysema, which affects the air sacs, and chronic bronchitis, which impacts the airways.

Around 1.2million people in the UK are diagnosed with COPD, British Lung

Foundation statistics show.

This makes it the second most common lung disease after asthma. And in the US, 16million people suffer from COPD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It has been suggested pollutants cut the average Briton's life by six months, while also limiting the growth of a child's lungs.

But the more recent study - published in the European Respiratory Journal - suggests air pollution may be far more damaging than previously feared.

Results revealed that for every annual average increase of five micrograms per cubic metre of PM2.5 in the air, the reduction in lung function is similar to two years of ageing.

Ministers may advise on how much sleep people need Ministers are reportedly planning to issue guidance on how much sleep people should be getting every night. The recommendations are expected as part of a series of proposals aimed at improving public health in the UK. According to a leaked draft of the plans seen by The Times, up to three in four adults do not regularly get at least seven hours sleep per night. It warns that making do with less has been linked to a range of physical and mental health problems.

Ministers are now planning to review the evidence according to the draft, problems associated with lack of sleep include an increased risk of obesity, strokes, heart attacks, depression and anxiety.

It also suggests that sleep deprivation can hinder

recovery from illness and surgery.

One idea being considered is for the health service to introduce "protected sleep time" for patients, when they are not disturbed unless there is a good clinical reason.

The draft guidance says: "As a first step the government will review the evidence on sleep and health.

This is with a view to informing the case for clear national guidance on the daily recommended hours of sleep for individuals in different age brackets and to raise awareness of the key 'sleep hygiene' factors that can support healthy sleeping."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is reported to be set to publish the full list of proposals - which mainly focus on plans to tackle

- Eats a balanced diet that includes more than three portions of fruit and vegetables a day, eats fish twice a week and rarely eats processed meat - Drinks up to one pint of beer a day And an unhealthy one?

- Currently smokes regularly - Does no regular exercise - Eats a diet that includes less than three servings of fruit and vegetables a week, and includes two or more servings of processed meat and of red meat a week - Drinks at least three pints of beer a day The study followed 196,383 people from the age of 64 for about eight years.

It analysed people's DNA to assess their genetic

COULD USING YOUR PHONE OR TABLET AT NIGHT GIVE YOU A SWEET TOOTH?

Light emitted by phones or tablets at night causes sugar cravings and could lead to weight gain, a study on rats has shown. Just one hour of exposure to blue light – the artificial light given off by technology –was found to affect the rat's appetite and make it more likely to eat unhealthy food the next day. Their blood sugar levels also shot up, suggesting the animals were unable to process the sugar in their body, a warning sign of pre-diabetes. It's the latest in a slew of damning evidence against using phones too much at night – scientists have said in the past it could lead to obesity.

The study by the University of Strasbourg and University of Amsterdam, was presented at the annual conference of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB) in Utrecht, Netherlands, this week.

Previous research has shown a link between obesity and the levels of artificial light someone sees at night. The biological mechanisms which lead to a higher appetite or glucose intolerance are not explained, but are believed to be due to an alteration in hormones. Other research, which found women who fell asleep with the light or TV on weighed more than those who did not, led to scientists suggesting limitation of artificial light could be used as an intervention for obesity.

DOES 5G POSE HEALTH RISKS? smoking and to reduce obesity levels, in an attempt to help prevent disease and to save the NHS money.

Russell Foster, professor of sleep and circadian neuroscience at Oxford University, told The Times there was overwhelming evidence that good sleep could help protect against dementia, diabetes and depression.

However, he said ministers needed to be careful in the recommendations they make: "The difficulty is there's a lot of individual variation."

Another of the ideas being considered under the proposals includes extending the "sugar tax" to milkshakes.

The levy on soft drinks came into force in April 2018. But Boris Johnson who Mr Hancock is backing to become the next leader of the Conservative Party - has questioned whether such levies unfairly target the less well-off.

Mr Johnson has called for a review of the "sugar tax" and vowed not to introduce any new ones until it is complete.

Lifestyle changes that could lower risk of dementia Nearly everyone can lower their risk of dementia, even if it runs in the family, by living a healthy lifestyle, research suggests. The study of nearly 200,000 people showed the risk fell by up to a third.

The team at the University of Exeter said the results were exciting, empowering and showed people were not doomed to get dementia. The findings were revealed at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.

The researchers gave people a healthy lifestyle score based on a combination of exercise, diet, alcohol and smoking.

This is an example of someone who scored well: - Doesn't currently smoke - Cycles at normal pace for two-and-a-half hours a week

in brief

risk of developing the disease.

The study showed there were 18 cases of dementia per 1,000 people if they were born with high risk genes

and then led an unhealthy lifestyle.

But that went down to 11 per 1,000 people during the study if those high-risk people had a healthy lifestyle.

The figures might seem small, but that is because

your mid-60s are relatively young in terms of dementia.

The researchers say cutting dementia rates by a third would have a profound impact in older age groups where the disease is more common.

"It could equate to hundreds of thousands of people," Dr David Llewellyn, told the BBC. Also, this type of research cannot definitively prove that lifestyle causes different risks of dementia. It simply spots patterns in the data.

But the results, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, fit with previous research and World Health Organization advice.

The 5G mobile network has been switched on in some UK cities and has led to questions about whether the new technology poses health risks. So what are the concerns, and is there any evidence to back them up?

As with previous cellular technologies, 5G networks rely on signals carried by radio waves - part of the electromagnetic spectrum - transmitted between an antenna or mast and your phone. We're surrounded by electromagnetic radiation all the time - from television and radio signals, as well as from a whole range of technologies, including mobile phones, and from natural sources such as sunlight.

5G uses higher frequency waves than earlier mobile networks, allowing more devices to have access to the internet at the same time and at faster speeds. These waves travel shorter distances through urban spaces, so 5G networks require more transmitter masts than previous technologies, positioned closer to ground level.

The electromagnetic radiation used by all mobile phone technologies has led some people to worry about increased health risks, including developing certain types of cancer.

In 2014 the World Health Organization (WHO) said that "no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use".

However, the WHO together with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified all radio frequency radiation (of which mobile signals are a part) as "possibly carcinogenic".

It has been put in this category because "there is evidence that falls short of being conclusive that exposure may cause cancer in humans".

The UK government says "while a small increase in overall exposure to radio waves is possible when 5G is added to the existing network, the overall exposure is expected to remain low".

The frequency range of the 5G signals being introduced is within the non-ionising band of the electromagnetic spectrum and well below those considered harmful by the ICNIRP. The WHO says electromagnetic frequency exposures below the limits recommended in the ICNIRP guidelines do not appear to have any known consequence on health.

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...

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20 - 26 July 2019

Cops visit Sonakshi Sinha over fraud allegations Actor Sonakshi Sinha's door was knocked by the cops lately in regards with a cheating case filed against her last year. The Bollywood actor took to Twitter and announced that she was extending full support to the police officers. UP police paid a visit to Sona's Mumbai house in relation to a case registered against her in Muradabad. She allegedly received Rs 24,00,000 for a stage performance but did not turn up for the event.

"An event organiser who couldn't live up to his commitment obviously thinks he can make a fast buck by maligning my crystal clear image in the press.

There is full cooperation with the authorities from my end for the investigation. Would request the media not to fan these bizarre claims of an unscrupulous man."

A case was registered against the actor and four others for allegedly accepting the

money for a stage performance but not turning up for the event.

The event was scheduled to take place in September 2018. "In her nine years long career she has only worked with complete honesty and sincerity. What this man is accusing her of is completely untrue and baseless. This is just a way of extortion by maligning her spot free reputation in the press and it is not something that Sonakshi and her team will succumb to. She is a thorough professional and we have been more than cooperative with whichever authorities that have gotten in touch with us because we have nothing to hide," a report quoted Sonakshi’s spokesperson as saying. Sonakshi is currently working with Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt on 'Bhuj The Pride of India'. She is also shooting for Salman Khan’s 'Dabangg 3' in which she reprises her role as Salman’s wife, Rajjo. She is currently also promoting 'Khandaani Shafakhana' that will mark the Bollywood debut of singer Badshah and will also be seen in Akshay Kumar-starrer 'Mission Mangal'.

Akshay spends evening with wife and Jeffrey Archer Actor Akshay Kumar is currently on a vacation with his family, and is living the best life. Last week, he met popular author Jeffrey Archer, and clicked a photo with him alongside wife Twinkle Khanna.

He shared the picture on Twitter, and wrote, "Last evening the wife was celebrating hitting the big 100,000 copies sold of her last book, Pyjamas Are Forgiving and Mr. @Jeffrey_Archer was celebrating the 40th anniversary of Kane and Abel. And me? Well, I was just hanging around as I have not read his books or hers."

The dinner was hosted by Ajay and Swati Piramal in the famed author's honour as he completed 40 years of his acclaimed and popular book. Archer tweeted, "Last night, Ajay and Swati Piramal gave a dinner to celebrate the 40th year of #KaneandAbel, which quite frankly, was one of the most memorable evenings of my life. Their warmth, kindness & hospitality was unmatched."

Twinkle, meanwhile, celebrated the success

of her recent book with a post on Instagram. She wrote, "What can I say except a big thank you to all my readers.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been submerged in the world of words as a reader and it is now in my forties that it finally seems to be paying off."

On the workfront, Akshay will be next seen in Rohit Shetty's 'Sooryavanshi' and multi-starrer 'Mission Mangal', which features a stellar star-cast including Vidya Balan, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha, Kirti Kulhari, Nithya Menon and Sharman Joshi.

Ranveer's reaction to meeting wife Salman Khan joins Indian Idol fame after long trip will melt your hearts Thupten Tsering as they sing together Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone are high on chemistry and we love their pair both on and off the screen. The actor has often been vocal about his feelings for his wife, while the latter has been rather reserved and dignified with her responses.

Wooing people with yet another classic case of being openly in love with Deepika, Ranveer made a new comment on her and swept the internet by its feet.

In a video shared by a fan page on Instagram, of a shoot for Femina, the 'Bajirao Mastani' actor was asked what is the first thing he does after returning home from a long trip. He was prompt to reply, "I grab my wife and kiss her."

Fans of the celebrity couple soon made the comment go viral with many of them reacting emotionally to his answer.

On the work front, the two will be seen together in Kabir Khan's upcoming sports film '83'. While Ranno plays former India cricket captain Kapil Dev, Dippy plays his wife.

The film is about India's underdog victory at the 1983

cricket World Cup. Deepika and Ranveer are currently in the UK for the film's shoot. The cast and crew will reportedly film at the Lord’s ground after the ongoing 2019 World Cup concludes.

Ranveer was even spotted cheering for Team India during their match against Pakistan. Deepika, meanwhile, has finished filming Meghna Gulzar's 'Chhapaak', which is based on a real-life acid attack victim.

Actor Salman Khan is known for being extremely active on social media, and last weekend, he has yet another video that caught everybody's attention. In the short clip, the actor was seen sitting beside Thupten Tsering, a differently-abled singer who rose to fame with hit reality show 'Indian Idol'. The two are seen reciting poetry.

Thupten is heard singing a popular Hindi song, while Khan pats him and joins him as they sing 'Phoolon Ke Rang Se', a famous song from Dev Anand's 1 9 7 1 movie

'Hare Rama Hare Krishna'. Salman ends the video saying, "Yeh video ek Kirren Rijiju dekhega aur dekhega aapka Arunachal Pradesh ka chief minister." (This video will be seen by Kirren Rijiju and the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh) Salman is currently gearing up for his TV shows and will most likely be seen on the debut episode of his production venture, the dance reality show 'Nach Baliye 9'. He was recently seen in Ali Abbas Zafar's 'Bharat' where he starred along with Katrina Kaif, Jackie Shroff, and Sunil Grover. Thupten participated in the ninth season of Indian Idol where he inspired everyone with his talent, despite having lost his arms at a young age.

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29

20 - 26 July 2019

I beg you, please ban me: Kangana Ranaut Kangana Ranaut has the entire Indian media at her tail as the Entertainment Journalists' Guild of India announced they would continue their ban on her till the time that the actor apologises for her spat with a reporter. Her sister and manager Rangoli Chandel tweeted a video where the actress can be seen talking about the India media.

Calmly poised in a white salwar suit, Ranaut said, "Today, I want to talk about the Indian media. Everywhere there are good people as well as bad people. The media often boosted and inspired me, I have found extremely good friends and guide in the media. They have a major role to play in my success and I am grateful to them."

"But a section of media in our section functions like termites who are attacking our country's grace, honour, unity, and integrity and often spreads rumours. Our constitution does not have any clause for them and I feel these people, so called 'liberals' are a threat. This journalist I met in Delhi, he has been making fun of my serious initiative - I campaigned for a ban on plastic recently and he ridiculed it, he also made fun of my campaign against animal cruelty."

She added, "These people are threatening to ban me, destroy my career. (laughs) Treacherous people, one doesn't

need lakhs of rupees to buy you out, you people go crazy over Rs 50-60. You guys will destroy me? If things were according to pseudo journalists like you and the movie mafia, I wouldn't be the country's top actress and the highest paid actress, I ask you to please ban me, I do not want that there is no food at your home because of me."

Meanwhile, Balaji Telefilms and producer Ekta Kapoor has tweeted their apology for Kangana's spat with a journalist during a promotional event for their upcoming film 'Judgemental Hai Kya' and the Entertainment Journalists' Guild of India responded by saying that they accept the apology but would continue to boycott Kangana until the actor apologises.

The production house also expressed the hope the media will not "let this one incident hamper the team effort that has gone behind making the film."

Shakti Kapoor asks daughter Shraddha to invite him to her wedding

Troll calls Abhay Deol ‘hairy, old man’, the actor’ gives befitting reply Veteran actor Shakti Kapoor had the perfect response to rumours surrounding his daughter Shraddha Kapoor's plans to marry rumoured boyfriend Rohan Shrestha next year. Shakti reportedly asked for an invite as he is the father of the bride, afterall. When asked about his daughter's plans to get married in 2020, Shakti in an interview, said, "Really? My daughter is getting married?

Please don't forget to invite me too, to the wedding! Let me know where the wedding is, I will be there. I am the father and yet I have no clue. So, please let me know."

Shakti has always been supportive of Shraddha's life - both personal and professional. He had earlier said, "Every father wants that his daughter gets married in a good and respected family. I wish that she grows in her personal and professional life, but I think as a parent, you have to give some kind of liberty to your children because now

that period is gone when parents used to marry their children (to a person) of their choice. Now, we have to ask them about their choices in terms of everything, including their life partners. She is right now very busy in her career, but whenever she will tell us about her marriage plans, she will marry a man of her own choice and we don't have any objection with that."

Last week, a report claimed that Shraddha and Rohan had decided to get married in 2020, adding that the actor's mother is "already putting together ideas for the wedding." The two have been allegedly dating for two years. The 'Stree' actress has been earlier rumoured being in relationships with Aditya Roy Kapur and Farhan Akhtar. On the work front, Shraddha is currently awaiting the release of 'Saaho', opposite Prabhas. She also has Varun Dhawan's 'Street Dancer 3D' and Tiger Shroff's 'Baaghi 3' in the works.

Versatile actor Abhay Deol always makes headlines for different reasons. Most recent being a shirtless picture along with a screenshot of the reactions to his look. Abhay posted screenshot on Instagram and mentioned one of the reactions. With his fans fawning over the picture, a single social media user wrote, "WHY TF ARE YOU INTO HAIRY OLD LOOKING MEN!! Jesus".

The actor captioned the picture, "WHY TF ARE YOU INTO HAIRY OLD LOOKING MEN!! Jesus".

MADE ME LOL! #lost my razor # c a n t d o s h i t a b o u t a g e i n g #waitttillyourturncomeslove." Undoubtedly, the post made several LOL. Model and actor Diandra Soares commented, "Hahahahaha chya men too bloody cute !!!! The comment

& you hawwwt." Actor and musician Spence wrote, "Haha hairy or not you're a freakin stud bro."

Beauty contest winner Sushant Divgikr too commented, "I'm sorry. But I think you're too hot. Ok bye !" Actor Pranati Rai Prakash wrote, "You are handsome! I like hairy chests! Plus it's the most natural thing. People!"

The post garnered over 40,000 likes within 22 hours was flooded with fan reactions. A fan wrote, "Ageing never look SO GOOOOOOD. Setting Instagram on one post at a time." Another wrote, "May you never find your razor again."

Deol was last seen in Netflix's comedy 'Chopsticks'. He also starred in a prominent role in Shah Rukh Khan starrer 'Zero'. He played Katrina Kaif's character Babita's boyfriend named Aditya.

Varun Dhawan calls 'Kalank' a bad film After delivering hits back to back, actor Varun Dhawan unfortunately met a brief speed bump as his last release 'Kalank' failed to perform as expected at the box office. The actor admitted he was affected by it, and said, "It was not accepted by the audience because it was a bad film and somewhere we all failed collectively." The movie had a stellar starcast with Madhuri Dixit Nene, Sanjay Dutt, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Alia Bhatt alongside Dhawan.

“Making a film is a team effort. It’s wrong to blame it on the director and producer. And being a part of the team, I

will take part of the blame as well. The film did let down people. We have collectively gone through why it didn’t work.

Personally, it (failure) was important. I wanted the failure to affect me because if it doesn’t, then that means I don’t love my work,” he added.

However, Varun has no time to linger in the past. He is looking forward to diverse films lined up for release in the coming year, including 'Street Dancer 3D' and the remake of his father's hit 1995 comedy, 'Coolie No 1'. Regarding his choice of films, the actor said, "I choose films which I know

I will enjoy doing the most. If I don't have fun, it won't show on screen. I am playing a street dancer in my next because I love dancers in real life. If I want something serious, I do something like 'October'. With comedy, I want to work with David Dhawan (his father) because he is the best in the country. His experience will help me as an actor."

"I am first a lover of cinema and then an actor. I am here to entertain the audience and everything else comes secondary to me. Everyone goes wrong sometimes, even I have, but you have to learn."

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20 - 26 July 2019

AR Rahman to compose music for Vikram's next film Grammy award winning music composer, AR Rahman, has been roped in to compose music for actor Vikram's next Tamil film which is tentatively titled 'Vikram 58'. Makers of the movie welcomed Rahman on board with a special poster of the movie. The first look poster was unveiled back in May and featured Vikram in multiple avatars. Reports suggest the actor plays a photographer in the film to be directed

by Ajay Gnanamuthu.

Scheduled to go on the floors in August, the film is being produced

by Seven Scene Studio with Viacom 18 Studios. The team intends to release the movie in April 2020. They released a statement saying, "This film will be a PanIndian project catering to Tamil, Hindi and Telugu audience. It will be produced on a massive scale in association with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures. The cast and technicians will have big names from several industries collaborating for this film."

Gnanmuthu spoke about the new project, and said, "The only thing I can divulge right now is that Vikram's role will be a challenging one. Of course, he has always taken up challenging roles but I think this one will be better than all of those."

Popular singer Sid Sriram turns composer for Mani Ratnam The voice behind several Tamil and Telugu chartbusters, Sid Sriram is all set to debut as a composer for Mani Ratnam's upcoming Tamil production 'Vaanam Kottatum'. It is reported that the makers had originally signed Govind Vasantha as the composer. However, since the project took time to take off, they faced date issues with Govind and eventually roped in Sriram as his replacement.

Producer Siva Ananth said, "We did speak to Govind for the project. The film was supposed to take off earlier but it took us some time. Eventually, the dates didn't work out with Govind.

We wanted a young talent for the film and approached Sid Sriram."

Meanwhile, Sriram said he's looking forward to present completely new sound through the album.

"We're going to present a completely new sound. I'm in the initial stages of conceptualising the music right now. I've had many conversations with director Dhanasekaran to get the different emotional textures of the film. I've started sketching out the different sonic and musical spaces that I want these songs to occupy.

I've been able to have some key conversations with Mani Sir as well, which have been very encouraging."

The film is due to hit floors later this month, and will star Vikram Prabhu, Aishwarya Rajesh, Madonna Sebastian and Radikaa Sarath Kumar in key roles. It will be directed by Dhanasekaran, who was earlier assistant to Mani Ratnam.

Sandeep Vanga to team up with Mahesh Babu for next 'Kabir Singh' director Sandeep Reddy Vanga is set to team up with Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu for a project which will go on the floors next year. He is currently basking in the phenomenal success of the Shahid Kapoor-starrer which has grossed over £20 million at the box office, and will return to Telugu filmdom for his upcoming.

A source close to Vanga said, "Contrary to rumours, Sandeep hasn't signed any new Hindi project yet. He will next commence work on his new film with Mahesh Babu.

Sandeep had already pitched a story idea which Mahesh really liked. However, since both of were occupied with other commitments, they couldn't join hands immediately.

This project will go on the floors early next year."

Meanwhile, Mahesh Babu will begin shooting for his upcoming Telugu actioner 'Sarileru Neekevvaru' soon. The shoot has begun in Kashmir and Mahesh Babu is expected to join the sets soon. Directed by Anil Ravipudi, the film will feature Mahesh in the role of a military officer.

Rashmika Mandanna has been roped in as the leading lady.

The film had its official launch on June 1. The project, to be produced by Dil Raju and Anil Sunkara, also stars Rajendra Prasad and Jagapathi Babu among others. The makers have also announced that the film will hit the screens next year during Sankranti festival. Devi Sri Prasad has been roped in to compose music. The rest of the cast and crew will be announced very soon.

Tamil star Ajith Kumar and Bollywood filmmaker Boney Kapoor, have signed yet another project together. The two are currently collaborating on the Tamil remake of Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannustarrer 'Pink' titled 'Nerkonda Paarvai'. If reports are to be believed, Ajith has been paid £10 million for the three-film deal.

While details about the third movie are yet to be known, reports indicate that it could be a high-octane action script that will be shot across exotic locations around the globe. There already are stories that suggest Ajith might play a racer in his next film.

'Nerkonda Paarvai', meanwhile, is gearing up for release on August 10. Directed by H Vinoth, the movie

features Ajith as a lawyer, and marks the Tamil debut of Vidya Balan in a crucial role. It also stars Shraddha Srinath, Andrea Tariang and Abhirami Venkatachalam. The project is a child sprouted of Ajith's promise to late actress and Kapoor's wife Sridevi who had wished her husband produces a film with Ajith.

Director Vinoth opened up about the project and said, "I know about Ajith sir fans. I have had a tough journey to build a career, and a mistake could spell disaster. I realised that there could be two issues - how his fans would consume this film and a how a cult film that has admirers across the country could be remade by retaining the essence. We should first at least understand half of 'Pink'."

Ajith, Boney join hands again, sign £10 mn deal

TV Listing

* Schedule is subject to change

SATURDAY JULY 20, 2019 00:30 FILM: JASHNN 05:00 FILM: 18.11...A CODE OF SECRECY 07:27 FILM: HIRAASAT 10:25 FILM: AITRAAZ 13:43 FILM: RAJA HINDUSTANI 17:21 FILM: HONEYMOON TRAVELS PVT LTD 19:55 FILM: SALAAM-E-ISHQ SUNDAY JULY 21, 2019 00:16 FILM: AWARAPAN 02:23 FILM: YEH ZINDAGI KA SAFAR 05:00 FILM: BEZUBAAN ISHQ 07:33 FILM: BLUE ORANGES 09:55 FILM: JOSH 13:15 FILM: MAIN KHILADI TU ANARI 16:50 FILM: BADLAPUR 19:26 FILM: GOLMAAL -FUN UNLIMITED 22:30 FILM: D-DAY MONDAY JULY 22, 2019 01:17 FILM: ZEHER 05:00 FILM: THE SILENT HEROES 07:20 FILM: GHAR BAZAR 09:50 FILM: RAJA HINDUSTANI 13:23 FILM: HAIR IS FALLING 15:16 FILM: SALAAM-E-ISHQ 19:43 FILM: SOCHA NA THA 22:48 FILM: JAHAN TUM LE CHALO TUESDAY JULY 23, 2019 01:23 FILM: THE KILLER

05:00 FILM: THE PERFECT GIRL 07:00 FILM: AULAD 10:17 FILM: MAIN KHILADI TU ANARI 13:52 FILM: JAAN SE PYARA 17:00 FILM: GOLMAAL -FUN UNLIMITED 20:02 FILM: J*** 2 22:40 FILM: GANGSTER WEDNESDAY JULY 24, 2019 00:46 FILM: CHOR BAZAARI-EK ATRANGI PREM KAHANI 05:00 FILM: MUNNA MAANGE MEMSAAB 07:30 FILM: AAJ KA MAHATMA 10:25 FILM: HOTE HOTE PYAR HO GAYA 13:20 FILM: PYAAR KE KABIL 16:30 FILM: SOCHA NA THA 19:35 FILM: TRAPPED 21:47 FILM: LUV SHUV PYAR VYAR THURSDAY JULY 25, 2019 00:10 FILM: JAANAM 05:00 FILM: PRITHIPAL SINGH... A STORY 07:00 FILM: JAANE JIGAR 10:00 FILM: KRANTIVEER 13:03 FILM: INSANIYAT 16:35 FILM: J*** 2 19:13 FILM: BINDAS RANI 22:00 FILM: TRAPPED FRIDAY JULY 26, 2019 00:07 FILM: MERE DOST PICTURE ABHI BAKI HAI 05:00 FILM: THE SILENT HEROES 07:20 FILM: HAISIYAT 10:25 FILM: BINDAS RANI 13:18 FILM: CHINA GATE 16:50 FILM: TEEN PATTI 19:47 FILM: AGNEEPATH MON 22ND JULY - FRI 26TH JULY

TIME

TV PROGRAM NAMES

18:00 BEYHADH

18:45 VIGHNAHARTA GANESHA 19:30 MERE SAI * Schedule is subject to change

SATURDAY 20TH JULY TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES 18:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 20:00 SUPERSTAR SINGER 21:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 23:00 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW SUNDAY 21ST JULY TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES 18:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 20:00 SUPERSTAR SINGER 21:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 23:00 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 15TH - FRI 19TH JULY 2019 13:00: SWARAGINI 15:30: SIRF 30 MINUTES 16:00: THE GREAT INDIAN GLOBAL KITCHEN 2 16:30: RASOI SHOW 17:30: CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00: RADHA PREM KI DEEWANI 18:30: BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN 19:00: JAHAANARA

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 15TH - FRI 19TH JULY 2019 18:30: KITCHEN CHAMPION 19:30: CHOTI SARRDAARNI 20:00: SHAKTI ASTITVA KE EHSAAS KI 20:45: GATHBANDHAN 21:30: BEPANAH PYAARR 22:00: BAHU BEGUM 22:30: SILSILA 23:00: VISH

20:00 YEH UN DINON KI BAAT HAI 20:30 ISHAARON ISHAARON MEIN 21:00 PATIALA BABES

21:30 LADIES SPECIAL 22:00 CRIME PATROL 19:00

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19:00 19:00 19:00 19:00

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AN EVENING IN PARIS

TUESDAY

AASOO BANE ANGAAREY

THURSDAY

RANGEELA

WEDNESDAY GHULAM FRIDAY

DEEWANA

19:30: BEPANNAH 20:30: MOHE RANNG DO LAAL 21:00: BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE PYAAR KE 22:00: RED ALERT SAT 20TH JULY 2019 18:00: RADHA PREM KI DEEWANI 18:30: BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN 19:00: UNPLUGGED 19:30: RED ALERT 20:30: INDIA'S GOT TALENT (SEASON 8) 21:30: JAGTE RAHO SUN 21ST JULY 2019 18:00: RADHA PREM KI DEEWANI 18:30: BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN 19:00: UNPLUGGED 19:30: RED ALERT 20:30: INDIA'S GOT TALENT (SEASON 8) 21:30: JAGTE RAHO

SAT 20TH JULY 2019 19:00: CHOTI SARRDAARNI KAHAANI AB TAK 19:30: DESI BEAT RESET 20:00: BFFS WITH VOGUE (SEASON 3) 21:00: DANCE DEEWANE SEASON 2 22:30: KAWACH MAHASHIVRATRI SUN 21ST JULY 2019 19:00: DESI BEAT RESET 19:30: CHOTI SARRDAARNI KAHAANI AB TAK 20:00: BFFS WITH VOGUE (SEASON 3) 21:00: DANCE DEEWANE - SEASON 2 22:30: KAWACH MAHASHIVRATRI

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Mahant Swami in Bochasan

BAPS chief Mahant Swami is in Bochasan since July 11. A large number of devotees visit everyday to seek his blessings in morning and evening prayers. On the occasion of 'Dev Podhi Ekadashi', on 12 July, saints took vows of penance in the presence of Mahant Swami. On 13th, 'Sameep Darshan' was arranged. The theme of Sunday assembly organised on 14th was 'Manodasha' (Psychology). How one can ameliorate life with the virtues of 'Raja', 'Tama' and 'Sattva' and through the preaching of 'Vachanamrut' was discussed. Mahant Swami also preached about Pujya Gunatitanand's sayings. On 15th Swamiji performed his morning-evening prayers and addressed saints and devotees.

Coming Events

l Shri Swaminarayan Gurukul Rajkot – UK celebrates Gurupurnima Mahotsav, Satsang by Shri Dharmajivandasji Swami and Shri Devkrishnadasji Swami and elder saints.

Date: 20 July Saturday, Time: 5.30 pm to 8.00 pm Venue: Prestimade school, Hartford Avenue, Harrow HA3 8SZ Contact 020 8248 3620, Exhibition on Ancient belief of Science, 22 July to 26 July Time: 6.15 pm onwards, Venue: Nehru Center UK - 8S, Audley Street, Mayfair London W1K 1HF, Contact 020 7491 3567 l Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan 27 July 4:00 pm - Hindustani songs 27 July 7: 00 pm - Sitar and Tabla programme 28 July 4:00 pm - Carnatic songs 28 July 7:00 pm - Bharata Natyam Venue: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 4A, Castletown Road, West Kensington, London, W14 9HE Contact 020 7381 3086

Disclaimer

Asian Business Publications Ltd (ABPL) is not in any way responsible for the goods and services rendered by its advertisers. The ABPL management accepts all advertisements in good faith and it is entirely up to readers to verify advertisers’ products and services, should they feel the need to do so.

Sneh Joshi

often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts. For Aries it falls in your 10th and 4th houses, focusing on your Work and home issues. You need to strike the right balance between the two, if you want peace and harmony. Work smartly in order to spend quality time at home.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts. Decision making will prove to be a bit of a bind because of your wavering mind - seek professional advice and then steam ahead. The Lunar eclipse falls in your solar 9th and 3rd houses, affecting travel and communications.You will also be in great demand socially, mixing with like-minded people.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses

often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts. The Lunar eclipse falls in your financial axis of solar 8th and 2nd houses, highlighting wills, legacies, taxes and joint resources. You need to re-assess your future with this in mind. Do not get over-anxious if everything seems to be in slow motion - it is time to pull a few strings.

The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts.This occurs in your solar 7th and 1st houses. This can affect your standing in the community and any partnerships you may have. Focus on essentials and establish a solid foundation. Wait before going full steam ahead with grand actions and gestures.

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20 - 26 July 2019

Sardar Walk: In the spirit of unity Sardar Patel Memorial Society UK invites you to take part in the Sardar Walk in the Spirit of Unity on Sunday 4th August.

Enjoy a fun walking day from Sardar’s London home located at 23 Aldridge Road Villas, Ladbrook Grove, W11 1BH (nearest station: Westbourne Park) and starts 11am.

Let’s all get together to pay tribute to Sardar Patel on a summer’s day, celebrating the forthcoming Independence Day with family and friends.

You will walk along sleepy picturesque Grand Canal to Wormwood Scrubs Park. Refreshments

On Love

by Rabindranath Tagore

Love adorns itself; it seeks to prove inward joy by outward beauty.

Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom.

Love is an endless mystery, for it has nothing else to explain it. will be provided with a picnic in the part after the two mile walk.

For more information please contact either: Sharadbhai Parikh email: sharadbalmukund@yahoo. co.uk Mobile: 07734 915 211 or Sulochanaben Sethi email: pollylifestyle@gmail.com Mobile: 07956 811 078.

Love's gift cannot be given, it waits to be accepted.

AJIT NINAN FOR TOI

Guru Purnima celebrated at BAPS Neasden Mandir On Saturday 13 July 2019, the auspicious festival of Guru Purnima was celebrated at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden, London in the presence of Sadguru Pujya Ishwarcharan Swami, senior swami of BAPS

Swaminarayan Sanstha.

On this occasion, he announced that planning for a traditional BAPS mandir in Paris is currently in progress and that work would commence once planning and land formalities are completed.

Hundreds of fingerprints waiting to be analysed Hundreds of fingerprints are waiting to be analysed by experts because of "deeply concerning" forensic delays. Figures show more than 830 fingerprint cases were waiting to be analysed by South West Forensic Services in May. Examination of some digital material was being delayed by up to 12 months, according to the Police Federation. South West Forensics said it was urgently recruiting staff to "cope with demand" and it was "committed to safeguarding victims of

crime". In Cornwall, a multiple-burglary victim has been paying £400 per week for an overnight security guard to protect his shop because he has no confidence in the police catching the culprit. Three months since the latest burglary, Thana Singam, from Hatt Service Station, said he was still waiting to hear whether the police had found a fingerprint match. He said the cost of stock taken and repairs of damage caused had totalled more than £20,000 across the three burglaries.

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ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

UK

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The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts. It falls in your solar 6th and 12th houses highlighting health matters, behindthe-scene activities and losses. This is a favourable time for getting away from usual routines and seeking a retreat for a few days. All the better if you are interested in alternative therapies.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts. Be careful with your expenditure as you have a tendency to be extravagant, especially as the Lunar eclipse falls in your financial axis. This is an excellent time for dealing with long-term money matters. Simplifying your priorities.

The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts. The lunar eclipse falls in the solar axis of 5 and 11 in your chart, affecting your investments, friendships and romantic relationships. Friendships need to be scrutinised carefully - get a more objective view of the pattern of your life.

The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts.The focus will be on yourself and your relationships. You will continue to be in a restless mood for some time to come. You are likely to experience some tension in close relationships. Use tact and diplomacy to smooth and ruffled feathers.

The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts.This occurs in your solar 3rd and 9th houses of communication, travel and spiritual knowledge. it is a sobering influence and you need to be aware that you have to overcome certain hurdles before you achieve your goals. It signals a time of mixed emotions.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts. A busy social calendar is likely to lead to a hectic time ahead, leading to new friendships and possibly even romantic liaisons. Once you set your mind on a goal you stay the course no matter what obstacles you encounter.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts. It seems that the winds of change begin to gather momentum, with the lunar eclipse putting a strong focus on family and career matters. Besides spending more time tending to domestic affairs, the focus can be on cultivating and nourishing your inner foundations, so to speak.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

The Full Moon Lunar Eclipses often heighten our emotions and there is often some drama involved with where it occurs in our charts. There are subtle transformations taking shape in you life and a feeling of helpful influences in the background. There is much to suggest that you are in touch with those hidden forces which often seem to take a guiding hand in one's life. The Lunar eclipse highlights your health issues and daily routine.

32

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DJOKOVIC OUTLASTS FEDERER IN MARATHON WIMBLEDON FINAL Serbian Novak Djokovic became the first man in 71 years to win Wimbledon after facing match points in the final, coming back to beat Roger Federer in an unprecedented fifth-set tiebreaker on Sunday. By barely emerging to win 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 13-12 (3) after nearly five tight, tense and terrific hours, Djokovic claimed his fifth championship at the All England Club and second in a row.

This triumph also earned Djokovic his 16th Grand Slam trophy, moving him closer to the only men ahead of him in tennis history: Federer with 20, and Rafael Nadal with 18. Federer has ruled grass courts since the early 2000s; he has won Wimbledon eight times dating to 2003, and this was his record 12th appearance in the title match. But Djokovic is now 3-0 against Federer in finals at the place and 4-0 against him in five-setters.

This one was unlike any other, though. That's because, while it was reminiscent of Federer's 16-14 fifth-set victory over Andy Roddick in the 2009 Wimbledon final, that score is no longer possible: The All England Club altered its rule this year to do away with neverending matches and institute a tiebreaker at 12-all in a deciding set.

At one point during the final set, Djokovic asked chair umpire Damian Steiner whether the change called for the tiebreaker at 10-10. Later, when Djokovic held for an 1110 lead, it was Steiner who got confused,

Novak Djokovic

beginning to call out the score as 11-9, before catching himself. Federer and Djokovic pushed each other to the limit in what became as much a test of focus and stamina as it was about skill. It is destined to be discussed for years.

"I'll try to forget," joked Federer, who is less than a month shy of his 38th birthday and would have been the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title in the professional era. First, it was Federer who kept falling behind, then coming back.

He twice trailed by a set. He was down a break early in the crucible of the fifth.

And, then, after seemingly gaining the upper hand, standing a single point from winning while serving for the victory at 8-7, 40-15, he faltered.

He sent a forehand wide on the first championship point, and Djokovic produced a cross-court forehand winner on the next. Soon enough, the 32-yearold Djokovic had broken back and on they would play. Djokovic has done this to Federer before. In the semifinals of the 2010 and 2011 US Opens, Djokovic erased two match points before coming back to win each time.

Halep crushes Serena Simona Halep torpedoed Serena Williams’s latest bid to capture a recordequalling 24th Grand Slam when she stormed to a sensational victory in a 56minute Wimbledon women's final on Saturday. The Romanian captured her second career major with a 6-2, 6-2 victory adding a maiden Wimbledon – the first for her country in both men’s and women’s singles – to her 2018 Roland Garros triumph.

Defeat for 37-year-old Williams, a seventime Wimbledon champion who won the last of her 23 Slam titles at the 2017

Simona Halep

Australian Open, meant her attempt to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record for major wins was put back on ice until at least the US Open. “My mom said when I was 10 that if I want to do something in tennis I have to play in the final at Wimbledon,” said Halep. “I had lots of nerves, my stomach wasn’t very well. I have never played a better match. I said at the start of the tournament that one of my motivation was to win and become a lifetime member of the club.”

Williams bluntly admitted she had not been at the races against a superior opponent. “She played out of her mind. I was like a deer in the headlights,” said Williams.

ICC announces team of the tournament

Ben Stokes

Rohit Sharma

A day after England won their maiden World Cup title defeating New Zealand at Lord's, the ICC announced the team of the tournament. The panel is selected by the ICC to honour players who performed well in the tournament. New Zealand's skipper and player of the tournament Kane Williamson has been named as the captain of an ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 team.

Newly-crowned world champions England are the most represented with four selections in the side, while runnersup, the Black Caps have two in the team. The other players come from the losing semi-finalists India and Australia, who have two each, while Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan is the only one from his team. The team was selected by former international players and commentators Ian Bishop, Ian Smith and Isa Guha, along with cricket writer Lawrence Booth, while ICC General Manager Cricket, Geoff Allardice, was the fifth member and convener of the committee.

The team of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 (in batting order) is: Jason Roy (England) - 443 runs at 63.28, Rohit Sharma (India) - 648 runs at 81, Kane Williamson (c) (New Zealand) 578 runs at 82.57, Joe Root (England) - 556 runs at 61.77, Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) - 606 runs at 86.57, 11 wickets at 36.27, Ben Stokes (England) - 465 runs at 66.42, seven

Kane Williamson

Shakib Al Hasan

wickets at 35.14, Alex Carey (wk) (Australia) - 375 runs at 62.50, 20 dismissals, Mitchell Starc (Australia) - 27 wickets at 18.59, Jofra Archer (England) - 20 wickets at 23.05, Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand) - 21 wickets at 19.47, Jasprit Bumrah (India) - 18 wickets at 20.61.

Jason Roy gets the nod at the top of the order for his tone-setting brilliance for England that saw him overcome injury during the tournament to help his side to the title.

Roy had five scores of more than 50 in seven innings during the tournament, including one massive ton against Bangladesh in Cardiff and also produced the throw from the outfield that tied the super over and gave England the glory.

India's Rohit Sharma is one of the easiest selections in this team, as he was the tournament's top run scorer and cracked a record five centuries in the tournament.

Williamson comes in at number three and is appointed captain of the team.

The Black Caps star scored more runs than any captain has ever done before at a World Cup and led his side with aplomb from start to finish.

Joe Root comes in at number four for the team after a World Cup that saw him finish as England's top run-scorer, fifth overall in the tournament, with tons against Pakistan and West Indies and three half-centuries.

Mitchell Starc

Jason Roy

Shakib Al Hasan had a quite wonderful tournament, averaging 87 with the bat with two centuries and five further half centuries, and yet still managed to chip in with 11 wickets as well with his left-arm spin.

Fellow all-rounder Ben Stokes is also a cast-iron selection - his heroics in the final were the stuff of fairytale but he was also a picture of consistency throughout the tournament for England. Behind the stumps, Alex Carey effected 20 dismissals this tournament, only Kiwi Tom Latham managed more, while the Australian also bludgeoned 375 runs at an average of 60.

Alongside Carey, his compatriot, and the tournament's top wicket-taker with 27, Mitchell Starc also included in the team. Jofra Archer - a hero of the super over in the final and appearing in his first World Cup - claimed 20 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 4.57 to earn his spot.

New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson finished second in the wicket charts with 21, including three in the final as well as an astonishing catch, while also going at less than five runs an over.

Last but by no means least is Jasprit Bumrah, the world's No.1 ODI bowler who lived up to that billing with 18 wickets while still only going for 4.41 runs an over - better than any other bowler on the top wicket-takers list.