AV 23rd December 2023

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE Leicester East

Surat diamond bourse a symbol of new India: PM Modi

“Labour party will reach out to the Hindu community to work with them”: Rajesh Agrawal

SEE PAGE - 26

SEE PAGE - 12

A great year at the movies

2024 : Looking forward

SEE PAGE - 28

SEE PAGE - 15

23 - 29 DECEMBER 2023

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

VOL 52 - ISSUE 33

COMMUNITY RISES, SPREADS CHRISTMAS CHEER photo credit: Deepen Patel, Facebook

From helping children in hospitals to the elderly at care homes and making sure no one goes hungry, Britain’s Asian community has once again raised the bar of hope and empathy this Christmas.

Shashi and Pallu Patel of ‘Meet and Deep News’

Shefali Saxena Every Christmas, Shashi and Pallu Patel of ‘Meet and Deep News’ open their store to the community in Twickenham, London.

For years they’ve put up a hand-written board that reads: “We are open on Christmas. If you are alone, pop in for a hug and a mince pie! You don’t have to buy anything. We are family.” The Patels are offering 300 samosas from their mother’s secret recipe to anyone who walks in, for free. It is no more a festival of just Christianity, Christmas is a global celebration across faiths and communities.

The South Asian population embraces Christmas as much as they love Diwali.

While the community has for time immemorial internalised charity and given away as many essentials to the less privileged and needy, there are more than just materialistic grounds when the festive season calls upon us to be a little more kind and empathetic towards each other as a community. While the festive season and its fiscal responsibility to make everyone happy with gifts and good celebrations rest upon adults of most families, it is the children and the elderly who need special care during Christmas.

Continued on page 16

Indhu Rubasingham makes history with National Theatre appointment

Indhu Rubasingham

Indhu Rubasingham is set to make history as the first Asian and woman director and joint chief executive of the UK's National Theatre.

FULL STORY ON PAGE 13

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23 - 29 December 2023

Police lack "full understanding of the nature and scale" of child exploitation The police across the country lack a "full understanding of the nature and scale" of child exploitation, according to a report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

The review of 27 cases of child sexual exploitation (CSE) revealed that progress in the police response to

CSE remains slow, and data collection is deemed "unreliable." The report highlighted that although the police service has taken steps to improve its response to CSE, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding of the nature and extent of these crimes.

The most common ethnic group of offenders iden-

tified in the review were white, followed by Asian or Asian British. The inspectorate acknowledged that the sample size was not fully representative, and the report did not name the police forces specific involved.

The report emphasized the consequences of ineffective responses, leading to gener-

ations of children being unprotected and requiring complex and costly inquiries later on.

The Jay report in 2014 exposed widespread sexual abuse in Rotherham, leading to increased efforts to address CSE, but the recent report suggests ongoing challenges in tackling the issue effectively.

David Cameron issues a warning of potential cooperation withdrawal

Diplomat Raj Aggarwal in Cardiff to mark the 554th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev

Left to right: Indian Minister of Coordination Shri Deepak Chaudhary, Hon Consul of India for Wales Raj Aggarwal, High Commissioner of India H.E. Mr Vikram Doraiswami and President of Sikh Council Wales Gurhit Randhawa

Diplomat Raj Aggarwal orchestrated a celebration in Cardiff to mark the 554th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the revered spiritual founder of Sikhism.

Collaborating with the Indian government and the Sikh Council of Wales, Aggarwal, the Honorary Consul for India in Wales, hosted the event at Cardiff University, drawing hundreds of attendees.

The celebration began at the Sikh Gurdwara in Cardiff, where the High Commissioner extended greetings to the participants.

The festivities continued at Cardiff University’s Julian Hodge Building, featuring children from multiple Sikh temples in Wales engaging in Kirtan, Kavita, and Sakhi. Distinguished

personalities, including military officials, the Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan Morfudd Meredith, the Rt Hon Lord Mayor of Cardiff Councillor Bablin Molik, and Baroness Jenny Randerson, Chancellor of Cardiff University, attended the event.

Aggarwal praised the hard-working Indian diaspora in Wales for their significant contributions to the nation. Acknowledging the global significance of Guru Nanak Dev's anniversary, Aggarwal appreciated the presence of the High Commissioner and an Indian Government minister at the Gurdwara.

Representatives from all four Gurdwaras in Wales actively participated in the event.

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Ongoing tensions between the Scottish and UK governments have intensified as the UK Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, issued a warning of potential cooperation withdrawal following a meeting between Humza Yousaf, the Scottish First Minister, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at COP28.

Cameron argued that the meeting was a "breach of protocol" as no UK official was present, while a representative for Yousaf stated that a UK official had been invited. Cameron, who recently assumed his role as foreign secretary, wrote a letter to Angus Robertson,

Humza Yousaf

David Cameron

the SNP's External Affairs Secretary, expressing concern about the absence of a Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) representative, violating protocols outlined in

FCDO's guidance for supporting devolved government ministers' overseas visits. Cameron warned that any future breaches could lead to the FCDO refraining from facilitating

meetings or providing logistical support, with considerations about the presence of Scottish government offices in UK government posts.

The Scottish government argued that a UK official was informed and invited to the meeting and criticised the UK's threat to curtail international engagement, while a source within the Scottish government deemed Cameron's response exaggerated.

The meeting had sparked controversy within the SNP, with Councillor Roza Salih expressing disgust due to Turkey's attacks on Kurdish groups in Syria.

Smital Dhake, named Newcomer of the Year at the RailStaff Awards 2023 Alstom, a leading transport multinational in smart and sustainable mobility, is celebrating the recognition of its Data Scientist, Smital Dhake, who was named the Newcomer of the Year at the RailStaff Awards 2023. The RailStaff Awards, established in 2007, acknowledge the contributions of individuals in the rail industry, and Dhake was honoured for her achievements as an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion champion.

Actively involved in Alstom's Voices of Women staff network, Dhake has worked to raise awareness of female workplace challenges, advocate for improved access to advanced career opportunities, challenge the underrepresentation of women in senior roles, and foster

learning, idea-sharing, networking, and celebrating successes.

Mifaz Miftha, Alstom Design Group Manager, commended Dhake as a fast learner, emphasising her commitment to taking on complex tasks beyond her role with precision. Dhake's meticulous problem-solving and critical thinking in design have positioned her as a valuable asset to Alstom and the broader railway industry, where innovation and sustainability are crucial for growth. Additionally, Dhake has played a vital role in promoting engineering and sustainability careers, serving as an inspiration to young women. Alstom's first and currently sole data scientist in the Digital and Integrated Systems (D&IS) UK signalling business,

Smital Dhake

Dhake contributed to the innovative Modular Advanced Route Setting (MARS) system, incorporating machine learning techniques for real-time data analysis to predict future events. The M-ARS system, currently undergoing Network Rail product approval, aims to enhance railway efficiency by enabling quicker decisionmaking for conflicting train movements. Dhake's instrumental role in the approval

process positions her as a key figure in high-profile projects, including those in Ashford, Cambridge, East West Rail Phase 2, and Victoria Phase 5.

As a passionate STEM ambassador, Dhake has visited local schools to discuss STEM careers, restructuring Alstom's STEM Engineering Work Experience program to include online interactive experiences.

Born in Jalgaon, India, Dhake, 26, educated at Watford Grammar School and King's College London, draws inspiration from her grandparents, emphasizing hard work towards achieving goals. Her ambition is to continually develop and apply her skills and knowledge to contribute to the advancement of engineering technologies.

Professor Nawal K Prinja honoured for his exceptional contributions to the field of physics British Indian academic and nuclear physicist, Professor Nawal K Prinja, renowned for his role as an advisor to the UK government on nuclear policy, has been honoured with the Donald Julius Groen Prize for his exceptional contributions to the field of physics.

Bestowed by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), this accolade acknowledges scientists for their remarkable impact on their respective fields.

IMechE, dating back to the era of George Stephenson,

Prof. Nawal K Prinja

the 'Father of the Railways,' is one of the oldest professional bodies, boasting a rich and prestigious history.

In a conversation with iGlobal, Prof. Prinja reflected on his recent achieve-

ment, attributing his dedication to excellence in his chosen profession to cultural values. He emphasized the cultural encouragement to excel in professional endeavours and the deep-rooted respect for education. Prof.

Prinja underscored the belief that giving one's best to their profession aligns with the concept of Dharma, a Hindu principle of righteous conduct, instilling a sense of duty to contribute back to society.

Beyond his significant contributions to physics,

Prof. Prinja holds honorary professorships from four UK universities and is widely recognized in the diaspora for his community contributions and efforts to promote Indian heritage. As the cofounder of the 'Vedic Organisation for Indian Culture and Education' (VOICE), he imparts knowledge of GCSE Hinduism and Vedic Math to young individuals in weekly classes, believing that cultivating an interest in cultural roots contributes to success in career and life.

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2024, the year of hope This year, while there was finally free movement and the world reopened again, the UK like many other nations grappled with the aftermath of the pandemic, facing challenges that have significantly altered the landscape of daily life.

The property market, once a robust sector, is now feeling the strain as people, adapting to a new normal, have either relocated to the outskirts or left large buildings vacant. The remote work culture, born out of necessity during the pandemic, has persisted, impacting traditional workspaces and causing losses in the Transport sector. This also implies the rise in energy bills at home took a toll on almost every household and the plight of the unemployed or less privileged can only be worse.

Latest reports reveal a substantial decline in the average number of journeys per active card across England, plummeting to 48 single journeys annually. Notably, elderly and disabled pass holders experienced a 38% and 28% decrease, while male and female pass holders collectively saw a 32% and 36% reduction in total journeys. The age group over 80 recorded the most significant decline, with male and female pass holders making 43% and 46% fewer journeys, respectively. Since the pandemic-induced revenue crisis, TfL received £5 billion to sustain public transport, covering only part of the losses, as TfL's cash reserves depleted by £1 billion. Simultaneously, the RMT union's prolonged conflict over pay, working conditions, and job cuts, with a strike mandate lasting until Easter, adds to the challenges in 2024.

The economic repercussions of the pandemic, coupled with internal conflicts within the Tory party, have brought the UK back to a familiar scenario reminiscent of Boris Johnson’s rule. Despite PM Sunak's efforts to marginally revive the economy, ongoing clashes within the Tory party threaten stability. The Rwanda bill has exposed the internal strife of the Conservatives, creating a challenging environment for the government. The Labour Party, under the leadership of Sir Starmer, reflects a departure from its past ideology, marked by praising Margaret Thatcher for effecting “meaningful change” in Britain.

The pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) adds to the uncertainties. The country is grappling with a severe cost of living crisis, with communities like Pakistanis and Bangladeshis experiencing persistent poverty, while the BAME continue to battle racism and neglect. The upcoming elections present an opportunity for change, and there is anticipation that leaders may pave the way for a new era.

The return of Cameron brings optimism, particularly for India, signalling potential collaborations and improved diplomatic relations. The challenges of the past are met with a sense of hope and anticipation as the UK looks toward 2024. Despite the hardships, there is an

expectation of new faces, new policies, and renewed hopes that could shape the future trajectory of the nation.

High-interest rates, continued economic uncertainty and low productivity could see the UK struggle to grow in the second half of the year – with GDP growth forecast at 0.4% in 2023 and 0.3% in 2024, according to the latest outlook published by the accounting firm KPMG. Economists forecast the UK economy will expand 0.6% next year, which is notably above the BoE's forecast of 0.1% and slightly above the consensus of 0.4%. The labour market rebalanced significantly this year despite the resilience in growth, according to Goldman Sachs Research.

Amid these challenges, the ABPL's 50th anniversary celebrations took place with the gracious participation and best wishes of the community. However, post-Covid, questions linger about whether diversity issues have been addressed and resolved.

Leicester riots remain a pressing concern for the community, yet there is hope that local leader Rajesh Agrawal might bring solutions and usher in new trade prospects.

The former Deputy Mayor of Business in London Mayor Sadiq Khan's team, is recognised among the Indian diaspora in the UK and business circles. Agrawal played a pivotal role in transforming London into a leading investment hub for India during his tenure. Leicester, with over 50% of its East population having Indian roots, holds a significant connection with India. Considering India's status as the fastest-growing major economy, there's potential for Leicester to become a trading hub, serving as a central point for fostering the UK-India trade relationship.

In a recent survey, approximately 19 per cent of people in Great Britain thought Rishi Sunak was the best choice for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. By comparison, 31 percent of people preferred Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party. Sunak is far more popular than his predecessor Liz Truss, but has yet to convince many voters that he is better suited to the job than Starmer.

According to the most recent surveys, he is about as popular as Boris Johnson was during the final months of his premiership.

All’s not lost and everything is not over. The pandemic is, thankfully. 13 years of mistakes made by the Conservative regime cannot be wiped out by Sunak or any other leader in a year or two. However, with the onboarding and return of leaders in respective parties, the overall infrastructure and fabric of the UK should certainly see positive changes and perhaps a change of hand might also bring a change of policies. Britain will not be the same in 2024, perhaps starkly different and new, but change will pave the way for some relief. One mustn’t lose hope.

Bangladesh: A dream that could not come true?

On Friday, the Bengal Heritage Foundation in London coorganised a screening of 'Bay of Blood', a documentary directed

by Krishnendu Bose, that delved into the tragic events of the Bangladesh genocide of 1971, shedding light on the untold suffering and resilience of millions of people over a nine-month period from March to December 1971.

This was attended by the Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami and Bangladeshi High Commissioner Saida Muna Tasneem.

To celebrate the 52nd Anniversary of the Victory Day of Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi High Commission also hosted a special event at the Copthorne Tara Hotel in Kensington on Saturday.

The Economist in a special article pointed out, how Bangladesh when emerged from the “ravages” of the third India-Pakistan war in 1971, it was considered as a failed state in the making.

It was poorly run, congested, and victim of frequent natural disasters such as cyclones and floods.

But as the country celebrated its golden jubilee in 2021, it stood out as a model of “frugal social development and economic performer.” Its dynamic social activists ensured that Bangladesh had at least embraced progressive social policies.

Women and girls of that country are comparatively more educated, employed, have healthier and fewer children to women in who are in India or Pakistan.

The garment industry in Bangladesh has obviously been the winner of global production, as labour cost in China rises.

Exports of textiles and garments are the principal source of its foreign exchange earnings and by 2002 exports of textiles, clothing, and ready-made garments (RMG) accounted for 77% of Bangladesh's total merchandise exports. Emerging as the world's second-largest exporter of RMG products, Bangladesh significantly bolstered employment within the manufacturing sector.

According to Mongabay, in the last 15 years, Bangladesh has also set model of green and sustainable manufacturing by establishing numerous certified green factories.

Since 2009, Bangladeshi apparel and textile manufacturers have established more than 200 “eco-friendly” factories certified by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) - the highest benchmark in the world.

Bangladesh grew at an annual rate of 7% in 2010, much higher than India or China during that phase. From UN’s least developed country, Bangladesh is now ready to be promoted to

an upper-middle-income country by 2031 – and here lies the problem.

The country is over reliant on the garment export for its prosperity, and this success may lead to a loss of preferential trade terms for the country, a term that is exclusively associated with its least developed status. Moreover, with raising costs and lack of capital and balance-of-payment, the economy is under a constant threat too. Bangladesh’s efforts to diversify into industries, such as pharmaceuticals and electronics, have failed consistently.

So, to maintain its progress Bangladesh will require to change its economic strategy, despite the political turbulence, with all fingers pointing towards an allegedly “corrupt” regiment under the current prime minister.

With the upcoming elections on 7 January 2024, The Sunday Guardian wrote, that Bangladesh’s current political situation reflects a certain pre-formed notion held by the West.

Despite Britain and the US allegedly providing shelter and haven to the 1971 Bangladesh war criminals, such as members of the Islamist outfit Jamaat-e-Islami, which has been calling for a regime change in Dhaka to bring back its iron brother, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to power, London and Washington continue to ‘only’ focus on the ‘misdoings’ of Sheikh Hasina government and its apparent ‘democratic failures’, though they are reluctant to apply pressure.

Bangladesh in the meantime, still largely continues to rely on the West for its business opportunities to educating their children to foreign capital as investments. Therefore US administration could dare to go ahead and impose visa restrictions on an unspecified number of Bangladeshis for “undermining the democratic election process”. It reportedly included members of law enforcement, the ruling party, and the political opposition. Similarly, Britain also allegedly asked Sheikh Hasina’s government to ensure that its elections are “free, fair, participatory and peaceful” thereby trying to paint a picture that the earlier polls were not so.

The Economist has pointed out that the 75-year-old prime minister’s commitment to strong government is not irrational for various reasons including its past 29 military coups. But with imminent threats beyond control such as the climate change, a third of the country’s agricultural output could be wiped out by 2050, with 13m climate refugees, according the World Bank. Such a disaster would not only weaken an already ‘sensitive’ region but also largely affect its neighbouring states such as India.

Thought for the week "Do something wonderful, people may imitate it."

— Albert Schweitzer

Political Sketchbook Alpesh Patel

Happy Christmas Dear World, 16th December was the anniversary of the public surrender of the Pakistani Army to Indian forces. It happened in 1971 because of the mass genocide (verified by the UN) in East Pakistan of Hindus and Muslims by the Pakistani Army. Indira Gandhi, appalled by the genocide, mass rape policy of the Pakistani Army, ordered Indian Army to declare war on Pakistan. The world stood by.

America and UK in particular did not take the Indian side. Memories in India reverberate to this day on this.

Kissinger referred to the Indian PM as ‘that bitch’.

Now we have the Middle East conflict.

Ah, the sweet irony of human compassion - so selective, so sporadic. It's truly heartwarming to see how the world has suddenly woken up to the plight of suffering children. Of course, these are the "right" children, aren't they? The ones whose distress fits neatly into the narrative we're comfortable with, the ones whose faces grace our TV screens and social media feeds, evoking a conveniently palatable blend of pity and outrage.

Let's have a round of applause for this newfound empathy. It's amazing how we can mobilize resources, organize marches, and flood social media with hashtags and profile pictures when the tragedy du jour aligns with our geopolitical or social tastes. It's a modern miracle, really – this selective sensitivity that awakens in us a temporary urge to be the saviors of the hour.

But, oh dear, what about those other children? You know, the ones who have been dying every four seconds for years due to something as mundane as hunger. Yes, hunger – that old, unglamorous cause that fails to stir our collective conscience into action. There are no viral hashtags for these little souls. No celebrity tweets urging us to "Pray for the Starving." No profile frames with slogans like "End Hunger Now." How dreadfully unfashionable.

It's almost as if we've accepted this continuous, silent massacre as a background noise, an unfortunate but unchangeable constant. After all, how could we possibly be expected to care about something so persistently unremarkable? Where's the novelty in children dying from a lack of food? It's been happening for so long, it's practically a tradition.

And let's not forget the absence of geopolitical intrigue or ideological battles in these deaths. Where's the drama in fighting hunger? There are no villains to demonize, no heroes to lionize in this mundane tragedy.

Just the slow, inexorable march of malnutrition and preventable diseases – hardly the stuff of a compelling social media campaign.

It's fascinating, isn't it, how our empathy has its trends, just like fashion. One season, it's all about refugees. The next, we're up in arms about children caught in a particular conflict. But the timeless classic of child hunger? That's just not in vogue.

So let's pat ourselves on the back for our selective outrage, our momentary bursts of altruism. Let's bask in the glow of our well-curated concern for the "right" kind of suffering. After all, it's so much easier to be moved by the tragedies that ask so little of us – a tweet, a post, perhaps even a small donation. But the unsexy, ongoing crisis of child hunger? That's a bit too real, a bit too demanding of our sustained attention and action.

In the end, dear World, it's not really about the suffering children, is it? It's about us – our need to feel like we're doing something, our desire to be seen as compassionate, as long as it's convenient. As for those other children – the ones dying out of the spotlight, in silence – well, they just need to wait for the day their tragedy becomes trendy.

Sincerely, Asian Voice is published by

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in brief Dear Readers, We are sure that you must have received our eagerly anticipated and vibrant calendar 2024, marking all important events, last week.

It serves as a perfect gift for your friends and relatives at the start of the new year, priced at just £5 per copy.

But an even better option is to present them an annual subscription of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, with Calendar-2024 as an add-on complimentary gift.

Hurry, offer valid till stock lasts.

For more details contact our support team at: T: 020 7749 4080 or E: support@abplgroup.com

Government additional measures to enhance the online safety of teenagers The UK government is considering additional measures to enhance the online safety of teenagers, particularly those under the age of 16. This comes in the wake of the recent implementation of the Online Safety Act, which focuses on safeguarding children and eliminating illegal content. The legislation, enacted in October, mandates platforms such as Meta's Instagram and Alphabet's YouTube to reinforce controls related to illegal content and age verification.

Prominent social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat currently set a minimum age requirement of 13 for users.

However, there are discus-

sions within the British government about potentially imposing stricter controls, including the possibility of restricting social media access for individuals under the age of 16, with potential bans being considered.

Science Minister Andrew Griffith emphasised the government's commitment to striking a balance between preserving essential freedoms and empowering parents to exercise control. He stated that while any future consultation on this matter is speculative at this point, the government would sensibly explore ways to continue protecting minors while respecting the freedom of the internet for adults.

Family members of 10-year-old Sara Sharif plead ‘not guilty’ Family members of 10-yearold Sara Sharif, whose tragic death prompted an international manhunt, have pleaded not guilty to her murder in a UK court. Sara's lifeless body was discovered at her Woking home on August 10, revealing "multiple and extensive injuries" sustained over an extended period, as determined by a postmortem examination.

Her father, 41-year-old Urfan Sharif, stepmother Beinash Batool (29), and his brother Faisal Malik (28) all deny involvement in the girl's death, entering their pleas via video link to London's Old Bailey court.

Sara's demise came to light after an emergency call from a man claiming to be her father alerted authorities in Pakistan, leading to a house check in Woking.

Despite the house being empty, the international manhunt ensued, with

Sara Sharif

Interpol and Britain's foreign ministry coordinating efforts with Pakistani authorities. The defendants, along with Sharif's five other children, left the UK for Pakistan the day before Sara's body was discovered.

They were later apprehended in September upon arriving from Dubai. The trial is scheduled to commence in September 2024, with a duration of six weeks expected.

Dr Vinay Raniga selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Oxford Dr Vinay Raniga has been selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Oxford, as reported by The Oxford Mail. Presently serving as an NHS dental surgeon in Oxford West and Abingdon, Dr Raniga has actively contributed to shaping the UK's future health policy. During the Covid pandemic, he demonstrated his commitment to public service by being redeployed from the oral and maxillofacial surgery department at Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, to the frontline ICU. Acknowledged for his dedication, Dr Raniga was honoured with the Political Leadership Scholarship at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, where he achieved distinction while completing the Master of Public Policy program.

In his current role as an NHS dental surgeon, Dr. Raniga remains deeply involved in influencing the trajectory of the UK's health policy.

Expressing gratitude for his selection as the Conservative candidate, he stated, “I’m honoured and delighted that local residents have put their trust in me. I look forward to meeting many more in the coming weeks and months. I want to be an MP who will deliver results, as

Dr Vinay Raniga

many who I have spoken to feel that locally, this has been lacking for the past six years.”

Dr Raniga also pledged to advocate for the residents of the constituency, drawing parallels between his dedication to patients during the pandemic and his determination to represent Oxford West & Abingdon.

It is noteworthy that Layla Moran of the Liberal Democrats currently holds the seat, and inquiries have been made regarding her candidacy in the upcoming election. Other candidates include Cheryl Briggs representing the Green Party, James Gunn standing for Reform UK, and Labour candidates who are yet to declare their candidacy.

BBC instructed to disclose additional emails related to the Martin Bashir controversy The BBC has been instructed to disclose additional emails related to the Martin Bashir controversy surrounding Princess Diana's 1995 Panorama interview, following a judge's criticism of the corporation's initial withholding of crucial documents. The court's deciMartin Bashir Princess Diana sion stems from a freedom of information request by journalist emails. Earl Spencer, Princess Andy Webb, seeking access to BBC Diana's brother and a supporter of managers' emails discussing Bashir Webb's investigation, conveyed to during a specific two-month period the BBC that the integrity of individin 2020. uals within the organization was at risk.

Martin Bashir resigned from the During a BBC Radio 4 program, BBC in 2021 after revelations that he Earl Spencer expressed suspicion secured the interview through that a narrative was being crafted to deceit and forged documents. make Bashir unavailable during a Initially, the BBC shared a limited crucial period coinciding with the number of messages with Webb, but 25th anniversary of Diana’s interit was later revealed that over 3,000 view. He called for responsible emails existed. The corporation senior figures at the BBC to protect argued that these contained either the institution rather than shield "irrelevant" or "legally privileged" themselves behind it. information.

Martin Bashir's exit from the Judge Brian Kennedy ordered BBC followed inquiries into the the BBC to release more emails, citmethods used to obtain the intering inconsistencies, errors, and view with Princess Diana, and a unreliability in their handling of the probe by Lord Dyson in 2021 found initial request. He expressed serious that Bashir employed deceit and concern over the BBC's response to misled BBC executives. Bashir had the matter. In response, the BBC commissioned false documents, acknowledged errors, is reviewing including fabricated bank statethe judgment, and apologised to ments, to gain trust and secure the Webb and the tribunal for the situainterview with Diana, according to tion. the Dyson report. Bashir acknowlJournalist Andy Webb, in an artiedged the error but claimed it did cle for the Mail on Sunday, praised not influence Diana's decision to the judgment, highlighting the pubparticipate in the interview. lic interest in revealing the internal

IRISH TYCOON INSISTS BRITAIN PAYS FOR SLAVERY An Irish billionaire, Denis O'Brien, is spearheading a global initiative urging European nations to acknowledge and compensate for their historical involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. O'Brien, 65, the founder of Digicel, a telecoms company based in the Caribbean, emphasized that the British government must address the growing calls for reparations. In June, he launched the Repair Campaign to garner support for reparations and is personally funding a £50,000-per-year lobbying position in Westminster. With 25 years of experience working in the Caribbean, O'Brien asserted that slavery compensation is a paramount issue in the region for both governments and the entire population.

The momentum for reparations has gained traction, particularly since 2014 when the heads of state from 15 Caribbean nations unveiled a "ten-point plan for reparatory justice." This plan outlined a framework for reparations from former slave-trading nations, including Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

MURDER CHARGE FILED IN WOLVERHAMPTON FATAL STABBING A murder charge has been filed against a man in connection with the fatal stabbing of a woman in Wolverhampton. Police responded to a residence on Park Meadow Avenue around 7 am on Friday, December 15, following a call. Upon arrival, a woman in her 40s was discovered with critical stab wounds, and despite efforts, she could not be saved.

Rajveer Mahey, aged 39, has been accused of her murder and is scheduled to appear at Wolverhampton Magistrates' Court on December 18. A spokesperson from West Midlands Police reported the incident, stating that they were called to the scene where the woman was found with stab injuries, and unfortunately, she was pronounced dead at the location.

Mahey will appear before magistrates in Wolverhampton on December 18.

DRUG PROMISES END TO MENOPAUSAL HOT FLASHES A medication designed to directly address menopausal hot flushes and night sweats by acting on the brain has received approval for use in the UK. Known as Veoza or Fezolinetant, this drug has been sanctioned to alleviate menopausal symptoms in women who either cannot or choose not to undergo hormone replacement therapy (HRT). As approximately 70 percent of menopausal women experience hot flushes, Veoza presents a potential benefit for a significant number of individuals. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) expressed satisfaction in authorising Veoza for hot flushes through its reliance procedure.

However, it noted that the drug has not undergone studies for safety and efficacy in women over 65, leading to the absence of dose recommendations for this age group. Veoza, available by prescription only, is set to be accessible privately starting from January 5, according to the manufacturer, Astellas. The company has also submitted an application to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to make the treatment available on the NHS.

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in brief

Britain secures historic deal to build fighter jets

Grant Shapps

to take flight by 2035.

Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, is expected to meet with his Japanese and Italian counterparts in Tokyo on Thursday to formally sign the treaty, solidifying the collaboration and designating the UK as the central hub for the Global Combat Air Programme.

UK defence ministry fined for Afghan data breach The British Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) announced on Wednesday that it had imposed a fine of £350,000 on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for a series of email data breaches.

These breaches exposed details of over 265 Afghans who sought relocation to Britain following the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.

The ICO stated that the MoD lacked operating procedures to ensure secure transmission of group emails to Afghan nationals who had collaborated with or worked for the British government.

Information Commissioner John Edwards expressed regret over the breach, emphasising that it jeopardised individuals who were vulnerable to reprisal and serious harm.

Ben Wallace, who served as defence minister at the time of the incident, had previously apologised in front of the British parliament and initiated an investigation into the breach.

the health and social care sector.

According to the MAC report, approximately 35% of doctors and 20% of nurses recruited in the UK originate from "red list" countries, as classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Notably, WHO regulations prohibit employers and recruitment agencies from actively recruiting health and social care personnel from these "red" countries—a guideline also incorporated into the government's own code of practice for recruitment in the sector.

French school kids can enter UK passport-free The UK government has announced plans to allow French pupils to enter the country on school trips without a passport, marking a reversal of a policy introduced during Brexit.

Starting from December 28, children from schools in France will be able to travel to the UK using an ID card.

This change is applicable specifically to organised educational trips, and it eases the previous requirement for Europeans to use a valid passport instead of national identity cards for travel.

The policy shift follows a commitment made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron during a summit in March to "ease the travel" of school groups.

The initial requirement for Europeans to use passports was introduced during Brexit, aiming to tighten security measures and align with the UK's post-EU status. However, the rule led to a significant decline in school trips to the UK from the EU, prompting a reconsideration of the policy.

Coroner slams 'inadequate' stroke care provision Ben Wallace

The MoD acknowledged the gravity of the situation, reiterated its apology, and pledged to provide further details on the measures being implemented to address the ICO's concerns.

The breach occurred when the MoD sent an email to a distribution list of Afghan nationals eligible for evacuation on September 20, 2021, inadvertently disclosing the personal information of 245 individuals.

Britons pioneer testing of male contraceptive pill A British group has initiated the first-ever human trials for a male contraceptive pill named YCT529, marking a significant step in potentially altering the landscape of contraceptive responsibility between genders.

The drug is currently being administered to 16 volunteers at a clinic in Nottingham, more than six decades after the introduction of the female contraceptive pill in the UK. YCT-529 operates by inhibiting a protein called retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR-alpha) in the body.

This prevents the protein from binding to a form of vitamin A, ultimately aiming to halt the formation of sperm in the testes.

Unlike previous attempts at male contraceptives that mainly focused on suppressing the hor-

Despite its commitment not to drain countries of crucial medical staff, the government is potentially doing just that, prompting warnings that it should devise a plan to change course and provide assistance to the affected nations.

The annual report from the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) on the state of the UK's immigration system has gained significance amidst the government's struggle with the revelation that net migration has reached its highest level. The report underscores concerns in

mone testosterone to reduce sperm production, this approach has shown promise in laboratory tests on mice and monkeys.

Animal testing of YCT-529 has shown promising results, with a 99% effectiveness rate in preventing pregnancies in mice, and decreased sperm counts in monkeys after two weeks.

Importantly, these effects were reversible upon discontinuation of treatment. The initial trials in Nottingham involve volunteers who have opted not to have children and have undergone vasectomies, receiving low doses of the drug to assess safety.

Results are anticipated in spring, and if positive, larger and more costly trials will be necessary to evaluate its effectiveness and potential side effects.

A coroner has raised concerns about the accessibility of emergency stroke care, pointing to a tragic incident where a woman did not receive vital treatment during a weekend. Jasbir Pahal, a 44-year-old teaching assistant from Huddersfield, passed away in 2022 following a severe stroke at home.

In a report addressing the Prevention of Future Deaths, Oliver Longstaff criticised the NHS, stating that the current after-hours support for certain stroke patients is insufficient.

NHS England responded by indicating ongoing efforts to ensure consistent stroke care.

During the Wakefield inquest, it was revealed that Mrs Pahal, a dedicated and well-liked individual, suffered a major stroke despite being a healthy non-smoker and non-drinker.

On the early morning of November 13, 2022, her husband

Source: Fieldfisher

Britain is set to lead a new fighter jet project in collaboration with Japan and Italy, marking the first time the UK will spearhead such an initiative under a treaty scheduled to be signed on Thursday.

According to the agreement, the United Kingdom will host the headquarters of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), where key decisions about the project will be centralised. This collaborative effort among Britain, Japan, and Italy aims to develop the next generation of fighter jets. The project, initially named Tempest and announced in December of the previous year, has the ambitious goal of creating a supersonic aircraft set

Government cautioned on UK REPORTS NEW CASES hiring from 'red list' nations OF '100-DAY COUGH'

Satinder and Jasbir Pahal

found her on the floor, exhibiting stroke symptoms.

The inquiry disclosed that the ambulance took four times longer than the targeted response time. A CT scan at the hospital revealed a blood clot suitable for treatment with "clot buster" thrombolysis medicine or a mechanical thrombectomy procedure. Unfortunately, too much time had elapsed.

In his report, Mr Longstaff expressed concern about patients like Jasbir being at the mercy of local protocols.

Diligent dad perished in Birmingham Airport rush An inquest has revealed that Sheraz Rashid, described as a "hard-working and loving father," tragically lost his life in a head-on collision with a shuttle bus at Birmingham Airport.

The 33-year-old taxi driver, likely in a rush to start his 1 pm shift, veered onto the wrong side of the road, colliding with the transfer bus just a minute before he was scheduled to begin work on July 10 of this year. Despite efforts by police officers and paramedics to administer CPR, Mr. Rashid was pronounced

dead at the scene.

He left behind three children in what authorities termed "a sad set of preventable circumstances." The Birmingham Coroner's Court heard that Mr. Rashid, traveling at 66 mph, lost control of his Audi A4 while negotiating a bend and skidded into the oncoming bus. The collision caused the car to spin 180 degrees before coming to a stop.

Despite attempts by the bus driver to avoid the crash, the collision was inevitable, resulting in the tragic loss of Mr Rashid's life.

The number of confirmed cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis, continues to rise, with more cases reported recently. Also referred to as the 100-day cough, whooping cough can be easily mistaken for a cold in its early stages. Initial symptoms include a runny nose and sore throat, which progress to prolonged coughing bouts, especially at night, and a distinctive "whoop" sound as individuals gasp for breath between episodes. The illness can last for weeks or even months. In 2023, health authorities in the UK have been notified of 1,141 cases of whooping cough, marking a 26% increase compared to the combined figures for the previous two years.

DAVID DAVIS RESCUES ROUGH SLEEPER David Davis, the 74-year-old Tory MP and former SAS reservist, utilised his skills to intervene and stop an attack on a rough sleeper near Parliament after the Rwanda vote. On Tuesday night, as he was heading home after voting in favour of legislation deeming Rwanda a safe country for migrants, Davis witnessed two men assaulting a rough sleeper, beating him to the ground and repeatedly kicking him in the head, according to a witness. Davis intervened, successfully fending off the attackers, and then took the victim, identified as Gareth, to the safety of his Westminster flat. Gareth slept on Davis's sofa, and the following morning, Davis escorted him to the A&E as he was still bleeding.

Davis stated that while the situation was messy, Gareth is fortunately not facing any permanent injuries other than a few scars.

UK GRAPPLES WITH FOOD SHORTAGES AND HIGHER PRICES British consumers are bracing for shortages and price hikes in fruit, vegetables, and other fresh produce well into the New Year, all due to the escalating drought conditions on the Panama Canal. The decreasing water levels on this critical trade route connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans have significantly reduced the number of vessels able to traverse the canal.

Consequently, numerous ships are left queuing for weeks to secure passage. These delays are expected to cause daily transits to drop to half of the normal pre-drought levels by February, prompting warnings about potential disruptions to Christmas goods ranging from iPhones to exercise bikes and tree lights, which may not reach retailers in time for the festive season.

Import and retail experts are now sounding the alarm about potential issues with the supply of perishable goods for supermarkets and other food stores.

LONDON WARNED OF UNPRECEDENTED CONVERGENCE OF THREATS London is currently confronting an unprecedented convergence of threats, according to a warning delivered to MPs by police on Tuesday. The conflict in Gaza has led to counter-terrorism arrests at levels considered unprecedented, along with a significant increase in inflammatory online content. Met Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes, who heads national counter-terrorism police, described the situation as "extraordinary," posing an elevated risk of an attack in the capital similar to the recent fatal stabbing in Paris. He expressed concern about the surge in public calls to the anti-terrorism hotline, a 12-fold increase in referrals related to online extremism, and a 25% rise in counterterrorism intelligence, indicating numerous "red lights blinking everywhere." Mr Jukes emphasised the additional risk of hostile states, particularly citing Iran, attempting to exacerbate societal divisions. Counter-terrorism policing resources are reportedly strained as officers work to safeguard the public amidst these challenges.

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Coventry researchers urge improved Missing Jalandhar youth credit protection for youth Coventry University acaUniversity’s Research found dead in demics are advocating for Centre for Business in enhanced regulation of credSociety authored a London it schemes following report urging the

Government slashes Sadiq Khan's £500m transport wish list Sadiq Khan is anticipated to abandon certain transport projects due to receiving only half of the requested investment funding from the government.

The Department for Transport announced a capital funding of £250 million for Transport for London (TfL) for the 2024/25 financial year, falling short of TfL's request for £500 million annually over the next four or five years. The mayor had previously warned of the potential "managed decline" of London's public transport system if the full funding was not granted.

While the allocated funds are

expected to safeguard the £2 billion Piccadilly line upgrade, which involves introducing a new fleet of trains by 2025, the lack of a multi-year deal raises concerns about other projects. Upgrading the Bakerloo line, which currently operates the country's oldest trains, and extending the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) over the Thames to Thamesmead may face delays or be deferred.

The funding letter from the Department for Transport to the mayor emphasises the need for TfL to plan prudently for 2025/26 and beyond, acknowledging the fiscal constraints within which the government is operating.

Gurashman Singh Bhatia, a Loughborough University student from Jalandhar, Punjab, who had been missing since his birthday on December 15, has tragically been found dead.

Source: X

research that unveils young Financial Conduct people's lack of awareness Authority and the when using products like Buy Money and Pensions Now Pay Later (BNPL) payService to restrict young ment programs. people's unnecessary exposure to credit, safeBNPL lenders settle payDr Hussan Aslam guarding their financial ments with retailers on well-being. behalf of customers, who then repay Their recommendations stem the lender over several weeks or from the findings of the research promonths, allowing them to distribute ject 'Your Money, Your Life,' which the cost of their purchases. Wellinvolved interviews with 80 individuknown BNPL providers include als aged 18-24, exploring their borrowKlarna, Clearpay, and Laybuy, coming experiences and use of unsecured monly found on the websites of popucredit. The research revealed that the lar online retailers. use of credit was nearly inevitable in Dr Lindsey Appleyard and Dr young people's financial journeys.

Hussan Aslam from Coventry

His body was discovered in a river in London, as confirmed by close family sources. Gurashman's father departed for the United Kingdom on December 18 after receiving the distressing news. The concerned family had also travelled to London on the same day.

The young man, residing in Model Town, Jalandhar, was last seen in Canary Wharf, East London, after celebrating his birthday. According to reports, he was with friends who called a cab before parting ways. This marked the last known sighting of Gurashman Singh Bhatia.

Family members revealed that Gurashman used to call his parents daily, but when they did not receive his call on that particular day, it raised alarm. Gurashman was pursuing his master's degree at Loughborough University.

75% of Sikhs identified as "British only" in 2021 census According to data released by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), nearly 97,910 people in England chose 'Sikh' as their ethnic identity in the 2021 census.

The figures revealed that 18.6% identified as 'Sikh' through both ethnic and religious questions, 0.3% exclusively through the ethnic question, and 81.1% through the voluntary religion question.

Combining these, the ONS estimated a total of 525,865 Sikhs in England and Wales, indicating a 22% increase from the 2011 census.

The majority identified as Sikh through the religion question (99.7%), with 56.5% being born in England, 34.1% in India, and smaller percentages in Kenya and Afghanistan.

In terms of national identity, 75% of Sikhs identified as "British only," and 13% as "Indian." The census also highlighted higher rates of home ownership and marriage among Sikhs compared to the general population, with 77.7% reporting home ownership.

Additionally, 61% of Sikhs were married, a higher percentage than the overall population, and they were more likely to have married at a younger age. Sikhs constituted the majority of Panjabi speakers in England and Wales, with 63.9% of Panjabi speakers identifying as Sikh. Despite the

options of "Indian" and "Pakistani," around 100,000 Sikhs chose to write in 'Sikh,' following a suggestion by Dabinderjit Singh of the Sikh Federation (UK) New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) challenges the Sikh Federation UK's (SFUK) assertion that UK Sikhs constitute a distinct ethnic group rather than followers of an inclusive world religion. According to the 2021 Census, only 0.3% of Britain's 525,865 Sikhs identified themselves solely through the ethnic group question, a significant drop from the 2011 Census.

According to the Network of Sikh Organisations UK, within this small segment, 55.4% did not report their religion, 13.6% identified as Muslim, 12.5% reported no religion, and 8.7% identified as Christian. This underscores the SFUK's campaign's absurdity, resulting in 'ethnic' Sikhs practising various faiths or none. The question arises: was Guru Nanak the founder of a global world religion? Furthermore, the Sikh community deserves transparency on the amount spent on legal fees to challenge the ONS. On a positive note, Census data reveals that Sikhs show higher educational attainment, home ownership, and marriage rates compared to the broader England and Wales population.

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BHF hosts screening of 'Bay of Blood' in Central London Bengal Heritage Foundation in the UK co-organised a screening of 'Bay of Blood', a documentary directed by Krishnendu Bose, that delved into the tragic events of the Bangladesh genocide of 1971, shedding light on the untold suffering and resilience of millions of people over a nine-month period from March to December 1971.

Hosted at the iconic Vue cinema in Leicester Square on Friday 15 Decembermber, the screening of was a collaborative initiative by director Krishnendu Bose and Bengal Heritage Foundation. The event sought to showcase the enduring bonds of kinship forged during the war,

Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami

Bangladeshi High Commissioner Saida Muna Tasneem

paying tribute to the extraordinary sacrifices made by the common people of Bangladesh in defence of their heritage and identity.

The presence of esteemed dignitaries, including the High Commissioners of India and Bangladesh, Vikram Doraiswami and

Saida Muna Tasneem added a significant diplomatic touch to the evening, emphasising the deep and unbreakable partnership between the two nations on the eve of the 52nd Anniversary of "Bijoy Dibosh," the Liberation of Bangladesh (16 December).

Walfinch Harrow and Brent wins Great British Care Award Vaibhavi Patel, Carer at Walfinch home Care Harrow and Brent has won the London Palliative/End of Life Care Award at the Great British Care Awards held at

time. They also have explained how they can support the family and friends during this difficult time.

No less than four members of the Walfinch Harrow

Sourav Niyogi, Trustee of Bengal Heritage Foundation, welcomed the guests by noting, "This screening not only reflects our commitment to preserving historical narratives but also emphasises the importance of collective remembrance. It's heartening to witness the unity that stems from acknowledging our shared history."

Suranjan Som, President of Bengal Heritage Foundation, remarked, "This screening stands as a testament to our mission of fostering cultural understanding. It is a powerful reminder that shared history can unite communities and build bridges of understanding.”

Indian Minorities Foundation Organises Namaste London Event at London, UK

TAL’s joyous annual Christmas celebration The Telugu Association of London (TAL), the predominant Telugu community organization in the UK, spread joy and cheer among more than 300 members of the Telugu community during its annual Christmas celebrations on December 16, 2023, at Pilgrim's Way Church in Eastham. The event proved to be a tremendous success, showcasing the vibrant traditions and spirit of the Telugu community while fostering unity and togetherness during the festive season.

munity.

The festivities commenced with a heartwarming performance by children who captivated the audience with special Christmas carols and a compelling skit depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. The skit, presented entirely in Telugu, stood out as a unique highlight in TAL's Christmas celebrations, underscoring the organization's commitment to preserving and promoting Telugu culture.

In a delightful surprise, a group of children dressed as

TAL's Christmas celebrations were enriched by the participation of ten churches, including Bethel Ministries Telugu Church, Eastham Baptist Church, The Lighthouse Fellowship, Manor Park Church, Vision Ministries Church, Praise Harvest, and others. This collaborative effort exemplified the organization's dedication to promoting interfaith harmony and celebrating the diverse cultural tapestry of the Telugu com-

Santa Clauses brought joy and excitement to the event by presenting gifts to all attendees. This heartwarming gesture further heightened the festive spirit and spread cheer among the young and old.

The event was livestreamed on TAL's Facebook page, enabling Telugu individuals worldwide to join the festivities and experience the warmth and camaraderie that define TAL's celebrations.

L to R : Vaibhavi Patel, Shilpi Verma, Rima Kullar and Ansh Patel

the Hilton Bankside London recently.

The Great British Care Awards are a series of regional events throughout the UK and are a celebration of excellence across the care sector. The awards pay tribute to those who have demonstrated outstanding excellence within their field of work.

Palliative/End of Life Care Award is given to the person who demonstrates how special and professional they have to be to be able to support someone who is at the end of their life. They need to explain the training they have had to take on this role and how important dignity and respect is at this

and Brent team were chosen as finalists for various categories at London Region of the Great British Care awards including: · Vaibhavi Patel, Palliative/End of Life Care Award · Ansh Patel, Home Care Worker Award · Rima Khullar, Putting People First Award · Shilpi Verma, a finalist in the Home Care Registered Manager Award Walfinch home care Harrow and Brent has a team of 55 carers and offers a range of person-centred care services from elder care to companionship care to more complex care.

Indian Minorities Foundation Convener Satnam Singh Sandhu along with Lord Gavin Williamson, Conservative MP South Staffordshire, other UK lawmakers and members of Indian Diaspora during the Sadbhavana event in London

A melodious tribute to Mukesh

HINDU CENTRE - (EAST LONDON) Radha Krishna Temple, 5/7 Cedars Road, Stratford, London E15 4NE Tel: 07859 057 598

RESIDENT RELIGIOUS WORKER Summary of the job description: Conduct the Temple’s regular Services like Bathing the deities, Changing the clothes of the deities, Clean and Maintain the sacred Altar. When needed perform Arti, wave lamp in front of deities, tie coloured thread on devotee’s hand, put Tilak on devotee’s forehead. Should have the ability to get on with everyone.

Salary + All amenities: Accommodation, Food, Gas, Electricity and allowances come to £1600 pm Please send your application to Mrs Saroj Mittal (General Secretary) 07859 057 598 Email: sarojmittal2@yahoo.co.uk by 23rd Jan 2024.

Nagrecha Charitable Trust celebrated the 100th birth anniversary of Legendary Indian singer Mukesh. The musical event- ‘Ek Pyaar Ka Nagama Hai’ attracted a huge audience on 17 December 2023 at Nagrecha Hall, Leyton Road. Singer Salim Malik and Deepali Shastri presented melodious songs. Vinubhai, Hasmukhbhai Nagrecha and Umiben Radia welcomed the guests.

Shree Swaminarayan Mandir to support BAME domestic abuse victims The Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Oldham has joined forces with Saheli, a women's charity supporting individuals from black and Asian minority ethnic communities affected by domestic abuse. This collaboration underscores the temple's commitment to inclusivity, empowerment, and community well-being, particularly aimed at assisting BAME women in rebuilding their lives.

The temple swiftly collected 176 kilograms of donations, including clothes, toys, household items, and electrical appliances for Saheli. Founded in 1976 and based in Manchester, Saheli provides support and refuge to BAME women and their children impacted by domestic abuse.

Saheli representative Priya Chopra expressed gratitude for the temple's impactful assistance, citing an incident where the temple promptly provided warm food and supplies to a struggling mother and child within half an hour of the request. The temple volun-

teers went above and beyond, even purchasing baby formula when they realised the child's needs.

Chopra emphasised that the temple's support strengthens their mission to empower survivors and combat gender-based violence. The partnership aims to amplify impact, reach more individuals in need, and foster a community of solidarity and support.

The temple plans to host charity events in the coming year to raise funds and highlight Saheli's work in Manchester. Temple volunteer Geeta Patel highlighted community support, citing an instance where temple members provided transportation for a Saheli Group event.

Constructed entirely by volunteers, the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir temple has a history of charitable engagement. In the past year, it conducted numerous fundraising initiatives for the charity Maggies, raising significant amounts through festive events and club contributions.

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SNP introduces 45p 'advanced rate,' taxing thousands The SNP has officially confirmed the implementation of a new 45% 'advanced' rate of income tax, leading to increased tax burdens for thousands of Scots. Shona Robison, the deputy first minister and finance secretary, disclosed this development while presenting the Scottish government's latest budget to MSPs. The recently established 'advanced band' will apply to individuals in Scotland earning between £75,000 and £125,140. Those earning above £125,140 will also face higher levies, as the top rate of income tax in Scotland is set to rise by 1% next year, reaching 48%.

These adjustments aim to address a £1.5 billion shortfall in the SNP-led Scottish government's plans. spending Consequently, Scotland will have six income tax bands next year, in contrast to the three in the rest of the UK. The impact of these changes means that higher earners in Scotland will contribute more than their counterparts in other parts of the country. During her

Shona Robison

address to the Scottish Parliament, Robison criticized Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's recent tax cuts, labelling the Autumn Statement as a 'worst-case scenario for Scotland.' This critique aligns with the SNP's ongoing advocacy for the dissolution of the UK. Robison also argued that Hunt's Westminster measures highlighted the need for Scotland to 'walk a different path.' The decision to increase income tax seems, in part, a response to Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf's commitment to fulfilling a pledge to freeze council tax.

British Indian musician Nitin Sawhney announced as a member of the 2024 Booker Prize judging panel Renowned British Indian musician Nitin Sawhney, known for his acclaimed musical compositions, including the score for Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children,' has been announced as a member of the 2024 Booker Prize judging panel. The panel, chaired by artist and author Edmund de Waal, also includes novelist Sara Collins, fiction editor of 'The Guardian' newspaper Justine Jordan, and ChineseAmerican writer and professor Yiyun Li. Expressing his honour on social media, Sawhney, in his late 50s, will join the panel in the search for the winner of the prestigious literary prize, valued at £50,000. Born in Kent, Sawhney is recognized as a world-class producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer for various mediums.

Apart from his work on Rushdie's novel, Sawhney has composed for the screen adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's 'The Namesake' and Shekhar Kapur's film 'What’s Love Got To Do With It.' Awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in

Initiative to preserve the legacy of the Windrush story An initiative has been launched to preserve the legacy of the Windrush story and foster a more profound public dialogue on race in Britain. The 75th Windrush anniversary was commemorated at an event in Parliament, attended by race and equality campaigners, community organisations, and politicians.

In June, the UK marked the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush ship, which brought workers from the West Indies to Britain between 1948 and the early 1970s. Referred to as the

"Windrush generation," these individuals were invited by the government to address labour shortages after World War II. During the event at the House of Commons Churchill Room, the Windrush 100 network and the windrush100.org website were unveiled.

Attendees included Windrush elders who arrived in the 1950s and 1960s, community organisers, and guests from various cities across the UK. Sunder Katwala, director of the think tank British Future, which co-organised the event, emphasized the

growing diversity of the UK, anticipating a more diverse Britain by the centenary of the Windrush arrival in 2048. He urged every institution to engage confidently with this diversity to create a fair and inclusive society.

Patrick Vernon OBE, convenor of the Windrush 100, expressed the desire for Windrush to be part of school curricula, ensuring the stories of the Windrush generation are preserved for future generations. He emphasised the need to maintain efforts in commemorating Windrush Day annually and advocated for

a lasting legacy of change in race and equality.

Imran Khan, diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) projects lead at Phoenix Group, highlighted the success of raising awareness during the 75th anniversary and emphasised the importance of building on this success for the future.

Recognising the contributions of the Windrush generation to shared British history, he called for continued efforts to address the challenges they faced, including the unfulfilled promises of compensation for those affected by immigration laws.

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Nitin Sawhney

2019 for services to music, Sawhney holds eight honorary doctorates and sits on the boards of multiple charities.

The judging panel, with diverse backgrounds in science, law, music, and art, will evaluate long-form fiction written in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The Booker Dozen will be announced in July 2024, followed by the shortlist in September, and the winner will be revealed in November 2024. Each shortlisted author will receive £2,500.

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Out& Upcoming About shows Get ready for an exciting Christmas and New Year weekend with Zee TV's prominent community program, "Out & About"!

24 December 2023 @ 6.00 PM Witness an exciting evening of dance, music and celebration as The Punjabi Society of The British Isles celebrates 95 years of services at the Clay Oven, Wembley.

31 December 2023 @ 6.00 PM The spotlight will be on the grand Diwali Celebration by UK’s most renowned institute of culture and art, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan at the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square.

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London boroughs face £2,000 average council tax In a further blow to the cost of living, tens of thousands more Londoners are expected to face annual council tax bills of £2,000 for the first time starting in April.

Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove announced a 6.5% increase in funding for local authorities in England on Monday, citing concerns about a growing number of councils facing effective bankruptcy.

The government has also granted town halls the authority to raise bills by 5% in the spring, acknowledging the stretched capacity of local services. Presently, average council tax bills in eight London boroughs, including Kingston, Croydon, Harrow, Richmond, Havering,

Waltham Forest, Sutton, and Bexley, already exceed £2,000.

Mayor Sadiq Khan confirmed on Tuesday that City Hall's share of the council tax, aimed at funding TfL, the Metropolitan Police, and the London Fire Brigade, will increase by £37.26 to £471.40 for average households.

With the maximum 5% rise permitted, seven additional boroughs— Haringey, Redbridge, Enfield, Lewisham, Brent, Camden, and Barking and Dagenham—are expected to impose payments of over £2,000 on Band D households for the first time. This announcement adds to the financial challenges faced by residents in the wake of rising living costs.

Diana's dress sells for record £900,000

Christmas is celebrated as a religious and cultural festival by billions of people around the world. It is an annual festival that recalls the birth of Jesus Christ observed most commonly on December 25 and is an integral part of the holiday season.

Carol singing, decorating the house in red and green and preparing a sumptuous meal are the highlights of the celebration. In fact, the word Christmas comes from Christmas masses, an old English word for “Christ’s Mass,” which references the Catholic tradition of holding a special mass ceremony to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Santa Claus has a significant role in the Christmas celebration. The Christmas tree is considered to be a symbol of Christ.

Decorating a Christmas tree is considered to be an ancient custom that reminds everyone how valuable life is.

Christmas is a time when many people spread love, enjoy time with friends and family, and eat delectable homecooked meals.

A variety of food is prepared, cut cakes, and people also share meals to celebrate this joyful festival. Without a glass of sweet grape wine and a piece of fruitcake, Christmas dinner would be incomplete. It is a festival that spreads warmth in each individual. So this Christmas make sure to enjoy it to the fullest and be grateful for everything.

Jubel D'Cruz

Addressing gambling issues in British Asian communities The recent article in Asian Voice that highlights the difficulties faced by British Asian communities in dealing with gambling addiction brings forth an essential issue for discussion. The article rightly points that gambling addiction within these communities is frequently treated as a taboo subject, resulting in judgment and dismissal. This societal stigma not only intensifies the problems associated with gambling but also significantly impacts the well-being of families.

This article emphasises the pressing necessity for focused interventions, heightened trust in support services, and additional research to tackle the issues encountered by British Asian communities in relation to gambling addiction. By promoting open discussions, we can work towards ensuring that no community is left behind in the fight against gambling harms.

Kartik Mehta

A milestone for emerging talented women The remarkable achievements of young Indian talents Kashvee Gautam and Vrinda Dinesh during the Women’s Premier League (WPL-2) mini auction has not only provided these uncapped players with a well-deserved platform but has also marked a significant moment in the advancement of women's cricket.

The WPL-2 auction has not only celebrated these talents but has also raised expectations for the upcoming tournament.

The successful auction and the upcoming WPL-2 are positive steps toward elevating the profile of women's cricket in India. I hope this momentum continues to grow, and we witness an enthralling competition that further promotes and supports the incredible talents in women's cricket.

Subham Nair

A delightful Christmas special

An evening dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales in 1985 has set a record price for one of her dresses, selling for almost $1.15 million at a Hollywood auction.

The black and blue ballerina-length velvet dress, designed by Moroccan-British fashion designer Jacques Azagury, was auctioned at Julien’s Auctions in Hollywood for a total of $1,148,080 (£907,000). This auction result exceeded expectations, as the dress, worn by Diana during a dinner at Palazzo Vecchio in Florence while on a royal tour with Prince Charles, had an estimated value of $100,000. The outfit, featuring shoulder pads, a blue organza skirt, a large bow, and a sash, is now the most expensive dress worn by the late princess ever sold at auction.

The previous record was held by a 1991 velvet gown by Victor Edelstein, which sold for $604,800 in January. The identity of the buyer of the Azagury dress, which came with a matching illustration, remains unknown.

KAPIL’S

Christmas, that reminds everyone

The Christmas special edition was truly impressive, providing a delightful reading experience with a diverse array of content. The vibrant layouts and the inclusion of articles on travel, entertainment, and food, along with exclusive interviews, particularly featuring British South Asian women, added an extra layer to the festive theme. The article recounting the experiences of students stirred nostalgia within me, reminding me of the excitement I felt upon arriving in London around 10 years ago and witnessing the beautifully illuminated streets during Christmas. It's a commendable piece of work, and I eagerly anticipate more of such engaging content in the future.

Kavya Arora

Supreme Court's decision on Article 370 The Supreme Court's unanimous decision to uphold the government's August 2019 decision on Article 370 is indeed a significant development. This decision brings closure to a chapter that began with Jammu & Kashmir's accession to India in 1947, navigating through uncertain political landscapes. It is heartening to see the judiciary providing a clear and well-reasoned verdict on such a complex and sensitive matter.

Tanmay Jaiswal

Kapil Dudakia

KHICHADI

12 Days of Christmas in India!

It’s that time of the year when under the guise of Christmas, most people tend to go mad and do what they otherwise might find embarrassing. We’ll hear many songs related to Christmas, so much so, in the end I have to say it does get a bit too much for me. Anyway, whilst the achievements of India and PM Modi over the past decade runs into hundreds, I have used a few to rewrite the 12 days of Christmas. Health warning, I am not a song writer!

So here goes my version of the 12days of Christmas, the Indian way: On the first day of Christmas my true love (Bharat Ma) sent to me, one Prime Minister Modi ji – the most loved leader in the world.

On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me, two Articles 370 and 35A validated by the Supreme Court of India. One Nation, One People and One Law. On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me three election victories for the people in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me four (Char) Dham Yatra for my salvation, of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me five space programmes to explore the universe, Chandrayaan-3, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), ASTROSAT, X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat), and INSAT-3DS. On the sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me six top Indian missiles to defend Bharat: Prithvi II, Agni-V, BrahMos, Agni-IV, Shaurya, and Akash.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me seven (Sapta) Puri’s of Bharat: Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya (Haridwar), Kasi (Varanasi), Kanchi (Kanchipuram), Avantika (Ujjain) and Dvaravati (Dwarka).

On the eight day of Christmas my true love sent to me eight tall buildings in India to reach for the skies: World One, World View, The Park, Omkar 1973, Nathani Heights, The 42, Three Sixty West Tower A and One Avighna Park.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me nine Ghats in Varanasi – Assi, Chet Singh, Darbhanga, Dashashwamedh, Man Mandir, Manikarnika, Scindia, Bhonsale, and Panchganga.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me ten Modi initiatives: Mann Ki Baat, Swachh Bharath Mission, Make in India, Jan Dhan Yojana, Ujjwal Yojna, Ayushman Bharat, GST, Triple Talaq Bill, Infrastructure Development and Digital India.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me eleven freedom fighters (there were thousands of course):Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Bhagat Singh, Rani Gaidinliu, Pingali Venkayya, Rani Laxmi Bai, Mangal Pandey, Annie Besant, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Subhas Chandra Bose and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me twelve ancient cities of Bharat: Varanasi, Madurai, Ayodhya, Ujjain, Patna, Kannauj, Hampi, Thanjavur, Vadodara, Puri, Dwarka, and Vrindavan.

Iam sure you would all be able to edit the above and insert many more things to make it even more comprehensive and personal. In fact, I think we can do one for each state of India, and we would still have so many things we would need to leave out. ’tis the season of merriment. We live in a Christian nation and even though we have our own faith, our own culture, and our own language, we are a people who are confident in who we are, giving us the strength to also join in the festivities with the whole community.

For all our Christian brothers and sisters, do have a merry and joyous Christmas, and to those who don’t subscribe to it, have a happy holiday. And to all of you who are shocked that Kapil is being PC compliant – well, make the most of it whilst it lasts!

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

Please keep contributing as always.

If you are new, then write to Shefali at shefali.saxena@abplgroup.com

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23 - 29 December 2023

Tribute to Sardar Patel: Maker of Modern and United India

On the 73rd death anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice organised a Prarthna Sabha on 15 December 2023 at Sangat Centre Harrow. Representatives from various organisations and dignitaries paid tribute to Sardar Patel.

A detailed report with photos will be published in the upcoming issue.

80% of dentists not accepting new NHS patients New research reveals that four out of five dentists in England are not accepting new NHS patients, underscoring the significant challenges individuals face in accessing dental treatment.

This alarming situation coincides with health experts issuing a dire warning that "universal dental care has likely gone for good."

According to analysis conducted by the Labour party, a staggering 82.8% of dental surgeries are turning

away adults seeking NHS care, and 71.1% are also refusing under-18s. The severity of the issue is highlighted by the fact that in the south-west of England, only four out of 456 dental surgeries are open to new adult patients, representing less than one percent of facilities in the region.

In addition to the concerning situation in the south-west, other regions in England also face significant challenges in accessing NHS-funded dental care.

The north-east is particularly affected, with a striking 96.8% of dental practices refusing to accept new adult patients.

The east Midlands follows closely, with 94.3% of practices not allowing adults to join their patient list for NHS-funded care. This underscores a widespread and pressing issue across multiple areas, indicating a considerable shortage of available dental services for those relying on NHS support.

Remembering Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his death anniversary On the 15th of December, Friday, at the Harrow's Sangat Centre, a programme was organised in memory of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of the greatest men in our history and a key figure in the annals of our independence struggle.

The event featured songs about Sardar Patel, patriotic songs, and informative and inspiring speeches about Sardar Patel's life. The programme, organised by the Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice, was a resounding success and was organised by Mr. C. B. Patel, Mr. Maheshbhai Liloriya, and Mr. Kantibhai Nagda.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is recognised not only as a leader of Gujarat but also as a global figure and a great human being. Even in his childhood, he displayed courage and a strong will.

Once, during his childhood, when he was suffering from a boil, a villageman was going to cure it by way of burning the boil in his armpit. However, the man got scared on seeing this boy but young

Vinod Kapasi pays tribute to Sardar Patel

Vallabhbhai took a burning rod in his hand and pressed against his boil. He excelled in his studies and legal examinations, and after passing the Bar-at-Law examination in England in 1910, he began his practice as a barrister. In 1913, he returned from England.

After a meeting with Mahatma Gandhi in Godhra, inspired by him, Sardar Patel actively participated in the freedom struggle and became a lifelong friend of Gandhi.

Following his success in the Champaran Satyagraha, he aligned himself with Gandhi's principles and activities. In 1918, when a famine struck the entire district due to crop failure, farmers appealed to the British government for

relief from taxes, but the British government did not provide any assistance. In response, Sardar Patel led a movement against the British and also started wearing Khadi garments in protest. After a prolonged struggle, the British government agreed to provide relief in taxes based on Sardar Patel's conditions.

In 1928, Sardar Patel led a successful movement in Bardoli, where farmers protested against the unjust increase in land revenue.

After India gained independence, he played a crucial role in the integration of 562 princely states, showing extraordinary diplomatic skills. He also played a key role for the of amalgamation Hyderabad and Junagadh states. Rulers of both these states had to ‘run away’ from India. This act of skill and statesmanship is a historic event.

Today, as a true memorial to the unity of India, there stands a colossal statue of him, 592 feet tall, in Gujarat. Jai Bharat, Jai Sardar.

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23 - 29 December 2023

“Labour party will reach out to the Hindu community in Leicester East to work with them”: Parliamentary candidate Rajesh Agrawal Rupanjana Dutta

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he Indian diaspora and business communities in the UK are familiar with Rajesh Agrawal, the former Deputy Mayor of Business in London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s team. He transformed London into a leading investment hub for India, despite the Brexit chaos and the pandemic which severely impacted the City.

Born in India, former techentrepreneur Rajesh is now standing for elections as the Labour party’s candidate for Leicester East.

The controversial Leicester East constituency was represented by former Labour MP Keith Vaz’s for over 32 years from 1987 to 2019.

In an exclusive interview with Asian Voice, one of his firsts with the UK press as the Labour party’s parliamentary candidate for Leicester East, Rajesh talked about why politics was never on his agenda.

“When I came to this country, 22 years ago, I had very little money, but just like most immigrants, my pockets were filled with dreams,” said Rajesh. “And my eyes were always set towards the commercial world. I wanted to start my own business. And I knew that with hard work and grit I could do well. But I never imagined that I would end up being the Deputy Mayor of one of the greatest cities on earth, not once, but twice, for nearly eight years. And I'm very proud of all the things that I've achieved as the Deputy Mayor of London - whether it's creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, to bringing and attracting over billions of pounds in interna-

Rajesh Agrawal

tional investment, to improving the working conditions of Londoners. And all of this was achieved against the backdrop of Brexit, pandemic, and the current cost of living crisis.”

Putting Leicester East on the map Rajesh is fully aware of the challenges of representing Leicester East – an ethnically diverse city that recently was rocked by communal riots.

Convinced about the city’s potential, he told this newsweekly, “Leicester is full of potential, and its diversity is one of its greatest assets. It's already a big hub for the textile industry. We need to harness the energy that exists in Leicester and put the city on the world map.

“Leicester has a huge connection with India, because nearly more than 50% of the Leicester's

Launch of interactive tool addressing domestic economic abuse The UK government, on Wednesday 20 December 2023, launched a free interactive guide to help businesses spot and tackle domestic economic abuse.

Survivors of domestic abuse are at an increased risk around Christmas and, on average, it is reported that police forces in England and Wales receive over 100 calls relating to domestic abuse every hour, and around 95% of domestic abuse victims experience economic abuse. During the Christmas period, the number of calls can rise by 25%.

The new tool, available on GOV.UK, aims to help call han-

dlers at businesses and charities recognise abuse when speaking to customers and clients. Specialist charities such as Surviving Economic Abuse will be on standby to offer training to interested organisations.

In summer this year, the government announced there would be a new interactive tool to help trained advisers in businesses and charities spot and tackle economic abuse. Since then, HMRC has worked closely with Surviving Economic Abuse holding workshops with charities and financial services firms to develop the tool and help get this right.

British Jews criticise BBC for biased Gaza coverage According to polling conducted by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, only 4% of Jewish respondents expressed satisfaction with the BBC's coverage of the Israel-Hamas crisis.

The organization highlighted incidents that reinforced the perception among Britain's Jewish community that the BBC is a biased broadcaster failing in its duty of impartiality toward the Jewish state. Specifically, 71% strongly disagreed with the statement expressing satisfaction, while 15% disagreed. Only 3% agreed, 1% strongly agreed, and 6%

reported not watching or listening to it.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism labelled these figures as "astonishing" and suggested that they should make the BBC reconsider its approach. The organization pointed to issues such as the BBC's reluctance to label Hamas as 'terrorists,' biased reporting of the hospital blast, and errors and lack of remorse by Jeremy Bowen as contributing to the dissatisfaction.

It's worth noting that the BBC has also faced accusations of antiPalestinian bias from some of its own journalists.

East population has people of Indian-origin and India is the fastest growing major economy in the world. Surely there could be is vast potential to make Leicester an international trading hub and it could eventually be the focal point of UK India trade relationship.”

Rajesh has 20 years of experience working with Britain’s business communities and is a firstgeneration immigrant from India, and much of proud of his roots.

According to a story by BBC, Leicester became one of the first cities in the UK where people identifying as white were no longer the majority.

The 2011 UK census recorded that two-thirds of its population in Leicester East was non-white and nearly half, or 48.5% of the people here, described themselves as Asians. And many of them had arrived in the early 70s from Uganda, after Idi Amin’s expulsion.

In the 2021 Census, 17.9% of the whole of Leicester’s population identified as Hindus and 23.5% as Muslims, 4.5% as Sikhs, and 24.7% as Christians.

“Millions of people in the UK who come from all over the world have made this country their home,” said Rajesh. “Similarly, Leicester is also a city that is open to people from around the world.

It's not about who got here first.

My own effort will be to bring all the communities together - doesn't matter whether you've lived in Leicester for five years, or 50.

Leicester belongs to everybody who lives in Leicester.”

A new generation Labour Party representative Elaborating on his own identi-

ty as a new generation Labour Party representative of a multicultural and multiethnic Britain, Rajesh added, “I'm very proud to be the first Hindu Deputy Mayor of London, who has worked alongside the first Muslim Mayor of London. I went to a Catholic school; in London I live in a neighbourhood with a large Jewish community. So, I'm all about working with the communities.

“Labour Party under Sir Keir Starmer is under a new management. There is a huge change in its direction. I know many people in the community believe that the Labour Party took a wrong turn, but I want to reassure them, that Labour is under new management.

We’ll reach out to all different communities, including the Hindu community and work with them.”

He further added, “Labour Party will continue to fight for every single vote there is, and we've got a very big job to do in that space. We know that in 2019 Labour managed to win Leicester East but with a far reduced majority. So, we are not taking any vote for granted. We'll be fighting for every single vote. And I know everybody who's part of the Labour Party will work alongside me in winning the Leicester East seat.”

Communities should not feel that they've not been heard Speaking about his manifesto, London’s former Deputy Mayor for Business added with enthusiasm, “I'm already meeting community leaders, and will continue to do that in the coming weeks and months. There is a lot of enthusiasm, I'm getting a fantastic response from all the community

leaders and faith groups across Leicester East. What they are looking for in a candidate is somebody who will put Leicester on the map, somebody who is experienced and competent and somebody who holds respect at the highest levels, and I believe I fit the bill. And you know just like all the successes that I achieved for London, I am determined to achieve that in Leicester East, and I've got a lot of support so far from the community.

He said, “Leicester East has big businesses and a large number of micro and small businesses which are the backbone of the economy.

So, I'll be working with them very closely and trying to help them grow and understand the challenges they face.

“Moreover, it's important to bring various communities together and celebrate diversity, which is one of the biggest strengths of Leicester. Communities should not feel that they've not been heard. I would like to assure them that there is always scope for dialogue and community cohesion.

“I also want to focus on other key areas of development of Leicester East. More than 50% of children in Leicester East are growing up in poverty. As somebody who grew up in poverty himself, I can relate to that. And I tell you, it's a very bad place to be. It's important that we focus on infrastructure development so that people can get the public services they rightly deserve, right from GP appointments to hospital, to schools, to good quality education.

I want to create jobs so that people don't have to look beyond Leicester.”

16-year-old girl dies three weeks into taking pill The family of a 16-year-old girl, Layla Khan, who is believed to have died from a blood clot three weeks after being prescribed the contraceptive pill, alleges that a GP misdiagnosed her symptoms as "stomach flu."

Layla, a local netball champion from Immingham, Lincolnshire, began taking the contraceptive pill on November 25 to alleviate chronic period pain. However, by December 5, she started complaining of migraines.

As her symptoms persisted and

Layla Khan

worsened, including vomiting, Layla's family contacted the 111

NHS helpline, only to be told that there were "no red flags."

Concerned about her deteriorating condition, the family took her to see a local GP less than a week before her death. According to the family, the doctor did not observe any signs of a blood clot during that visit.

On the night of December 10, Layla's condition deteriorated further, with frequent vomiting occurring every 30 minutes, leading to heightened concern and ultimately tragic consequences.

Sunak and Mone clash over pandemic PPE profits Rishi Sunak has become entangled in a dispute with Baroness Michelle Mone, a former Conservative peer, regarding her involvement in a medical equipment company that secured state contracts exceeding £200 million during the pandemic.

The prime minister expressed deep concern about the matter after Mone, known for her role as a lingerie entrepreneur, acknowledged potential gains of around £60 million from PPE Medpro.

This company supplied personal protective equipment to the government starting from May 2020.

In response to Sunak's concerns, Mone refuted the allegations on social media, stating that she had been forthright with the Cabinet Office, the government, and the NHS about her association with

Baroness Michelle Mone

PPE Medpro from the outset.

The Labour party is framing the incident as an instance of Tory cronyism, suggesting that it underscores a pattern of ministers redirecting funds from a financially strained NHS to finance question-

able Covid contracts. Mone revealed on Sunday that she had approached Michael Gove, then the Minister for the Cabinet Office, to offer PPE Medpro's services in 2020.

Contrary to earlier denials by spokespeople and lawyers representing Mone and her husband, Doug Barrowman, she admitted her involvement with the company. Mone confessed that she and her children stood to benefit from approximately £60 million in profits held in trusts, emphasising that it was her husband's money.

Attempting to distance himself from the controversy, Sunak emphasised the government's serious stance on the matter, stating that legal action is being pursued against the company involved in these issues.

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23 - 29 December 2023

Indhu Rubasingham makes history with National Theatre appointment

Indhu Rubasingham

Velvet" and "Handbagged," both of which had successful transfers to the West End and the United States.

Upon her appointment, Rubasingham said, "It's a huge honour to be appointed Director of the National Theatre. For me, this is the best job in the world.

"The National has played an important part in my life - from tentative steps as a teenage theatregoer, to later as a theatremaker, and to have the opportunity to play a role in its history is an incredible privilege and responsibility.

"Theatre has a transformative power - the ability to bring people together through shared experience and storytelling, and nowhere more so than the National."

The anticipation of Rubasingham's appointment had been building since Norris revealed his departure. Notably, her announcement of leaving London's Kiln Theatre, closely followed his own departure announcement in the summer.

NHS boosts health support for new mums New NHS guidelines released today will ensure that all new mothers in England receive a more comprehensive mental and physical check-up from their General Practitioner (GP) in the weeks following childbirth.

GPs will conduct a thorough post-natal check-up six to eight weeks after women give birth, addressing various aspects such as mental health, physical recovery, breastfeeding, and providing support for family planning. With approximately 600,000 women giving birth in England annually, the guidance underscores that all of them are entitled to a post-natal check-up in addition to the newborn check-up.

Developed in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners (GPs), the new NHS guidance emphasises the importance of family doctors offering personalised postnatal care for both the physical and mental well-being of new mothers, while also providing support for family planning. A senior GP in the country has expressed optimism that the guidance will enhance postnatal care and encourage women to attend this crucial check-up.

The routine check-up serves as a valuable opportunity for General Practitioners (GPs) to evaluate and assist women not only in their physical recovery post-birth but also in

Anusha Singh

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ndhu Rubasingham is set to make history as the first Asian and woman director and joint chief executive of the UK's National Theatre. Currently serving as the artistic director of the Kiln Theatre since 2012, Rubasingham will assume the role in spring 2025, succeeding Rufus Norris upon the conclusion of his second term. In a co-leadership model, she will share the position of joint chief executive with Kate Varah.

Hailing from Sheffield with Sri Lankan heritage, Rubasingham will be the seventh director since the National Theatre's establishment by Sir Laurence Olivier in 1963. Breaking away from a tradition of "posh white men" at the helm, she has been widely regarded as the industry favourite to take over from Norris.

With a rich history of staging plays at the National over the past 25 years, including recent works like "Kerry Jackson" and "The Father and the Assassin" in the preceding year, Rubasingham brings a wealth of experience and creativity to her new role at the helm of the National Theatre.

Rubasingham's noteworthy productions at the Kiln Theatre include the adaptation of Zadie Smith's "The Wife of Willesden," a modern take on Chaucer's The Wife of Bath's Tale. She has also directed acclaimed plays like the Olivier Award-winning "Red

Wildlife cinematographer discusses her art and prestigious BAFTA inclusion

terms of their mental health. This ensures that any woman requiring additional mental health support can be promptly referred to a specialist. In the past year alone, over 53,000 new mothers have received specialised perinatal mental health support, and the NHS has established numerous new Maternal Mental Health Services nationwide.

Each local system now benefits from access to a specialised community perinatal mental health team capable of providing tailored care for a variety of issues. This development marks a significant stride in prioritising and addressing the mental well-being of new mothers during the crucial postnatal period.

Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “Mothers should be supported after giving birth. This includes being able to get the mental and physical health support needed for a healthy recovery – while giving new-borns the best start in life.

“The postnatal check provides an important opportunity for GPs to listen to women in a discrete, supportive environment.

“This builds on part of a wider scheme of support – including making new maternal mental health services available across all areas of England by March 2024 and £25 million to expand women’s health hubs.”

ooja Rathod, a former marine biologist turned wildlife cinematographer, has garnered acclaim for her stunning visuals spanning diverse landscapes, from mountaintops to coral reefs. Her work has been showcased in natural history documentaries featured on major platforms such as Disney+, National Geographic, BBC, Animal Planet, and Discovery channels.

Pooja Rathod

men - because it involves a lot of roughing it out, toughening up and being physically strong to carry around heavy equipment.

I do believe that there are very few women in wildlife cinematography globally and that is concerning. It has been the nature of the industry to prefer men for this job but I do see this changing, albeit slowly.

Today more and more companies are having a dialogue about inclusivity and I believe that can be encouraging for people to start considering this as a career option. We have a long way ahead but at least there’s a start. ow does it feel to be recognised for your work by such a prestigious institution?

Can you share your initial reaction when you found out about your inclusion?

It is an absolute privilege to be selected for BAFTA Breakthrough. Coming from the natural history world and not mainstream cinema, I wasn’t expecting it and I’m very excited to make the most of all the opportunities BAFTA has to offer. I’m hoping to network with industry professionals to explore and develop ideas of people and wildlife stories in mainstream cinema. There is a huge disconnect between people and nature, and films have the power to bridge that gap, inspire, change minds and make people care, which I believe is the need of the hour. or aspiring cinematographers, particularly women looking to enter the field, what advice would you offer based on your own experiences?

I was lucky to be trained as a wildlife biologist before I became a cinematographer and that has been one of my strongest suits.

I would advise others to learn about your subject as much as you can, before rushing to hold the camera. Spend time outdoors and read. I can’t emphasise how much reading stories, or animal behaviour books help you on the field. If you don’t know your subject well, you will miss out on stories that might be unfolding in front of you.

Practise with your gear wherever you are. It could be tracking your dog/cat at home and trying to maintain focus.

Muscle memory with your focus pulling is essential in cinematography. Try editing your own footage. Editing always helps you learn what shots you need to cut a sequence and hence what you may have missed.

Watch lots of movies. Work on being physically strong and fit. You’re going to need it and have fun.

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Pooja's notable credits include episodes of "Into the Wild: India" (2018-2019), "Wild Edens: South Asia" (2019), and the theatrically released "Wild Karnataka" (2020), narrated by the iconic Sir David Attenborough. In 2023, she both produced and directed the short film "Belonging," which earned a spot in the National Geographic Short Film Showcase. Additionally, Pooja served as the director of photography for the Asia episode of the Emmy-nominated and Critics Choice award-winning documentary "Secrets of the Elephants.

She continues to make significant contributions to the world of wildlife cinematography and conservation through her remarkable visual storytelling and has recently been included in BAFTA’s Breakthrough list.

In an interview with Asian Voice, she talks about her inspiration, work and challenges. hat initially drew you to wildlife cinematography, and how would you describe your approach to the craft?

As a marine biologist, one of my jobs was to follow parrotfish, record their feeding behaviours and later watch those many hours of footage and analyse the data. I knew then that I enjoyed watching animals, being in their company and visually telling their stories to the world. So, I moved on from research to filming wildlife for there are so many amazing things that animals do and so many amazing stories about them to share.

I love the fact that you can rarely plan a wildlife scene and

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how challenging that can be for a camera operator on the field.

You always have to be vigilant, keeping an eye out for behaviour, being patient, acting instantly in the moment, understanding light and positioning yourself to create beautiful imagery. You barely have time to think when the action actually happens and that’s the whole fun of it. That it is so instinctive. hat have been some key milestones in your career so far?

Getting the National Geographic Explorers grant to make my very first film was definitely an important point in my career. That opened many doors for me, one of which was attending the Wildscreen festival in Bristol and winning the Wild Pitch award to begin work on my next film. Also, filming for projects like the Emmy nominated ’Secrets of the elephants’ (National Geographic) and ‘Tigers on the Rise’ (DisneyNature, coming 2024).

You get to work closely with and learn from senior producers in developing stories and capturing animal behaviour in challenging situations. hat challenges have you faced, specifically as a female cinematographer?How do you perceive the current state of inclusivity for women in cinematography, and what changes would you like to see?

Challenges are in every field, both for men and women. To be honest, I feel amazing being a female cinematographer, because somewhere I think I’m silently defying the notion that the natural history world is cut out for

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AsianVoiceNewsweekly

23 - 29 December 2023

The four walls of ‘Chaar Diwaari’ Chaar Diwaari aka Garv Taneja is all of 20, but his laurels are greater than his age. The young man sat down on a winter afternoon at his Delhi home on a Zoom call with Asian Voice at 4 pm to talk about being inspired by old Hindi music, his process and the journey to being a popular music sensation.

Shefali Saxena

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arv was 12 when he started writing and composing music. He grew up listening to old Bollywood songs on FM radio and FM Gold on the transistor set his parents had at home.

He also speaks Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a rarity for a 20-year-old Gen Z these days. He spent most of his time locked in his room with his gadgets, so his mother always said to him that he was perpetually locked in the four walls “Chaar Diwaari” of the house. Hence his screen name, thanks to his mum.

He did go to music school but dropped out only to start creating his songs, which we all know are topping the charts on Spotify, Instagram and YouTube.

The evolution of revolution The evolution witnessed in artists like Chaar Diwaari reflects a Desi Hip Hop (DHH) movement akin to the changes in Western hip hop during the 2010s. This marks the fusion of rap elements with Indian narratives, resulting in an urban sound that balances abrasiveness with melody and soulfulness. This genre draws from diverse influences—Trap, Metal, Hip Hop, Rap, and Pop—making it challenging to label precisely. Led by artists like Chaar Diwaari, this new age Desi Hip Hop embodies a unique blend of influences, creating innovative sounds that resonate from India.

Going down memory lane Speaking to the newsweekly, Garv said, “My songwriting, arrangement, and attention span have been heavily influenced by old Hindi music. In the past,

Garv Taneja

songs had an average length of six to seven minutes, even longer during live performances. Today, with a shorter attention span, I find it challenging to sit through lengthy content, like a four-hour movie. The change in attention spans has influenced how songs are crafted to fit shorter timeframes.”

Explaining how his songs are different from his contemporaries, Garv said, “Bridges were popular until the '80s or '90s, but now they're rare in songs. I appreciate incorporating them, creating a unique blend with verses and intros reminiscent of older songs into my work. Like Bappi Lahiri songs used to have one-and-a-half-minute intros. So like that, I can interpret things that people have left behind and things that people have stopped using and put them into my work. Like having big intros big outros.

“Ultimately, I approach packaging a product much like packaging a song – treating it as a commercial entity for public consumption. Once it leaves my laptop, it ceases to be solely mine; it becomes something that belongs to the people.

Their reception and ownership of it is something I

appreciate most of the time.”

A paradigm shift?

Garv is not just into writing and composing, but he’s also the brain behind marketing his work. His latest single “Jhaag” (Froth) gives us a glimpse into how he channelises the creative juices inside his young brain, to put up an equal fight in the business of marketing music. He’s linguistically quite gifted for a 20year-old who uses Urdu, Hindi and everything urban English in his songs to captivate his audiences. His most streamed song ‘Mera Saamaan Kahan Hai’ starts with the lyrics: Rakhe tinke sajaa ke, Fevicol diwaar banaa ke, Aaa, Bedimaag

A still from a photo shoot

siyaape, Moh kapaal makaan banaa hai, Aaa, Dere raat subah ke, Mujhe rakhaa rakhwaal banaa ke, Aaa, Mera samman kahan hai?”.

Chaar Diwaari has dedicated this song to a friend who, he found out, is grappling with schizophrenia. The lyrics convey the idea that this individual has constructed mental barriers, brick by brick while seeking answers within the confines of their mind.

Diwaari is also a great

collaborator and likes to have multiple perspectives associated with his work to further expand his reach and creativity. His song ‘Roshi’ in association with musician Bharg is also a testament to the former’s inspirations he draws from old Bollywood songs. The lyrics and the overall composition remind you of the 70s and 80s.

Diwaari is a fan of songs like Raina Beeti Jaye and Chingaari Koi Bhadke from Amar Prem (1972) composed

by RD Burman and also loves listening to Humne Dekhi Hai Un Aankhon Ki Mehakti Khushboo from the film Khamoshi (1969) sung

by Lata Mangeshkar, written

by Gulzar and composed by Hemant Kumar. So the young boy who is slowly taking over the country with his metaphoric, dark and fusion rap, is still seeking inspiration from the golden era of Hindi films. He interestingly told us a story of how he as a child thought that in the song “Panna Ki Tamanna Hai Ke Heera Mujhe Mil Jaye”, Panna was searching for a real diamond. He only grew up to realise it was well, just a song. “I thought it was a metaphor for something,” he laughed.

Garv did affirm that he is keeping track of numbers and he also needs to get into the revenue game in the long run, but this Gen Z artist isn’t futuristic. He lives in the present. He honestly told the newsweekly that he doesn’t follow a premium or specific routine to make his music, but he does work on multiple tracks at the same time and spends a lot of time in his room to keep composing and experimenting in his Chaar Diwaari.

Ranveer Singh unveils Madame Tussauds wax figures in London The internationally acclaimed star, Ranveer Singh, recently graced the renowned Madame Tussauds attraction in London to unveil his two new wax figures, accompanied by his mother. This marks the Bollywood star's debut at Madame Tussauds, with visitors having the opportunity to encounter his new figures at both Madame Tussauds’ London and Singapore locations.

Ranveer Singh's ascent to fame has been truly iconic, characterized by a string of consecutive blockbuster hits that have solidified his status as a beloved figure in Bollywood. Singh actively participated in the creative process, meticulously selecting the distinct looks and styling for his wax figures.

The London figure pays homage to Ranveer’s culture and heritage, featuring a neon sherwani designed by Manish Arora. This striking outfit is adorned with hundreds of individually sewn embellishments, a flamboyant leopard head shoulder detail, and

Ranveer Singh poses with his wax figures

accessorized with a triple-layered diamond and pearl necklace, along with eight large gemstone-set rings. The Singapore figure, in a stunning custom tuxedo with a velvet blazer and floral embellishments, was designed by Gaurav Gupta. It was generously donated by Ranveer himself for the wax figure.

On seeing two of his first-ever fig-

ures from the attraction, Ranveer Singh said: “As a child my Mother first told me about Madame Tussauds.

What an incredible moment it is for me to be here with my Mum, launching my own figure at Madame Tussauds London. It’s a hugely proud moment for me and for my family. I feel very happy, very humble, very grateful and very proud.”

‘American Sikh’: turbaned hero fighting stereotypes Vishavjit Singh, renowned for his public persona as Captain America, has collaborated with director Ryan Westra to present a Sikh character adorned with a turban and beard, fighting against bigotry, intolerance, and stereotypes associated with the American identity. Despite being the sole U.S.-born member of his family, Singh's journey highlights the struggle he faced in fully embracing his identity in this manner.

‘American Sikh’ aims to enhance diversity in contemporary media and challenge preconceptions about the appearance of an American and a superhero.

The film, supported by Executive Producers Guneet Monga Kapoor, the 2023 Academy Award winner for "Elephant Whisperer," and Vikas Khanna, recognised as one of Vanity Fair's top ten chefs, holds significance in pushing for broader representation.

In an interview with Asian Voice, Vishavjit and Ryan share the details about their movies.

About the inspiration, collaboration and striking a balance American Sikh is making history as the first ever film to tell the story of a turban-wearing American to premiere at a major festival and stands out in its quality.

In just 10 minutes, the film covers Vishavjit’s lifelong struggle to find acceptance, an emotional rollercoaster that begins with a genocidal massacre in India and ends with redemption in a superhero costume. To craft a narrative that does so much in such a short amount of time, as well as reach such a high level of artistry in its aesthetic, Vishavjit and Ryan worked for almost 4 years on this project.

Vishavjit and Ryan initially worked on a liveaction documentary together in 2014 about Vishavjit’s Sikh Captain America persona. Ryan shared the inspiration stating, “On the streets of New York, I got to see first-hand just how differently people reacted and treated Vishavjit in and out of his superhero costume.

Overwhelmingly positive in costume and overwhelmingly negative out of costume - it was shocking to see.

“I was and still am in awe of Vishavjit’s simple and fun approach to addressing complex and challenging issues. So, in 2019, I reached out to Vishavjit again asking if he would be interested in doing a more in-depth film about his life and work, one that would share 40 years in 10 minutes of animation.

He also stated that “Telling someone’s life story

in just 10 minutes is incredibly difficult, especially when that person has had a journey as incredible as Vishavjit’s. The goal was always to communicate the heart of Vishavjit’s story as simply and honestly as possible.

“The process of finding and organising those essential puzzle pieces involved editing and re-editing 30 different versions of the film over a period of 18 months.

Determined to make the most compelling film possible, Vishavjit and I relied heavily on friends and family to review and give thoughts on the strength of each edit, and the importance of each moment.”

On the other hand, according to Vishavjit, there is always a fine balance between being true to the real-life story being told on the screen and using powerful storytelling elements to accentuate the film-watching experience. About striking that balance, he said, “There are few scenes in the film where real-life moments have been strategically placed to maximise user experience but staying true to the essence of the (Vishavjit’s) journey.”

The aim was to portray the authentic story Vishavjit’s story is a perfect example of the truth that we are all a work in progress. His journey is powered by vulnerabilities in the face of abuse and tragedies. He found a way to channel these vulnerabilities towards a path empowered by kindness, compassion and ultimately what we call courage to go out on a limb.

Vishavjit’s real-life story is centred around the tensions and breakthroughs around identity and representation. In order to ensure cultural sensitivity and authenticity in portraying characters and themes, the team made sure the visual elements were as true to his Sikh/Punjabi/American identity from the layers of the turban to the hair sticking out of the turban and the kara (bracelet) on his wrist, just to name a few.

Vishavjit said, “We really made it a point to reflect the story as authentically as possible knowing that his own beliefs and practices varied throughout his life, at times drastically. Some certain labels and expressions can be misconstrued or hit a raw nerve but our goal was to remain as close as possible to his in-the-moment perspective.”

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23 - 29 December 2023

LOOKING FORWARD As the curtain falls on the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), the world stands at a pivotal moment, marking a significant stride toward the end of the fossil fuel era.

In other realms, the healthcare sector anticipates a massive boom in generative AI applications over the next 12 months. The impending general elections in the UK, US, and India loom large on the global stage.

From the much-anticipated inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and the celebration of the 75th year of Hindi Diwas to the upcoming anniversary of ABPL, the horizon of 2024 holds a diverse array of significant events and milestones. The year also carries the collective hope for positive change, envisioning a turning point marked by the cessation of conflicts and the triumph of human rights, despite the distressing escalations witnessed in 2023.

As we look ahead, the year unfolds as a narrative of global, regional, and cultural shifts, with each chapter contributing to the evolving tapestry of our interconnected world.

Fossil Fuels - End of an era Negotiators from nearly 200 Parties convened in Dubai and agreed on the world's inaugural 'global stocktake' to intensify climate action before 2030, aiming to keep the global temperature increase below 1.5°C. While acknowledging the need for a 43% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, the stocktake emphasizes tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030. Countries are urged to submit ambitious emission reduction targets aligned with the 1.5°C limit by 2025.

Women In Conversation March 2024 Asian Voice in association with the Royal Air Force UK will hold the annual Women in Conversation programme, celebrating International Women’s Day 2024. The theme for 2023’s IWD and the panel discussion was “Embracing Equity”.

Speaking at the Women in Conversation in 2022 Group Captain Joanne Swainston of the Royal Air Force said, “All roles in the Royal Air Force are open to women. It is a place where women can achieve their full potential and have meaningful and fulfilling careers. We are seeing an increasing number of women in senior leadership roles. We believe that mentoring and supporting one another is exceedingly important. Events such as the Women in Conversation, where we share our experience, wisdom and ways to support

one another are very important.”

The UK-India FTA The thirteenth round of negotiations for the UKIndia Free Trade Agreement concluded last week, affirming the commitment of both parties to continue working towards a comprehensive trade pact. The fourteenth round is scheduled for January 2024. Conducted in person and virtually between London and Delhi, the recent talks addressed intricate issues involving

individuals to stay at home longer. 3D printing will revolutionise healthcare by producing tools, implants, and potentially organs for transplantation. The convergence of mental and physical healthcare delivery will become more prominent, recognising the interconnected nature of overall well-being.

General Elections in the UK, US and India Over 40 nations, encompassing over 40% of the world's population and a

World leaders at COP28

goods, services, and investment. Negotiations for the India-UK FTA began in 2022, and the absence of a specified deadline emphasizes the dedication to achieving a comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade deal. The recent highlevel UK delegation visit and discussions signal a shared resolve to overcome differences and advance the FTA. AI massive boom In the healthcare sector, generative AI will play a crucial role by democratising access to transformative AI applications. It will simplify the implementation and interpretation of results, generating personalized recommendations.

Additionally, generative AI will

significant portion of the global GDP, are scheduled to conduct national elections in 2024. Of these nations, India, the UK and the USA have major impacts. While it seems that India will witness another Modi wave, the election trajectory for the UK might see Rishi Sunak faring goodbye to No 10 and the US has a little too many contenders to chalk a clear picture.

Regardless of the eventual outcome, the individual and collective results will play a crucial role in shaping the entities that control and guide the course of the 21stcentury world.

Ahmedabad-London direct flight Over the past years, the

Dignitaries launch "Eyes of Tomorrow" at the 50th anniversary celebration of Gujarat Samachar

produce synthetic data, allowing the training of medical AI algorithms without compromising patient privacy. Virtual healthcare assistants and chatbots are set to aid clinicians and patients, offering advice, and information, and connecting individuals with needed resources. IoT-powered virtual hospitals and telemedicine 2.0 will leverage connected devices for remote patient monitoring, delivering holistic care.

Preventative healthcare, emphasising exercise, wellness, and immunizations, aims to shift from reactive to proactive approaches, reducing costs and benefiting patients. Virtual and augmented reality will find applications in chronic pain management, surgical procedures, and wound care.

The ageing population will prompt innovative solutions for elderly care, enabling

British Gujarati community has debated the departure airport for the LondonAhmedabad direct flight, oscillating between Heathrow and Gatwick.

Initially from Heathrow, it's now operated from Gatwick, impacting many Gujaratis wishing to visit their homeland. Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar addressed a letter to Air India's CEO and Managing Director, Campbell Wilson, highlighting traveller inconvenience.

On behalf of the Gujarati community, we urged Air India to resume at least one direct flight from Heathrow.

In 2024, we eagerly wait for our request to come to fruition.

Victory of human rights The year 2023 witnessed a distressing escalation in conflicts worldwide, resulting in the tragic loss of innocent lives and the devastation. Regrettably, these con-

Joe Biden

Narendra Modi

flicts were not confined solely to the well-known tensions in regions like Israel-Palestine or RussiaUkraine, casting its shadow across the world. Despite these challenges, as we look forward to the year 2024, there's a collective hope for positive change, where the world will witness the cessation of conflicts and the triumph of human rights.

Ayodhya Mandir inauguration In the eagerly anticipated year of 2024, one of the most significant events awaited by the global Indian diaspora is the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, scheduled for January 22nd. This historic occasion is set to witness the participation of approximately 6,000 esteemed individuals, encompassing prominent personalities, religious leaders, social activists, political

Rishi Sunak

figures, and representatives from diverse communities.

Notably, Hindus residing in America have elaborate plans to commemorate the inauguration of the Ram Mandir. Their celebrations will feature car rallies, live screenings, and the illumination of diyas, signifying the deep reverence and joy

Ram Mandir 3D image

surrounding this monumental event.

75th year of Hindi Diwas Hindi ranks as the world's fourth most-spoken language, following English, Spanish, and Mandarin. It's

widely spoken in North India as a mother tongue.

On September 14, 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi as the official language of the newly formed nation. As we approach the year 2024, the jubilant occasion of the 75th anniversary of Hindi Diwas beckons. It's a momentous milestone that not only honours the language's rich heritage but also celebrates its enduring legacy in uniting the diverse tapestry of India.

ABPL anniversary In 2023, ABPL marked a grand and momentous celebration commemorating the 50th anniversary of Gujarat Samachar abd looking ahead to the upcoming year, the focus shifts to the anniversary of Asian Voice (formerly known as New Life) which was started on 18th March 1977.

Asian Voice was started due to growing demand for an English language version for the younger demographic and non-Gujarati speaking population. Anticipate a plethora of exciting events and engaging features on the horizon. Stay connected and tuned in for an array of forthcoming highlights and activities.

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23 - 29 December 2023

COMMUNITY RISES, SPREADS CHRISTMAS CHEER Continued from page 1

The newsweekly spoke to several organisations, charities and individuals, who are selflessly doing their bit to make sure everyone has a merry Christmas after all.

Starlight's Christmas Mission: Bringing joy to hospitalised children As Christmas approaches, the Starlight Children's Foundation endeavours to brighten the holiday season for over 100,000 children in UK hospitals. Facing the challenge of being away from home and family, these children receive support from Starlight through play resources, gifts, and Dr live pantomimes.

Krutika Pau, Deputy CEO/Director of Children’s Services at Starlight, told

Dr Krutika Pau

Asian Voice the foundation's initiatives, emphasising the power of play in promoting mental and physical health during treatment and recovery. Starlight collaborates with over 600 health settings, providing play opportunities that distract and entertain children while in hospitals. The live touring pantomime, featuring 'Aladdin,' brings joy and laughter to hospitals, fostering positive distractions.

Play resources, including play boxes and Health Play Specialists funded by Starlight, contribute to reducing the traumatic impact of hospital experiences. Starlight's Christmas presents offer magic to children in and out of hospitals, creating positive memories amid challenging times.

The public is invited to support Starlight's vision through sponsorship, online purchases, and donations, ensuring that every child experiences the joy of play during the festive season. “We have a small but mighty team that works directly with children to understand what really matters to them when they are in hospital. We undertake research and ongoing evaluation to gain insight on the impact of our work and with the support of external partners we provide resources that make medical procedures less stressful and traumatic for babies, children and young people,” she said. (Read her full interview on P14) Care homes, fostering a sense of belonging During Christmas, care homes play a crucial role in

combatting loneliness among the elderly, who are susceptible to social isolation. Research indicates that nearly a million older individuals in the UK face heightened loneliness during the festive season. Aum Care, a UK homecare unit, recognises the importance of creating a festive and inclusive atmosphere for service users. CEO Pranav Vora told us that he emphasises honouring individual stories and traditions, fostering a sense of belonging.

Initiatives include personalised celebrations based on unique traditions and cultural backgrounds, combating loneliness through companionship, and involving families in the festivities to strengthen support networks. These efforts aim to make Christmas a special memory for elderly individuals in care facilities.

No one goes hungry SEVA Trust has been supporting people facing homelessness and other hardships for the past four years. They have no paid staff in our charity and all the volunteers and trustees devote their services and time in line with the concept of Seva (selfless service for all). Charan Sekhon MBE, Founder & Chairman Social Education Voluntary Association (SEVA) Trust UK told the newsweekly, “We received a lot of

Charan Sekhon

requests for help during the Covid-19 pandemic but the ongoing cost of living crisis has impacted a lot of people. We have been working with a local charity SMART CJS and local voluntary groups in Bedfordshire by providing free hot meals and staple food to the most vulnerable and people facing homelessness. We have arranged extra street visits during the festive season to ensure no one goes hungry and we are arranging special Christmas and hot meals for the most vulnerable. I would like to convey my sincere thanks to all our volunteers and the supporting partners. Whilst we all spend time in our own families during Christmas, we must think about those who need our help and must offer them the needed support. Anyone wishing to donate or support the SEVA Trust project, please visit our website.”

Freezers have been a "game-changer"

unaffected weekdays in the next three weeks, more than 1.1 million appointments have been rescheduled due to strikes over the past King Charles III intervenes to increase year.

While food surplus redistribution planning and King Charles' donation cover arrangements are in of £1 million to buy 800 place, potential disruptions freezers for food charity, range from affecting rouThe Felix Project, has doutine care to administrative bled its capacity to provide challenges. The NHS urges meals for struggling famithe public to use services as lies. The charity redisusual for urgent medical tributes surplus food, saving needs, emphasising 999 and nearly a million meals a year A&E for emergencies. that would otherwise be Cash-strapped Christmas wasted. The freezers have A Quinyx study reveals been a "game-changer" for UK frontline workers face Towcester Community greater financial strain than Larder, helping them cope their European counterwith rising demand. The parts, with 56% stating donation aligns with King wages barely cover living Charles' Coronation Food expenses. In contrast, 39% Project, addressing both of Germans, 31% of Nordic food waste and poverty. The workers, and 29% of Dutch funds came from the Prince peers face a similar chalof Wales Charitable Fund, lenge. The study, surveying now named the King over 3,000 workers, highCharles III Charitable Fund, lights 51% of UK workers reflecting a practical and will go into debt for impactful royal gift.

Christmas, and 43% feel Tips for supporting somepressure to spend. Despite one with dementia at financial concerns, 41% in Christmas the UK find joy in others' Amidst the festive seafestive spending. Start savson's joys, Alzheimer's ing for Christmas 2024 with Society addresses the chalstrategic tips, navigating lenges faced by the 900,000 Boxing Day sales confidentindividuals coping with ly for maximum savings, dementia during Christmas. from creating budgets to With one in three UK resileveraging online shopping dents expected to develop and seeking additional dementia, the holidays can coupon codes. be particularly demanding Scams to beware of during for affected individuals. the festive period Offering guidance, Angelo Beware of holiday scams Makri, Alzheimer's Society's during the festive season, as Senior Knowledge Officer fraudsters exploit increased for Wellbeing, suggests spending and busy schedgradual decoration changes, ules. Online shopping simplicity, inclusion, creatscams involve fake websites ing quiet spaces, memory offering unbelievable disengagement, mindful food counts, leading to stolen approaches, and flexibility. credit card information.

Acknowledging the evolv-

HC Vikram Doraiswami along with Sujit Ghosh at India House Christmas celebrations

ing festive season with dementia, planning, and care can ensure a supportive and comforting environment, fostering joy and hope for those affected.

Strikes set to severely disrupt the NHS over the holidays warns top doctor Upcoming NHS strikes raise concerns of holiday disruptions, as junior doctors plan the longest-ever strike from 7 am on January 3rd to 7 am on January 9th.

The top doctor in England warns of significant NHS disruption amid winter pressure. With only two

Delivery scams use texts or emails claiming a package requires payment, often including phishing links.

Gift card fraud involves scammers demanding payments via gift cards, and charity scams target generous donors through fake charities. Additionally, loan fee scams promise a holiday financial solution but involve upfront fees with no loan delivery. Stay vigilant, shop from reputable websites, and verify charity legitimacy to protect yourself from these seasonal scams.

New Year, new beginnings: A comprehensive checklist for a fresh and organised start After the excitement of the New Year celebration settles, it's time to turn our attention to laying the groundwork for a strong foundation in the next year. In addition to being a great time to make personal goals, the beginning of a new year is also an ideal time to thoroughly assess and refresh all facets of our lives.

cost-cutting.

Setting financial goals and budgets: The New Year is an ideal time to set financial goals and establish budgets. Whether it's saving for a major purchase, reducing debts, or investing in retirement funds, clear goals can guide financial decisions and

Going beyond the standard financial and health examinations, this entails taking a holistic approach that takes into account our living environments, personal development, etc.

Taking stock of these areas early on can streamline our lives,ensuring we are not just reacting to events but proactively planning for a more organised, productive, and fulfilling year.

Here are a few points you need to keep in mind while creating a checklist: Understanding tax deadlines and changes: First and foremost, remembering the tax dates is essential. The necessity to prepare and file tax returns arises in many nations at the conclusion of the fiscal year. It's critical to remain informed about any modifications to tax legislation that may have been made in the prior year. These might affect liabilities, credits, and deductions. Reducing liabilities and maximising returns can be achieved by staying current with these changes.

Reviewing and arranging financial documents is an essential first step. This covers bank statements, invoices, receipts, and any other paperwork pertaining to earnings or outlays.

Maintaining accurate records facilitates the tax filing process and aids in monitoring financial health to pinpoint opportunities for investment or

spending habits. Creating a budget helps with managing expenses and ensuring that financial goals are on track.

Personal development: Reflect on your career trajectory. Think about whether you need to change direction in order to obtain additional training and education. Decide which new abilities or pastimes you wish to pursue.

This could be learning a new language or engaging in creative endeavours.

Mental health and wellness: Reflect on your mental and emotional well-being.

Consider practices like mindfulness, counselling, or joining support groups if needed. Reassess your work-life balance. Make the necessary adjustments to ensure a healthier routine.

Health and fitness goals: Develop or modify your fitness routine. Set realistic and achievable health goals, whether it's increasing physical activity or trying a new sport.

Reevaluate your diet.

Consider consulting a nutritionist to develop a balanced meal plan that suits your health needs.

Assessing carbon footprint: Consider modifying your lifestyle to use public transit, carpool, or switch to renewable energy sources in order to lessen your carbon footprint.

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16 - 22 December 2023

The heartwarming spirit of Christmas in care facilities Human beings inherently crave social connections, as they play a vital role in our survival and well-being.

However, the elderly spend a lot of time alone, making them susceptible to social isolation and loneliness.

These feelings, in turn, can contribute to various health issues such as cognitive decline, depression, and heart disease.

Research indicates that during the Christmas season, nearly a million older individuals experience heightened loneliness, intensifying emotions associated with loss, bereavement, and isolation.

In the UK, more than half of individuals aged 75 and above live alone, lacking the companionship of nearby family members.

As of 2022, the population of individuals residing in care homes in the United Kingdom totalled 408,371. Notably, England had the highest share of this population compared to other regions in the UK, with over 360 thousand people living in care homes within the country during the same year.

Aum Care is one such homecare unit in the UK, helping people to live a happier, fuller life. The organisation’s CEO, Pranav Vora spoke to Asian Voice about how the care home celebrates Christmas to make it a special memory.

During the Christmas season, how does your homecare create a festive and inclusive atmosphere to ensure that service users feel a sense of belonging and warmth?

Pranav Vora

Each service user in the homecare brings their unique story, tradition, and culture. Our mission is to honour each of these stories.

We create an atmosphere that acknowledges and celebrates every individual's Christmas tradition, from the grandest to the humblest, the shared joy of indulging in their favourite Christmas movies or songs, or the sense of belonging fostered with a Christmas meal of their choice.

Loneliness can be heightened during the holidays. What specific initiatives or activities are in place to address this and promote social engagement among service users?

Even simple actions such as a phone call or a handwritten note can make a significant difference. The power of human connection should never be underestimated, especially when combating loneliness.

This holiday season, our organisations plan to be more than just service providers, we can offer companion support to celebrate this festive season by arranging indoor games/activities specific to the interest of the service user, accompanying the service user for Christmas

shopping or organising a trip to their favourite restaurant or visiting a place of worship of their choice.

In what ways do you personalise Christmas celebrations to cater to the diverse needs and preferences of service users, considering that everyone may have unique traditions or cultural backgrounds?

We are in the era of personalisation, where each individual's needs and preferences are paramount.

When it comes to Christmas celebrations, this principle is no different. We encourage them to share their unique traditions, cherished practices, and cultural backgrounds. This not only fosters a sense of belonging, but also makes the celebration truly inclusive.

Are there specific efforts made to involve families and loved ones in the Christmas festivities, recognizing the importance of maintaining connections with service users' support networks?

Families and loved ones are the pillars of our support networks.

Their involvement in the festivities of Christmas is not merely about sharing joy, but it also fortifies the connections that sustain us.

Imagine Christmas celebrations where families and loved ones are not only guests, but an integral part of the festivities, where they're involved in planning, executing, and enjoying the celebrations.

Such involvement wouldn't just make the season more joyful, it would also create a sense of unity and belonging that transcends the holiday season.

Holiday NHS disruptions feared amid impending strikes The top doctor in England has issued a warning about significant disruption facing the NHS in the coming weeks, adding to the already substantial winter pressure on services. Junior doctors are set to strike from 7 am tomorrow until 7 am on Saturday, with urgent and emergency care being prioritised and consultants stepping in to cover for the 50% of the medical workforce composed of junior doctors.

Following the holiday season, junior doctors are planning the longest-ever strike, scheduled from 7 am on January 3rd to 7 am on January 9th. This means that, in the next three weeks, only two weekdays in the NHS will remain unaffected by holidays or industrial action. Over a full calendar year of strikes, more than 1.1 million inpatient and outpatient appointments have been rescheduled.

British Medical Association

Despite thorough planning and cover arrangements, the anticipated widespread disruption from the latest junior doctors' strikes ranges from affecting almost all routine care to creating additional administrative burdens and difficulties in discharging patients. The NHS is reminding the public to continue using services as usual for urgent medical help, emphasising the use of 999 and A&E in lifethreatening emergencies.

Professor Sir Stephen

Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “These strikes come at a time that will cause huge disruption to the NHS, with services are already feeling the strain of winter pressure.

“When you factor in the Christmas and New Year break, these strikes will prolong that period of reduced activity and it also puts the health service on the back foot into the new year, which is a time where we see demand start to rise significantly.

Starlight, a ray of hope for children on Christmas Shefali Saxena This Christmas, Starlight estimates over 100,000 children across the UK will spend the festive period in hospital, feeling scared and missing out on Christmas celebrations. No child wants to be stuck in hospital, away from their home and family, especially at Christmas. Throughout the festive season, Starlight provides hospitals with play resources, gifts, and live pantomimes to brighten a child’s stay and boost their well-being and resilience during treatment. We spoke exclusively to Dr Krutika Pau, Deputy CEO/Director of Children’s Services, Starlight Children’s Foundation UK. lease elaborate on your initiative to help children at Starlight during Christmas.

Starlight is the UK’s leading charity for children’s play in hospitals and hospices. We work with other 600 health settings and ensure that every child can experience the power of play, supporting their mental and physical health during treatment and recovery from illness.

Playing is vital to children’s wellbeing and resilience and it is the most natural and instinctive way for children to participate and communicate. Being in a hospital can be a very frightening experience for anyone, but for a child, it is even more so.

Depending on their age they often don’t understand what is happening to them, they are away from their familiar surroundings of home, friends, siblings and the wider family. Sometimes they may have to go through repeated invasive treatments which can be traumatising for the child and their family. Christmas is a particularly difficult time to be in hospital as families come to together to celebrate the holiday season and children will feel that they are missing out on these festivities.

Starlight estimates over 100,000 children across the UK will spend the festive period in hospital, feeling scared and missing out on celebrations.

Our research has indicated that many hospitals lack the time, space and resources to provide play opportunities for babies, children and young people.

That’s where Starlight steps in by providing incredible opportunities for children to share in moments of wonder, delight and laughter while they are in hospital over Christmas.

We have a live touring pantomime being performed across UK hospitals which is bringing joy to children, families and NHS staff who care for them. You can watch our pantomime

P

Dr Krutika Pau

‘Aladdin’ on the Starlight website. We have also provided hundreds of boxes of play resources directly delivered to hospitals and hospices which are used by NHS staff to distract and entertain children while in hospital. Starlight Health Play Specialists are fully funded by us and are an additional resource provided to health settings to ensure children have a less traumatic hospital experience and are active participants in their care and treatment. Many children have long-term conditions and are in and out of hospital and we have sent out hundreds of Christmas presents to bring a little bit of magic, during this holiday season. ow can common people contribute to further strengthen your vision?

Starlight is the official Oxford Street charity partner this year. For just £10 you can sponsor a star on Oxford Street in London and help bring the magical power of play to children in hospitals all over the UK. All the money donated will go towards making a child’s stay in the hospital brighter this Christmas. Please visit www.starsforstarlight.org.u k and give the gift of play.

If you want to buy a gift or sponsor a star on someone else's behalf, add your email address when checking out, then download the eCard from your inbox and send it on.

Starlight also has a special online shop where you can help buy play items for seriously ill children. You can help buy everything from a cuddly teddy to an hour of a play specialist’s time at the Play store. And every fear-fighting, boredom-busting, comfort-creating gift helps to bring joy to seriously ill children and their families. Members of the public can also become regular donors and help support Starlight with a monthly or one-off payment. If you want to take on a challenge and fundraise to support Starlight, you can take a look at the exciting challenges we have on offer, from running to bungee jumping! ow do children respond to this initiative? Can you share any anecdotes?

Debbie (mum to Kitty who is age 16 but has been supported by Starlight for ten years) “We were so incredibly grateful for the presents Starlight provided

H

H

in the hospital as it took the pressure off. We also just felt we weren’t forgotten.

Starlight are amazing with the things they do for hospitals, they don't know where these boxes are going to end up but they know that someone is going to need it, just like us. It meant she could still have some lovely gifts like play dough, Scrabble and even a karaoke microphone which was a huge hit! One I particularly remember was the Hungry Hippos game, she was so poorly but it put such a smile on her face as we played it on her bed. It’s things like this that mean my memories of Kitty in the hospital over Christmas aren’t entirely negative.

Positive memories are what stand out and outshine all the horrible memories.”

Athena (mum to Penelope age 7) “Starlight has been an amazing resource for us. Penelope often needs distraction whilst being prepared for surgery and chemotherapy and the play team’s bag of Starlight toys has been a massive help!”

Claire (mum to Lucy age 13) “If you’re lying in bed all day and only see doctors and nurses to do meds, it can be a long day, and you feel worse for it. Having things like a Nintendo Switch from Starlight elevates their mood which is so important for children’s mental health.” re their families allowed to visit them during Christmas? Or is there a way for them to interact with them while they are hospitalised?

While families are allowed to visit their children during Christmas and NHS staff work hard to make the hospital a pleasant environment, we know that resources are very limited.

Health professionals regularly give us feedback about the value and benefits of the resources provided by Starlight and what a difference it makes to children while in the hospital. ow does it impact you as a founder, emotionally?

I am not the founder of Starlight. I am the Deputy CEO and Director of Children’s Services.I have the privilege of regularly meeting children and families who are going through a very difficult and frightening period in their lives, where they have little control and a lack of certainty about what the future may look like. I am always inspired by the ability of the human spirit to be optimistic, resourceful and resilient. Children have the gift of understanding the here and now and finding fun and joy in this moment and I am fortunate to see this every day.

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23 - 29 December 2023

Guidance for Christmas support in dementia care Amidst the vibrant decorations, carol singing, gift exchanges, and reunions with friends and family, the holiday season holds a special place in the hearts of many. However, for the 900,000 people coping with dementia, this festive period can pose significant challenges.

With one in three individuals born in the UK expected to develop dementia in their lifetime, and a current count of 900,000 people living with the condition, the holiday season can be particularly demanding for them.

Alzheimer's Society is dedicated to bringing joy, help, and hope to all those affected by dementia this Christmas. The organisation aims to equip individuals with the knowledge, support, and guidance necessary to ensure that everyone, including those with dementia, feels included.

Angelo Makri, Alzheimer's Society's Senior Knowledge Officer for Wellbeing, offers his top tips for supporting a loved one living with dementia during the festive period.

Put up decorations gradually: It's important to consider that a sudden change in the environment can be confusing and distressing for someone living with dementia. To make the transition smoother, introduce decorations gradually, preventing it from becoming a sudden and overwhelming experience for the person with dementia.

This thoughtful approach helps maintain a familiar and comforting atmosphere during the festive season.

Keep it simple and familiar: Adopting low-key activities can contribute to

the relaxation of someone with dementia and adjusting traditions to suit their needs can be beneficial. For instance, if your loved one typically attends midnight mass but is unable to do so this year, exploring alternatives like a televised or online service could be a thoughtful adjustment.

Maintaining consistency, such as having meals at the usual times and in familiar settings, can provide a sense of comfort and routine for your loved one during the Christmas festivities.

Get everyone involved: There are plenty of ways to get your loved one involved in Christmas, such asking them to hang a bauble on a tree, choosing a favourite song for a festive playlist or doing a spot of Christmas shopping.

Create a quiet area: Lots of guests over the festive season can be overwhelming for people with dementia. If things do get busy, designate one room a ‘quiet space’, where the person living with dementia can retreat to and relax in.

Bring back old memories: Treasured photos, songs or activities can be a great way to engage with people with dementia. Take time out of the busy day to sit down with your loved ones and reminisce.

However, be mindful that there may be events or

memories the person may not wish to reminisce about.

Be mindful of food: A plateful of food can be daunting for someone who has difficulties eating. Try to keep to the same size portions and types of food the person normally likes. If they prefer finger foods to a large meal, consider ways to accommodate this. Don’t hurry the person, give them enough time to eat and enjoy themselves.

Be flexible: It’s easy to get caught up in Christmas traditions and how things have always been done in the family, but your festive season might begin to look different as dementia progresses. It's always worth having a ‘plan B’ and be prepared to change your plans if a particular element isn't working.

Plan ahead: If the person with dementia is living in a care home, it can be helpful to ask the home in advance what their plans are for Christmas Day, particularly if there are restrictions in place.

Alzheimer’s Society provides help and hope to everyone living with dementia, supporting people living with dementia through the toughest and most frightening times.

For more information and support this Christmas, call 0333 150 3456.

British frontline workers struggle financially Study finds 51% will go into debt to pay for Christmas, while for 43% feel there’s ‘too much pressure to spend’ during the festive season UK residents are feeling the financial strain more acutely than their international counterparts, as 56% indicate that their wages barely cover living expenses, in contrast to 39% of Germans, 31% of Nordic workers (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland), and 29% of Dutch peers.

These findings stem from a groundbreaking study conducted by Quinyx, a global workforce management provider, which surveyed over 3000 shift and non-desk-based workers in industries such as retail, fashion, wholesale, shipping, distribution, warehousing, and logistics. The

study aimed to comprehensively understand the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on European employees.

While respondents from all countries report an increase in working hours in 2023 compared to previous years, with a peak at 46% in the UK and the Netherlands, many had to seek assistance to cover the expenses of everyday essentials. Approximately 39% of workers in the Netherlands received financial support from family and friends to meet their bills (31% in the UK), while more than a quarter (26%) in the Nordics and Germany turned to food banks (11% in the UK).

As Christmas approaches, concerns regarding costs and associated pressures are mounting both in the UK and abroad. More than half

of Brits (51%) anticipate going into debt this festive season, a sentiment shared by 58% in the Nordics.

Additionally, 29% express dread about Christmas due to the associated costs, a feeling echoed by 32% and 26% of Nordic and Dutch respondents, respectively.

Furthermore, 43% believe there is too much pressure on people to spend money during the Christmas period.

Despite these financial worries, some positive sentiments persist. In the UK, 41% of those surveyed find joy in witnessing others spend lavishly on seasonal gifts and activities, emphasising the festive season as a time for enjoyment.

Additionally, 39% express satisfaction in working during December because of the festive cheer.

Maximising the Boxing Day bargains: A shopper’s guide As the festive cheer of Christmas gives way to the anticipation of Boxing Day, shoppers around the world gear up for one of the most exciting retail events of the year. In addition to being a continuation of the holiday season, Boxing Day, which is customarily observed on December 26th, is also known for its enormous discounts, amazing bargains, and crowded shopping areas.

However, navigating the Boxing Day sales requires more than just enthusiasm; it calls for strategic planning, savvy shopping tactics, and a keen eye for the best deals. This guide is dedicated to helping you maximise your Boxing Day shopping experience, offering tips and strategies to make the most of the sales.

Planning and preparation: Boxing Day is a calculated chance and it's important to prepare. Keep a watch on flyers, newsletters, and websites, as many merchants publicise their bargains ahead of time. Making a budget and a shopping list are also essential to prevent overspending and impulsive purchases.

The rise of online shopping: Online shopping offers the convenience of avoiding crowded malls and long queues. E-commerce giants

and small businesses alike roll out exclusive online deals, sometimes starting as early as Christmas Eve. The trend towards online shopping has also extended the duration of sales, with many deals lasting until New Year’s Day. Load your basket before the day: Because more people are shopping for Christmas deals, products are probably going to sell out fast on Boxing Day. Before the big day, make a wish list of everything you want to buy and have it ready to go straight into your basket when the sale starts to avoid disappointment. Make sure you have a backup plan available. Have your products bookmarked in wishlists on several websites and keep the tabs open if your goods are likely to sell out on Boxing Day. Look for additional websites that list the items on your wishlist

before the sale day Amazing deals on goods: Boxing Day is particularly famous for deals on consumer electronics. From the latest smartphones and TVs to gaming consoles and gadgets, tech enthusiasts can find some of the year’s best prices. However, it’s essential for buyers to do research beforehand, comparing prices and checking product reviews, to ensure they get the best value for their money.

A great time to change your wardrobe is after Christmas deals. Retailers clear out winter collections to make way for spring lines by offering steep discounts on apparel, accessories, and shoes.

Boxing Day is also advantageous for those looking to upgrade their home appliances or décor.

From refrigerators and microwaves to furniture and home accessories, shoppers can find attractive deals to revamp their living spaces.

Find extra coupon codes: Once you've identified the largest savings, check to see if there are any more coupons available that can provide you with an even greater savings.

Additionally, you can earn introductory incentives on your first purchase if you pre-register for newsletters and join companies' stores.

Stay vigilant: Protect yourself from festive season scams The festive season, with its spirit of giving and joy, unfortunately, also brings with it a rise in fraudulent activities. Scammers take advantage of the increased spending and often hectic nature of the holidays to trick unsuspecting victims.

From online shopping frauds to charity scams, the techniques used are diverse and often sophisticated.

Being aware of these scams and knowing how to avoid them is crucial for a safe and happy holiday season.

1. Online Shopping Scams: With more people opting for online shopping, fake websites mimicking legitimate retailers are not uncommon. They lure shoppers with unbelievable discounts and deals on popular items, only to steal credit card information or fail to deliver the products. To avoid falling victim, always shop from reputable websites, check for secure payment gateways (look for URLs starting with ‘https’), and be wary of deals that seem too good to be true.

2. Delivery Scams: Another common trick is the delivery scam, where you might receive a text or email claiming there’s a package for you, but additional details or payment is required. These messages often contain phishing links

designed to steal personal information. Remember, legitimate delivery services will not ask for personal details or payment via an unsolicited message.

3. Gift Card Frauds: Gift cards are a popular choice during the festive season and so be cautious if you receive an email or call asking for payment via gift cards. Additionally, when purchasing gift cards, check that they haven't been tampered with and that the codes are not visible.

4. Charity Scams: The season of giving sees a spike in charity-related scams.

Before donating, verify the legitimacy of the charity through official registries and be cautious of unsolicited donation requests.

5. Loan fee scams: It typically begins with an offer of a loan that seems like the perfect solution to your holiday financial strain. The catch is an upfront fee, supposedly to cover processing, insurance, or even the first

instalment. Once this fee is paid, the promised loan never materialises, and the scammer disappears. These scams often target those who may have difficulty obtaining loans through traditional channels, making the false promise of guaranteed or unsecured loans even more enticing.

The FCA found almost half of UK adults (47%) feel pressured to spend above their means during Christmas to provide for loved ones, rising to almost two-thirds (64%) for those with children under 18. Two in five (40%) UK adults, and over half of those (52%) with children under 18, are also concerned about being able to afford Christmas spending this year.

With financial pressure building and more looking to borrow, the FCA is concerned stretched households could be vulnerable to loan fee fraud. Loan fee fraud - where a consumer pays a fee for a loan they never receive – typically results, on average, in a £255 loss.

To combat the rising threat of loan fee fraud, the FCA is taking measures to raise awareness. The FCA is urging consumers looking for a loan to do the 3-step check to protect themselves from scams.

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23 - 29 December 2023

Dear Financial Voice Reader, Alpesh Patel OBE

For those who need this, this year - feel free to use the template I've created for you: Dear Investment Advisor, I'm writing to you today not with the usual cautious optimism that greets the financial world but with a simmering frustration that's been brewing for far too long.

It's time to address the elephant in the room - or should I say, the underperforming stocks and funds in my portfolio.

Let's start with the glaringly obvious: the market has been on a bullish run, soaring to a staggering 50% increase.

Yet, when I look at my portfolio, it seems to be on a completely different trajectory. Now, I'm no financial wizard, but I can certainly tell when something is amiss.

I hired you for your expertise, hoping you'd navigate the complex world of investments with finesse. Instead, what I got was a masterclass in 'spray and pray' investing.

It appears you've adopted a strategy akin to throwing darts blindfolded, hoping by some miracle they'd hit the bullseye.

Your penchant for over-diversification has left my portfolio stretched thinner than a budget at a bargain store. The result? A collection of lacklustre funds that couldn't ride the market wave if they were strapped to a surfboard.

Let's not even get started on your choices of markets.

If there was an award for 'Most Inopportune Market Timing', I believe you'd be a frontrunner. It's as though you've been playing a different game, one where the goal is to miss every possible opportunity presented by the market.

And the fees! Oh, the fees. I must commend you for the unwavering consistency in collecting them. It's fascinating how the one aspect of your service that works flawlessly is the invoice system.

Considering these concerns, I've come to a decision.

Consider this letter your 'pink slip', your 'walking papers', your invitation to explore new opportunities elsewhere.

Yes, you're fired. The accompanying image should clarify any ambiguity about my decision.

In pursuit of a more competent and effective investment strategy, I am switching to Alpesh Patel at Asian Voice. Alpesh brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of success. His strategic approach to investing, emphasizing informed decisions and tailored strategies, aligns perfectly with my financial goals. Unlike the 'spray and pray' method that has characterized our time together, Alpesh's methodology is meticulous, datadriven, and focused on long-term growth.

It's time for me to take control of my investments, to steer my financial ship away from the Bermuda Triangle of your investment strategies. I wish you luck in your future endeavours, though I would suggest a career change.

Maybe something less... financially consequential.

With all due respect (which, at this point, is minimal),

City of London Corporation honours 8 Indian bankers The City of London Corporation honoured eight distinguished leaders from Indian banks as part of celebrations commemorating 75 years of India's independence while acknowledging the significant trade relationship between the financial services sectors of the UK and India.

The recipients of the award are: Madhur Kumar, Bank of Baroda, Manish Gupta, Bank of India, Ashok Kumar Vartia, Export-Import Bank of India, Sharukh T Wadia, IndusInd Bank, Rakesh Kumar, India Infrastructure Finance Company, Loknath Mishra, ICICI Bank, Sudhir Kumar Sharma, State Bank of India and Arbind Kumar Choudhary, Union Bank of India.

Michael Mainelli, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, expressed his honour in nominating this group of

enthusiasm for seeing leading Indian bankers honoured with the Freedom of the City at Guildhall.

He highlighted India as a key market for the City Corporation and anticipated more Left to Right: Rehana Ameer, Ashok Kumar Vartia, Sudhir Kumar exciting partnerships Sharma, Rakesh Kumar, Loknath Mishra, Sharukh T Wadia, Madhur between the two Kumar, Arbind Kumar Choudhary, Manish Gupta and Munsur Ali. nations.

Indian bankers, emphasising the Rehana Ameer, Chair of the crucial role that British and Indian Freedom Applications Policy & investments play in supporting over a Resources Sub-Committee, expressed million jobs in both countries. He delight in nominating the Indian expressed gratitude for the invaluable bankers for the prestigious Freedom contribution of Indian bankers to the of the City award. She acknowledged Square Mile. their outstanding leadership and Chris Hayward, the Policy contributions to the Financial Chairman of the City of London Services industry in both the UK and Corporation, expressed his India.

Tata Steel unions clash before job meeting

Issa brothers '£500 bn' accounting mistake

Infighting among unions is posing a threat to efforts to save thousands of jobs in the steel industry, particularly at the UK's largest steel plant in Port Talbot, owned

by Tata. Plans being considered by Tata include 3,000 job cuts, and a deep rift has emerged between Community and GMB on one side and Unite on the other.

Unite has withdrawn its support for a collaborative, cross-union approach to negotiations. Community, the largest steel union, has reportedly invited Unite leaders to a meeting next week to address these internal divisions.

Last month, Tata informed all unions about plans to close both blast furnaces at the Port Talbot site and replace them with a more environmentally

friendly Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) over the next three years. While this move is intended to facilitate greener steel production, Tata acknowledged that it would result in the loss of between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs.

Initially united in their fight against job losses, the unions have now experienced a significant and bitter rift. Senior officials at Community and GMB, along with some members of Unite, have criticised Unite's position as "reckless."

Sharon Graham, Unite's general secretary, has been singled out for having an "unrealistic" approach to the dispute.

However, a spokesperson for Unite defended Graham, stating that her record speaks for itself.

The Issa brothers' substantial debt levels have been a prominent subject in the business press, raising concerns. However, a recent revelation about the magnitude of their debt took an unexpected turn.

In the annual accounts of EG Finco, one of their firms, a claim was made about taking out a "Tranche B Euro loan of €591,042m," approximately half a trillion pounds. Initially seemed like a record-breaking corporate debt deal, it was later clarified to be a typo, and the actual amount was 500 million, not billion, making the error a factor of a thousand. Although auditors are aware of the issue, the accounts are not expected to be restated.

This incident follows another recent apology from the Issa brothers

regarding inaccuracies in their description of Asda's complex corporate ownership structure, highlighted by the Standard.

The errors were acknowledged in a letter to MPs published recently.

Mohsin Issa is scheduled to appear before Parliament to discuss the use of private equity in the retail sector, inviting further scrutiny.

The need for accurate financial information is paramount, and the upcoming parliamentary session may shed light on the intricacies surrounding the Issa brothers' business dealings.

In October, the UK economy contracted more than anticipated, facing the dual challenges of increased interest rates affecting consumers and adverse weather conditions across the country. The economy witnessed a decline of 0.3%, following a growth of 0.2% in September.

The Bank of England's efforts to combat inflation

through interest rate hikes have dampened household spending, with the next rate decision scheduled for Thursday. Severe weather, particularly the effects of Storm Babet, significantly impacted retail and tourism sectors in October, contributing to a contraction across services, manufacturing, and construction.

While many economists had predicted a more modest shrinkage of 0.1%, the broader economic sectors experienced contractions. The stagnation of the UK economy has prompted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to pledge accelerated growth, but substantial improvement is not anticipated until January 2025, coinciding with the

next general election.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt acknowledged the subdued growth as "inevitable" amid the Bank of England's efforts to curb inflation through interest rate adjustments.

However, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves expressed concerns, noting that the current trend in growth is leaving working people worse off.

Issa brothers

Green initiatives raise gas boiler prices by £120 Unexpected economic contraction in October for UK Families replacing their gas boilers in the coming year will face a £120 green levy amid an escalating dispute between the government and the industry over the expenses associated with transitioning to clean energy.

Major boiler manufacturers in the UK plan to increase prices to offset the costs of a government scheme intended to incentivise the sale of more heat pumps.

The manufacturers contend that ministers are effectively imposing a "boiler tax," causing concerns for individuals grappling with the rising cost of living.

Critics argue that the imposed price hikes far exceed the actual costs companies would incur under the scheme.

An official complaint has been lodged with the Competition and Market Authority (CMA), urging an

investigation into whether the increased charges constitute anti-competitive behaviour. Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho is also looking into the matter and is contemplating a representation to the CMA. Scheduled to take effect in April, the Clean Heat Market Mechanism mandates that boiler manufacturers ensure heat pumps constitute at least 4% of their total annual sales.

Failure to meet this target allows companies to purchase credits from other manufacturers exceeding their targets or face a £3,000 fine for each missed sale, with the quota set to increase annually.

Soaring interest rates blamed for UK's escalating insolvencies The surge in interest rates is leading an escalating number of companies towards insolvency, as indicated by Begbies Traynor, one of the UK's major insolvency practitioners. The firm anticipates a rise in business insolvencies aligning with growing signs of corporate financial stress in the UK, as revealed in its recent financial results.

The Bank of England's decision to raise interest rates, from 0.1% in late 2021 to 5.25%, aimed at curbing

inflation, has substantially elevated borrowing costs for UK businesses. This shift has prevented many companies from relying on inexpensive debt to mask underlying financial challenges. The interest rate hikes also contribute to reduced spending in the economy, leaving indebted companies with limited options.

Experts project the UK's recent economic struggles to persist into 2024, with forecasts suggesting a meagre GDP growth of 0.5%,

the same rate as in 2023. The Insolvency Service reported a 17% increase in corporate insolvencies to 24,326 in the year ending September 30.

Begbies Traynor notes that this rise is primarily attributed to liquidations, commonly requested by smaller companies.

However, the data also indicates that administrations, often involving larger and more intricate businesses, are nearing pre-pandemic levels. This shift follows a period during which

companies were granted more flexibility concerning certain debts. Insolvency practitioners, with their real-time insights into business challenges, are witnessing the impact of economic pressures on companies.

Paradoxically, they tend to experience increased demand for their services during challenging economic times, reflecting the intricate interplay between the fortunes of businesses and those who navigate insolvency.

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Sensex rallies nearly 6,000 points in a IndiGo climbs to sixth spot in global market cap month, crosses 71,000 mark The rally on Dalal Street continued taking the sensex beyond the 71,000 mark for the first time with software exporters leading the gains. At close, the index was up 970 points, at 71,484 points. On the NSE, Nifty gained 274 points to 21,457, also a new all-time high for the index.

In a month, the sensex has gained 5,808 points, which is nearly 9%, a major part of which came after the BJP-led coalition won three of the four major state elections earlier this month. Falling rate of inflation, strong buying by foreign funds, a relatively stable rupee, sliding crude oil

prices and robust corporate earnings by most of the large companies also helped boost investor sentiment. The latest trigger was a statement from the US central bank about the possibility of rate cuts in 2024.

According to Joseph Thomas of Emkay Wealth

Management, markets moved up across sectors in response to the US Fed decision to hold rates. “Robust GDP growth numbers both in the US and in India also helped the sentiment to a significant extent.

While the impact may be short-lived, the probability of profit-booking is very high as we approach the year-end. It is also likely that the talks of an impending slowdown could get more heard unlike as it was in the recent past. But equities

Essar to invest £5.5 bn in energy, port projects in Gujarat Ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) in 2024, the Indian conglomerate Essar stated that it has inked three MoUs with the state government, pledging an investment of £5.5 billion. The company hopes to create about 10,000 employment opportunities by investing in the electricity, port, and energy transition sectors.

Over the past 40 years, the firm has made investments totaling £10 billion in the state's energy, metals, mining, and infrastructure sectors. Among these investments were a steel plant in Hazira and an oil refinery in

Vadinar that can produce 20 million tonnes of oil annually. Essar has started a second wave of investing after selling these projects a few years ago to pay off debt.

Of the total proposed investment, £3 billion will go towards developing a 1 gigawatt green hydrogen project. Over and above this, Essar Group’s entity - Essar Power - will invest £1.6 bil-

lion for phase-II expansion of Salaya power plant.

Essar Ports has also committed to transform the Salaya port into a logistics hub with an investment of £1 billion. The group, however, did not give timelines for the completion of these projects.

Prashant Ruia, director, Essar Capital, said, “Gujarat has consistently been at the forefront of Essar's strategic investments.

We are delighted to further contribute to the state's economic progress with an additional investment of £5.5 billion in the energy & infrastructure sectors.”

are going to display superlative performance based on solid economic performance and gains in earnings.”The strong rally of the previous month also added £365 billion to investors’ wealth with BSE’s market capitalisation now at £3,646 billion, translating to $4.4 trillion, also an all-time high level.

Unlike in the past few months, in December, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have again turned strong buyers in India. So far in the month, FPIs have recorded net inflows of nearly £5.2 billion, data from CDSL and BSE showed.

IndiGo, the biggest airline in India, has surpassed United Airlines to take the sixth spot in terms of size. Six months have passed since IndiGo first managed to rank among the top 10 airlines in the world. IndiGo's parent company, InterGlobe Aviation, has a $13.8 billion market worth as of today, December 13, the close of business. Based on the facts, this means that it is about $310 million more than United Airlines.

Notably, in 2023, IndiGo’s shares have exhibited an impressive return of nearly 50%, while United Airlines, headquartered in Chicago, experienced a

more modest gain of 9% during the same period.

IndiGo’s market valuation has witnessed a threefold surge since its listing, in stark contrast to United Airlines, which faced a decline of approximately $10 billion over the same timeframe.

Since the firm went public in 2015, InterGlobe Aviation's shares have had the longest winning streak after surpassing the £300 million mark for the first time. For the twelfth straight session, the stock has been rising, bringing its total return since the streak's start on November 28 to 16%.

FM defends export ban of some items, says economy on right track Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the government’s decision to ban export of certain products, such as onions, arguing that it was essential to protect the interest of domestic consumers, while asserting that the economy was on the right track.

“We have prioritised balancing the interests of farmers and consumers. Often, there’s a situation when prices go up, you need to have supply-size constraints removed and increase purchases, for the consumer’s sake. Even during this time, we are equally conscious

that the price at which we procure from the farmers is adequate,” she said, while responding to the debate on supplementary demand for grants in the Lok Sabha. The demand for grants was passed by the Lower House.

The declaration was made in response to protests by a significant section of Nashik traders, and days after the government banned onion exports—a problem brought up by NCP lawmakers in the Lok Sabha.

The action was taken in response to the politically sensitive kitchen staple's growing costs. According to

Sitharaman, the government has boosted funding for agriculture and expedited procurement over time.

The FM also said India remained the fastest-growing major economy. “Our economy is moving in the right direction...

Macroeconomic fundamentals are fine. We have become the fastest-growing economy. Second quarter growth of 7.6% is the highest in the world,” she said.

Sitharaman said fiscal prudence was a key priority for the government, without compromising on social welfare.

Retail inflation at 3-month high, IIP SpiceJet gets £225 mn new investments growth fastest in 16 months Data released showed that industrial output growth jumped to a 16month high in October led by solid manufacturing, power, and mining sector expansion, while retail inflation surged to a threemonth high in November due to food prices led by vegetables.

The consumer price index (CPI) indicated 5.6% annual growth in inflation in November 2022, which was somewhat less than the 5.9% reported in October but higher than the 4.9% in October. From 6.6% in October to 8.7% over the month, the food price index increased. Urban inflation was 5.3%, while rural inflation was 5.9%.

Vegetable prices soared 17.7% in November, while pulses shot up 20.2%. Data showed onion inflation surged nearly 87% in November from 1.7% in June.

RBI governor Shaktikanta Das in his monetary policy statement last week had cautioned that there is no immediate prospect of a policy “loosening”, and warned of uncer-

tainties in future inflation management, mainly due to unpredictable food prices, and had anticipated elevated Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for November.

“Given the lingering uncertainty around Kharif production and rabi sowing prospects, high food prices can not be shrugged off as

entirely transient and could further feed into the inflationary expectations.

Hence, supply-side interventions by the government become crucial at this juncture to ensure sufficient buffer stock of essential food items,” ratings agency CareEdge said in a note.

Struggl ing-to-survive SpiceJet has finally got a fresh lifeline of over £225 million from new investors such as Elara India Opportunities Fund, Aries Opportunities Fund, Nexus Global Fund and Prabhudas Lilladher.

The action is anticipated to lessen the financial strain on the low-cost carrier supported by Ajay Singh, which has been unable to deposit its employees' statutory TDS

Bain Capital nominee Ashish Kotecha steps down from board of Axis Bank Ashish Kotecha, previously foreign funds such as Societe serving as a non-executive Generale, Morgan Stanley, director on Axis Bank's board, Goldman Sachs, and UBS, nominated by Bain Capital, has were among the buyers. Bain resigned, as per a regulatory Capital had initially acquired filing. This decision follows a a stake worth Rs 6,854 crore decrease in the direct sharein Axis Bank back in holding of Bain Capital-affiliNovember 2017. ated entities in the bank, In the bank's regulatory falling below the two per cent disclosure, it was highlighted threshold.

Ashish Kotecha that Kotecha's appointment to the board commenced on Reports indicated that December 19, 2021, with a tenure extending Bain Capital divested shares valued at Rs up to three years until December 18, 2024, 3,737 crore in Axis Bank. Notably, three or until entities affiliated with Bain affiliate firms—BC Asia Investments VII, Capital—BC Asia Investments VII Limited, BC Asia Investments III, and Integral Integral Investments South Asia IV, and BC Investments South Asia IV—sold 33.38 milAsia Investments III Limited—hold at least lion shares (equating to a 1.08 per cent two per cent of the bank's fully diluted stake) at Rs 1,119.7 per share. equity share capital.

Over 50 entities, primarily comprising

and PF payments or even pay their salaries. It has a serious aircraft shortage as a result of months of nonpayment to stakeholders, such as engine and aircraft lessors, which has led to frequent flight cancellations. It has consequently had a negative influence on the on-time performance of a shortened schedule it has been running.

“This is a significant fund raise and it is designed to strengthen SpiceJet’s financial position, enhance operational capabilities, settle outstanding issues and position

the airline again for sustained growth… will help us achieve our goal of building a world class airline in India. I personally thank all our stakeholders, all those who work for SpiceJet and all those who work with SpiceJet and who have patiently waited for this day.

They have allowed us the time and opportunity to overcome a difficult phase in our history, and we are grateful to them,” Singh said in a statement after the airline’s board cleared the fund-raising.

Unclaimed deposits with banks rise by 28% to £4.23 bn in FY23 Information provided in Parliament by minister of state for finance stated that unclaimed deposits in banks have surged by 28% annually, reaching £4.23 billion as of March 2023. In comparison to the previous fiscal year, where unclaimed deposits amounted to £3.29 billion this increase marks a substantial rise.

Public sector banks accounted for £3.61 billion of unclaimed deposits, while private sector banks held £608.7 million by the end of March 2023. Banks transfer unclaimed deposits of account holders inactive for a decade or more to the RBI's Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund.

Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad stated that the RBI has implemented measures to minimise unclaimed deposits and facilitate the return of such funds to their rightful claimants in response to a written inquiry.

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in brief MISSILES MISS SHIP CARRYING INDIA-MADE JET FUEL Two missiles fired from territory held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels missed a commercial tanker loaded with Indian-manufactured jet fuel near the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait, two US officials said. It is the first time they target an energy shipment heading to the Suez Canal. A US warship, the USS Mason, also shot down a suspected Houthi drone flying in its direction during the incident, said the officials. No one was hurt, the officials said. The assault on the tanker Ardmore Encounter further escalates a campaign by the Iranian-backed rebels targeting ships, and also widens the global impact of the Gaza war.

JEMIMA DENIES FINANCING VLOGGERS BACKING IMRAN Imran Khan’s ex wife Jemima Khan has rejected the allegation of financing vloggers to build support for the former jailed PM and his PTI party, a media report said. Jemima, a UK-based filmmaker and producer, rejected the claims made by former Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari, Geo News reported. “Please fear God! This is what vloggers settled abroad are saying. Jemima is giving money to these bloggers,” he was quoted as saying in the report. Replying to a post on X, Jemima rejected Zardari’s remarks and said, “This is obviously not true.” The 49-year-old British socialite added that she will only ever wish for “peace & prosperity in Pakistan.”

PAKISTAN USES ARTIFICIAL RAIN AGAINST SMOG Artificial rain was used for the first time in Pakistan in a bid to combat smog in Lahore.

Planes equipped with cloud seeding equipment flew over 10 areas of the city, often ranked one of the worst places globally for air pollution.

The “gift” was provided by the United Arab Emirates, said caretaker chief minister of Punjab, Mohsin Naqvi. “Teams from the UAE, along with two planes, arrived about 10 to 12 days ago. They used 48 flares to create the rain,” he said. He said the team would know what effect the “artificial rain” had. The UAE has been increasingly using cloud seeding to create rain in the arid expanse of the country.

Modest rain is effective in bringing down pollution, experts say. Air pollution has worsened in Pakistan in recent years.

KUWAIT’S RULING EMIR PASSES AWAY Kuwait’s ruling emir Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, 86, died after a three-year, low-key reign focused on trying to resolve the tiny, oilrich nation’s internal political disputes. Kuwait state television broke into programming with Quranic verses just before a sombre official made the announcement. Authorities gave no cause of death. Kuwait’s deputy ruler and his half-brother, Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber, now 83, is believed to be the world’s oldest crown prince. He is in line to take over as Kuwait’s ruler and represents one of the Gulf Arab countries’ last octogenarian leaders.

UGANDAN SERIAL KILLER GIVEN 105 YEARS IN PRISON The High Court in Kampala, Uganda, has sentenced 25-year-old Musa Musasizi to 105 years in prison for the heinous murders of three women and a three-month-old infant.

The victims were identified as his girlfriends, and the infant was the child of one of the victims. Musasizi, who pleaded guilty, pursued romantic relationships with the women before subjecting them to sexual assault and ultimately ending their lives. Shockingly, he went further by burning and disposing of their bodies, leaving a trail of horror. The sentencing underscores the gravity of Musasizi's crimes, said the judge. She emphasised the necessity of the lengthy sentence to safeguard young women, according to reports from the privately-owned NTV channel.

Maldives to junk navy pact signed during PM Modi's visit MALE: President Mohamed Muizzu has chosen to withdraw from a 2019 agreement for collaboration in the subject of hydrology between the Indian Navy and Maldives National Defence Force. Prior to this, he had ordered India to remove its military forces from the Maldives. Male informed India that it had decided to revoke the contract that had been inked in June 2019 during PM Narendra Modi's visit to the nation.

The agreement allowed the Indian Navy to carry out hydrographic surveys in Maldives to

three such surveys under the agreement that Muizzu’s predecessor Ibrahim Solih signed with India.

“In the future, hydrography works will be carried out under 100% Maldivian manand with only agement, Mohamed Muizzu and Narendra Modi Maldivians privy to the help improve navigation safety, information,” said a senior offieconomic development, security cial of the President’s office, and defence cooperation, enviadding that the government will ronmental protection, coastal review “secret agreements” zone management and research. signed by the previous adminisThe navy had so far carried out tration that endangered

Maldives’ independence and sovereignty.

Muizzu has remained intent on driving out Indian military personnel, who are involved in operating and maintaining the two naval choppers and a Dornier aircraft India had gifted to Male, even though Indian government sources claim that during their meeting with Modi in Dubal on the fringes of COP28, the President acknowledged the value of Indian "platforms" that are involved in disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.

23 soldiers killed as militants storm army camp in NW Pakistan ISLAMABAD: In the northwest Dera Ismail Khan district, near the Pakistan-Afghan border, a vehicle carrying explosives crashed into a military base, killing at least 23 Pakistani soldiers and injuring many more.

TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan), a coalition of multiple regional militant groups, and Tehreek-e-Jihad, a militant organisation connected to the Pakistani Taliban, have both claimed responsibility for the attack.

The obvious and wellplanned terrorist attack hap-

pened while Pakistani political analysts were raising concerns about the country's upcoming elections, which are scheduled for February 8 amid an upsurge in militant attacks in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwest province of Balochistan. Pakistan

Pope Francis allows blessings for same-sex couples with specific criteria THE VATICAN CITY: The country has authorised a groundbreaking decision allowing Roman Catholic priests to bestow blessings upon same-sex couples.

However, these blessings cannot be part of regular Church rituals or ceremonies related to civil unions or weddings. A document from the Vatican’s doctrinal office, approved by Pope Francis, emphasises that while such blessings do not validate irregular situations, they symbolise God's inclusive nature.

The document endorses the idea of blessings for same-sex couples and those in irregular relationships but prohibits these blessings from occurring alongside civil union ceremonies or resembling wedding rituals. Priests are advised to

determine case-by-case whether to grant such blessings, emphasising the Church’s commitment to supporting people seeking God's help through these simple blessings.

Elaborating on a prior response from Francis to conservative cardinals, the document reiterates that these blessings must not be conflated with the sacrament of marriage. It underscores that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman.

While blessings should not mirror wedding rituals, requests for them should not be summarily rejected. The document defines the term "blessing" extensively, asserting that individuals seeking a connection with God and His love should not face exhaustive moral scrutiny before receiving it.

Army Chief General Asim Munir is currently on his first official visit to the US. A statement by the army claimed all six attackers were killed and confirmed that an explosives-laden truck was used in the attack on the military post in Draban region of Dera Ismail Khan.

Ahead of ramming the explosives-packed truck, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistan army’s media branch, said that several militants attempted to enter the compound but failed. The attackers

then smashed a truck filled with explosives into the gate of a school building, used by the military as its base camp, and this was followed by a suicide bomb attack. “The resulting blasts led to the collapse of the building, causing multiple casualties; 23 brave soldiers were martyred, while all six terrorists were effectively engaged and sent to hell,” the ISPR said. Images from the site showed collapsed rooms and verandas of a school building, several badly charred bodies said to be of the attackers, and their belts of explosives.

Zuma says he won't vote for ANC in South Africa's election JOHANNESBURG: Former South African president Jacob Zuma said he will not campaign for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party in the 2024 general election and will vote for a new party, a sign of growing divisions within the ANC ahead of the vote.

Zuma, who said he remained an ANC member, has previously lashed out at his successor Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing him of failing as a leader and betraying the ANC with his stance against corruption.

On Saturday Zuma repeated the accusations, and cited among other issues the expulsion from the party of its former secretary general after he was found guilty of violating the party's constitution.

"The ANC I know was never focused more on expelling members without implementing prop-

er processes to establish if such action was appropriate," Zuma told journalists as he also cited rolling power cuts as a sign of economic mismanagement by Ramaphosa's government.

"I have decided that I cannot and will not campaign for the ANC of Ramaphosa in 2024. My conscience will not allow me to lie to the people of South Africa," Zuma said. He added that even though he has decided to vote for newly formed Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK) party he "will die a member of the ANC." The ANC's spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment. The election is due between May and August 2024 and after a reign marred by graft and economic decline, the ANC risks losing its parliamentary majority for the first time since it came into power in 1994.

Ro Khanna says Vivek Ramaswamy is 'dangerous' WASHINGTON: Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has come under fire from Congressman Ro Khanna, who called him "dangerous to our democracy" and claimed that both he and the GOP were failing the American people.

He was reacting to Vivek Ramaswamy’s December 13 CNN town hall statement in Iowa. “Vivek’s podcast of a campaign would be funny if it weren’t so deeply dangerous to our democracy,” remarked Khanna even while bemoaning Ramaswamy’s penchant for sensationalism, stating, “he chose to engage in sensationalism for clicks that have become the currency to get ahead in today’s Republican Party.”

Labeling the Republican Party as “unserious,” Khanna voiced his support for Joe

Biden and Kamala Harris. He emphasised the accomplishments of Democrats, citing historic legislation on issues such as abortion rights, gun violence, better jobs, and lower costs. According to Khanna, these are the actual issues that matter to the American people.

During the town hall, Ramaswamy said that if elected president, he would send undocumented migrants back to their countries of origin. “I do believe that anybody who’s in this country illegally needs to be returned to their country of origin,” he asserted, also advocating for an end to birthright citizenship for the children of illegal migrants.

He promoted conspiracy theories suggesting that January 6th was a government

plot, among other things. He desired a conversation with Putin and the return of the land that Russia currently occupies.

Man arrested for threatening Ramaswamy A man who threatened a mass shooting to kill Vivek Ramaswamy has been arrested, according to the federal prosecutor’s office in New Hampshire. Tyler Anderson, 30, was charged on December 12 with making a threat to injure a person, whom the prosecutor’s office identified as a “presidential candidate” without naming Ramaswamy. The Prosecutor’s Office said that the FBI led the investigation into the threat against Ramaswamy. Ironically, the FBI has been one of Ramaswamy’s targets and he has said that he would eliminate it if he were elected President.

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Indian-American medical student crowned Miss India USA 2023 MICHIGAN: At the annual pageant held in New Jersey, Rijul Maini, a medical student from Michigan, won the title of Miss India USA 2023. Saloni Rammohan of Pennsylvania earned the title of Miss Teen India USA, and Sneha Nambiar of Massachusetts received the title of Mrs India USA. This year marks the 41st year of the pageant, which is the oldest Indian pageant staged outside of India. It was started under the Worldwide Pageants banner by two Indian-Americans residing in New York, Dharmatma and Neelam Saran.

Maini is a medical student and model.

She stated at the beauty pageant that her goal is to become a surgeon and serve as an

inspiration to women globally.

Maini took to Instagram and shared a post about the same.

The 24-year-old wrote, "I am so humbled and grateful to say that I am the new MISS INDIA USA 2023! This could not have been possible without the support of my loving parents and family, Michigan pageant directors @chrysaliscouturemi @msindiamichigan @utsavpl anners, and ride or die friends that stuck with me every step of the way. They say it takes a village and that couldn't be more true!!"

She thanked her family and her mother who curated her outfits. "And to

my loving amazingly talented momma, who curated the most beautiful outfits for me to walk the stage. Love you so much, I am so blessed to have you!! @soniamainii Thank you to @gauridesigns for executing such stunning pieces!! I am especially Rijul Maini grateful for the family of amazing, strong, confident women I gained throughout this process.

Your light shines so bright, never dim it for anyone.

Thank you to @ifc_worldwidepageants for an incredible opportunity!! Can't wait to see what the future holds," she added.

in brief ARGENTINA’S NEW PRESIDENT HALTS CONVOY TO GREET A DOG Argentina’s newly sworn in President Javier Milei, who famously has cloned dogs he calls his “kids with four paws”, ordered his motorcade to stop unexpectedly after taking office to greet another canine fan: a lost golden retriever. The outsider libertarian, a wild-haired former TV pundit who has shaken up Argentine politics with radical economic ideas and theatrical rallies, got out of the car taking him to the Casa Rosada government palace from Congress and spent a minute petting the dog which appeared to have strayed from its owner. Milei has at least four cloned mastiffs. The 53-year-old ultra-liberal economist paid $50,000 to clone his original dog, Conan, whom he adopted in 2004 and who died in 2017.

127 killed as quake rocks China; rescue operation underway SWISS VILLAGE TO VOTE TO In the remote villages of northwest China, rescuers diligently sifted through the debris of collapsed homes amidst freezing temperatures following the nation's most fatal earthquake in recent years, claiming the lives of a minimum of 127 individuals.

Reports from state media indicated that the shallow tremor resulted in at least 113 fatalities and over 530 injuries in the impoverished Gansu province by Tuesday afternoon.

In the neighbouring Qinghai province, specifically in Haidong, an additional 14 people lost their lives while 198 suffered injuries, as reported by a state-run

newspaper. The earthquake wreaked havoc, damaging over 155,000 structures, as highlighted by state broadcaster CCTV, prompting frightened residents to flee to the icy streets in search of safety.

At a village near the epicentre, media reporters saw huge cracks running through the exterior and interior walls of a brick home, and the roof of a building that had caved in completely.

"I am 70 and I have never experienced such a powerful quake in my life," resident Ma Wenchang told the media.

Deadliest in years The recent earthquake marked China's

US panel calls for sanction on India for ‘Nijjar killing’ WASHINGTON: Invoking the alleged official Indian hand in the assassination of an overseas Khalistani militant and plots to extend such killings - even before any culpability has been established in the matter - a US religious freedom watchdog has called on the Biden administration to designate India as a “country of particular concern” and sanction it under the US Religious Freedom Act. In its annual report earlier this year, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent federal government commission, had already recommended that the administration impose targeted sanctions on Indian government agencies and officials responsible for “severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ assets and/ or barring their entry into the United States”.

It pushed the case again, saying, “The Indian government’s alleged involvement in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United

States are deeply troubling, and represent a severe escalation of India’s efforts to silence religious minorities and human rights defenders both within its country and abroad.”

USCIRF commissioner Stephen Schneck said, in a statement, that the commission is “alarmed by India’s increased transnational targeting of religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf”. Recent efforts by the Indian government to silence activists, journalists, and lawyers abroad pose a serious threat to religious freedom, he added.

This is not the first time the USCIRF has made the sanctions pitch to the administration in the face of a contemptuous smackdown from New Delhi. It has recommended designating India a country of particular concern in each of its last three annual reports in the face of rejection from the secretary of state (who makes the determination) and a pushback from the Indian government, which earlier this year advised USCIRF “to develop a better understanding of India, its plurality and its democratic ethos”.

More than 60 drown as migrant vessel capsizes off Libya CAIRO: A boat carrying dozens of migrants trying to reach Europe capsized off the coast of Libya, leaving more than 60 people dead, including women and children, the UN migration agency said. Saturday’s shipwreck was the latest tragedy in this part of Mediterranean Sea, a key but dangerous route for migrants seeking a better life in Europe.

The UN’s International Organization for Migration said the boat was carrying 86 migrants when strong waves swamped it off the town of Zuwara on Libya’s western coast and that 61 migrants drowned, according to survivors.

“The central Mediterranean continues to be one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes,” the agency wrote on X. Alarm Phone - a hotline for migrants in distress - said some migrants onboard reached

out to the volunteer group who in turn alerted authorities including the “Libyan coastguard who stated that they would not search for them.” A spokesman for the Libyan coast guard was not available for comment.

Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and West Asia, even though the North African nation has plunged into chaos following a Nato-backed uprising that killed longtime autocrat Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.More than 2,250 people died on the central European route this year, according to Flavio Di Giacomo, an IOM spokesperson. According to the IOM’s missing migrants project, at least 940 migrants were reported dead and 1,248 missing off Libya between January 1 and November 18.

deadliest since 2014, surpassing the tragic toll of over 600 lives lost in the southwestern Yunnan province. China's western regions often bear the consequences of frequent seismic activity.

Notably, in 2008, a massive quake in Sichuan province claimed the lives of more than 87,000 individuals, including 5,335 schoolchildren. According to the US Geological Survey, the shallow-depth magnitude-5.9 earthquake struck at 11:59 pm local time (1559 GMT) on Monday night. The epicentre was approximately 100 kilometres (60 miles) away from Lanzhou, the provincial capital of Gansu.

KEEP COWBELLS RINGING

Cows grazing on lush pastures with ornate metal bells gently tinkling around their necks may be one of the ultimate symbols of Switzerland, but not everyone is enchanted by such traditional scenes. In the village of Aarwangen, a complaint was filed earlier this year over the noise levels from a herd of around 15 cows grazing overnight on a field next to a residential area. The reaction was swift and fierce, with overwhelming demands for a local vote to protect the traditional use of bells. Petitioners needed to gather backing from just 10% of those eligible to vote in the village of 4,800 people - about 380 signatures to push the issue to a vote under Switzerland’s direct democracy system.

US defence secy HUNTER DEFIES urges Israeli PM to CONGRESS SUBPOENA President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden defied protect Gaza an order by House Republicans to testify behind closed doors about his business dealings, ratcheting up tensions with lawmakers who plan civilians to vote to formalise their impeachment probe of

TEL AVIV: US defence secretary Lloyd Austin told top Israeli leaders that protecting civilians was a “strategic imperative” for their ground and air campaign in Gaza, as pressure grows on Israel to scale back the war. Austin, making his second visit to Israel since the deadly Hamas-led October 7 attacks, met with PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and other top officials to discuss in detail how Israeli forces will transition to the next phase of the war.

The Biden administration envisions that the next phase would involve smaller groups of elite forces that would move in and out of population centers in Gaza, conducting more precise, intelligencedriven missions to find and kill Hamas leaders, rescue hostages and destroy tunnels.

Speaking to reporters after daylong meetings in Tel Aviv, Austin called US support for Israel “unshakable”, and endorsed Israel’s campaign to destroy Hamas’s ability to wage military operations.

But he also repeated a message he has often made of late: Israel would be left less secure if its combat operations turn more Palestinians in support of Hamas. “Israel has every right to defend itself,” he said, standing alongside Gallant. “As I’ve said, protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza is both a moral duty and a strategic imperative.”

Austin’s comments came a day after Netanyahu vowed to “fight to the end” in Gaza even as public outcry over the Israeli military’s accidental killings of three hostages raised new questions about how the military is conducting the war.

Gazan health authorities say nearly 20,000 people have been killed in the enclave since October 7, when the Hamasled raids into Israel killed an estimated 1,200 people.

his father. At a news conference outside the Capitol, Biden blasted the probe as baseless and indicated he would not cooperate with a subpoena by the House Oversight Committee to testify in private. Republican Representative Darrell Issa said he expects the panel will hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress if he does not show. “He’s thumbing his nose at the American people,” he said.

BRITISH BOY, MISSING FOR 6 YEARS, FOUND IN FRANCE A British boy who disappeared at age 11 while on vacation six years ago in Spain has turned up in France, prosecutors said. A delivery driver found the boy, who is now a teenager, walking in the rain carrying a skateboard and a flashlight. The boy, Alex Batty, from Oldham, England, disappeared in 2017 while visiting Malaga with his mother and grandfather. None of them returned to Britain. Alex’s mother and grandfather, whose whereabouts remain unknown, are wanted by British authorities for playing a role in his disappearance. Alex’s legal guardian, his grandmother, has said she believed his mother and his grandfather sought out an alternative lifestyle with Alex.

RUSSIAN OPPN LEADER NAVALNY BEING MOVED TO NEW JAIL Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is being moved to a new prison in another part of the country and his arrival there will be disclosed in line with the law, Russia’s prison service said. Navalny’s allies, who had been preparing for his transfer to a “special regime” colony, the harshest grade in Russia’s prison system, say he has not been seen by his lawyers since December 6.The process of moving prisoners by rail across the world’s largest country can take weeks, with lawyers and family unable to obtain information about their location and well-being until they reach their destination.

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After 7 extensions, ASI finally submits Gyanvapi survey report

Biden to skip Republic Day function The Quad summit that India had planned to host in the final week of January of next year has been postponed, according to government sources. This effectively confirms that President Joe Biden has declined India's invitation to celebrate Republic Day on January 26.

The dates under consideration didn't work with all of the Quad partners.

India had sought to time the summit with Republic Day by proposing to host it on January 27, hoping President Joe Biden would find it more worthwhile to visit India as chief guest for the parade if the Quad summit, with its substantive agenda, also took place during his stay in India. This was the third time in 10

able to make it at a time the normally robust partnership is witnessing rare discord over the foiled plot allegedly masterminded by an Indian official to assassinate Khalistan leader and US national Joe Biden Gurpatwant Pannun.

Though India has years that the Indian govtaken the US allegations ernment had invited a US seriously, claiming they President for the Republic have an impact on its own Day parade. While President security, and has established Obama became the first US an inquiry committee to President to attend the look into the matter, the parade in 2015, his successor conflict with the US hasn't Donald Trump declined the turned into an ugly and pubsame invite four years later lic diplomatic spat, unlike because of “scheduling conthe case with Canada, which straints”. has also alleged Indian Unlike in the case of involvement in the killing of Trump, Biden will not be a Khalistan activist.

Ajay Krishna Vishvesha, the district judge for Varanasi, received two sealed envelopes containing the Archaeological Survey of India's report on the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex. The court set December 21 for the next hearing. After seven extensions, the survey was finished.

According to standing government counsel Amit Srivastava, one envelope held the report, and the other comprised a list of items discovered in debris at the mosque compound and placed in the treasury under the DM's supervision.

Defendants Anjuman Intezamia Masajid (AIM) asked that the report be put in a sealed envelope to pro-

Congress replaces Kamal Nath with OBC leader as MP unit president Following its crushing defeat in the Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly elections, the Congress removed Kamal Nath from office as state president of Madhya Pradesh, installing OBC leader Jitu Patwari as PCC chief and tribal leader Umang Singhar as leader of the legislature party in the state.

Deepak Baij will continue to lead the party's state chapter in Chhattisgarh, while former Union minister Charan Das Mahant will assume the role of Leader of the Opposition.

Even while the decisions were not entirely unexpected, many were caught off guard by how quickly they were made in the wake of

Umang Singhar & Jitu Patwari

the party's crushing defeat in the most recent polls. Even if the Congress was also humiliated in Rajasthan, internal conflicts are likely to delay the decision to restructure the organisation.

Tenacious OBC leader, Patwari’s appointment as Madhya Pradesh Congress president points towards a generational shift in the state Congress, with the former elbowing out veteran Nath. While Patwari lost the polls this time, he served as

MLA twice.

Umang Singhar, the party's well-known tribal face and the perceived nemesis of former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, was named head of the Congress Legislature Party

by Congress in an apparent attempt to send a message.

He is the Gandhwani MLA for four times. His nephew, Jamuna Devi, was the twotime LOP and previous deputy chief minister.

In Chhattisgarh, Mahant was appointed Speaker of the Chhattisgarh assembly after Congress swept the assembly elections in 2018.

He was earlier an MP from Korba constituency. During the 15th Lok Sabha, Mahant was the sole Congress MP from Chhattisgarh.

tect its confidentially prior to its filing.

Ahead of the report’s filing, defendants Anjuman Intezamia Masajid (AIM) the Gyanvapi mosque management committee requested that the report be filed in a sealed envelope and not supplied to any party without a personal undertaking, through an affidavit, ensuring its confidentiality. Regarding the application filed before the

judge, AIM advocate Akhlaqe Ahmad said the request was made to ensure the report “won’t be leaked nor any comments made” until it is examined.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer representing the four plaintiffs, strongly opposed this request. He emphasised that there is no provision for filing the ASI report in a sealed cover, and no such order has been issued by the Supreme Court. “We registered our objection before the district judge and also demanded a copy of the ASI report,” Jain told media, while asserting the court will address the demand on December 21.

ED again asks Kejriwal to appear before it on Dec 21 The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning on December 21 in connection with its probe into alleged money laundering in the excise policy case, in what appears to be a significant change of tack.

After he declined to attend on November 2 due to his concern over assembly elections, he has now received two summonses.

The summons were sent out the day before AAP national convener Ramesh Kejriwal was scheduled to depart on a 10-day Vipassana retreat at an undisclosed location. Upon questioning AAP national treasurer N D Gupta, who appeared before the agency on December 9, the agency

Arvind Kejriwal

decided to call Kejriwal instead of filing the chargesheet, as was previously thought, according to media reports.

Sources attributed the change of stance to a “rethink” prompted by the opinion that Kejriwal’s questioning should be a logical corollary of the ED's stand in the Supreme Court that it was also examining AAP’s role in the case.

Kejriwal had skipped the first summons last month by stating that he was

involved in the campaign for the recently concluded assembly elections.

Whether he shows up on December 21 would be intriguing to see. When contacted, AAP stated that legal advice would be considered before making a decision.

With the elections over, Kejriwal’s non-appearance, if he chooses to skip the summons again, will be treated as being evasive.

Two of Kejriwal’s senior colleagues - former deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh - are in judicial custody for allegedly receiving bribes from the liquor cartel that is accused of allegedly having paid £10 million to AAP and its leaders.

New York-based Gujarati launches lab-grown diamonds in the market Nischal Sanghavi

M

eet Amish Shah, 49, the first person in the world to launch lab-grown diamond jewellery in the retail market. In an interview with Asian Voice, Shah talks about lab grown diamonds market and his upbringing in India.

What are lab-grown diamonds?

Very few people know about lab-grown diamonds. Diamonds that were actually not born as diamonds, that are not found under the ground, but are created over the land. Made with carbon-neutral material and recycled metals, lab-grown diamonds, are more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Also, these diamonds are available at 30-70% less cost as compared to mined diamonds. In fact, right now 50% of engagement rings in the United States have lab-grown diamonds. It is not possible for a human eye to identify between lab-grown and mined diamonds. They can only be identified by using a spectrophotometer.

So tell us about your roots with India?

My family has been in the jew-

ellery business for three generations and used to manufacture jewellery for the kings and queens of India. Living with my family in Gujarat’s Surat, I started my journey as a student amazed with science. I had my first job at the age of 12 as a part-time computer teacher. The attractive remuneration for the job was that it allowed me a few hours inside the computer labs, which was rare at that time, with only two computer labs present in my city. Despite having a scientific mind and deep interest in computers, I had to finally opt for a commerce degree and join the family business.

Born and brought up in India, at 26, I found that things were not working out, I took permission from elders and set out for a life on my own and went to the USA. I come from a traditional Indian family that has lived in the joint family format. Currently, my family is based out of New York.

However, I make it a point to visit India every month to be with my extended family and also because an important part of our business is in India now.

How much do lab-grown diamonds cost?

Lab-grown diamonds are available from a price as low as 150 GBP per stone. Amish’s brand J’evar has also sold single diamonds worth 100,000 GBP.

What is your current business scenario?

Amish Shah

How did you get into lab-grown diamonds?

After a few years I was introduced to HPHT technology through my Russian acquaintances, which was used in creating lab-grown diamonds. My scientific mind instantly connected with it, and I started working on the technology.

How did you become the first person to hit the retail market with lab-grown gems?

I had my own set of huge challenges and struggles. Jewellery

experts and traders made fun of me during many exhibitions.

However, the turning point came when after exhibiting at Las Vegas, we got a call from Helzberg which is a Warren Buffet company and one of the prestigious jewellery retail brands in the US at that time. Helzberg became the world's first company to display the labgrown diamonds in the showroom and after that, there was no looking back. Another turning point came when I had the honour of being a speaker at Dubai’s Labgrown Diamond Symposium. My speech convinced global diamond experts that lab-grown diamonds are here to stay. I started getting interviewed by global media companies like BBC and CNBC.

Currently my company holds 48 patents, and our jewellery brands have multi-million-dollar businesses across US, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. My companies are based out of the US. All the production is done in the Surat in-house facility.

How is it beneficial to work from India?

The current Indian government has provided the impetus it needs for the growth of this industry. In the previous budget, the government granted GBP 24 million for study of lab grown diamonds and put it under a high employment segment. In fact, Amish was recently invited to speak at the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Summit which is among the biggest business events worldwide.

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23 - 29 December 2023

in brief

SOUTH INDIA

Floods, landslides in KERALA CM ACCUSES Centre calls health ministers OF DISRUPTING meeting as Covid cases rise in Kerala Tamil Nadu amid heavy CENTRE STATE'S PROGRESS NEW DELHI/KOCHI: The Union health ministry has asked all states to be on alert while Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has called a meeting of state health ministers on Wednesday to review preparedness in view of the recent surge in respiratory illnesses in the country, including Covid-19.

Kerala is witnessing a rise in Covid cases as well as deaths. Daily cases detected in the state have nearly tripled in a week while 10 deaths have been reported from December 1 to 17, as per data sent by Kerala to the Centre, sources in the state health department said.

Of particular concern is JN.1, a new sub-variant of Covid-19 which was recently detected in a 79-year-old woman in Kerala. On December 16, Kerala reported 302 new Covid cases and four deaths, the highest in the latest outbreak. On December 10, Kerala had reported 109 cases.

Daily cases crossed 200 on December 12 and, within four days, Kerala reported over 300 fresh cases.

The health secretary, in his letter to states, highlighted the need for maintaining constant vigil over the Covid-19 situation.

rainfall

He asked them to monitor and report district-wise influenza-like illness (ILI) & severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) cases in all health facilities on a regular basis, including in the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal, for detecting the early rising trend of cases.

States have also been advised to increase the number of RT-PCR tests and send positive samples for genome sequencing to Indian SARS COV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) laboratories to enable timely detection of new variants, if any, in the country.

JN.1 (BA.2.86.1.1) is a descendant of BA.2.86 lineage (Pirola) of SARS-CoV-2 which was first identified in August and reports suggest it carried significant mutations that may contribute to increased transmissibility and immuneescape ability. JN.1 variant has also been reported in the USA, China, and Singapore.

CHENNAI: Heavy rainfall lashed southern parts of Tamil Nadu even as the government declared a holiday for all schools, colleges and banks in four districts - Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Kanyakumari and Tenkasi. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘heavy rain alert’ for the state for the next seven days.

While Tiruchendur and Sattankulam stations in Thoothukudi district recorded 606 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours, Palayamkottai station located in Tirunelveli recorded 260 mm of rainfall.

The IMD had declared a red alert over a few places in Madurai, Virudhunagar and Theni districts.

Meanwhile, an orange alert has been issued by the weather agency over isolated places in Thoothukudi, Dindigul, Coimbatore and Thiruppur districts.

According to a report, 40 lakes in the Kovilpatti area have reached their full capacity. “40 lakes in Kovilpatti Panchayat are full. Two lakes were damaged and we repaired them. We are continuously monitoring other lakes too. If there is a breach in the lake, we are ready to fix it immediately,” said Rajesh, District Development Officer, Thoothukkudi district.

Incidents of landslides were reported from Ooty due to heavy rains lashing the Nilgiris district. Union Minister L Murugan oversaw the clearing of the landslide at Ooty Mettupalayam road. Flash floods were reported in many places in Thoothukudi.

Efforts to rectify breaches in water bodies were carried out by district administration.

PUNJAB

Help us win all 13 Lok Sabha seats Sukhbir Singh Badal apologises for 2015 sacrilege cases in Punjab, Kejriwal urges people MAUR (BATHINDA): AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal exhorted people to help his party win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and one in Chandigarh, indicating that AAP is thinking of going solo and not as a part of the INDIA bloc. In the present Lok Sabha, INDIA bloc parties have 9 seats in Punjab, with Congress having eight members and AAP just one.

However, at his Vikas Kranti rally in Bathinda, where he announced £112.5 million worth of development works, Kejriwal made it clear that Congress was also among AAP’s rivals in the state. He attacked BJP, Akalis and Congress in the same breath, saying: “Akali, Congress or BJP-Akali governments never allocated a package of £112.5 million in one go.”

He added that all the rivals of his party had joined hands in asking the central government to stop grants for Punjab as they felt that they would be “doomed” in elections if the AAP carried out development works in Punjab successfully. “People of Punjab are extremely happy with our work,

Arvind Kejriwal

and they will make us win all 13 Lok Sabha seats,” he said.

Claiming unprecedented development in Punjab, the Delhi CM said that with the package of £112.5 million, several hospitals and schools will be built in the state. “We had gone to Gurdaspur recently and we announced a package of £185 million and before that Hoshiarpur got a £85 million package,” he added.

At the rally, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann attacked the grand old party by accusing leaders of Congress and SAD of promoting corruption and nepotism.

“Only 4-5 persons from these parties had been ruling Punjab for many years.” The entire Punjab cabinet and Rajya Sabha member Sandeep Pathak were present at the rally.

NEW DELHI: Eight years after the outrage surrounding sacrilege incidents related to the Guru Granth Sahib led to the downfall of the Akali Dal government in Punjab and a Sukhbir Singh Badal significant decrease in its support, Sukhbir Singh Badal, the party president, publicly expressed remorse last week.

Badal conveyed his apology for being unable to catch the culprit during his party's tenure. The apology, made in written form and further reiterated in a video message, was made during a gathering at Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Gurbaksh Singh in Amritsar, marking the 103rd foundation day of the Akali Dal. Badal posted a video on X and wrote, "Submitting myself to the Guru's will in the precinct of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, the highest religio-temporal seat of the Sikh quom, I sincerely and unconditionally seek forgiveness of the Khalsa Panth that heinous act of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji happened during Akali govt."

"I also apologise that we couldn't apprehend and punish the culprits during the brief remaining part of our tenure. I am very sad that we couldn't understand and defeat the conspiracies of some so called Panthic individuals and organisations and allowed them to compel us to handover the probe to the CBI. These incidents remain the most painful events in my life and the life of S Parkash Singh Ji Badal," he said.

WEST BENGAL

BJP trying to woo residents of north Bengal KOLKATA: Legislators and leaders of the state BJP attempted to undermine the initiatives taken by the Mamata Banerjee government in north Bengal. Led by Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, they slammed the state government for being biased against north Bengal - a region with eight districts and a population of around 35 million - over development.

The BJP leaders reached the New Jalpaiguri railway station at a time when chief minister Mamata Banerjee reached Kanchenjungha Stadium here

photo ops. She is irked with north Bengal as people of this region have voted the BJP. Now, she is trying to revive her party’s support base in the seven parliamentary seats which we have won.

At the budget, allocations were Suvendu Adhikari elaborately made for the north Bengal for an event. The venues are development department in around 5 km apart. each fiscal but the actual release “The chief minister was here is far below,” said Adhikari. for a leisure trip. She attended a He, along with the MLAs, family wedding and did some also met with a group of people

who had reached the venue. “It is a government that ignores elected representatives of other parties. Today, despite a government function being held here, not a single MLA of BJP from the district and even the MP were invited. This doesn’t happen even when the Prime Minister attends any official event,” he said.

Adhikari, also the Nandigram BJP MLA, alleged corruption in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

“There had been corruption in recruitment. We will soon launch a movement across the hills on the issue,” he said.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan accused the Centre of taking “unconstitutional steps” to strangle the state’s finances by fixing borrowing limits, while remaining optimistic about the possibility of the opposition’s INDIA bloc unseating BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. During an interview, Vijayan expressed concern over the “deliberate disruption” of Kerala’s progress by the Centre. He criticised the BJP-led central government for “exerting control” beyond its entitlements, citing issues like fixing borrowing limits, which he labelled as illegal and anti-constitutional. “It is not about borrowing alone, but also regarding our entitled share in taxes etc. This is done to halt the progress of the state… Kerala should stand united when we demand that the Centre correct its stand. UDF should also correct its stand… and Congress should take initiatives for that,” he said.

MASKS MANDATORY FOR SENIORS IN KARNATAKA The Karnataka government asked those above 60-years of age, with comorbidities, and symptoms of cough, phlegm and fever to mandatorily wear face masks, in the wake detection of a case of Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 in neighbouring Kerala. Increased tests among those with such symptoms and suspected cases, and heightened surveillance in border districts are among the measures that the officials have been instructed to take up, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao told reporters. The situation is being continuously monitored, and there is no need for any restriction on movement and gathering of people as of now, he said, adding, the Government would come out with an advisory.

"There is no need for anyone to worry. We had held a meeting with our technical advisory committee and there was discussion between our officials and experts regarding the measures to be taken," Rao said.

HC QUESTIONS PAROLE GIVEN TO DERA CHIEF FREQUENTLY Widening the scope of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s (SGPC) plea against the frequent release of Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim on parole/furlough by the Haryana government, the Punjab and Haryana HC asked the state to explain if such benefits are also granted to similarly situated jail inmates. Asking the state if it is maintaining parity with the Dera chief in its release of other inmates, the HC directed the Haryana government to furnish a status report regarding the decisions taken by authorities on the parole/furlough pleas of inmates confined in state jails till date. A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Nidhi Gupta passed these orders while hearing the plea filed by SGPC. Meanwhile, after a 21-day furlough granted by the state government, Ram Rahim reached Rohtak’s Sunaria jail last week.

TMC ACTIVIST HACKED TO DEATH A 42-year-old Trinamool activist was hacked to death near his residence in Bolbon under Baruipur police station in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, sparking a war of words among TMC, BJP and CPM functionaries. According to a relative, Saidul Ali Sheikh was called out of his home by an acquaintance around 8.30 pm on Saturday.

Moments later, witnesses said, a group wielding bamboo sticks and swords attacked him. Few were recognised as members associated with a nearby club.

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23 - 29 December 2023

PM Modi, Oman Sultan discuss India changes stand and votes Gaza crisis, back 2-state solution for Gaza ceasefire at UNGA During their discussion of the Israel-Hamas conflict, PM Narendra Modi and Haitham bin Tarik, the Sultan of Oman, focused on the humanitarian crisis, terrorism, and the necessity for a twostate solution to promote peace.

During the Sultan's first visit to India in 26 years, six Memorandums of Understanding were signed between the two nations, one of which called for intelligence sharing to combat money laundering and the funding of terrorism.

Calling it a historic day in bilateral ties, Modi announced adoption of a new ‘India-Oman Joint Vision-A Partnership for Future’ with concrete action-points to take forward cooperation in 10 different areas. The PM expressed hope that the two countries will soon sign a free trade agreement, adding a new chapter to their economic cooperation. “I am glad that discussions on the CEPA agreement are ongoing between the two sides. Two rounds

PM meets the Sultan of Oman, Majesty Haitham Bin Tarik at Hyderabad house

of these talks have been successfully completed in which consensus has been reached on many important issues,” said Modi.

This was the first head of state from the Gulf to visit India since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Oman has requested an impartial investigation into Israel's activities in Gaza, and as foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra stated, this was to be expected.

The leaders in the meeting gave

careful consideration to the Gaza crisis.

Both condemned terrorism and talked about other facets of the war, such as the need to observe humanitarian law and solve the humanitarian crisis that is happening in Gaza. India earlier supported a resolution proposed by the UN General Assembly that called for an immediate humanitarian truce, recognising the seriousness of the Gaza situation.

Ahmedabad to host World Gujarati festival from January 6 to 8 The World Gujarati Federation (WGF) is organising the World Gujarati Festival in Ahmedabad from January 6 to 8, 2024. The WGF is an organisation dedicated to Gujaratis living abroad. It was founded in 2013 by Ramesh Tanna, a well-known writer, journalist, and social activist.

On January 6, from 9. 30 am to 12.30 pm, a welcome ceremony will be held at the JB Auditorium, AMA (next to Atira, Ahmedabad) for Gujarati societies and important organisations and individuals from all over the world. The dignitaries present during the ceremony will be - Bhagwat Shastriji Rishi (Bhagvat Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad), Jagdish Vishwakarma (Minister of Gujarat), Pratibhaben Jain, Mayor, Ahmedabad City, Padma Shri Jorawarsinh Jadav (Folk Artist) Uday Mahurkar (Founder, Save Culture, Save India, Movement), R P Patel (President, Vishwa Umiya Dham), Satish Vithalani (President, Shri Lohanas Mahaparisad) and Umang Thakkar (Former President, Shri

Gujarat Lohanas Samaj). On this occasion, the inauguration of a new organisation, NRI Parents Family (NRI-PF), will be held.

On January 7, the winners of the story writing competition organised by Mamta (periodical) will be awarded prizes. The special guests will be Madhu Rai and the program will be presided over by Asit Modi (Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma fame).

On January 8, two important conferences will be held. In the morning session, a conference on Gujarati journalism abroad will be held. The speakers will include: CB Patel (Editor, Gujarat Samachar-London), Kishor Desai (Founder Editor, Gurjari-

America), Subhash Shah (Founder Editor, Gujarat Darpan-America), Nilesh Dave (Editor, Mumbai Samachar), Manish Mehta (Editor, Divya Bhaskar) On the same day, at 2 pm, a conference on Gujarati communities abroad will be held at the meeting hall of the History Department of Gujarat University.

The speakers will include: Keynote speaker: Dr Nirja Gupta, (Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat University), Makarand Mehta, (Historian) (On the topic of Gujarati diaspora in East Africa and Britain), Shirin Shukla, (Historian) (On the topic of Parsi diaspora in Britain), Manilal H. Patel, (Literary critic) (On the topic of diaspora in America), Ramesh Tanna (On the topic of research and documentation of Gujarati diaspora) and Daksh Rana, researcher (On the topic of the experience of researching Gujarati diaspora) The organisation will prepare a five-year project to document the diaspora in five continents in a systematic and scientific way.

NRIs facing trouble for not linking PAN card with Aadhaar Recent actions by the income-tax (IT) department to freeze approximately 110 million PAN cards of those not connected to Aadhaar have caused problems for a number of non-resident Indians (NRIs).

Many non-resident Gujaratis (NRGs) who haven't linked their PAN to Aadhaar have had their PAN number deleted.

Consequently, NRGs inundate chartered accountants (CAs) with requests for assistance in reactivating their accounts by updating their status as "non-resident" with the IT department.

In order to qualify, a taxpayer must demonstrate that they were in India for fewer than 182 days in a given year.

Explaining the situation, CA Karim Lakhani said, “Those who hold a ‘non-resident’ status need not worry if their PAN-Aadhaar cards aren’t linked. In most cases, people left India as students and now are settled abroad and haven’t visited India in the past few years. As a result, they are yet to update their status as non-residents, resulting in deactivation of their PAN card due to non linkage.”

“Such NRIs are often left

out from benefits such as shares, mutual funds, SIPs, insurance, and even interest on pending refunds. They may also face challenges in transferring money from India after selling their property here,” Lakhani explained.

CAs claim that NRIs lack familiarity with the requirements and timelines for PAN-Aadhaar linking.

Consequently, NRGs with deactivated PANs will not be eligible to get their income tax return or 20% TDS, nor will they be able to make new investments. Many NRIs file returns under the residency of India.

India voted in favour of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which was adopted with overwhelming support from 153 member-states, maybe sensing the sentiment around the world against Israel's unrelenting shelling of Gaza.

After the Assembly rejected the US-sponsored amendment that would have condemned Hamas, India threw in its lot with a resolution that Israel branded as hypocritical because it did not even mention or denounce Hamas.

Compared to the government's abstention on a comparable vote in October, this was a substantial deviation. India's vote is significant because it hasn't before issued a firm request for a ceasefire.

New Delhi said there were many dimensions to the conflict, including the October 7 terror attacks on Israel, the ensuign humanitarian crisis in Gaza and efforts for a lasting two-state solution, and that it was important to

find the right balance in dealing with the situation. It also welcomed the fact that the international community had been able to find a “common ground to address the multiple challenges” facing the region right now.

India’s quest for a balanced approach to the West Asia situation has seen it temper its strident condemnation of October 7 Hamas terror strikes with repeated calls respecting international for humanitarian law, support for two-state solution and efforts to intensify engagement with the Arab world. India will host Oman Sultan Haitham bin Tarik for what will be the first visit by a Gulf head of state to the country since the ongoing conflict broke out.

No power can bring back Article 370: PM Modi PM Narendra Modi vehemently defended the repeal of Article 370, citing the Supreme Court's support for his government's action. He claimed that no force in the cosmos could reinstate the constitutional provisions that had been revoked and that the legislation had ushered in a new era of development in the formerly terrorist-prone Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh regions, which are now popular travel destinations.

“Post-370, J&K and Ladakh are transformed places, thronged by tourists instead of terrorists.

Movies are being shot and screened, while stone-pelting has ceased. Kashmiri families have welcomed the change. As for those who are spreading confusion because of their political motives, I want to make it clear: no power in this universe can bring back Article 370,” the PM said in an interview with a newspaper. Recalling the recent SC

verdict, the PM said the apex court had made it clear that there could not be two constitutions in the country.

“Abrogation of Article 370 was more important for the people of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh than any political agenda. A few family dominated parties were controlling the region for a long time but people there want to join the mainstream of growth and ensure a safe future for their children,” he said. To a question about BJP picking relatively new and little-known leaders as chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, Modi said the leaders had lots of experience and hard work behind them.

He mocked individuals who questioned the BJP's decisions, saying that it was unfortunate for the nation that a sizable portion of the influential class in the country had a limited and cliched worldview.

India stays No 1 in remittances, up 11% to $125 bn Remittances to India are estimated to rise over 11% to $125 billion in 2023, helping it retain the top spot ahead of Mexico ($67 billion) and China ($50 billion), data released on Monday showed.

A strong base of skilled and unskilled workers in the US, UK, Singapore and Gulf nations is expected to result in an 8% rise in flows to around $135 billion in 2024, according to the World Bank’s latest migration and development brief.

Driven by remittances to India, flows to South Asia are estimated to have grown 7.2% in 2023 to reach $189 billion, tapering off from the

over 12% increase in 2022.

These flows are significant for a country like India as it helps reduce the impact of falling foreign direct investment and higher trade deficit.

It said the key drivers of remittance growth in 2023 are a historically tight labour market in the US, high employment growth in Europe reflecting extensive leveraging of worker retention programmes, and a dampening of inflation in high-income countries. The US has continued to be the largest source of remittances, followed by Saudi Arabia. As a share of GDP, however, Saudi

Arabia has a significantly larger volume of outward remittances than the US. The main contributing factors are declining inflation and strong labour markets in high-income source countries, which boosted remittances from highly skilled Indians in the US, the UK, and Singapore, which collectively account for 36% of total remittance flows to India.

The report said that remittance flows to India were also boosted by higher flows from the GCC, especially the UAE, which accounts for 18% of India’s total remittances and is the second-largest source of them after the US.

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Surat diamond bourse a symbol of new India: PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India will be among the top three economies in the world in his third term. Modi said this after inaugurating the Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) in Surat, which according to him is “the symbol of strength and determination of new India”.

The prime minister stated that "Modi's guarantee" was a topic of much discussion these days. The people of Surat have long been aware of Modi's promises. The industrious residents of Surat have witnessed Modi's promises come to pass. And this is one example, this is Surat Diamond Bourse," he stated.

The SDB will be a global centre for trading in both rough and

PM inaugurates the new Terminal Building at Surat Airport

PM inaugurates Surat Diamond Bourse

polished diamonds, as well as jewellery, the PM added. SDB shows the capabilities of Indian design, designers, material and concept. “This (SDB) building is the symbol of new strength and determination of new India,” he said.

India has already become the fifth biggest economic power in the world from 10th position in the last 10 years, he said. “Now, I guarantee that in my third term, India will be among the world’s top three economies,” Modi said.

The government has also

Supreme Court refuses to stay survey of UP's Idgah mosque The Supreme Court has declined to stay the Allahabad High Court's order for a court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura to ascertain whether a temple was existed at the location of the mosque. The Hindu group had filed a writ petition in the high court seeking the survey of the mosque which was opposed by the Muslim group.

As the management committee of the Shahi Masjid Idgah Trust said the HC should be restrained from proceeding in the case as the matter was pending

in the apex court, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti said the committee should bring this to the notice of the HC. Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi sought to impress upon the bench to pass an interim order as the apex court is going into winter recess and any order passed

by Allahabad HC could not be challenged in the SC. However, the bench refused to pass any order. The apex court, in the previous hearing, had also refused to stay the HC proceedings.

The Supreme Court had previously stated that it

would be preferable for Allahabad High Court to decide on the preliminary objection to the suit's maintainability in the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Shahi Idgah mosque dispute in Mathura. It had stated that, as history has shown, dragging out legal proceedings in these kinds of instances could cause unrest in either direction.

The committee, in its appeal, said the HC passed the order transferring all suits to itself on the ground of delay but the petition was filed only three years ago and there was no delay.

INDIA bloc to hold nationwide protests against suspension of MPs: Kharge The INDIA bloc of opposition parties is set to stage a nationwide protest on December 22 in response to the recent suspension of 141 members from Parliament, as announced

by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after a meeting involving 28 allied parties.

Kharge labelled the mass suspension as undemocratic, emphasising that the issue raised by the opposition was legitimate. He highlighted the demand for the Home Minister and Prime Minister to address both Houses of Parliament, stressing that their absence inside the House undermines the democratic process.

Kharge expressed concerns that such actions by the government aimed to suppress democracy.

Regarding the anticipated announcement on seat-sharing arrangements among the parties, Kharge explained that these matters would be initially discussed at the state level.

However, if consensus proves challenging in certain states, central leaders would intervene.

The Congress chief emphasised the unanimous agreement among the alliance members on joint programs and outlined plans for further meetings. Unlike previous gatherings, this meeting lacked the presence of prominent opposition figures like Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Uddhav Thackeray, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav at the subsequent press conference.

ISRO to launch Chandrayaan-4 to bring back samples from moon The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to launch Chandrayaan4 to bring back samples from the Moon in four years, said its chairperson S Somanath while elaborating on the space agency’s Vision 2047.

By 2028, the first module of India's proposed space station, Bharatiya Antariksh Station, which will employ robots to conduct experiments, is scheduled to be launch. The space agency was earlier urged

by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to establish a space station by 2035 and deploy a man to the moon by 2040.

While these missions may seem far off, an experiment crucial for sustained human spaceflight will be “launched in the next three to four months,” said Somanath during a lecture at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The SPADEX experiment will demonstrate autonomous docking capability. Docking is a process where two spacecrafts are aligned in a precise orbit and joined together. Explaining the mission, Somanath said: “Two satellites that are connected to each other will be launched, they will separate out, travel for a few kms, and then come back and connect.”

While India successfully developed the lander and rover on-board Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3 missions after Russia backed out, Somanath said that for a samplereturn mission “we need much more technology than what we have developed for the landing.” The Gaganyaan mission, which will send astronauts into low Earth orbit and return them to Earth, will serve as a demonstration of the technologies being developed, he said.

planned for the next 25 years. “We are working on becoming a US $510 trillion economy as well as taking exports to a record high,” he added.

With its nine towers having 67,28,604 sq ft area, SDB complex located in Khajod village near Surat

city, is larger than the Pentagon in the US. It is spread over 35 acres of land and developed at a cost of around £340 million.

Opens international airport in Surat PM Modi praised the people of Gujarat, citing the renovated terminal building and Surat International Airport as two presents for the city of Surat. Prior to the opening of the Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB), Modi dedicated the newly constructed Surat airport terminal building.

After the inauguration of the new Integrated Terminal Building, a flight to Dubai took off from Surat. Modi said that a flight to Hong Kong will also be started soon from the airport.

Security breach in Parliament during 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attack On the 22nd anniversary of the Parliament terror attack, there was a major security breach inside the Lok Sabha, when two intruders entered the House chamber from the visitor gallery during Zero Hour. They released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs. Simultaneously, two individuals, including a woman, sprayed colored gas and shouted slogans outside the Parliament premises.

The Delhi Police have registered a case under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D - jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour. Around the same time, two other accused Amol Shinde and Neelam Devi - sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting "tanashahi nahi chalegi" outside Parliament.

Sagar, Manoranjan,

Amol and Neelam are now in police custody.

Their accomplice Vishal, in whose house the accused stayed before reaching Parliament, has been detained from Gurugram. Lalit Jha, the suspected key conspirator behind the security breach at Parliament, was arrested later, raising the prospect of a breakthrough into the sensational episode which exposed chinks in supposedly one of the strongest security arrangements in the country.

Jha's arrest was also dramatic, with the man who had eluded a frantic police search turning himself in at Kartavya Path. Jha was accompanied by another key suspect, Mahesh Kumawat, who was also taken into custody.

During the interrogation, Amol told investigators they were upset with issues like the farmers' protest, Manipur crisis and unemployment and that's

why they carried out this act.

Amol, a resident of Maharasthra's Latur, is a graduate but unemployed.

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has ordered an inquiry into the incident. An inquiry Committee has been set up under Anish Dayal Singh, DG, CRPF, with members from other security agencies and experts.

Meanwhile, Opposition lawmakers shouted slogans demanding home minister to brief parliament about the the incident.

"All precautions possible will be taken in future," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told parliament. A parliament spokesperson said eight security personnel have been suspended in connection with the breach.

The arrested were charged under sections of India's anti-terror UAPA law that involve punishment for terrorist acts and conspiracies, the police officer said.

Opposition lashes out at govt after 141 MPs suspended from Parliament Opposition MPs belonging to the INDIA bloc, who have been suspended, have strongly criticised the BJPled central government. They labelled their suspension as the government's "ultimate failure" and denounced it as a form of "anarchy" within the Parliament. They accused the ruling government of aiming for a "Opposition-free" Lok Sabha.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, “This is not good for democracy. It is an insult to Parliament.

They are suspending the MPs to scare us. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah did not want to show up in the House. They are delivering lectures in Varanasi and Ahmedabad amid the ongoing session of the Parliament.”

Day after 78 MPs were suspended in the

Parliament, Lok Sabha suspended an additional 49 MPs for the remaining winter session of Parliament for ‘serious misconduct’. The MPs included Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, and Karti Chidambaram, National Conference chief Farooq

Abdullah, NCP leader Supriya Sule, and Samajwadi Party's Dimple Yadav.

A total of 141 opposition Members of Parliament have faced suspension from their respective houses, lasting until at least the conclusion of the winter session.

WAAH Science Laureate Awards The WAAH Science Laureate Awards, organised by the Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre, to encourage youth and scientific community to recognise their research in the field of science for addressing societal issues and working towards innovative solutions to such issues. The awards ceremony is scheduled for January 6th, 2024, from 4 to 5.30 pm.

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10-hour eating window yields benefits, according to study

Eating within a 10-hour window boosts mood, energy, and hunger, according to new study from the largest community research project in the United Kingdom.

Limiting your food intake to a certain period of time, or intermittent fasting (IF), is a well-liked weight-loss strategy. You can set out 10 hours each day for eating, and then fast for the remaining 14 hours during that time.

The trial outcomes were reported at the European Nutrition Conference by King’s College London researchers. Dr Sarah Berry from King’s College London and chief scientist at ZOE was quoted in a report as saying, “This is the largest study outside of a tightly controlled clinic to show that intermittent fasting can improve your health in a real-world setting. What's

really exciting is that the findings show that you don't have to be very restrictive to see positive results. A tenhour eating window, manageable for most people, improved mood, energy levels and hunger. We found for the first time that those who practised time-restricted eating, but were not consistent day to day, did not have the same positive health effects as those who were dedicated every day.”

37,545 users of the ZOE Health app finished the three-week core intervention session. For the first week, participants were instructed to eat as usual; after that, they were to observe a ten-hour window for two weeks. Over 36,231 participants chose to continue for a few more weeks, and 27,371 users met the criteria for being very involved.

Mental health crisis highlights access issues Many psychologists are facing significant challenges as a result of the ongoing mental health crisis, as they manage an increase in patient demand brought on by yearly presentations of symptoms that are getting worse.

The 2023 Practitioner Pulse Survey was completed by 561 licenced practicing psychologists, according to the American Psychological Association. Psychologists questioned found that half of their patients' symptoms had gotten worse. However, 41% of them claimed that their patients need more sessions to be treated, which would restrict their ability to take on new clients.

Furthermore, 56% of psychologists who kept a waitlist stated they were unable to accept new patients, and 69% of those

who claimed the typical wait time for a first appointment was three months or longer. Only 31% of psychologists indicated the average wait time was longer than three months.

APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, said, “As the mental health crisis continues, psychologists are under pressure. These findings underscore the sustained demand for care, led by increased severity of symptoms and extended treatment courses, compounded by increases year after year.

This paints a clear picture of psychologists operating at the brink of their capacity. To better meet demand, it is essential that we develop comprehensive public health strategies that reach people throughout their lifespan and robustly address behavioral health alongside physical health.”

Avoid “diet” foods Frequently, foods labelled as "diet" can be misleading. These products often boast reduced fat content and carry labels such as "fat-free," "low fat," "fat-reduced," or "low calorie."

Yet, to compensate for the taste and texture lost from reducing fat, these items commonly incorporate added sugar and other ingredients. Consequently, many diet foods contain higher sugar levels and occasionally more calories compared to their full-fat counterparts. Choosing whole foods like fruits and vegetables is a preferable alternative.

Health Views Disclaimer: The information provided is for general knowledge only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.

Does Vitamin C really cure your common cold?

The common cold, our perennial foe, prompts us to seek remedies that promise quicker relief.

Among them, Vitamin C stands out as a popular candidate. Its reputation as an immunity booster and cold remedy has persisted for decades but does it truly live up to its acclaim in expediting cold recovery?

Vitamin C, scientifically known as ascorbic acid, plays a crucial role in the body’s immunity function.

It serves as an antioxidant, scavenging free radicals that could otherwise damage cells and impair immune response.

Additionally, this vitamin aids in the production of white blood cells, which are fundamental in fighting off infections, including viruses responsible for the common cold.

Does vitamin C limit my cold?

Several studies have suggested potential benefits of taking Vitamin C and limiting the duration or severity of colds. But evidence remains inconclusive. A meta-analysis scrutinised multiple trials and found a slight reduction in the duration of colds among individuals regularly taking Vitamin C supplements.

However, the impact was modest, shortening the duration by approximately half a day.

Moreover, the effectiveness of Vitamin C in preventing colds seems to vary among different populations.

Athletes, individuals exposed to extreme physical exertion or harsh environmental conditions, and those under high levels of stress may experience a decreased incidence of colds when regularly consuming Vitamin C supplements. Nonetheless, for the general population, the evidence supporting Vitamin C as a preventive measure against colds remains inconclusive.

Why megadosing won't help One of the prevailing beliefs regarding Vitamin C and colds is the notion of “megadosing.” This practice involves taking very high doses of Vitamin C, far

beyond the recommended dietary allowance (RDA).

However, scientific evidence does not firmly support the idea that megadosing Vitamin C provides added benefits. The body can only absorb a certain amount of Vitamin C at a given time, and excessive doses are usually excreted through urine.

Pills or oranges?

The mode of administering Vitamin C can also impact its effectiveness.

While supplements are commonly used, the consumption of Vitamin C-rich foods may offer additional health benefits due to the presence of other essential nutrients and phytochemicals. Citrus fruits, bell peppers, strawberries, and broccoli are among the natural sources abundant in this vitamin.

Research associates common headaches with neck inflammation Researchers have discovered empirical evidence of how the neck muscles are implicated in primary headaches.

Presented at the annual conference of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), the study can lead to better treatments.

Nico Sollmann, M D, Ph D, said, “Our imaging approach provides first objective evidence for the very frequent involvement of the neck muscles in primary headaches, such as neck pain in migraine or tension-type headache, using the ability to

quantify subtle inflammation within muscles.” Tensiontype headaches affect two out of every three adults in the US. Such patients often feel a tightening in the head and mild to moderate dull pain on both sides of the head. While these headaches are typically associated with stress and muscle tension, their exact origin is not fully understood.

Primary headaches are frequently accompanied with neck pain. On the other hand, there are no objective biomarkers for

Some winter habits that are messing up your digestion Our everyday routines slightly alter as winter draws closer, creating a cosy and nice season. However, during these pleasant times, a serious health concern – constipation - tends to go unnoticed. Unexpectedly, a number of winter rituals may inadvertently upset our intestinal balance and cause discomfort.

Unravelling these seasonal habits and their impact becomes crucial in safeguarding our well-being during the colder months.

Few winter habits that could be causing constipation: Reduced water intake: Our bodies may not indicate thirst as strongly in cooler weather as they do in warmer weather, which could result in less water being consumed. But maintaining enough hydration is essential for healthy digestion. Insufficient water intake can harden stools, making them difficult to pass, thus causing constipa-

tion.

Lack of physical activity: Winter often invites a more sedentary lifestyle. The reluctance to step outside for exercise due to cold weather can significantly reduce physical activity levels. Exercise stimulates bowel movements, and its absence can slow down digestion, contributing to constipation.

Dietary changes: Comfort foods dominate winter menus, often characterised by rich, heavy meals and fewer fresh fruits and vegetables. Decreased fibre intake can lead to constipation as fibre aids in maintaining regular bowel movements.

Ignoring the urge: Reluctance to use cold bathrooms or the desire to be warm under cosy blankets may override the urge to pass stool. Constipation can result from ignoring these signals, which can throw off the regularity of bowel motions.

myofascial involvement.

Inflammation or irritation of the muscle or the fascia, the connective tissue that envelops the muscle, is linked to myofascial pain.

Dr Sollman and associates sought to examine relationships between muscle T2 values and the frequency of headache and neck discomfort, as well as the role of the trapezius muscles in primary headache disorders using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The

muscular T2 values were highest in the group with tension-type headache combined migraine. There was a strong correlation found between muscle T2 and the amount of headache days and neck pain.

Eye scans provide vital information about kidney health Research stated that 3D eye scans can provide vital information about renal health that can help monitor the course of a disease. It has the potential to completely change the way kidney disease is monitored, as the condition frequently advances in its early stages with no symptoms. Since the ailment cannot now be detected by screening tests until half of the kidney function has been lost, experts say the technology has the potential to support early detection.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh looked into the possibility of employing optical coherence tomography (OCT) to capture 3D retinal images in order to detect and precisely forecast the course of kidney illness. Along with 86 healthy volunteers, they examined OCT pictures from 204 patients with varying stages of renal disease,

including transplant patients. They found that patients with chronic kidney disease had thinner retinas than healthy volunteers.

The study also showed that thinning of the retina progressed as kidney function declined.

With further research, regular eye checks could one-day aid early detection and monitoring to prevent the disease from progressing. It could also allow patients to make lifestyle changes that reduce the risk of health complications, experts say. The technology, supported by Heidelberg Engineering's imaging platform, could also aid the development of new drugs, the research team says.

The study is published in Nature Communications.

It was funded by Kidney Research UK and supported

by Edinburgh Innovations, the University's commercialisation service.

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A GREAT YEAR AT THE MOVIES IMDb's standout web series and artists’ performance in 2023

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n the realm of entertainment, 2023 proved to be an exceptional year for cinephiles, offering a diverse array of gripping thrillers, heartwarming romantic films, and captivating series that enthralled audiences worldwide. From the exhilarating theatrical experience of "Barbenheimer" to the

electrifying buzz surrounding the latest releases on various streaming platforms, the year delivered an abundance of cinematic delights.

After weathering the storm of the pandemic's impact on the entertainment industry, Indian cinema has triumphantly

Actors who gave blockbusters in 2023

emerged into a profitable realm once more in the year 2023. With stringent safety measures and innovative strategies in place, the film industry embraced a new era by adopting the digital and theatrical releases. This resurgence wasn't merely a return to form; it marked a reinvigoration of the cinematic

Top artists in Hollywood during the year 2023

Top OTT series in the year 2023

1 1. Shah Rukh Khan - The King Khan is back! Shah Rukh Khan topped the most Indian popular stars in 2023. With consecutive blockbuster hits - "Pathaan" and "Jawan" - Khan has sparked unparalleled global interest among fans.

The anticipation now mounts for his upcoming release, 'Dunki,' scheduled to hit screens on December 21st, 2023, leaving his dedicated fan base eagerly awaiting another cinematic extravaganza.

2. Alia Bhatt - Securing the second spot on the list for the second consecutive year, she mesmerized audiences with her presence in two major releases in 2023: "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani" and "Heart of Stone." Her 2022 film "RRR" achieved the pinnacle of success by clinching an Academy Award.

3. Deepika Padukone - Kicking off the year with a bang, she dazzled audiences portraying a Pakistani agent in "Pathaan." Deepika's remarkable onscreen chemistry with SRK garnered immense adoration for her role in the film. Her impactful cameo in "Jawan" also earned her widespread critical acclaim. Up next, she is set share the screen with Hrithik Roshan and Anil Kapoor in 'Fighter'.

4. Wamiqa Gabbi - Emerging as a fresh face in B-town, Wamiqa garnered widespread acclaim for her exceptional performances in prominent OTT productions such as "Khufiya" and "Jubliee."

5. Nayanthara - Renowned as a superstar in the South cinema, Nayanthara marked her impactful debut in the North with the film "Jawan," creating waves in the industry.

6. Ranbir Kapoor - The enigmatic maestro of on screen transformation, Mr Kapoor yet again ruled the box office with his recent release ‘Animal’. The film sparked diverse reviews, igniting a debate on its portrayal of violence.

Nonetheless, this didn't deter the movie from joining the exclusive 500 crore club.

1. Pedro Pascal - This actor took the lead in two of 2023's most acclaimed TV series, earning widespread praise.

Pascal's portrayal of the rugged survivor Joel in "The Last of Us" captivated audiences, who eagerly followed his character's transformation from a reluctant guardian to an apocalyptic hero. On Disney+, he continued to enthrall fans with his portrayal of the mysterious Mandalorian in Season 3 (Star Wars spin-off).

2. Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Behind her green Twi’lek makeup, Winstead portrayed Hera Syndulla, a character familiar to fans of the animated “Star Wars: Rebels.” Wrapping up the year, the actress also lent her voice to the animated "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off," reprising the role she portrayed in the live-action film "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" 13 years ago.

3. Ana De Armas - Continuing to captivate audiences, the actress maintained substantial interest throughout the awards season due to her compelling portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in "Blonde." Following this success, de Armas reunited with her "Knives Out" co-star Chris Evans in the action-comedy series "Ghosted" on Apple TV+. Additionally, fans eagerly anticipate her appearance in the upcoming John Wick spinoff, "Ballerina," scheduled to premiere next year.

4. Jenna Ortega - Commencing the year on a high note, Jenna Ortega rode the wave of immense popularity following her starring role in Tim Burton's "Wednesday" on Netflix. Apart from the shooting of season 2, fans anticipate her appearance in Burton’s "Beetlejuice 2," where she is set to portray the daughter of Lydia Deetz, originally played by Winona Ryder.

5. Bella Ramsey - Her portrayal of Ellie in "The Last of Us" set an exceptional standard for the year. Teaming up with co-star and fellow "Game of Thrones" alumnus Pedro Pascal, Ramsey has received their inaugural Emmy Award nomination for the series. This nomination stands as a significant milestone as it represents one of the earliest major TV awards for a video game adaptation.

landscape, as audiences eagerly embraced a diverse array of compelling stories and engaging narratives. Despite the threat posed to theaters by OTT platforms, 2023 has emerged as a golden year for Bollywood. The industry witnessed major releases such as Pathaan, Jawan, Gadar 2, Rock aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani,

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Farzi - Headlined by Vijay Sethupathi and Shahid Kapoor, 'Farzi' on Amazon Prime Video narrates the tale of an artist grappling with financial hardships. Leveraging his artistic abilities, he discovers a method to produce counterfeit currency undetectable even by machines.

Asur 2 - Discontented with his life, a former forensic expert-turned-teacher joins forces with his mentor to apprehend a serial killer. In the second season, the narrative revolves around the reappearance of the determined serial killer, hell-bent on seeking retribution against the duo while sowing further disorder in the city.

Scam 2003: The Telgi story - Streaming on SonyLiv, 'Scam 2003' delves into real-life events, chronicling Abdul Karim Telgi's journey from a humble fruit seller to becoming the mastermind behind the stamp paper market, navigating through corruption while staying under the radar. This biographical financial thriller, directed

by Hansal Mehta, features Gagan Dev Riar portraying the titular character.

Rana Naidu: Described by its official synopsis as, “Rana Naidu, the trusted troubleshooter for the elite, faces an insurmountable challenge when his father's release from prison unravels a mess he can't fix.” Featuring Surveen Chawla and Rana Daggubati, available on Netflix.

Jubilee - A captivating drama series on Prime Video delves into the realm of Indian cinema, spanning the era before and after India's partition. It chronicles the challenges faced by established figures striving to remain significant amidst evolving times and technological advancements. Furthermore, the show eloquently portrays the struggle of ordinary individuals seeking entry into an industry dominated by the elite.

Kohrra - In Kohrra, you're in for another heart-racing crime drama. The plot takes off with the puzzling death of a bridegroom mere days before his wedding. To crack this enigmatic case, two dedicated police officers must dive headfirst into the investigation. As they dig deeper into the mysteries, their own lives become increasingly chaotic, adding an extra layer of suspense that threatens to disrupt both the case and their personal worlds.

and now Animal, all achieving significant box office successes.

IMDb, in its latest year-end list, has unveiled most remarkable web series and other standout artists that defined the year in entertainment. Let's delve into this prestigious list that encapsulates the finest offerings of the year.

Actors who dominated the OTT platforms

1. Kareena Kapoor in Jaane Jaan - In Sujoy Ghosh's suspenseful thriller, Kareena portrayed the character of Maya, a single mother haunted by a mysterious past. Throughout the narrative, Maya, conceals her true intentions until the very climax, intensifying the suspense within the story.

2. Sushmita Sen in Taali - In the biographical drama series, Sushmita Sen portrayed the character of Shreegauri Sawant, a respected activist for transgender rights and a dedicated social worker. Sen's portrayal embodies a resilient and passionate persona, marking a thrilling and dynamic phase in her acting career.

3. Vijay Varma in Dahaad/Kaalkoot/Jaane Jaan/Lust Stories 2 - Varma is a streaming era star and he has had yet another phenomenal year with back-toback OTT releases. In Dahaad, he played a villain who traps women and kills them. In Kaalkoot, he played an honest cop who is on a mission to solve the case of a heinous acid attack. In Jaane Jaan, he played a cop once again who is investigating a murder but falls in love with the key witness/culprit. In Lust Stories 2, he played a crook who is having an extra marital affair.

4. Manoj Bajpayee in Sirf Ek Bandaa Hi Kaafi Hai - In this direct-to-OTT release, he portrayed a small-town lawyer characterised by honesty and unwavering dedication. Taking on the responsibility to seek justice for a young girl mistreated by a self-proclaimed godman, his impassioned speech during the film's climax became the buzz.

5. Barun Sobti in Asur 2 and Kohrra - Barun who played lead roles in both acclaimed OTT releases Asur 2 and Kohrra. In Kohrra, Two cops (Suvinder Vicky, and Barun Sobti) get deep into investigating the crime and soon after layers of generational misconduct start opening up. Whereas in Asur 2 he plays a forensic expert turned teacher, who returns to his roots at the CBI, and along with his former mentor (Arshad Warsi), finds himself caught in a cat-and-mouse game with a brutal serial killer.

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Deepika in talks for an action project on web D

eepika Padukone made her OTT debut with the film 'Gehrayiaan' last year, and now the actor is all set to explore the space further. We have heard that the actor is in talks for a web project high on drug mafia culture in India.

“At the moment, Deepika is in conversation with a streaming giant for a mega action thriller,” says a source, adding, “She has seen the power and the reach of OTT medium, and is eager to explore it further”.

As per the insider, the project has got the actor excited, and is “seeing how it fits in her schedule”.

“It’s a project for Netflix, and will revolve around the drug mafia culture in India, told from a female perspective. It is a very interesting project, and will involve a lot of action and intense sequences. She is eager to sign the project, and wants to sign it.

However, at the moment, she is checking her schedule,” says the source, sharing, “If she signs the dotted line, they plan to start shooting early next year”.

When it comes to her career graph, action seems to be her favourite genre at the moment. Meanwhile, the actor will next be seen on the big screen in 'Fighter', which also stars Hrithik Roshan and Anil Kapoor. The Siddharth Anand directorial features Hrithik, Deepika and Anil as fighter pilots.

Earlier this year, she was seen in yet another action film, 'Pathaan', alongside Shah Rukh Khan, sparking conversations around her character getting a separate spinoff. In fact, her cameo in Jawan was also appreciated by many. She has also joined Rohit Shetty’s cop universe as ‘Lady Singham’.

Aishwarya, Abhishek shut down separation rumours with joint appearance A

ctor couple Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan seem to have put an end to all separation rumours as they appeared together at the Dhirubhai Ambani International School Annual Day event in Mumbai. Aish arrived in a car with her mother Brindya Rai, while Abhishek arrived with his father and actor Amitabh Bachchan and nephew Agastya Nanda at the venue.

After they arrived, Aish spoke to Amitabh as he walked in front of her with Brindya. She also held Agastya’s cheek after he came and stood next to her.

Abhishek was also seen talking to her and putting his arm around her as they walked inside the school.

For the event, Aishwarya wore a black and golden suit and heels. She also carried a matching bag. Abhishek was seen in a navy blue shirt, matching pants and sneakers. Amitabh wore a colourful jacket, pants and shoes. Agastya opted for a beige jacket over a white T-shirt, denims and shoes.

Abhishek and Aishwarya got married on April 20, 2007. It was an intimate wedding ceremony at Amitabh’s ‘Prateeksha’ residence. They welcomed their first child Aaradhya on November 16, 2011.

On the work front, Abhishek was recently seen in ‘Ghoomer.’ Meanwhile, Aish was seen in Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus period drama ‘Ponniyin Selvan - 2.’

Agastya Nanda gearing up for Bollywood debut soon

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f reports are to be believed, Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda is gearing up for his big screen debut soon. A media report revealed he will play the leading man in filmmaker Sriram Raghavan’s ‘Ekkis.’

Produced by Dinesh Vijay, it is the biopic of 1971 war hero, Arun Khetarpal and will also star Dharmendra in a key role. Agastya will reportedly start shooting in January 2024.

An unnamed source was quoted in the report as saying, “2023 was an eventful year for Agastya Nanda as not just did he make his acting debut with The Archies, but also signed on for a Sriram Raghavan film.

Agastya has attended several acting workshops with the Sriram and specially trained acting coaches to polish his body language and step into the shoes of India’s most celebrated war hero, Arun Khetarpal.”

Agastya already made his OTT debut with Zoya Akhtar’s ‘The Archies.’ He played the lead role of Archie Andrews. The film also featured Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan, Vedang Raina, Mihir Ahuja, Aditi Saigal aka Dot and Yuvraj Menda, was released on Netflix on December 7. Set in 1960s India, Archie and the gang navigate romance, friendship and the future of Riverdale in the Netflix film.

Meanwhile, Sriram is currently gearing up for the release of his next film ‘Merry Christmas,’ co-starring Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi. The movie will be out in January next year.

Shah Rukh’s ‘Dunki’ granted U/A Dharmendra remembers Raj Kapoor on his 99th birth certificate after 'suitable' changes R anniversary

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eteran actor Dharmendra remembered late actorfilmmaker Raj Kapoor on his 99th birth anniversary. He took to X last week to share a throwback black and white picture with the actor.

In the monochrome picture, Dharmendra and Raj Kapoor shared a conversation while holding hands. Both of them wore suits as they sat next to each other at an event. Dharmendra dropped the picture and tweeted, “Happy Birthday Raj sahab (folding hands emoji) we miss you!

You will always be remembered with great love and respect (folded hands emoji).”

Born in Peshawar to father-actor Prithviraj Kapoor and Ramsarni Mehra, Raj Kapoor had a remarkable career. He won many accolades including three National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards in India.

He is known as the Showman of Indian cinema. He appeared in films such as ‘Shree 420,’ ‘Aag,’ ‘Chori Chori,' ‘Anari,’ ‘Sangam,’ ‘Mera Naam Joker’ and many others.

Dharmendra recently celebrated his 88th birthday. Taking to Instagram, he shared a video to thank people for their love and

expressed gratitude to fans. He wrote, “Friends, love you all for your loving response on 88th Birthday.” This year, he also came out of his residence and celebrated his birthday with his fans and paparazzi stationed outside his home. He was accompanied by his elder son and actor Sunny Deol.

On the work front, Dharmendra will be next seen in the untitled romantic drama film which also features Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon in the lead roles. Apart from that, he also has director Sriram Raghavan's next ‘Ekkis’ which also features Amitabh Bachchan's grandson Agastya Nanda. The film currently has a release date of January 10, 2025.

ajkumar Hirani’s ‘Dunki,’ which is set to release on December 21, has been granted a U/A certificate after some changes were made. According to a media report, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) asked the film’s makers to add anti-smoking health spots at the start of the movie.

It also directed the makers to add this in the middle of the film as well, which will be before the commencement of the second half. If the report is to be believed, a word was “suitably” modified to “immigrants,” at the start of the film.

In an important scene, a statutory warning was also added stating, “Suicide is not a solution to any problems.” The team also submitted documentary evidence for

the statistics and other facts which have been mentioned at the end of the movie. As mentioned on the censor certificate, the length of the film is 161.24 minutes. The runtime is two hours, 41 minutes and 24 seconds.

Drawn from real life experiences, ‘Dunki’ is a heartwarming tale of four friends and their quest to move abroad. The makers unveiled an official trailer titled ‘Dunki: Drop 4’ which offers a peek into Hirani’s world. The movie features Shah Rukh Khan, Boman Irani, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal, Vikram Kochhar, and Anil Grover.

A JIO Studios, Red Chillies Entertainment, and Rajkumar Hirani Films presentation, it has been produced by Rajkumar Hirani and Gauri Khan.

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Suriya, Jyotika pose for a photo with Shabana Azmi

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picture of actors Suriya and Jyotika with actress Shabana Azmi is currently doing the rounds online.

Seemingly taken at a cinema hall, the photo was shared by a fan of Suriya on social media. A fan account shared the picture with a caption, “SuJyo.”

Samantha responds to question asking her about getting remarried A

ctor Samantha Ruth Prabhu took to her Instagram Stories recently to hold an Ask Me Anything session. She wrote, “Sunday thoughts? Here.” A person wrote, “The worst year is ending.” She responded, “I feel ya.” Another fan said, “All these days, you think you know yourself then life brings you some surprises.” She replied, “Some good. Some bad. But that’s what makes you so uniquely you.”

When a person asked, “Do you believe in miracles?” she said, “Yes I do.” A fan said, “Whatever happens, at the end of the day, you're the only one that matters, so prioritize yourself.” Samantha said, "Yasssss (red heart emoji). This is for everyone!!" A person asked, "What is the one thing you are manifesting for the upcoming year?" She said, “Good health.”

An Instagram user wrote, “Don't you think about marrying again?" She said, “Would be a bad investment according to the statistics (laughing emoji).” She also added the data on divorce rates in the post.

Samantha began dating actor Naga Chaitanya in 2010 after appearing together in the film ‘Ye Maaya Chesave.’

They got engaged in a ceremony in Hyderabad on January 29, 2017, and got married in October, the same year. On October 2, 2021, they announced their separation and divorce.

On the work thing, Samantha announced her production banner Tralala Moving Pictures. She shared a post on Instagram and wrote, “Very excited to announce my production house, Tralala Moving Pictures @tralalamovingpictures. A nurturing space which invites and encourages stories that speak to the strength and complexity of our social fabric. And a platform for filmmakers to tell stories that are meaningful, authentic and universal. (Inspired from one of my favourite songs growing up. Brown girl is in the ring now…).”

Clint Eastwood promises to watch Karthik’s film

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arthik Subbaraj, the director of the recently released film ‘Jigarthanda Double X’ is on cloud 9 as Hollywood directoractor Clint Eastwood has promised to watch the film which makes strong references to him.

In the picture, Suriya can be seen dressed in a blue shirt and a pair of white trousers. Jyotika can be seen dressed in a comfy black outfit. Shabana looked radiant in a green, printed outfit as she posed for the click. Another unidentified woman can also be seen in the picture. Suriya, Jyotika and Shabana have not shared it on social media or spoken about bumping into each other.

On the work front, Suriya was last seen as Rolex as Kamal Haasan’s ‘Vikram.’ He will be seen next in ‘Kanguva.’ Directed by Siva and written

by Adi Narayana, the film also stars Disha Patani and Bobby Deol in their Tamil Debuts. Devi Sri Prasad will compose music for the film. Shooting for the film commenced in 2022 and postproduction began in 2023. ‘Kanguva’ is slated to hit screens in 2024.

Meanwhile, Jyotika was last seen as Omana in the Malayalam film ‘Kaathal The Core.’ The film and her performance in the Mammootty co-starrer was received well by critics and audience alike. She will soon be seen in Hindi projects titled ‘Sri’ and ‘Black Magic.’

Shabana made waves with her roles in ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ and ‘Ghoomer’ this year. In the former, she played the former flame of Dhamendra’s character, someone she reunites with later in life. In the latter, she played a supportive grandmother who encourages a cricketer to follow her dream. She will soon be seen in ‘Bun Tikki’ by Faraz Ansari, who also directed the short film she starred in titled ‘Sheer Qorma.’

Director Lokesh announces break from social media platforms, mobile

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irector and producer Lokesh Kanagaraj has announced a break from all social media platforms to solely focus on his next project. He took to X, and shared a statement in which he also thanked his audience for their love and support for ‘Fight Club.’

‘Jigarthanda Double X’ is a Tamil-language Western action-comedy film. It is a spiritual successor and prequel to Karthik’s ‘Jigarthanda’ which was released in 2014.

Recently, a fan of ‘Jigarthanda Double X’, which stars Raghava Lawrence and S J Suryah, tagged Clint’s official Twitter page about the film.

The fan wrote, “Dear @RealTheClint We are Indians. We made a Tamil movie called Jigarthanda Double X. It’s available in Netflix. We have given u a great tribute in the whole movie. We made some animated scenes like u in ur young age.

Please watch it once u get some time (sic).”

Reacting to the same, the actor’s account handler wrote a wholesome message, and assured that the actor will watch the film after completing his work on ‘Juror 2’. They wrote, “Hi. Clint is aware of this Movie, and he states he will get to it upon Completion of his New Film. ‘Juror 2’. Thank You.”

His statement read, "Greetings, firstly, I would like to extend my thanks to all of you for the love and support you have given for Fight Club which was the maiden presentation under my banner G Squad, and I will always be grateful for it. I am writing to announce that I will be taking a break from all social media platforms and my mobile to solely focus on my next project.”

Lokesh added, “During this time, I will not be reachable. I would like to again thank the audience for all the love and support you have showered upon me since my debut. Until then, take care, all of you. Stay positive and ignore Negativity! Much Love, Lokesh Kanagaraj.”

The post comes just a few days after he issued a clarification saying he is only available on X and Instagram following reports of his Facebook account getting hacked started circulating on social media. He shared a statement said, “Hey all, I'm only available on Twitter and Instagram, I do not have or use any other social media accounts. Please feel free to ignore and unfollow any other hoax accounts!”

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23 - 29 December 2023

Ali Fazal reveals Paul Walker’s death altered ‘Furious 7,’ cutting his scene with Vin Diesel

'Rana Naidu’ is the only Indian title in Netflix’s top 400 list N etflix revealed details of titles with the most viewership on their platform from January to June this year. It revealed viewership data for around 18,000 titles, and it turns out Venkatesh and Rana Daggubati-starrer ‘Rana Naidu’ is the only Indian series to clock in some good numbers to make the list. The show stands in the 336th place.

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ctor Ali Fazal made a cameo appearance in the 2015 Hollywood blockbuster ‘Furious 7.’

While fans in India welcomed his appearance, the actor recently disclosed that his sequences were removed from the finished picture.

Actor Paul Walker’s untimely death during production prompted the directors to change the film and add more tributes to the late actor.

Mrunal Thakur shares fan girl moment with Daniel Radcliffe A

The series, which was released in multiple languages, recorded a total of 4,63,00,000 viewing hours. Despite the series coming under fire for its bold content, many were curious to see the show since it first streamed on March 10.

‘The Night Agent’ and ‘Ginny and Georgia’ topped the list with 81,21,00,000 and 66,51,00,000 viewed hours, respectively. The top 10 included ‘The Glory,’ ‘Wednesday,’ ‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,’ ‘You,’ ‘Outer Banks’ and ‘Manifest.’

Meanwhile, nine Indian titles were featured on the top 1000 list. ‘Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga’ featured in the 401th position, ‘Mission Manju’ ranked at 599, ‘Indian Matchmaking’ at 615, ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway’ at 651, the Hindi version of ‘RRR’ at 660, season 1 of ‘Class’ at 724, ‘Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar’ at 762 and ‘Shehzada’ at 840.

Other Indian titles featured after the top 1000 in the list, including ‘Scoop,’ ‘Gumraah,’ ‘Khakee: The Bihar Chapter,’ ‘Trial by Fire: Limited Series,’ ‘Delhi Crime’ season 1 and ‘Sacred Games’ season 1.

ctor Mrunal Thakur was in New York City recently to promote her latest Telugu film ‘Hi Nanna,’ costarring Nani. During her visit, she got a chance to meet none other than Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe. She took to Instagram Stories to share pictures and videos of her meeting with him.

In one of the videos, Daniel can be seen interacting with fans and clicking pictures with them. After a while, Mrunal and her sister Lochan yell, “Daniel, we love you Daniel,” to which he looks at them and replies, “Thank you!” The actress also takes the opportunity to click a selfie with the actor, writing, “And this happened.”

Mrunal is currently riding high on the success of her 2022 Telugu debut ‘Sita Ramam’ and her latest release, ‘Hi Nanna.’ The movie also stars Kiara Khanna, Jayaram and Angad Bedi in key roles and Shruti Haasan in a cameo role. Mrunal received a lot of praise for the role, including from actor Allu Arjun, who wrote, “Dear Mrunal. Your sweetness is haunting on the screen. It’s Beautiful like you.”

On the work front, the actress has ‘Family Star’ with Vijay Deverakonda. The Parasuram Petla directorial is set to hit screens sometime next year. She will soon be seen in a Hindi film titled ‘Pooja Mari Jaan.’

Chris Gayle grooves to ‘Dunki’ song ‘Lutt Putt Gaya’ A

Shah Rukh Khan fan club recently posted a clip of cricketer Chris Gayle dancing to the actor’s song ‘Lutt Putt Gaya’ from the film ‘Dunki.’ In the video, he is seen doing several steps from the song. He smiled as he danced.

Shah Rukh reposted the clip and wrote, “And the universe boss hits it out of the park… only like he can!!! Thank you my man @henrygayle… we will meet up and do the Lutt Putt Gaya dance together soon sometime ha ha.”

Last month, Shah unveiled the ‘Dunki Drop 2 - Lutt Putt Gaya,’ the first track from the film.

Taking to Instagram, the actor wrote, “Agar dance mein isse zyaada chhalaang lagata toh udd hi jaata (If I jumped more during the song, I would have flown away). I hope ki yeh romance @taapsee aur aapke dilon mein bhi zaroor tent lagayega (I hope this romance will definitely put up a tent in @taapsee and your hearts).”

He also added, “@arijitsingh, your voice made me sound like love, yet again. Cheers to @ipritamofficial, @swanandkirkire, @safirock and @ganeshacharyaa for the simplicity and energy of Lutt Putt Gaya. #DunkiDrop2 #LuttPuttGaya song out now https://bit.ly/LuttPuttGaya-Dunki #Dunki releasing worldwide in cinemas on 21st December, 2023.”

Besides Shah Rukh and Taapsee Pannu, ‘Dunki’ also stars Boman Irani, Vicky Kaushal, Vikram Kochhar, and Anil Grover. Written by Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani, and Kanika Dhillon, ‘Dunki’ is a heartwarming tale of four friends and their quest to reach foreign shores.

It is all set to hit cinemas on December 21.

Following the actor’s death in 2013, the movie was put on hold.

His brothers stepped in as his body doubles to finish the movie and give his character a fitting send-off after a three-month delay.

Ali spoke on Cyrus Broacha’s podcast, ‘Cyrus Says,’ and said, “I was supposed to have a race with Vin Diesel but it got canceled because we lost Paul Walker.”

Recalling the first day of the shoot in Abu Dhabi, Ali said, “It was the most depressing day. The first day of the shoot, coming back after three months of break because Paul Walker had died. Everyone was just going through the motions and that is why the race got canceled because they had to accommodate a lot of tribute kind of stuff for him and there was this huge Paul puppet, which was this project they had made, they created him out of thin air.”

Ali has worked on multiple global productions like ‘Death on the Nile,’ ‘Victoria and Abdul,’ and most recently, ‘Kandahar.’ On the work front, Ali's next project is ‘Mirzapur 3.’

32

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23 - 29 December 2023

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India women outclass England by 347 runs in one-off test They had to wait for nine long years before playing a Test at home. But when they did get the opportunity, all the Indian women’s team needed was two days and a morning - seven sessions in all - to thoroughly outclass England by 347 runs in the one-off Test at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.

It was the biggest-ever victory margin in women’s Tests in terms of runs, breaking the record set in 1998 when Sri Lanka whipped Pakistan by 309 runs in Colombo. It is also India’s first Test win over England at home.

This rout of England on a turner will give India tremendous confidence going

into the one-off Test at the Wankhede Stadium from Dec 21 against Australia, the top guns of women’s cricket. The only setback for India would be that young batter Shubha Satheesh, who scored a half-century on debut, is unlikely to be available

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc became most expensive IPL player Australian pacer Mitchell Starc became the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

He was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for £2.47 million at the auction in Dubai on Tuesday. Starc has now left behind his skipper Pat Cummins, who was earlier the most expensive player in IPL history with £2.05 million and was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The pacer started an insane bidding war that lasted for minutes, with Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) locking horns first. Once they backed out, Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) went ahead with an even bigger bidding war, crossing the £2.05 million spent by SRH on Cummins. Eventually, GT backed out and KKR got Starc for a record-breaking prize.

Spencer Johnson goes to Gujarat Titans for £1 million.

Uncapped Indian batter Sameer Rizwi was sold to

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for £840,000 while another uncapped batter Shubham Dubey was sold to Rajasthan Royals (RR). For Dubey, there was a bidding war between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals and he was bought by one-time champions eventually.

Punjab Kings grabbed the Indian pacer Harshal Patel for £1.17 million. Patel became the second richest player in the auction. The Indian speedster had a base price of £200,000.

Harshal took part in the T20 tournament with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He has played 92 matches in his IPL career, and scalped 111 wickets.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians (MI) took South African pacer Gerald Coetzee for £500,000. Coetzee had a base price of £200,000. Kiwi batting all-rounder Daryl Mitchell became the third millionaire after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) took him for £1.4 million.

owing to a finger fracture.

Declaring at their overnight score of 186/6, India demolished England for 131 in 27.3 overs. For the second time in two days, offspinner Deepti Sharma following up on her sensational spell of 5/7 in 5.3 overs -

tormented the visitors, taking 4/32 in eight overs to finish with match figures of 9/39 while bowling just 80 balls. However, the bowler who blew away England’s top-order in the second innings was all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar, who moved the ball beautifully to take 3/23 in four overs.

Needing 427 to win, England were 27 for no loss when Test debutante Renuka Singh Thakur drew first blood, dislodging Tammy Beaumont’s off-stump with a beauty that held its line.

England were then rocked by Vastrakar’s triple strike. Coming as one change, she had Sophia Dunkley (15) caught at gully by substitute Harleen Deol.

Clinical South Africa level series with dominant win In a role-reversal of sorts, South Africa thumped India by eight wickets in the second ODI of the three-match series at St George's Park on Tuesday to draw level in the series with a game to play. Tony de Zorzi's maiden ton headlined the win that was majorly set up by a collective bowling performance led by Nandre Burger (3/30) and Beuran Hendricks (2/34).

Chasing an under-par target of 212, the South African openers were severely tested in the first ten overs with the ball swinging and seaming. The variable bounce also made things harder but it was one of those days when India's bowlers could only beat the bat and not find the edge. Arshdeep Singh in particular cranked it up with the new ball and on another day, the hosts could have lost a plethora of early wickets like they did in the series opener. Earlier on, put into bat, India were off to a shocking start as Ruturaj Gaikwad fell off just the second ball of the game, LBW to a pacy Burger inswinger. The left-arm pacer proved too hot to handle

in his new-ball spell as he also nipped out a struggling Tilak Varma. However, Sai Sudharsan and skipper KL Rahul put on a steady 68-run stand to put the innings on track as India slowly managed to get some momentum into their innings.

The Men in Blue secured a victory over the Proteas by 8 wickets in the first ODI, which took place at the Wanderers Stadium on December 17. The Indian team is captained by KL Rahul while Aiden Markram is at the helm for the host team.

Suryakumar, Kuldeep star as India crush South Africa In the third T20 series, India defeated South Africa by 106 runs, tying the three-match series 1-1. After being assigned to bat first, captain Suryakumar Yadav scored an incredible 100 runs off just 56 balls, his fourth T20I century, as India amassed 201 for 7. Yashasvi Jaiswal, the opener, scored 60 off of 41 balls.

Then, in 13.5 overs, India bowled South Africa out for 95.

Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets while Kuldeep Yadav claimed five for 17 runs.

Hardik replaces Rohit as skipper of Mumbai Indians

Satwik and Chirag nominated for Khel Ratna

Mumbai Indians announced that they had replaced their hugely successful captain Rohit Sharma - under whom they have won all five of their IPL trophies - with allrounder Hardik Pandya. MI’s move comes less than a month after the Mumbai franchise announced that Hardik had returned to their fold following a high-profile trade from Gujarat Titans. Crucially, the move comes at a time when there is much speculation over who will lead Team India in the T20 World Cup in June in the West Indies and USA - Rohit or Hardik, who is currently out of action due to a left ankle injury.

In January this year, Hardik was named India’s T20 captain after he proved his leadership credentials in the IPL, having led the Gujarat Titans to the title in their maiden season. Under Hardik, GT also made the IPL final this season.

Interestingly, Rohit’s IPL form has declined substantially in recent years. In 2021, he scored 381 runs 13 matches @ 29.30, with just one fifty. In 2022, it was even worse with 268 runs in 14 matches @ 19.14, with no fifty. In 2023, he scored 332 runs in 16 games @ 20.75, with two fifties. Looking to attack from ball one, he has often lost his wicket to one aggressive shot too many. While it is expected that Rohit will now play under Pandya in MI, it will not be a surprise if he moves to another franchise later on.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the first Indian badminton doubles pair to reach No. 1 in BWF rankings, were recommended for the country’s highest sporting honour – Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna. Cricketer Mohammed Shami, one of the standout performers in India’s ODI World Cup campaign, was nominated for Arjuna award for this year by a 12-member selection committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice A M Khanwilkar.

Satwiksairaj and Chirag were rewarded for their superlative performances in 2023, where they created records and rewrote history books. They not only rose to the top of the world rankings, but also won the Indonesia Open Super 1000, the Thomas Cup, a medal at the BWF World Championships and the country’s maiden gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Like the previous year when just table tennis legend, Achanta Sharath Kamal, was recommended for the Khel Ratna, this year, too, the selection committee chose to nominate the pairing of Satwiksairaj and Chirag as joint recipients of the award.

For the Arjuna, the committee recommended a total of 26 athletes, including Shami, whose name was added on a request by the Indian cricket board (BCCI) to the sports ministry.

in brief PAES, AMRITRAJ INDUCTED IN HALL OF FAME Indian tennis legends Leander Paes and Vijay Amritraj became the first Asian men to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Paes, an 18-time Grand Slam champion in doubles and mixed doubles, has been selected in the player category, while Amritraj was inducted in the contributor category. The contributor category recognises true pioneers, visionary leaders, or individuals/groups who have made a transcendent impact on the sport. The Class of 2024 will be officially inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Paes and Amritraj will join an elite group of 264 inductees from 27 nations – with India set to become the 28th nation represented in the Hall of Fame. “It has been my life’s honour to play for my country for over three decades in a sport that has given and taught me everything. This acknowledgment is indeed the ultimate accolade for every tennis player,” Paes said.

BCCI DECIDES TO RETIRE DHONI'S NO 7 JERSEY The BCCI has decided to ‘retire’ MS Dhoni’s No7 jersey to honour his rich contribution to Indian cricket. The iconic India captain last played for the country in the 2019 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand. He announced his retirement on August 15, 2020 and no other player has worn the No 7 shirt since then. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar’s No10 has not been worn any other player since his retirement in 2013 except pacer Shardul Thakur, who had opted for No 10 on his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in 2017 but was trolled heavily on social media.

KISHAN PULLS OUT OF INDIA SQUAD AHEAD OF SA TESTS India wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan has asked to be released from the upcoming two-match Test series in South Africa, citing unspecified personal reasons, officials said. Kishan will be replaced in the squad by KS Bharat, who is likely to be back-up to first-choice KL Rahul.

The 25-year-old Kishan has played two Tests for India after making his debut against West Indies in July this year, and scored 210 in a One-Day International against Bangladesh in December 2022. South Africa and India will begin the Test series in Pretoria on Dec. 26, with the second game to be played in Cape Town from Jan. 3. India are seeking a first Test series win in South Africa.

KIWIS WIN FIRST ODI AGAINST BANGLADESH Dunedin : Opener Will Young cracked a rapid century as New Zealand recovered from a dreadful start to beat Bangladesh by 44 runs in the rain-affected first ODI. The match was shortened to 30 overs each after three rain delays to New Zealand’s innings in Dunedin. The home side burst into life in the final stages to post an imposing 239-7.

Needing an adjusted target of 245 to win the first ODI of the three-match series, Bangladesh were restricted to 200-9 in a chase that lost momentum. New Zealand bounced back after losing two wickets in the game’s opening over when seamer Shoriful Islam had Rachin Ravindra and Henry Nicholls both caught without scoring.

A 171-run stand between Young, who hit 105, and captain Tom Latham, who finished with 92, handed the advantage back to the hosts.