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SEE PAGE 15-17

28 JAN - 3 FEB 2023

05 British Indian Jewish Association celebrates 25 years with a special reception in London

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

13 Palace urges community to spend a day volunteering to mark the King’s coronation in May

VOL 51 - ISSUE 37

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30

High Commission of India celebrates Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s 126th birth anniversary at India House

Oscar 2023 nominations: RRR and two documentaries are up for race

DIASPORA STANDS BY INDIAN PM NARENDRA MODI

British Tamils join the first ever Thai Pongal celebration at No10

Calls mount for independent probe into BBC’s two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question”

The Indian diaspora in the UK has been left fuming with anger, after watching BBC’s recent documentary series on the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The first episode of the twopart documentary “India: The Modi Question” was aired on BBC Two on 17 January 2023. While the Indian government has slammed the corporation dismissing the documentary as “propaganda”, BBC is sticking to its guns.

PM Rishi Sunak meeting PM Narendra Modi at G20 summit in Bali

Continued on page 06

Photo courtesy: Twitter @BTConservatives

Members of the Tamil community attending the first ever Thai Pongal celebration at Prime Minister’s residence

Rupanjana Dutta

On a crisp Friday noon, 10 Downing Street was readied to welcome UK’s Tamil community, for the first time ever, to celebrate Thai Pongal at the Prime Minister’s residence. At the celebration, a small ‘mandir’ was set up with Pongal and banana as offerings to the God. Continued on page 07

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AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

28 Jan - 3 Feb 2023

with Keith Vaz

Man who brandished fake gun in broad daylight, jailed

HANSA PANKHANIA Hansa Pankhania is an Author of Self-help books for adults and children available on Amazon and through her website. She is a Speaker and Founder of Aum Wellbeing Consultancy which offers personal and corporate wellbeing solutions.

In her street to success series of books, she is passionate about sharing natural wellbeing techniques which do not cost anything but nourish your body, mind, and soul in powerful ways. Her Chakraji children relaxation series of books passes natural wellbeing tips to primary age children using colourful illustrations.

She has also published her memoir best of three worlds about being born in Kenya as a British subject of Indian origin and the fusion of these three histories and cultures.

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

Home is where the heart is. My parents originate from Gujerat in India. I was born in Kenya and moved to UK at the age of 16 and lived in Birmingham for nearly 50 years. Recently I moved to Surrey. I have felt at home in all these places because of the love and psychological safety I feel from my loved ones. I have written a lot more about this in my memoir BEST OF 3 WORLDS. 2) What are your proudest achievements?

Without doubt, these are my children because they have turned out to be wonderful, kind and caring adults who are respected by their peers. My other proud achievements are my seven published books, which were created and nurtured in the same way. Every time a reader or client says their lives have changed for the better due to my input, is also a proud moment for me.

3) What inspires you?

Everything and anything big or small.

It can be the innocent smile of a child or a few words by a famous person. Nature is also inspiring. It has that inherent magic in it that makes the creative juices flow with ease for me.

4) What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

The lack of resources and time. There are so many people I want to help either by personal intervention or through my books, but I do not have all the resources I need.

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

My parents, husband and family who have always supported me with my vision.

I am truly blessed because I was brought up surrounded by love, acceptance and humanitarian values, so I endeavour to make a difference to peoples lives rather than measure personal worth through material things.

I was also influenced by Dipak Chopra after I met him at his Centre in California in 2004. He inspired me to set up my own Natural Wellbeing Centre in the Midlands and to help others through writing and publishing books about body, mind and spirit.

6) What is the best aspect about your current role?

Almost every aspect. I love my work. In fact, it does not feel like work to me, instead it is a labour of love and worship.

What can be better than spending time in your office and with likeminded people that eventually improves the lives of others?

7) And the worst?

Hurdles and challenges are an opportunity to learn and grow so in essence, all experiences are there to take you to the next level of your vision and purpose in life.

8) What are your long-term goals?

I am writing two more books on the link between wellbeing and living sustainably which I hope will not only boost the wellbeing of people but also our beautiful planet. One of them is a sequel to my memoir which will be called BEST OF ONE WORLD. The other is a self-help book about living an eco-friendly life that will also accelerate physical, mental and financial wellbeing.

I would also love to set up a Wellbeing Sustainable Centre in Surrey like I had in the Midlands if I got support with running costs, as property is very expensive in my area. I have the experience and passion, but again it is the lack of resources that is the hurdle to this project.

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

We need to shift our priorities.

Governments tend to focus on economic growth instead of focus on love, peace, compassion and humanity which eventually lead to economic growth because people would be healthier, fulfilled, creative and motivated. In the absence of that, hatred and conflict compromise economic output and causes illness. We are stuck in this downward spiral that needs to be reversed with a shift in values.

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

David Attenborough. Just imagine the conversations we would have about the countless species on our fascinating planet and the wonders of nature. I would be intrigued to learn how we can preserve all this treasure and variety of living forms for our future generations.

In Oxford, a man who brandished a fake gun in broad daylight before 'shooting' at a car, has been jailed.

On July 24,2022, police were summoned to Cowley Road at around 7.45pm following reports of a firearm being discharged towards a car 21-year-old Emman Riasat of Outram Road, Oxford, pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm with an intention to cause fear of violence.

Oxford Crown Court sentenced Riasat to two

years and one month in prison on January 19, 2023.

LPA Commander for Oxford, Superintendent Bruce Riddell, said: "I am satisfied that Riasat has been convicted and sentenced for the offence of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

"Thankfully incidents involving firearms and imitation firearms are very rare within the city, and I hope that the speed of which Riasat was traced, arrested

Four Met officers served misconduct notices for strip-searching minor A police sergeant and three constables of the Metropolitan Police have been served misconduct notices by the police watchdog, Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), following allegations that they strip-searched a 15-year-old girl while in detention.

The girl was detained following her arrest at Walworth Police Station in Kennington, south London, on 11 December 2020 and her mother came forward after the massive public outcry following the Child Q

incident, in which a black girl in an east London school was strip-searched in the absence of any adult by two female officers who knew she was on her periods.

The IOPC launched the investigation into this case after it received the complaint in May 2022 and the investigation was ongoing, Sky News reported.

According to Scotland Yard, the four officers remain in

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post since their notices were of ‘misconduct’, not ‘gross misconduct’. Sky News quoted the IOPC: "We can confirm that four Metropolitan Police Service officers have been served misconduct notices as part of our ongoing investigation… The serving of misconduct notices does not necessarily mean disciplinary proceedings will follow… Due to the sensitivities surrounding this matter, we cannot provide any further information at this time.”

Police must scrutinise all officers and staff by March end In England and Wales, police forces have been asked to check all their officers against national databases by 31 March.

After the case of David Carrick, who admitted dozens of rapes and sexual offences as a Met Police officer, the Home Office has now demanded checks.

The National Police Chief's Council (NPCC) wrote to chief constables asking them to take "immediate action" and check officers and staff.

In Tuesday, Carrick, 48, was officially sacked by his force after pleading guilty to 49 offences against 12 women over two decades.

It has also been alleged that criminal behaviour in a Metropolitan Police unit where convicted rapist David Carrick served was

overlooked because of nepotism.

Carrick, described as one of the UK’s worst sex offenders, committed 80 sex attacks over two decades during his time as a serving officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP) Command. He served in the unit that also employed Wayne Couzens, who raped and killed Sarah Everard in March 2021 while he was a serving officer. The Met has said that there is nothing to suggest the two officers knew each other.

Former Met detective sergeant Janet Hills said the influence of senior figures such as MPs, who officers such as Carrick are posted among, are partly behind the problems.

It has now emerged that Carrick was referred to by

Criticism for Met police over failure to protect woman FINANCIAL A SERVICES

and charged highlights how seriously we take such incidents.

"Thames Valley Police take a zero tolerance approach to incidents such as this and let it be clear you will be caught and you will be investigated and we will put the case to the courts for justice to be served.

"We would like to thank the public who supported this investigation and also for their understanding whilst the road was closed while we investigated."

The Metropolitan police is facing renewed criticism after a report found that officers missed opportunities to protect a woman from her ex-husband in the years before he killed her with a crossbow.

Sana Muhammad, 35, was eight months pregnant when Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo burst into her home in east London and shot an arrow into her stomach as she tried to flee. She suffered catastrophic internal injuries and died. Her unborn son was delivered by caesarean section and survived. The report on the Metropolitan police’s multiple failings comes in the same week it emerged officers had ignored eight warnings about serial rapist David Carrick.

Unmathallegadoo was convicted of murder in November 2019 and jailed for life with

a minimum term of 33 years. A domestic homicide review (DHR) report revealed that the Met police missed opportunities to protect Muhammad between 2012 and 2018, including officers disposing of a “burglary kit” discovered outside her home.

According to the report, conducted by Redbridge council and chaired by former police officer Bill Griffiths, Muhammad called police to her home in February 2012 telling them she “did not feel safe” around her husband. She also told the call handler that her mother had told her that morning that Unmathallegadoo had said to her: “The way I am feeling right now, I could kill someone, do you want me to go to jail?” Griffiths wrote in the report that the expectation would have been that a risk assessment should take place after the call, but this was not done.

colleagues as “Bastard Dave”, a nickname he boasted about to his victims.

Despite nine opportunities to take action against Carrick after allegations of rape, domestic violence and harassment, the Met continued to employ him for two decades while he carried out his attacks.

Ms Hills called for officers to only be stationed in posts with close proximity to influential figures for a limited time period. She said: “For me, what needs to happen is that officers need to be given a specific tenure within those kinds of units, maybe three or five years, something along those lines, where then they are removed.”

NPCC chairman Martin Hewitt said, "Words will not rebuild confidence, only action and the public seeing the results of that action.

"Checks of all officers and staff will ensure we are turning over every stone in our efforts to rid policing of abusers and corrupt individuals. I know the dedicated, professional majority in policing will support this action."

The Met confirmed Carrick used his status as a police officer to continue offending until October 2021 when a victim came forward to report him.

The Home Office has also launched a review of the police disciplinary system.

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28 Jun - 3 Feb 2023

Is Sunak’s Britain finally heading to a recession free year?

UK’s Tory government does not seem to be able to catch a breath, with constant fear of rebellion within the party and rule-breaking leaders. When Prime Minister David Cameron came to power with a full majority, he had dreamt of Britain as a Remainer state, a part of EU. But uninterested electorates, failed to turn up to vote, eventually starting Boris Johnson’s political career as UK’s (future) Prime Minister.

The man had many woes, but during Covid-19, after making many colossal blunders, he made sure, he delivered a very good vaccination system, that saved thousands of lives.

Mr Johnson was robust and despite what followed, he successfully led the nation out of the pandemic abyss. But of course, his failure to save lives in time, inability to reduce institutional discriminations that led to thousands of frontliners losing lives, he knew the economy would suffer. And today what we see, despite furloughs and all sorts of grants extended, is an economy, that is battererd. But it is not all doom and gloom.

The positive leadership of Rishi Sunak, despite his own problems, perhaps brings in more hopes than not. His five promises in the beginning of the year are looking to align with predictions of slight growth as China opens its doors

after years.

The Financial Times, in a recent report revived new hopes for the Eurozone countries. The report by Valentina Romei said: "the Eurozone will avoid a recession this year, according to a widely watched survey of economists that illustrates the sharp about-turn in global economic sentiment in the past couple of weeks.

"As recently as last month, analysts surveyed by Consensus Economics were predicting that the bloc would plunge into recession in 2023.

"But this month’s survey found that they now expect it to log growth of 0.1 per cent over the course of 2023. This is because of lower energy prices, bumper government support and the earlier than anticipated reopening of the Chinese economy, which is set to boost global demand.

"The upgrade comes after officials and business leaders at last week’s annual World Economic Forum in Davos also embraced a more upbeat outlook, and the IMF signalled that it would soon upgrade its forecasts for global growth."

Time will tell if UK has the same fate as other EU countries, but it makes the country truly optimistic amidst so many current challenges.

India is not a white man’s burden!

The BBC’s two-part documentary on Narendra Modi, called “India: The Modi Question” has antagonised the country’s Indian diaspora as well as the Hindu community. The documentary that was aired on 17 January 2023 has now witnessed petitions against it, launched by community members, demanding probe into BBC’s duties as a public broadcaster.

A petition that has been started by Ash Parmar on Change.Org, is calling for an independent investigation into the documentary. It was launched over the weekend and as we went to press, it already attracted thousands of signatures. It also urged OFCOM, as the independent regulator of the BBC, to hold the organisation to account for its repeated failures to secure content standards which command the trust of license-fee paying audiences.

There are few issues that needs highlighting. First, this documentary was based on something that India’s Prime Minister was accused of 21 years ago. He was eventually cleared of the accusations, and then elected as the Prime Minister of India consecutively. He came to the UK thrice after that, representing his people and has been well received by the diaspora and politicians in the UK, including former Prime Ministers.

Second, India is a huge country. It is diverse and people in India live as harmoniously as possible. The problems, clashes and eventually the politics of it is not for anyone outside the country to bother about. When fingers are pointed towards a nation’s Prime Minister, may whatever be his past, it is naturally a criticism of the country and its electorates. It is a shame, because Indian media is not seen questioning why two of UK’s Prime Ministers consecutively resigned, leaving the country in a financial limbo. Or why is there a record number of people in a so-called developed country, living on state funds?

Third, this severe criticism and scathing documentary comes when the UK and India are about to close the Free Trade Agreement deal in 2023, after rounds of negotiations as well as controversies, followed from comments by the UK’s Home Office. Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has also refused granting extra student visas, though UK is looking to attract more Indians as students after the number of Chinese students rapidly decline (see page 11).

During an exclusive interview with Asian Voice in December, Ms Badenoch told the newsweekly, “Our shared priority is to have an ambitious and balanced deal. We've been in discussions since January and the negotiations are progressing very well. But we need something that's going to be mutually beneficial to both the UK and India. We are already very close trading partners, and we want to build on our existing strong friendship. We're looking into many areas, including goods, services, and investment protections. What we’re looking at in this deal is how we can go above and beyond our existing trading relationship.

We want a trade deal that works for future generations, not just this one.

“Talks are in a good place following the visit and recent negotiating round. We’re looking ahead now to round seven which will likely take place early 2023. We’ve set our excellent negotiating teams the challenge to work at pace, as they have been doing. Our focus remains on securing a forward-facing deal which works for both sides and deepens our strong trading relationship, worth £29 billion according to our latest 12-month figures.”

Fourth, though this documentary was reportedly made earlier, but it has been aired exactly when UK has an Indian-origin and a proud Hindu Prime Minister at the helm of government affairs. This of course is not the first time. In previous years The Economist has taken a certain stance towards Narendra Modi and his Gujarat government. Asian Voice Publisher/Editor-in-Chief had written to their editor and eventually a journalist engaged

and wrote a more acceptable and well-balanced piece.

Referring to Gujarat’s recent election, in an article The Economist wrote, “Ruled by Narendra Modi’s Hindunationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 1998, India’s westernmost state is a great success story overall. It is the sixth-richest state and accounts for 30% of exports. Its economy grew at an average annual rate of 11% between 2011 and 2021, the fastest in the country…"

But then it went on to say, “BJP rule has been much less successful at improving Indians’ poor health and woeful education. Child-mortality rates are falling, but patchily.

More than a third of children under five are stunted, a higher rate than in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In 2018 around half of all rural children in fifth grade could not read to second-grade levels. And after two years of school closures during the pandemic, the situation is unlikely to have improved… The poorest bits of the country are missing out most, largely because India’s growth is so unequally distributed. According to official figures, unemployment in Gujarat is 2.9%; in Uttar Pradesh (up), a poor northern state of 240m people, it is 7.1%. Yet the BJP has suffered little or no blowback in such places…"

If you look closely, despite several false starts, India’s economy is booming. On December 6, 2022, the World Bank upgraded its forecast for growth this year from 6.5% to 6.9%.

Despite stunted growth at certain State levels, BJP has remained as their ruling party, because it has proved its ability to deliver better than other parties in those States.

Fifth, the Hindu-Muslim riots in Midlands, triggered a sort of unknown fear in the hearts of the diaspora. Despite living together harmoniously for over 70 years, the clash was instigated by false narratives and messages circulated through social media. The very job of a media is to ensure fake messages can be combatted. But then going ahead and producing this documentary, BBC has triggered a panic among the Asian diasporas. They fear Hindus and Muslims will clash on this topic, more as Pakistani MPs allegedly are trying to prompt anti-India sentiments. While PM Sunak has distanced himself from this, people are waiting to hear what the Opposition leader will do, to ensure unity.

Lord Dolar Popat in a letter to the BBC said, “The UK is a tolerant place and a place where religious freedom is seen as vitally important. As part of this, I condemn the stirring up of religious hatred in the United Kingdom by failing to accurately represent the situation in India. This false representation had old wounds by creating hatred between British Hindus and Muslims by attempting to paint India as an intolerant nation where Muslims are persecuted. If this had been the case, Muslims would have left India by now…”

Lord Rami Ranger asked a very pertinent question in his letter to the BBC. He said, “The BBC documentary has opened old wounds by creating hatred between British Hindus and Muslims by attempting to paint India as an intolerant nation where Muslims are persecuted…”

He then went on to ask, “Should you not make a documentary to take responsibility for the bloodshed that continues unabated? How about the famine in Bengal and the massacre of innocent people in Jallianwala Bagh?”

The UK is undergoing tremendous strain due to cost-ofliving crisis, staff shortage and funding issues in the NHS. In the current scenario, UK deserves to keep friends as friends and not turn them into foes. Instigating the diaspora of a friendly nation through a widely watched television show, enraging one of the richest ethnicities in the UK, may not be a wise move! In the UK, we have almost 1.5 million Indians, making up 2.5% of the population. According to a survey by Insight UK recently, reportedly, 654 Indian diaspora owned companies through capital expenditure collectively invest around £2bn in the UK economy and the combined revenue of all identified companies is £37bn.

Thought for the week Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.

— Walt Whitman

Political Sketchbook Alpesh Patel

A Republic Day Speech With thanks to inspiration from President Obama, a speech for India’s Republic Day. Especially timely as the hatred on social media is dividing not joining the world.

Each year that we gather to celebrate our Republic we must affirm the promise of our democracy. We must recall that what binds this nation together is not the caste of our forefathers or the tenets of our faiths or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional -- what makes us Indian -- is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made less than a century ago. That we are an Independent people, slaves of no master, ancient in beliefs, young in outlook.

We heard a Mahatma proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth. This is what it means to be an Indian.

Entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed, the patriots of 1947 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few.

Through blood drawn by lathi and blood drawn by bullet we learned that our strength lay in our non-violence, but that our ability to suffer pain was strength not weakness.

Together, we determined that that we are a nation and refuge for all the world’s faiths for over two thousand years, but our warm welcome should not be mistaken for a lack of steadfastness in our own beliefs.

Together, we resolved that a great nation must be willing to shed the blood of its own sons to protect the values of freedom around the world it holds dearest.

Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise, our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in our character.

India’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Indians, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it.

We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an Indian; she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own. It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn respect equal our own in deed, not just in word.

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Indians are not just to ourselves, but to all humanity commanded to our care by God. Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm.

You and I, as Indians, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time -- not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defence of our most ancient values and enduring ideals. Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright as Indians. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom, human dignity and justice.

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Report shows campus antisemitism on the rise Students and academics at British universities are suffering from a rise in antisemitic attacks, a report from the Community Security Trust (CST) has shown.

Since 2020 the charity has received 150 reports of antisemitic incidents, including death threats and physical assaults. In a single month, May 2021, 55 incidents took place.

Mark Gardner, the CST’s chief executive has said: “Students’ unions and university authorities

need to better support their Jewish students.”

This comes to light, just a few

days before the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, held every year on 27 January, as designated by the United Nations General Assembly.

On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges member states to honour the Holocaust's 6 million Jewish victims as well as other victims of Nazism.

They also urge public to develop educational programs to help prevent such genocides in the future.

Virendra Sharma MP signs Holocaust Educational Trust Book of Commitment Virendra Sharma MP has signed the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment, in doing so pledging his commitment to Holocaust Memorial Day and honouring those who were murdered during the Holocaust as well as paying tribute to the extraordinary Holocaust survivors who work tirelessly to educate young people today.

In the lead up to and on Holocaust Memorial Day, hundreds of commemorative events have been arranged by schools, faith groups and community organisations across the country, remembering all the victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides. The theme for this year’s commemorations is ‘Ordinary People’.

After signing the Book of Commitment, Virendra Sharma MP said, “Holocaust Memorial Day is an important opportunity for people from Ealing Southall to reflect on the darkest times of European history. Today, I pledge to remember the six million

Virendra Sharma MP signing Holocaust Educational Trust Book of Commitment

Jewish men, women and children were murdered in who Holocaust.”

Karen Pollock CBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said, “On Holocaust Memorial Day we remember the 6 million men, women and children who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, simply for being Jewish, and we pay tribute to the incredible survivors, many of whom still share their testimony

day in and day out to ensure that future generations never forget the horrors of the past. We also remember that antisemitism did not start or end with the Holocaust, we must all be vigilant, and speak out whenever it is found.”

The Holocaust Educational Trust was founded in 1988. Their mission is to raise awareness and understanding in schools and amongst the wider public of the Holocaust and its relevance today.

It is our belief that the Holocaust must have a permanent place in our nation’s collective memory.

One of the Trust’s earliest achievements was to ensure that the Holocaust was included in the National Curriculum for England in 1991 – for Key Stage 3 students (11–14-year-olds). The Holocaust has remained on the National Curriculum since then. The Trust has also successfully campaigned to have the assets of Holocaust victims and survivors released and returned to their rightful owners in the late 1990s.

Dr Vaishnavi ‘Vaish’ Kumar, who committed suicide on June 2022, blamed Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QE) where she was working at the time of her death, according to the suicide note she left to her parents, the BBC reported. "I am sorry mum, I can blame the whole thing on the QEH," the junior doctor wrote in the letter, which her family tried to present as evidence, unsuccessfully, during the doctor’s inquest.

The inquest also heard that she had told the paramedics not to take her to the QE just before she died.

Kumar was seen as an outstanding trainee and mentor with strong leadership skills and was chosen as chief registrar at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals where she worked through the Covid-19 pandemic.

But all that changed once she moved to the QE and she told her family that she felt belittled by the consultants there. Things took a turn for the worse in December 2021 when she was informed that her training at the QE would be extended and that she would not be able to take up a position in Stoke-on-Trent.

She contacted mental health services but did not pursue the matter further. She also under-

(Photo courtesy: Twitter)

Doctor’s suicide note blames hospital, says heartbroken family

Dr Vaishnavi Kumar

took a telephonic assessment in May 2022 which diagnosed her with severe depression and moderately severe anxiety. This was compounded by her grandfather’s death and a low platelet count.

It is especially sad considering that Kumar was there for other doctors contemplating suicide, according to her father Dr Ravi Kumar. "She must have gone through a huge amount of bullying and stress otherwise she is not the girl who would have done this… So, people who have done this have done a huge amount of damage and that makes me angry…. Junior doctors are suffering. If you make their lives better,

they will become better doctors, if they have a better environment.

Please help them”, he told the BBC. The Doctors' Association UK (DAUK), meanwhile, urged NHS England to enquire into the high rates of suicide among the trust’s doctors. According to the DAUK, four trust doctors had killed themselves recently, with three of them in 2022. QE is run by the University Hospitals Birmingham, one of the biggest NHS trusts in England and it is currently undergoing three separate reviews following allegations of a ‘climate of fear’ by the staff, according to the BBC. Speaking of Kumar, a spokesperson for the trust told the BBC,” They offer an opportunity for a clear examination of the situation and carefully considered improvement… Dr Vaishnavi Kumar was a kind, devoted, muchloved and highly respected doctor, friend and colleague, who had such a positive impact on her patients, offering them the very best care and treatment… We were very sad to learn of her death and our thoughts remain with her family at this difficult time.”

Coroners investigating the case, meanwhile, were unavailable for comment.

Antisemitism still alive in British society Jonathan Metliss Holocaust Memorial Day returns on Friday, 27 January 2023. This is to commemorate the systematic killing of millions of Jewish people

by Nazi Germany and the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. Between 1941 and 1945, six million Jewish men, women and children were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators in Europe, around two thirds of Europe’s Jewish population . This is known as the Holocaust (or Shoah). Holocaust Memorial Day also marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz- Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.

Interestingly, BBC Four has been showing a programme entitled ‘US and the Holocaust’ with footage showing the atrocities carried out by the Nazis against Jewish people in Europe and the failure of the United State of America and the Allies to respond positively to the outrage and come to the aid of the Jewish people. In addition, Steven Spielberg's film Schindler’s List was shown on television Sunday evening, bringing back awful and horrific memories of the Holocaust.

The Holocaust ended 75 years ago, but its lessons remain crucial.

“Never again” is the message conveyed by Israel and the Jewish community. Having said that, antisemitic (anti-Jewish and antiIsrael) behaviour is ‘alive’ and on the increase. We see it in the media including the BBC, on the internet, actively at Universities and in the National Union of Students and latterly, in the leadership and rank and file of the Labour party. We also see it in sport, especially in football where for example Tottenham Hotspur supporters use the chants ‘Yid’, ‘Yid army’ and ‘being a Yid’, provoking antisemitic responses from other supporter groups. In the sport of cricket, there is also evidence of antisemitic comments and behaviour.

Sadly, criticisms of the State of Israel have morphed into antisemitic behaviour in all the above areas.

The Jewish people have always shown allegiance to the society in which they live and have settled , and to the monarch of the day. In this respect , Jewish people have for centuries served in the UK armed forces and this military tradition stretches back at least 250 years. The Duke of Wellington estimated that he had 15 Jewish officers at Waterloo and there were Jewish sailors at Trafalgar.

Thousands of Jews served in both the Crimean and Boer Wars. In World War I from just 300,000 people, 50,000 Jewish people served in his Majesty’s armed forces. From 1917-1921, five battalions of the Royal Fusiliers were known as the Jewish Legion.

Towards the end of the Legion’s existence, it was reduced to a single battalion named First Judeans.

The unit attracted hundreds of volunteers from America, the Middle East and even Argentina.

There were around 260 Jewish officers in the RAF when it was created in 1918, meaning the Jewish presence in the RAF has existed for as long as the RAF has.

Even now, Jewish people are continuing to join the RAF, including

one of the Rabbis in the Brighton Jewish community.

In World War II, around 55,000 Jews served in HMAF. From 1944-1946 there was also the Jewish brigade, an all-Jewish unit raised from Jews in the British mandate of Palestine, commanded by British and Canadian Jewish officers. They fought primarily in Italy. Three Victoria Crosses were awarded and 1,410 other medals and citations with a further 1,123 mentioned in despatches.

In 1921, a number of Jewish veterans from World War 1 laid a wreath at the newly erected Cenotaph at Whitehall in honour of all their comrades who died in that conflict.

In recognition of this monumental contribution of the Jewish community to the HMAF in the First World War, in 1928 King George V allowed Jewish veterans to march at Whitehall the Sunday after Remembrance Sunday. This annual tradition continues today with serving personnel, veterans and civilians parading at the Cenotaph to celebrate the British Jewish military tradition. Jewish men and women attend from Glasgow, Newcastle, Hull Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Birmingham, London and many more towns and cities for this token of homage. The AJEX parade and ceremony is the most important Jewish external event of the year. I, myself, am proud to march wearing my late parents’ medals. My father served in the Royal Navy in Ceylon and my mother in the ATS (Stars in Battledress), both in World War II. In 1928, British Jewish ex-servicemen and women resolved to form a Jewish ex-servicemen organisation, which was first called the Jewish Legion and later in the 1930s the Association of ExServicemen and Women, AJEX as we know it today. I have recently had the privilege and honour of being appointed to the advisory board of AJEX, which continues to organise the annual remembrance parade and ceremony every year at Whitehall.

Furthermore , the Jewish chaplaincy was, until very recently, the only non- Christian chaplaincy in HMAF. It was started in 1892.

The Jewish community is proud that five Jewish servicemen have been awarded the Victoria Cross, whilst many others have been awarded medals or gallantry, or being mentioned in despatches.

To summarise, Holocaust Memorial Day is a stark reminder of the depths to which society can lower itself. We must continue to fight and battle strenuously against racist and racism, wherever it exists. In the UK, the Jewish community has always shown its commitment and loyalty to the country and the Crown, for which is should be lauded.

(Jonathan Metliss – Chairman of Action Against Discrimination, member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Chairman of the Board of Deputies Committee on Antisemitism in Sport, Chairman of the Jewish Weekly, member of the advisory board of the Association of Jewish Ex-servicemen and Chairman of Axiom DWFM Solicitors)

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British Indian Jewish Association celebrates 25 years with a special reception in London Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sends his best wishes for award winners CB Patel and Justin Cohen Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sent his best wishes to the British Indian Jewish Association (BIJA) on their 25th anniversary reception, at an event held on Thursday 19th January at the Rosenblatt Memory Crystal office in Fleet Street.

Co-Chair Dr Peter Chadha read out PM Sunak’s letter at the start of the packed event, attended by around 100 people.

The letter read, “I applaud the work of BIJA in bringing the Indian and the Jewish communities together, along with the vision of your founders. We need organisations such as yours to build the bonds of friendship between different communities together.

Furthermore, I know how much the Indian and the Jewish communities have in common. The values such

Zaki Cooper quizzing Josh Glancy and Manveen Rana

(Sunday Times and JC) and Manveen Rana (co-host of The Times podcast, Stories of our times), who were quizzed by Co-Chair Zaki Cooper. They spoke about their careers as well as the similarities between the two communities.

Manveen spoke about being kidnapped as an investigative journalist and foiling a terror plot in

CB Patel receiving BIJA Community Award from Lord Pannick

give us encouragement as we head with optimism to the future.”

Award. I have always seen a very special bonding between the Indian and Jewish communities.

I was involved in BIJA’s founding in the 1990s and think of the relationship between Indians and Jews as mutually beneficial, as well as a blessing for the country as a whole. Long may that continue. I can say without any hesitation that Justin Cohen receiving award from the best is yet to come. I Cllr Reena Ranger feel very happy that at On receiving the BIJA the age of 86 when I look Community Award, CB back, I feel satisfied.” said, “I am honoured to On receiving his award, receive a BIJA Community

Mr Cohen added, “Receiving an award for doing a job I have loved for over two decades was unexpected and special in equal measure. All the more so as it came so soon after losing my dad, a proud British Jew who was born in India.

Huge thanks to JN editor Richard Ferrer for giving me the freedom to work on a range of innovative projects, and to Russell Bahar whose drive has ensured AJBN’s huge growth over the last three years.” photo credit: Raj D Bakrania, PrMediapix

An extra pair for you, on us 2 for 1 from £69

Letter from PM Rishi Sunak

as the importance of family and education are very similar, and there are even parallels in the festivities, which I noted when I recently hosted a Chanukah reception at No10…”

The event included the presentation of BIJA Community Awards to Justin Cohen (News Editor of the Jewish News), and CB Patel (Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar), in recognition of their work to build the bonds within and between communities.

Congratulating CB and Justin, PM Sunak wrote, “I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my congratulations to CB Patel and Justin Cohen for receiving the BIJA Community Awards for their remarkable contribution to civic and public life.”

The event also featured interviews with Josh Glancy

London, whilst John spoke about interviewing famous people such as Bill Clinton and Pamela Anderson.

Other speakers included Anil Rajani (Partner at Rosenblatt and BIJA Trustee), who welcomed everyone, Sophie Ross (BIJA Committee), Cllr Reena Ranger (BIJA Committee) and Lord David Pannick KC (BIJA Advisory Board).

Co-Chairs Zaki Cooper and Dr Peter Chadha said, “We were delighted that the atmosphere was so positive and energetic, in celebrating the friendship between the Indian and Jewish communities. Our guest speakers Josh and Manveen were superb. It was also very important to recognise two stars in our communities, Justin and CB, who both work in media organisations, for the impactful work they have done over many years.

This event was to celebrate our first 25 years and will

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DIASPORA STANDS BY INDIAN PM NARENDRA MODI Continued from page 1 A Change.Org petition started by Ash Parmar, is now demanding a probe into BBC’s duties as a public broadcaster, calling for an independent investigation into the documentary. It was launched over the weekend and as we went to press, it already attracted thousands of signatures.

The petition said, “We strongly condemn the BBC for failing to meet the highest standards of editorial impartiality in its two-part documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’.”

It also called upon BBC Board to conduct an independent investigation into this serious breach of its duties as a public service broadcaster and publish the findings in full.

It also urged OFCOM, as the independent regulator of the BBC, to hold the organisation to account for its repeated failures to secure content standards which command the trust of license-fee paying audiences.

The petitioner further added, “We request OFCOM to discuss any necessary corrections and clarifications with the BBC as part of its regular meetings with the broadcaster on the ‘Impartiality and Editorial Standards Action Plan’ and ‘Serota Review’.”

Rationale and background to this collective mass complaint The petitioner also explained the rationale behind this campaign. He said, “The BBC's two-part documentary on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister during a spate of riots in 2002 is yet another example of agenda driven reporting and institutional bias that now characterises this once globally respected organisation. The timing for airing, some 21 years later, a so-called investigative report that has nothing new in it, but only shoehorns old allegations to fit the producers clearly predetermined conclusions in itself speaks volumes.

“Inexplicably, it comes at a time when India’s Supreme Court has, after a lengthy investigation and due process, completely absolved Prime Minister Modi from the very same allegations of complicity in the 2002 riots that the BBC now seeks to rake up after more than two decades.

“Indeed, the programme itself reflects a hesitancy about the legal credibility of the accusations it serves up, repeatedly using words such as ‘allegedly’ and ‘reportedly’ without furnishing even a shred of credible new evidence. This clearly only underlines the agenda driven and distorted narrative that the producers have attempted to peddle.

Lord Dolar Popat

Lord Rami Ranger

“In contrast, Prime Minister Modi, as the (repeatedly) elected leader of the world's largest democracy, is credited for large scale social and financial inclusion programmes which have benefited tens of millions of India’s most vulnerable regardless of religion, caste, gender, or region…

“With this petition we strongly condemn the BBC for what is nothing but a piece of sinister propaganda journalism that deliberately misinforms its viewers.”

Some people have also written to their local MPs, asking to take a stand against the BBC. MPs, Peers and community leaders come forward Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addressing a question at the House of Commons raised by Bradford East MP Imran Hussain during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) firmly distanced the UK government from the negative characterisation of PM Modi.

Answering the Pakistani-origin Labour MP’s question, whether PM Sunak agreed “with his Foreign Office diplomats that Modi was directly responsible” for the clashes 20 years ago, Mr Sunak responded, “The UK government’s position on that is clear and long standing, and it has not changed.

“Of course, we do not tolerate persecution anywhere, but I am not sure that I agree at all with the characterisation that the hon. gentleman has put forward.”

A senior Labour Shadow Minister also distanced His Majesty’s Opposition from its party MP’s question. He clarified that it did not reflect the Labour party’s stance and the issue has reportedly been raised with Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Lord Dolar Popat, writing a letter to Tim Davie, Director General of BBC said, “The BBC play an important role in educating the UK population and are a trusted source of information around the world.

Therefore, I was shocked by the documentary produced by the BBC implicating the Hon. Prime Minister of India in the Gujarat riots of 2002 which aired on 17 January 2023. The documentary was heavily one sided and failed to reflect the series of events that have unfolded since the riots. Prime Minister was cleared on his involvement

by the Indian judiciary and parliament, which helped to lead his re-election as a trusted leader.

“The UK is a tolerant place and a place where religious freedom is seen as vitally important. As part of this, I condemn the stirring up of religious hatred in the United Kingdom by failing to accurately represent the situation in India. This false representation had old wounds by creating hatred between British Hindus and Muslims by attempting to paint India as an intolerant nation where Muslims are persecuted. If this had been the case, Muslims would have left India by now…”

He also reminded Mr Davie, about India’s progress since independence on diversity and the protection of law regardless of their race, religion and gender. He also asked to consider stopping the screening of the second part of the documentary to avoid ‘exasperating the already tense situation between British Hindus and Muslims in many of our cities’.

Lord Rami Ranger speaking on similar lines said, “The documentary not only insults two times democratically elected Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world but also the judiciary and parliament, which investigated Mr Modi rigorously and exonerated him from being involved in the riots in any way.

“I condemn violence and loss of life wherever it takes place, and I equally condemn stirring up religious hatred

in United Kingdom by bringing up the politics of the subcontinent to the United Kingdom…

“The BBC documentary has opened old wounds by creating hatred between British Hindus and Muslims by attempting to paint India as an intolerant nation where Muslims are persecuted…”

He further raised questions about the intention of Britain to shed light on its own “bloody” history that led to three wars and divided the country into India and Pakistan. Lord Ranger added, “Should you not make a documentary to take responsibility for the bloodshed that continues unabated? How about the famine in Bengal and the massacre of innocent people in Jallianwala Bagh?”

The Hindu Forum of Britain wrote to Deborah Turness, CEO BBC News and Current Affairs. It said, “Hindu community has in large numbers communicated to us the insensitivity and lack of judgement the BBC has exercised in airing a programme, which has the potential to cause untold damage at a time when communities, police and ordinary people in Leicester and other cities are trying to rebuild relationships, trust and harmony after the events of Summer 2022. This preposterous ill-advised production of airing of a Hindu hate piece could well be the ammunition thugs need to go out and target Hindus.

Does the BBC not have any responsibility?”

Insight UK, a campaign group tweeted, “We strongly condemn the BBC's India: The Modi Question. How much longer will @BBCNews lies continue?

Riddled with antisemitism, anti-hindu & anti-india bias, they've lost many viewers & yet continue spreading their hate. Is #BBC going down the road of complete disenfranchisement?”

Making the best out of your day Rohit Vadhwana

W

e all have only 24 hours a day. It depends on us how we spend it.

How we make the best out of it.

Whether we waste the whole day doing nothing or we make use of every second makes a lots of difference.

Everyone has own priority and preference. Where to spend time and energy during the day and for what result is your own prerogative. For some people working in office is important while for others spending a quality time is more enjoyable. People allocate time towards the goals of making their career, or maintaining good health by doing exercise or Yoga. We also try to achieve the much talked of work-life balance, a new buzz word in crazily busy world.

Depending on the stage of life, your priorities would change. If you are a student, spending 8 hours in school or library is common but if you are a sports person, naturally your time would be spent sweating on the ground. Let's say it's your call of duty If you fail to give enough time to it, certainly you are not doing justice to your own craft. A professional working in a corporate office would dedicatedly be devoted to official work for most part of the day.

Any deviation from it would be detrimental to his progress in short or long term. Let's call this demand on your time as 'call of duty' which is essential for anyone to attend to.

If one can do the right balance between the call of duty and other activities of own choice or requirements, perhaps the day is productive. If there is skewed allocation of your limited time between various aspects of your life, it would create an imbalance sooner or later. Every aspect of life has to be attended to in appropriate way, every day.

Nothing can be postponed indefinitly.

Having only limited time in our kitty, we all stive to achieve the maximum out of it every day. Have you ever wondered how is your day spent? Where do you give maximum of your time and energy? Is it for your call of duty, or any other activity of your choice or distress? Counting on your time is the best way to creating your own time. If you can watch the watch, your watch will never go out of your control. Yes, being mindful and judicious in allocating your time towards different demanding activities is the best way to monitor and control your day. This is the first requirement to make the best out of your day, any day.

(Expressed opinions are personal)

Predators could exploit gender self identification says government minister As government minister Kemi Badenoch voiced her opposition to proposed reforms, she said "predators" could exploit gender selfidentification.

Earlier this week, legislation to reform the gender recognition process passed by the Scottish parliament was blocked by the UK gov-

Lord Bilimoria calls PM Modi one of the most powerful people on this planet Lord Karan Bilimoria, Chair of the new India (Trade and Investment) All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has called on Prime Minister Sunak to lead a large business delegation to India, as soon as possible.

Addressing a debate titled “The Importance of the Relationship Between the United Kingdom and India”, Lord Bilimoria said, “As a boy, Narendra Modi sold tea at his father’s tea stall at a railway station in Gujarat. Today he is one of the most powerful people on this planet as Prime Minister of India.

“Today India has the presidency of the G20.

Today India has a vision to

Lord Karan Bilimoria

become, in the next 25 years, the second-largest economy in the world with a GDP of $32 billion. The Indian express has left the station.

It is now the fastest train in the world—the fastestgrowing major economy in the world. The UK must be its closest and most trusted friend and partner in the decades ahead.”

Baroness Sandip Verma,

who is the President of the APPG, is scheduled to take the first cross-party delegation to India in April.

In response to the debate, UK Foreign Office Minister for South Asia Lord Tariq Ahmad said, “As one of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing economies, India is a key partner to the UK… A strong trade deal with India could boost the UK economy by billions of pounds over the long term, helping families across the country.

Cutting red tape and high tariffs could also make it easier and cheaper for UK companies to sell in India, driving growth and supporting jobs.”

ernment.

The minister for women and equalities argued that offenders can "exploit any system that says you can just say you are what you are," putting women and girls at risk.

It has happened for the first time that Westminster has used the power since devolution nearly 25 years ago.

Last month, the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by a majority of MSPs, with Nicola Sturgeon hailing it as a "historic day for equality".

The reforms approved by the bill will allow trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC) without the need for a medical diagnosis. She told a newspaper: "We have no problem with that in the sense that we want people who are trans to be able to live their lives freely and as they wish.

Predators would be able to exploit any system that says you can just say you are what you are." Ms Badenoch announced that the the list of countries from which the UK will accept gender recognition certificates will be updated by the government.

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MP’s father, Lakhmanbhai Vara, passes away aged 98 Shri Lakhmanbhai Arjanbhai Vara Minakshi both qualified as beloved father of MP Shailesh solicitors and ran the solicitors Vara, passed away peacefully at practice of Vara & Co. The fourth and youngest child is Shailesh his home in London, UK on 10th who trained as a solicitor and was January 2023, surrounded by his elected to Parliament in 2005 as a family.

He was born on 7th September Conservative Member of 1924 in Ranavav, near Porbandar, Parliament. Shailesh has been Gujarat, India. He was a proud elected to Parliament five times and has held various Ministerial son of Raniben and Arjanbhai Late Lakhmanbhai posts, including Secretary of State Vara. He skilled himself in Arjanbhai Vara for Northern Ireland. carpentry and at the age of 19, Shri Lakhmanbhai was a loving husband, sailed from India to Mombasa, Kenya. He father, grandfather and great-grandfather. In worked in Kenya for some time and then an announcement by his family Lakhmanbhai moved to Kakira, Uganda where he worked was described as ‘A divine soul who touched with the Madhvani family. He married the lives of many with his beautiful smile, Savitaben, daughter of Meraman Gadher who warmth, generosity and humility. A life well lived in Kitale, Kenya. lived, full of love, affection and kindness; Shri Lakhmanbhai wanted to ensure a forever in our hearts. good education for his children and better At this onset ‘Gujarat Samachar– Asian future for the family so he migrated to the Voice’ family prays to God to help UK. In 1964, he arrived in Birmingham, UK Lakhmanbhai’s soul rest in peace and give his where he worked as a joiner. He subsequently family members the strength to face the sad moved to Aylesbury and then Golders Green demise. in London.

The family asks that their privacy is Shri Lakhmanbhai and Savitaben have respected at this time and that there are no four children: Ranjana, Jayantilal, Minakshi home visits. Those wishing to express and Shailesh. Ranjana is the eldest daughter personal condolences can write to his family who previously ran the Asian Elderly Centre on : Email: lakhman.divinesoul@gmail.com in Aylesbury for 15 years. Jayantilal and

British Indian painter chosen as ‘Landscape Artist of the Year’ Artist Sangeeta Weatherley from Chiswick, London has been chosen for the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year competition. This has put her among the top 17.4% of applicants.

She took part in the heats at Royal Ascot Racecourse and got featured in episode 2 of series 9, which was broadcasted on Wednesday, January 18, on Sky Arts channel.

The artists were asked to submit a main painting and two additional works of art, as part of the application.

Sangeeta decided to focus on her favourite

Photo courtesy: Linkedin

stretch of the river – Strandon-the-Green as she is passionate about the outdoors and regularly walks the Thames Path.

She is a self-taught artist from India and has studied IT. She also offers free community art events for Hounslow Council, Hogarth House, Digital Dock, Chiswick Flower Market and the Bedford Park Festival.

Sky Arts commences a search across Britain and Ireland for a new star of landscape painting every year with a brand-new series of Landscape Artist of the Year, that airs on Sky Arts, Freeview and NOW. On January 11,2023, the new series started which has eight episodes consisting of five heats, a semi-final, a final and a prize commission.

UK youngsters prefer samosas to biscuits with tea Britioners who hav been enjoying tea with borubon or digestives as part of their life, however, a recent survey revealed that young people in the UK are opting for savoury snacks instead of sweet treats.

As per the a survey of 1,000 people by the United Kingdom Tea & Infusions Association (UKTIA), 18 to 29 year-olds are opting for granola bars as a tea snack and more than double the proportion of over-65s.

Samosa is at second place with some eight per cent of youngsters surveyed

opting for the savoury Indian snack with their tea but no one over 65 did.

"I think granola bars are probably also quite filling, so maybe people are having that as a snack with their tea to fill them up," Dr Sharon Hall, the chief executive of the UKTIA, told The Daily

Telegraph newspaper.

"They may be looking for something a little bit more substantial. The same would apply to a samosa," she said.

"One thing that we are interested to find out more about is maybe such food reminds them of recent travels they have taken and a cuppa with a samosa takes them back to that memory.

We know from the data that a cuppa (tea) triggers many sorts of positive emotions, and that's something that really cuts across all age groups," she said.

Survey shows vegan products more expensive than meat-based equivalents Going vegan may be good for your waistline, but it won’t help those looking to tighten their belts.

Comparison of vegan products across Britain’s supermarkets has found that pack sizes are on average 15 per cent smaller than their meat-based equivalents, and 11 per cent more expensive on a price-per-

kilo basis. This means feeding a family of four with three plant-based products a week would cost £115.44 more over a year.

The findings come after a record 620,000 people pledged to adopt a plantbased diet this month as part of the annual “Veganuary” challenge.

While estimates vary,

research by the Food Standards Agency suggests that about a million people are vegan in Britain, up from 150,000 in 2014.

Nutritionists have raised concerns about veganism leading to poor bone health and other conditions. The Vegan Society says “well planned” diets contain all the nutrients we need.

British Tamils join the first ever Thai Pongal celebration at No10 Continued from page 1 The bustling room was filled with about 60 professionals and businesses, visibly excited about the festivities.

Guests were also treated to assortment of juices, snacks and a bowl of Pongal. Some women braved the cold to wear beautiful South Indian silk sarees, while men flaunted their traditional white and gold silk veshtis (dhotis), proudly showcasing their culture to mark the Tamil Heritage Month.

Among guests invited were Selva Pankaj, CEO, Principal and Co-Founder, Regent Group, Vivekanand Jaganthan, Partner, Silk Route Legal, Sarika Shankarnarayan, Business Head - Star TV Network, Ash Balakrishnan, Membership Experience Manager, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vijay Vaidyanathan, Chief Commercial Officer, Vibrant Foods, Dr Lawrence Frerdrick, Director, Chola Intermediaries Ltd, Aru Sivanathan, entrepreneur and community leader, to name a few.

Party Chairman Nadhim Zahawi, on behalf of the Prime Minister, thanked the guests for their ‘tremendous contribution’ and hailed their key role in the NHS.

Speaking about Thai Pongal, Mr Zahawi said, “During these unprecedented times, the universal mes-

sage of Thai Pongal is one that resonates with us all.

Thai Pongal reflects new beginnings, hope, an opportunity to start a fresh with renewed courage. Marking the end of the harvest season, Thai Pongal allows us to show our gratitude – particularly to mother nature – something we have realised we can no longer take for granted! The sweetness of the Pongal rice pudding dish represents love and peace.”

UK is home to an estimated 500,000 Tamils, from both Indian and Sri Lankan heritage.

I want to send my best wishes to everyone celebrating Thai Pongal. I know how much this festival means to families across the country. And as you come together with your loved ones, I want to say an enormous thank you to British Tamils. For your hard work and the sacrifices you make for the good of your families and communities and for demonstrating the true meaning of service, especially in our NHS. Fairness, service and hard work, those are the values I was brought up with and those are the values I'm putting front and center as Prime Minister. I want this to be a

country where everyone feels optimism, hope and pride, and where together we build a better future for our children and grandchildren. Let me wish everyone here and around the world, health, happiness and prosperity this Thai Pongal.

- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Rupanjana Dutta, Managing Editor, Asian Voice and Vivekanand Jaganathan, Partner, Silk Route Legal outside 10 Downing Street

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Former health secretary favours charging for GP appointments Charging for GP appointments and A&E visits is “crucial” to the survival of the NHS, Sajid Javid has declared. The former health secretary says that without radical and controversial reform, the principles of the NHS “cannot survive much longer” as patients face lengthening waits for emergency and routine care.

Javid, who was in charge of the health service six months ago, has written in an article for that he wants to start a “hard-headed conversation” about the future of the health service and has attacked the “narrative of adulation” that has a “chilling effect” on discussion of changes needed to improve

Sajid Javid

care. He says politicians of all parties must look seriously at “extending the contributory principle” and asking those who can afford it to pay for some of their treatment to discourage unnecessary appointments.

74% of Brits support legalising assisted dying The majority of the public want the Government to take action on the issue of assisted dying, a new poll has revealed.

The survey was taken as the first-ever House of Commons inquiry into assisted dying. It found 36% of Brits want to see the Government put forward a bill to legalise assisted dying after the Health and Social Care Select Committee completes its inquiry. Some 25% would like to see Parliament make time for a free vote on the issue.

While 22% think the

Government should gather more evidence and 18% think the assisted dying debate should be explored through a citizens assembly.

Only 4% of respondents said they believe the inquiry should recommend that politicians oppose any assisted dying reform. The poll also revealed public support for the voices of dying people being at the heart of the inquiry, with 74% believing terminally ill people are one of the most important groups to provide evidence.

HMRC urges people to be careful with premium phone lines Accountants are warning people to avoid online services that are charging them up to £7 a minute to connect to the HMRC telephone number, as up to a million people are calling the taxman each week to ask for information relating to filing their tax returns at the end of this month.

These premium cost phone lines often appear as the first result on search engines when people look for the HMRC’s contact number. This means that people think they have obtained the official HMRC number, which is free, but instead they are being rerouted to charged-for services lines that the scam companies have paid to advertise on internet search engines. When searching HMRC on search engine Bing, the first result is what, at first glance, looks like the HMRC website but on closer inspection it says it is a number connecting service.

It charges £3.60 per call plus £3.60 per minute as well as the usual charges your phone company will add on top.

Microsoft said it has investigated and removed the adverts that were in violation of its policy.

Microsoft said it has practices in place that prohibit advertising content that is “deceptive, fraudulent, or that can be harmful to its users” which include adverts that contain unsubstantiated claims, or that falsely claim or imply endorsements or affiliations with third party products, services, governmental entities, or organisations.

American black graduate wins race harassment suit A black graduate at BT, Fignola Alexandre, was “humiliated” when her manager joked that she could be deported.

Fignola has now won more than £20,000 for race harassment. Fignola Alexandre, an American, was “deeply distressed” at what Craig Warner said about her visa extension application, as well as comments about a lack of black swimmers, an employment tribunal in Manchester was told.

Rishi Sunak is not “currently” considering the proposals, which most in Westminster believe are politically toxic, after dropping plans set out in his leadership campaign to charge people for missing GP appointments.

However, Tory calls for a fundamental rethink of the NHS are growing as patients face record delays for almost all treatments.

Lord Clarke of Nottingham, one of the few besides Javid and Jeremy Hunt to have been chancellor and health secretary, has also called for wealthier patients to make a “modest contribution to their treatment”.

While health secretary

between 2021 and July last year, Javid was not considering such controversial changes to the NHS, and acknowledges that he often went along with officials who told him “fix it, without touching it”. He has since reached radical conclusions which he lays out in his article today as part of The Times Health Commission, a year-long inquiry into the NHS and social care in England that was launched this week. After announcing that he will stand as an MP at the next election, Javid warns that “too often the appreciation for the NHS has become a religious fervour and a barrier to reform”.

King’s polo-playing friend no more A polo-playing friend of the King who was controversially nicknamed “Sooty” has died suddenly at the age of 72 while on a trip to India.

45 died from cold homes last year Figures released by the ONS show that 45 people died from cold homes every day before the bruising cost of living crisis escalated.

There were 13,400 more deaths between December 2021 to March 2022 compared with average nonwinter months, according to a fuel poverty charity that analysed the Official for National Statistics (ONS) data. The findings will heighten worries about the impact of soaring energy prices this winter – with electricity and gas prices forcing some to make grim choices between eating or heating. National Energy Action (NEA) used modelling by the World Health Organisation to show that cold homes caused 4,020 excess winter deaths last year in England and Wales.

That’s equivalent to 45 people dying every day. Only last winter is covered by the

figures, when energy costs were half the amount they are now. Average yearly bills have jumped from £1,271 to £2,500 since then.

The Ukraine war is partly to blame for the price rises, though gas and electricity costs were increasing even before fighting broke out in February. The report coincides with the publication of NEA’s Fuel Poverty Monitor, which finds that low-income families or those in poor health are most at risk from living in icy homes.

They claim households have not been given enough state support during the energy crisis and fear 2024’s figures will be much worse.

Bus fare daily cap to hit £5

Kuldip Singh Dhillon, a propKing Charles and Camilla erty developer being called Sooty by my who owned a large estate in friends, who I am sure unithe Gloucestershire counversally use the name as a tryside, was at the centre of term of a section with no a race row after it emerged one meant or felt. The that Charles affectionately Prince of Wales is a man of used the name because of zero prejudice and both his his dark skin. He served as sons have always been most chairman of the Cirencester respectful.”

Park Polo Club close to Highgrove and was friendly Jacqueline, his Englishwith Charles and his sons. born wife, and their four Dhillon, who had known children are yet to comCharles for more than 30 ment on his death. Their years, is said to have insistson Satnam, a professional ed that he liked the nickpolo player and businessname, which others man who was close to described as a “distasteful” William and Harry, has and “unacceptable” racist flown out to be with his slur. It is understood that mother. Dhillon was also a he died unexpectedly at a former chairman of the family wedding in India on Schools and Universities Wednesday despite being Polo Association. said to be in good health.

Dhillon served as chairDhillon, who had also man of the polo club for been friends with Camilla four years after taking over since the 1970s, defended from Richard Britten-Long the royal family when the in 2012. In his last speech in Sooty nickname came to the post Dhillon said that light in 2009. He said: “I he was looking forward to have to say that you know supporting the club as viceyou have arrived when you acquire a nickname. I enjoy chairman.

Transport for London (TfL)'s bus fares are to rise around 6.1 per cent as part of an average 5.9 per cent increase in fares across the network from March 5.

Mayor Sadiq Khan confirmed the move this morning (January 18), as the government said in TfL's funding deal that the transport authority would get less funding if the Mayor did not hike fares in accordance with the National Rail regulated fares (5.9 per cent).

Although reaction has been generally mixed, with many sympathetic to TfL's difficult financial situation, campaigners, politicians and passengers have been vocal about the decision to increase bus and tram fares at the same rate as other modes. The Mayor has the power to hike fares across the modes at different

rates, although it is not clear if the government would have accepted significant deviations from its 5.9 per cent target.

Labour’s London Assembly transport spokesperson, Elly Baker AM, added: “Our transport network is at the heart of everyday London. We campaigned to save our buses so that all Londoners can have access to affordable transport - it is crucial these services are protected. Due to the government’s funding conditions for TfL, following years of chronic underfunding of transport, and public services, the Mayor faces an impossible choice. With Londoners struggling to make ends meet, inflation sky high and the cost of living crisis biting into bank accounts, it is hard to see fares rise."

Labour calls for investigation into arrangement between former PM and cousin Labour tonight demanded a probe into an £800,000 credit facility provided to Boris Johnson by a distant Canadian cousin.

Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds wrote to Parliament’s Standards Commissioner calling for an investigation. It follows weekend reports that, when he was Prime Minister, Mr Johnson had an arrangement with mul-

UK’s former PM Boris Johnson

timillionaire relative Sam Blyth which allowed the exTory leader to fund his lavish lifestyle while in No10 and immediately afterwards.

It later emerged that, at the time the facility was in place, Mr Blyth was in the running for a six-figure job at the British Council, which was seeking a chief executive - and appeared on a "recommendation

list”. Ms Dodds fears it could have looked like a conflict of interest for Mr Johnson. Ms Dodds claims the former Premier “may have breached this section by entering into an arrangement whereby he was dependent on the generosity of an individual who was, I understand, at the time standing to be chief executive of the British Council”.

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Remove barriers to closer links with India, Lord Loomba urges Dropping artificial limits on stubecoming a global powerhouse in dents from India studying at technology, and the UK has British universities and extendworld-leading expertise in areas ing mutual recognition of acasuch as cybersecurity, artificial demic and professional qualificaintelligence, robotics and cretions would show we are serious ative technologies. We also have about making global Britain a a mutual interest in global chalsuccess, says crossbench peer lenges such as climate change Lord Loomba. Pointing out that and the green economy, and the by the end of the decade India is power of arts and culture to drive set to be the world’s third largest growth and regeneration and to Lord Raj Loomba economy, he urged the governdeliver social value, and in ment to build on the shared values, strong addressing inequalities.” family ties and a record of cooperation to Adding that networks and partnerships achieve the ambitions of the 2030 Roadmap are key to leveraging the potential of these for India-UK relations that was agreed common interests, and to delivering new between the two countries two years ago, approaches, he asked if the Government and not let artificial barriers stand in the would “actively facilitate and encourage the way. development of networks and partnerships between cities, universities, cultural organiLord Loomba has a long record of prosations and microbusinesses?” moting trade between the UK and India. In In response, Foreign Office Minister of 2002, he organised an event at City Hall in State Lord Ahmad highlighted a recently London for the Chief Minister of Delhi to signed agreement with India “recognising mark the twinning of the two capital cities, each other’s higher education qualifications, which has seen business between them bloswhich should attract even more students to som. Next month, he will lead a trade deleeach other’s shores,” although he acknowlgation of 12 British businesses to Uttar edged more work needed to be done in this Pradesh jointly with Dr Mohan Kaul, where area. He added that the government is they are expected to sign multiple agree“working to ensure that this recognition is ments for trade and investment. further strengthened when it comes to high“The importance of the Roadmap cannot er education, and that “future collaboration be overstated,” he told the House of Lords in is immense”. a debate last Thursday. “India is rapidly

Indian students in the UK overtake those from China The number of overseas students from India overtook those from China for the first time last year as British universities embarked on diversity drives owing to concerns over political tensions and a heavy reliance on the Chinese market for income. UK visas issued to Chinese students fell 2 per cent, while those for Indian citizens rose 273 per cent, and those for Nigeria 650 per cent. ‘There is absolutely an explicit effort to diversify,’ the head of Universities UK said.

UK universities are seeking to attract more overseas students from outside China owing to concerns over political tensions and a heavy reliance on this market for income. The number of students from India coming to Britain overtook those from China for the first time last year, according to Home Office figures. Data showed that 127,731 student visas were issued to Indian nationals for the year ending in September 2022, compared with 116,476 to those from China who have long represen- ted the biggest group of international recruits. The shift reflects the drive among institutions to “diversify” intake as they look to shore up their finances with high-fee paying interna-

tional recruits, while protecting against geopol- itical shifts that could limit access to China.

UK visas issued to Chinese students fell 2 per cent in the year to September compared with 2019. Over the same period, those for Indian citizens increased 273 per cent, and for Nigeria, 650 per cent. In the past decade, a freeze on tuition fees for UK students has constrained funding for English universities, prompting them to attract international undergraduates who pay more than their domestic counterparts. When a government target to increase the number of international students enrolled in UK universities to 600,000 by 2030 was met a decade early, in 2020-21, about a quarter were from China.

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, China has constituted the biggest international student group since 2002-03.

Eight years after former chancellor George Osborne praised the role of Chinese students in a “golden decade” of Sino-British relations, that enthusiasm is faltering. UK prime minis- ter Rishi Sunak last year said that Chinese authoritarianism posed “a systemic challenge” to the UK.

No extra student visas for India in trade deal UK’s International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has said that UK will not “offer more student visas” nor any specific visas to India for the under 35s, since Britain left the EU as it “does not believe in free movement”.

Speaking about the UK-India free trade agreement, Ms Badenoch told The Times, “We left the EU because we didn’t believe in free movement, we didn’t think it was working. This is not a deal that’s negotiating some kind of free movement with India,” she said.

She further told The Times that she is ready to “make concessions” on issues like business mobility, but not the kind of trade deal the UK has with Australia.

“We have to make sure that each trade agreement we sign is tailored to the specific country. The kind of mobility offer I can do to a country like Australia is not going to be the same kind of mobility offer I can do with

a country like India, which has got many times the population. And what people from the UK want to do when they travel to Australia is probably slightly different from what they do when they travel to India, and vice-versa as well,” she said.

Recently, the UK signed an FTA with Australia which allows students aged between 18 and 35 to live, travel and work in each other’s countries for up to three years, and the agreement also makes it easier for professionals to work in each other’s country.

Ms Badenoch after her visit to India in December, had an exclusive interview with Asian Voice. Speaking about the future of the FTA she said, “…Our focus remains on securing a forward-facing deal which works for both sides and deepens our strong trading relationship, worth £29 billion according to our latest 12-month figures.

Leading EdTech business launches franchise in the UK following recent global success The British Youth International College (BYITC), the Glasgow-headquartered but globally operating educational technology (EdTech) business, has launched its successful franchise model in the UK. BYITC already has 10 franchises globally, with two, in Dubai and Sri Lanka, which were signed-up in the last two months.

Dr Rashmi Mantri, founder of BYITC, who was born in India and now lives in Glasgow, said, “Our Supermaths and English, Coding and Cyber Security modules represent a management franchise with a tutoring twist. It suits both those looking for a management franchise opportunity as well as an educational franchise, since teaching can be hands-on or hands-off as desired.

“If you are looking to come out of the industry or seeking some extra income in a field where you can make a real difference to children’s education, then I believe our BYITC Supermaths franchise could be for you.”

The company’s most popular teaching pro-

Dr Rashmi Mantri with an Abacus

gramme is Supermaths which offers a mix of weekly teacher-led Abacus Maths classes and online tutorials.

The Abacus method teaches students how to calculate complex sums first with a physical abacus board, then through visualisation. The UK franchise package also includes its English, Coding, and Cyber Security courses.

The original business started in 2015 when the founder, Dr Rashmi Mantri, taught her son who was struggling with basic arithmetic how to use the abacus.

Spotting a gap in the market, the software engineerturned entrepreneur started the business. It has since grown organically and has

taught thousands of students globally.

“When Covid struck we had to pivot the business and now we have a fully digital offering for students and franchisees alike.” said Dr Rashmi. “We built this model ourselves and know from experience what works when delivering it to students online and in person.

We are constantly improving and recently added a gamesbased application which is proving very popular.

“Flexibility is key in business nowadays and thanks to our systems and processes this franchise could work for individuals in a part-time capacity or as a full-time career.”

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Get Carter

Right time to embrace global population

British fans of gangster movies will remember with affection the best gangster movie of all, namely “Get Carter” with memorable acting from veteran actor Michael Caine as Jack Carter, Ian Hendry as Eric Paice and female attraction provided by one and only Britt Ekland as Anna. It was an iconic movie, full of violence at every turn that may put-off those adverse to violence. Certainly it is not a movie for faint hearted but thoroughly enjoyable for the fans of Michael Caine, a charming actor with panache!

The reason for the above headline is that British press, especially tabloids as well as right-wing Conservative supporting newspapers are after the scalp of our efficient and capable PM Rishi Sunak, watching with eagle eyes, expecting him to make mistakes, no matter how tiny or unimportant it may be, showing their plebeian taste!

The latest example is that of Rishi not wearing seatbelt, sitting at the back where hardly any one obliges.

Indeed many people are under the impression that only front seat passengers need to wear seat-belts and backseat belts are meant for children, although ignorance of law is not an excuse.

PM was quick to accept his mistake and paid the fine without a murmur. This is in sharp contrast to political strategy employed by others. I am not a fan of PM and I have my reasons. But the fact is that Conservative party lacks credible alternative, putting a wrong candidate will cause unrepairable harm, collapse of trust in British economy, Liz Truce is the prime example, damage done to our reputation on international financial market Rishi is struggling to regain.

It needed tough budget, not borrow and spend or rather borrow and give tax refunds to super-rich Conservative supporters, a disaster in making. Yet some of right-wing supporters cheered it to no end, calling it a “True Conservative Budget” that will help the party to win the next election that is until pound collapse, shares took a dive that opened the eyes of these blind supporters of Tory government.

Unless Conservative party unite behind PM, it is going to lose the next election, will remain in opposition for a considerate time. So it is time to make up your mind, support Rishi or go into opposition.

Bhupendra M. Gandhi

We all know that the global population has been reported to have reached the so-called 8 billion mark. Factually speaking, the current population is a kind of achievement on the part of humanity braving all the odds and difficulties out there. But even then, most media houses including CNN have been carrying comments on the robust population growth in a negative manner.

However, the undisputed fact is that the global population has always been behind robust economic growth and all kinds of activities across the board – one way or another.

Well, can you imagine “a world” without humanity?

Yes, it would have been literally plain and flat across the board – sans human activities. At the same time, growing concerns over issues like climate change, scarcity of food crops and so on should be taken seriously.

Even though there have been plenty of discussions and comments on climate change issues through the world media and intergovernmental forums, there have been no fruitful results achieved on the ground. In this context, human attitude to Mother Earth has to change or transform in a positive way.

For instance, humans must be more sensitive to the environment and green belt areas around them.

Technology apart, the human focus should be mainly and primarily on encouraging more green activities like supporting agriculture/farming rigorously.

There should be a positive shift in human activities with respect to Mother Earth and its abundant natural resources.

Apparently, countries from across the world must come forward to think about rigorous green activities in the form of farming and tree plantation globally so as to be able to protect the global population from the threats posed by climate change and a possible deterioration in natural resources [all can be stopped and prevented beforehand through responsible human actions].

Freedom fighter, Kaka Joseph Baptista During the celebrations of 75 years of our Independence, our media had mentioned the names of most of the great men and women who struggled hard and sacrificed their lives for the freedom of our country. But however, perhaps inadvertently, one important name had been forgotten, that of the great Barrister, Kaka Joseph Baptista.

It was Kaka Joseph Baptista who pleaded the cause of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and secured his release, when he would almost certainly have been arrested by the then British Government. Again, it was Kaka Joseph Baptista who coined the slogan, "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it," which is being incorrectly attributed by everyone to the same Lokmanya Tilak. Moreover, Kaka Joseph Baptista, as the President of the Oxford Students' Union, spoke very strongly in favour of Independence for India in England. It is desirable that our people recognise and appreciate the significant contribution of Kaka Joseph Baptista to our Independence at a time like this.

Jubel D'Cruz Mumbai, India

Developing tourism in the north-east It was interesting to note that a small village called Khonoma of Nagaland having a population of just 1943 (424 households) has become India’s first green village. (as reported in AV dated 21-27 January 2023).

North-East of India has great tourism potential due to its natural beauty. It has not been promoted adequately to realise its full potential. One of the reasons could be not a fully developed infrastructure in those regions. In one of the speeches of Mr Gautam Adani, a top most industrialist of India mentioned that he got inspiration when he visited Kandla port as a young boy.

Later he built Mundra Port which is the largest private port in India.

Developing tourism in the north-east will have plenty of advantages. First and foremost is that it will help boost the local economy. Visitors will be able to see and appreciate different cultures living in India and they will see “unity in diversity” practically.

Private sector companies should encourage schools and colleges to provide opportunities to their students to visit different regions and even show their manufacturing facilities to give students the first-hand knowledge of practical aspects of utilising their theoretical knowledge acquired during their studies.

Hitesh Hingu

P Senthil Saravana Durai Mumbai

BBC documentary on PM Modi As an Indo-Canadian living in Canada since 1974, I am taking the liberty on behalf of my family, friends and other Indo-Canadians and registering strongest protest against BBC’s documentary on PM Modi. India has every right to ban this documentary by BBC. UK PM Sunak distanced himself from this after he said that the UK government’s position on this has been clear and long standing and hasn’t changed. We don’t tolerate persecution anywhere, but I am not sure I agree at all with the characterisation BBC put forward.” Earlier in the day, India described the BBC documentary on the 2002 riots as a “ propaganda piece”.

PM Sunak also snubbed Pakistan-origin British Parliamentarian for bringing up the issue of this controversial BBC documentary.

On Sunday January 22, 2023 was the Chinese New Year of The Lunar. Year of Rabbit symbolises positivity, auspiciousness, self-protection and peace and prosperity. In Markham city Ontario where we live , we have a big number of hard working, very vibrant and well educated people of Chinese origin.

And last but least, we wish Happy 74th Republic day to all Indians globally and on January 26th, at Markham city town hall at 4 pm there will be India’s flag hoisting ceremony. Mayor of Markham, city councillors and other dignitaries will be in attendance.

Suresh and Bhavna Patel Markham, Canada

Banks closing I was appalled to hear that all high street banks are set to close by 2027, forcing millions of elderly folk like myself to do their financial transactions online. Most pensioners know nothing about computers or the internet and view such a move with trepidation. Although I can send and receive emails and surf the net, I prefer to deal with banks and handle real money. Furthermore many pensioners do not like to pay their bills by direct debit and use cheques instead which are also being phased out.

Our biggest fear is falling prey to the frequent online scams we read about. What do other readers of Asian Voice think?

Ash Gupta

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

Shopkeeper fined for selling illicit tobacco A Luton shopkeeper has been fined after pleading guilty to selling illicit tobacco.

Mohammed Abdul Harim, 50 of Teesdale Road, Luton, appeared before Luton Magistrates on January 10 regarding the sale of illicit tobacco from Daaniya’s Variety Store on Bury Park Road. In 2021, six test purchases of non-duty paid and counterfeit cigarettes were made at the store. On August 5, 2021, officers from Trading Standards found 908 packs of non-duty paid cigarettes, 19 packs of hand rolling tobacco and 358 niche tobacco products. Further examination of the products showed some were counterfeit, whilst others were deemed unsafe as they would not self-extinguish if discarded.

A further four test purches were made after Mr Harim was interviewed under caution by Trading Standards.

Mr Harim pleaded guilty to all 15 charges against him. As director of Variety1 Store Limited, trading as Daaniya Variety Store, he was fined £80 alongside a victim surcharge of £95 and £620 in court costs. He received a 12 Month community order and is required to undertake 120 hours of unpaid work.

The company Variety1 Store Limited was fined £12,000.06 with further court costs of £1,350. The final total for fines issued was £14,145.06.

Investigation reveal asylum-seeking children have been kidnapped Dozens of asylum-seeking children have been kidnapped by gangs from a Brighton hotel run by the Home Office in a pattern apparently being repeated across the south coast, an investigation can reveal.

A whistleblower, who works for Home Office contractor Mitie, and child protection sources describe children being abducted off the street outside the hotel and bundled into cars.

“Children are literally being picked up from outside the building, disappearing and not being found. They’re being taken from the street by traffickers,” said the source.

The child protection source said some of the children missing from the Brighton hotel may have been trafficked as far away

as Manchester and Scotland.

One case is under investigation by the Metropolitan police in London. Data revealed in October showed 222 unaccompanied asylumseeking children were missing from hotels run by the Home Office. Ministers admitted that they had no idea of their whereabouts.

Meanwhile, it has also emerged that no new guidance for police has been issued for tracking down missing asylum-seeking children, with sources saying it remains in “development”.

Catherine Hankinson, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for missing persons, said regular multiagency meetings by police reviewed the response to every missing migrant child who had not been located.

Accrington brothers jailed for hitting relative 18 times Ibran Khan, 32, of Spring Meadow, Clayton-leMoors, and his brother Shahzad Khan, 26, of Tremellen Street, Accrington, were each sentenced to 16 months in prison by Preston Crown Court for hitting a relative 18 times over a family disagreement in March 2020, Lancashire Telegraph reported.

The incident had taken place just off Blackburn Road in Accrington on 10 March 2020 when the victim was chased by the brothers while walking down Blackburn Road at around 1:45 p.m. They then denied their involvement in the incident and took the matter to trial. However, new CCTV evidence showed them kicking, punching, and lashing out at the victim even as he lay

sprawled on the floor, with one of the brothers holding him down at one point so the other could continue hitting him. The incident left the victim with black eyes, facial bruising, fractures, and needing lip gluing.

While neither of the brothers was arrested and voluntarily presented themselves at the Greenbank Police Station a while later, they did not comment during their interviews and changed their pleas to assault occasioning actual bodily harm to guilty only upon the emergence of the CCTV evidence.

They were also given a restraining order against their victim, along with the prison sentence. The sentencing was done on 17 January this year following a delay due to the bar strike.

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Anglo Indians among the oldest The India League at India Club: ethnic groups in England and Wales “What an Evening” The 2021 Census has revealed that people who identify themselves as Anglo Indian, white Irish or white Maltese are among the ethnic groups with the oldest average age in England and Wales. But people identifying as of mixed South Asian or mixed Pakistani or British Pakistani heritage, are with the lowest averages, at below 18 years.

Latest information from Census 2021 on the sex and age characteristics of ethnic groups has been published this week with details and how this has changed since 2011 in England and Wales.

In 2021, the average (median) age across the 19 tick-box ethnic groups ranged from 16 years for the “Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups: White and Asian” and “Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups: White and Black African” to 54 years for people who identified as “White: Irish”.

Nearly a third (32.1%) of those who identified their ethnic group as “White: Irish” were aged 65 years and over, this compared with nearly a fifth (18.6%) of the overall population in England and Wales who were aged 65 years and over.

More than half a million

(507,465) people identified as white Irish, with a median age of 54 years, one of the highest for any groups.

Nearly half of those who identified as “White and Asian” (48.1%) and “White and Black African” (48.6%), within the “Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups”, were aged 0 to 15 years, substantially higher than 18.5% of the overall population of England and Wales who were aged 0 to 15 years.

Top of the list are people from the “Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Anglo Indian” group, comprising 2,070 residents whose median age is 65 years.

The highest percentage of males was seen in the “White: Roma” ethnic group

(55.4%), this compares with 49.0% of the overall population who were male.

The highest percentage of females was seen in the “Asian, Asian British, Asian Welsh: Chinese” ethnic group (55.2%), this compares with 51.0% of the overall population who were female.

Through the write-in functionality of the ethnic group question, it has been possible to provide average (median) ages for 287 ethnic groups which ranged from 6 years for the 2,000 people who identified as “Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups: Mixed South Asian” to 65 years for the 2,070 people who identified as “Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Anglo Indian”.

How a generation of British Asian teens clubbed during daytime Breaking cultural taboos during daytime in 1980s-1990s, daytime gigs provided a way for British Asians to get the nightclub experience without angry parents finding out. Once they got the excitement out of their system they would head back home and claim they were with their friends studying.

An entire generation of parents was kept in the dark.

Daytime gigs happened in all corners of the UK including Birmingham, Leicester, London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wolverhampton.

45-year-old Dawinder Bansal from Wolverhampton, said, "They existed to enable young people to have time to club during the day, a way of letting your hair down. It was mostly teenagers and sixth formers.

"Asian parents are very strict so you couldn't go out at night. For the second generation of Asians they were

still rooted in their parents' values so they were stuck between two worlds.”

Between midday and 6pm, the gigs would take place as most students had to be home before sunset.

Remo Rehman, an event management specialist reportedly said, rebellion wasn't the only reason but fear of racism also led to minorities going to club venues during the day.

The India League and City Hindus Network hosted a joint event at the historical India Club. With over 80 City professionals, the evening is best summarised by one of the attendees, Ugan Pretheshan.

“What an evening! It was a great pleasure to be at a networking event last week hosted by the City Hindus Network and the India League. The evening was full of amazing food and hospitality at the India Club in London.

“It was the perfect opportunity to meet likeminded individuals and industry professionals from a variety of sectors, from banking to tech.

“As a student looking to break into investment banking and private wealth management, the event provided an ideal environment to learn from leading figures in the industry.

“Having been successfully trading for more than two years now, I relished the opportunity to speak with experienced professionals; who were all able to unfold a wealth of advice. Everyone that I spoke to was more than happy to help, and listen to my journey as a young trader.

“A special thank you to Alpesh Patel OBE for very helpful advice on university applications, trading and the importance of spirituality and identity. I look forward to coming along to future events and connecting with more great people.”

Keeping with its fine heritage and with the times of today and the needs of

Alpesh with Ugan

tomorrow, the India League works, to strengthen UKIndia ties in all facets - interGovernmental, academic, cultural, economic for a prosperous and more stronger UK and India as two leading global liberal democracies. It also aims to support and lead on Indian diaspora Issues globally, including resistance to hatespeech and discrimination and inform and educate the Indian diaspora on their rights and duties as citizens, keeping with the founding principles of the League, which is to have strong, Indian origin people, independent minded, well informed of their rights and equal partners in their relations with people of the

world.

The India League in association with the High Commission of India organises Gandhi Jayanti (2 October) and Gandhi Nirvan Divas (30 January) at Tavistock Square, London.

CB Patel, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar was involved with The India League since 1967 and passed on the baton to Alpesh Patel, as the new President last year.

The India Club at 143 Strand is hidden up a flight of stairs, India Club is part of London's history. It was originally set up by the India League, to further IndoBritish friendship in the post-independence era, and it quickly became a base for groups serving the Indian community.

Gandhi Nirvan Divas Every year, 30 January is observed as Gandhi Nirvan Divas – the day Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was assassinated in 1948.

ONS shows 40+ women give twice number of births as compared to under-20 There are now twice as many women giving birth over the age of 40 as there are children as teenagers in England and Wales.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed 28,478 births to mothers aged 40 to 44 in 2021, and 2,064 to mothers aged 45 and over.

That compared with 13,739 births to mothers under 20 in the same period. The average age of women who gave birth increased to 30.9 years — the highest since records began, in 1938 — and the average age of fathers was 33.7 years. Katie WeltonDillon, from Hall Brown Family Law, said the figures showed a “substantial shift” in motherhood thanks to increased professional opportunities and medical advances.

The ONS figures showed that there were 624,828 births in 2021, of which 320,713, or 51.3 per

cent, were registered to women outside of a marriage or civil partnership.

This proportion is almost double the 26 per cent recorded in 1988, just over a generation ago. The ONS said that the latest statistics followed the “long-term trend of declining marriage rates and increasing numbers of cohabiting couples seen in recent decades”. It added, however, that caution should be taken in interpreting the numbers, given that the full impact of the pandemic on marriage and civil partnership is not yet known. The highest stillbirth rate in 2021 remained in women aged 40 years and over, at 5.9 stillbirths per 1,000 births, followed by women under 20, at 5.0 per 1,000. Babies from black ethnic groups continued to have the highest stillbirth rate, at 6.9 stillbirths per 1,000 births in 2021.

The stillbirth rate in the most deprived 10 percent of areas in England was 5.6 stillbirths per 1,000 births. It was lower in the 10 per cent least deprived areas in England, at 2.7. The overall percentage of preterm births increased slightly, from 7.4 per cent in 2020 to 7.6 per cent in 2021. The most common date of birth in 2021 was 23 September, when there were 2,055.

The ONS numbers show that England and Wales are the ninth European region with more births outside marriage. France has the most, according to 2020 data, with 62.2 per cent, followed by Bulgaria on 59.6 per cent, Norway on 58.5 per cent, Portugal on 57.9 per cent and Slovenia on 56.5 per cent.

The other European countries with more than 50 percent of births outside wedlock are Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Gandhi statue at Tavistock Square, London

Not only in India, Gandhi Nirvan Divas is also observed in other parts of the world, especially in the UK where The India League and the High Commission of India mark this day every year at Tavistock Square and Parliament Square in London. The event at Tavistock Square starts with a speech and floral tribute from the Indian High Commissioner, followed by invited dignitaries including the Mayor of Camden borough, MPs, Peers and President of The India League. Gandhiji’s favourite bhajans are sung by Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan students.

On January 30, 1948, at 5:17PM Mahatma Gandhi along with his grandnieces, was on his way to the garden of Birla House to address a prayer meeting. This was when Nathuram Godse fired three bullets into his chest from a pistol at close range. Mahatma Gandhi's last words are known to be 'He Ram'. Today, the Birla House site is a memorial called Gandhi Smriti.

Every year, the Indian President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Defence Minister, and three Service Chiefs gather at the samadhi at Rajghat Memorial, a place near Yamuna River in New Delhi and pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.

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17 year old accepts stabbing Afghan refugee Hazrat Wali, 18, died in hospital after being attacked in Craneford Way Playing Fields, south-west London, on the afternoon of October 12, 2021.

Players in a rugby match between Richmond School and Hampton School saw some of the attack, jurors have been told. A boy, 17, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of murdering Mr Wali.

The jurors were told the defendant was caught with a black knife at Southside shopping centre in Wandsworth on August 5, 2021.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on the morning of October 12 to a youth rehabilitation order. Giving evidence with the assistance of an intermediary, the youth said he accepts stabbing Mr Wali later that day but denies intending to kill him or cause him serious harm.

Asked why he took out the knife, he said he and Mr Wali were “pushing each other” and he wanted to be left alone.

He grew “scared” when Mr Wali called someone for “back up”, telling someone on the phone to

“come quick”, the defendant said.

The defendant, who was 16 at the time, added: “I thought he had something on him, a knife.” Garry Green KC, defending, said: “The jury knows that you have carried a knife in the past. Do you accept that it is true?”

The defendant agreed and said it was “for my own protection”. He told jurors he had been attacked in the past, as had a cousin and friend. The court was shown a photograph of the defendant’s hand, which needed stitches after he was attacked with a knife in New Cross in 2020. The defendant said he found out via Snapchat that a friend, Louis Johnson, had been stabbed to death. He said his mother warned him to “watch your back”.

In November 2020, some older boys put pressure on him to go to Wiltshire to sell drugs at a house,

jurors were told. After agreeing to go, he was missing from home for a few days before calling his mother, who went to fetch him.

He told jurors the older boys were “unhappy” and threatened him.

Mr Green asked: “So, generally, come October 2021 how did you feel in yourself when you were walking around the street?” The defendant replied: “I felt unsafe some of the time.” Mr Green said: “Is that why you had a knife on you on October 12?” The youth, who was enrolled in college at the time, replied: “Yes.” Mr Wali got to his feet and approached the defendant, jurors heard. Words were exchanged and there was pushing before the defendant took out a knife and stabbed Mr Wali in the side.

The knife went 10cm into Mr Wali’s liver, causing “massive and fatal blood loss”, the court was told. Emergency services attended but Mr Wali, of Notting Hill, west London, died about an hour later.

The defendant, who cannot be identified because of his age, denies murder.

The trial continues.

Scamsters asking for money, pretending as your Mum If you’ve received a suspicious text message that appears to be sent from your mum, it could be a scam.

A sneaky SMS “spoofing” tactic designed to con unwitting people out of cash appears to have surfaced in the UK after doing the rounds in Australia. The message appears on your phone from a sender called “Mum” asking you for money because they brought the wrong card to the shops. It also gives you the payment details for a bank transfer, including the account number and sort code.

The shocking scheme involves scammers using a method known as “spoofing” to make messages look as if they were sent by

someone you know. Fraudsters typically use this tactic to masquerade as legitimate businesses, such as your bank or a retailer. However, the latest twist in this alarming technique has involved criminals pretending to be loved ones as they may be more likely to elicit an instinctive response. In this case, the message from your “mum” states: “I’m out shopping and bought the wrong card with me.” It then asks you for a specific sum of money, with your “mum” promising to “pay you back when I get home.”

The scam SMS was first spotted in Australia last year with variations on the places mentioned

in the text, including local retailers and the petrol station. It also echoes a similar WhatsApp scam aimed at parents in which tricksters pretended to be kids asking for money from the bank of mum and dad. The UK government’s National Cyber Security Centre directs people to forward suspicious texts to the number 7726. This is the SMS scam reporting service operated by UK mobile network providers. To forward a text, just hold down the message bubble, then select “more” on iPhone or the three vertical dots at the top right of your screen on Android. Next, tap forward, input 7726, and press send.

Pensioners to lose free travel on Freedom Pass due to cost-cutting Sadiq Khan has announced plans to permanently end free morning peak travel for pensioners as part of a number of cost-cutting measures to bolster Transport for London’s beleaguered finances.

As part of his draft budget, the London Mayor revealed that he would permanently end free travel before 9am for those who hold a 60+ Freedom Pass as part of a bid to save TfL around £40 million a year.

No change will apply to holders of the Disabled Person’s Freedom Pass. The Freedom Pass restrictions were first brought in on a shortterm basis in June 2020 as a moneysaving step during the Covid pandemic following the Government’s finance agreement for the capital’s transport provider.

However, the Mayor’s office said that, after consultation and an equality impact assessment, the decision had to be taken to make them permanent. As part of the Mayor’s plans to mitigate the impact on those over 60, Seb Dance, his deputy mayor for transport, has written to GP surgeries and NHS trusts to recommend that medical appointments for those over 60 are scheduled for after 9am.

Mr Khan had considered a policy that would incrementally increase the age at which travellers could obtain a Freedom Pass on a six-month basis, but this was scrapped. Alongside the Freedom Pass changes, Mr Khan also announced that he would be mirroring the Government and

increasing TfL fares by an average of 5.9 per cent from March. Mr Khan’s increases will be higher for travellers in central London, with those travelling with pay as you go tickets in zone one seeing their fares rise to £2.80, up 12 per cent from the current price of £2.50.

Levelling up minister shows way to tackle rising bills Dehenna Davison MP, a levelling up minister, has said that closing regional divides in pay and productivity is the “surest way to grow our economy and combat rising bills”.

Davison said the government’s attention has been “firmly fixed on our levelling up missions” which had only been “made more urgent by the difficulties we face today”.

“Closing the regional gaps in pay, employment, and productivity is still the surest way to grow our economy and combat rising bills,” she wrote. The government has today announced more than £2.1 billion in funding shared between over 100 projects.

Successful applicants for

levelling up funds included the Eden Project in Cornwall, which will get £50 million to develop a derelict seafront site, and Belfast International Airport, which is getting funding to make it “one of the greenest airports in the UK”.

The levelling up minister, who is also MP for the 'Red Wall' seat of Bishop Auckland, pointed to new “trailblazer” devolution deals in Manchester and the West Midlands and the introduction of new freeports as further signs of the government delivering on its promises.

Labour has heavily criticised the government’s levelling up funding, claiming that it disproportionately benefits London and the South East.

Takeaway delivery driver knocks off 5-year-old who dies at the scene The devastated mother of a fiveyear-old girl knocked down and killed by a takeaway delivery driver has spoken of her torment.

Alia Anum Salam was at the Stoke inquest to hear the final distressing moments of Minaal Salam's life. The Newstead Primary Academy pupil was leaving an after-school club with her father and baby sister when she was struck by Istvan Zarka's Volkswagen Touran on Waterside Drive, in Blurton. She was pronounced dead at the scene. An inquest has heard that Minaal's death - on April 1 last year - was a 'tragic accident'. Paying tribute to her daughter, Ms Salam, from Barlaston, said: 'There is not a

single moment where I don't miss her. She was very loving. She loved shopping and she was very mature she was not five. I didn't have sisters, so I was over the moon when she was born.

'She would help me with the groceries and help me with the cooking. She loved cooking. She wanted me to pass all my recipes to her when she grew up. She wanted to be a doctor like her dad. She loved her sister and was very proud that she had a baby sister. It's very painful. I am not the same person any more. I am bitter. I don't think I am kind because I feel like there's no good in the world because that happened to me. She was just a child.'

London Mayor’s plans for price rises face severe backlash Sadiq Khan faces furious backlash over his plans for the biggest transport and council tax rises in a decade.

The Mayor of London heaped more misery on Londoners by revealing proposals to hike Transport for London fares by nearly six percent from March and council tax bills by £38.55 a year to fund more PCSOs. The plan means the weekly cap for using buses and trams in the capital is set to increase by £1.40 to £24.70. Tube passengers will see the weekly cap for travel in zones one and three rise by £3 to £48. Passengers will now face paying £2.80 for a zone 1 peak ticket - a rise of 12 per cent and £2.70 off-peak. Most other single fares will rise by 10p. Bus fares will rise by 10p to £1.75, while a weekly bus and tram pass will hit £24.70 - an increase of £1.40. The average increase of 5.9 per cent across all modes of transport will kick in from March 5 - and mirrors the cap set by the Department for Transport (DfT) for regulated rail

fare rises in England from the same date. A ban introduced at the start of the pandemic on Londoners over 60 travelling for free before 9am is being made permanent from Wednesday - a move that will anger many thousands of pensioners but which will generate £40m a year in extra fares.

Reacting to the move, Abigail Wood, chief executive of charity Age UK London, said: 'We are devastated that the voices of older Londoners have been ignored.

'Affordable transport is a lifeline, not a luxury, and this cut penalises them with no choice about when and how they travel'. Meanwhile, Mr Khan also set out plans to increase council tax to fund an extra 500 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), representing a 50% rise in the number of officers. He is planning to increase his share of council tax bills for the average band D property by £38.55 a year from April, including £15 for investment in policing.

More young women froze their eggs during pandemic The number of women freezing their eggs surged during the Covid pandemic, with many fearing they were running out of time to have a baby, figures show.

The pandemic brought dating to a halt for single women for months at a time, leaving some unsure when they would meet the right partner to start a family. Statistics for 2020, the latest available and released exclusively to the Daily Mail, show an average of 219 women a month froze their eggs that year, excluding April and May when numbers fell because of clinic closures due to Covid. The total increased from fewer than 200 a month in 2019.

Covid has left many women extremely anxious about their biological clocks, according to experts. Responding to the figures from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), Aria Fertility clinic in London said it has seen a ‘significant increase in demand’ for egg freezing since the pandemic, with the procedure now

making up a fifth of its treatments.

Dr Ippokratis Sarris, of King’s Fertility clinic, said: ‘We saw an increase in demand for egg freezing after Covid, which came from women having to put their dating lives on hold and spending more time on their own, giving them more time to think about their options'. While some will have had eggs frozen because of a medical treatment such as chemotherapy, to preserve fertility, the vast majority are by choice.

Each woman had at least one cycle of egg freezing, planning to use them herself in later life rather than donate them to another couple.

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Woman breaks record for longest solo polar expedition A British Army officer has broken the world record for the longest solo and unsupported polar expedition by a woman.

Preet Chandi, known as Polar Preet, first made history trekking to the South Pole in 2021. The 33year-old has so far travelled 868 miles (1,397 km) across Antarctica in temperatures as cold as -50C (58F). The previous female record was 858 miles (1,381 km), skied by Anja Blacha in 2020. However, Capt Chandi, from Sinfin in Derby, did not complete her

Chandi training in Finse, Norway

original aim of becoming the first woman to cross Antarctica solo and unsupported. She set off from Hercules Inlet in November and hoped to reach Reedy Glacier within 75 days. She reported, in her blog, being about 30 nautical miles away from her pick-up point. Capt Chandi, a physiotherapist at a regional rehabilitation unit in Buckinghamshire but currently on leave, said: "I'm pretty gutted that I don't have the time to complete the crossing. "I know

Preet Chandi at South Pole Expedition launch event

that I have done a huge journey, it's just difficult while I'm on the ice and I know it's not that far away."

Despite extreme cold and high winds, she said her spirits were being kept up by listening to recorded messages from friends and family. Her challenge had been formally backed by the Princess of Wales, who wished her good luck with her expedition in a phone call. Capt Chandi was thought to have become the first woman of colour to embark on a solo expedition on the continent when she completed a 700-mile (1,126km) ski to the South Pole in January last year, a challenge she finished in 40 days, seven hours and three minutes - the thirdfastest woman to complete the feat. She has been congratulated for her latest exploits by the University of Derby, which awarded her an honorary degree last year.

Labour should become more socially conservative to secure big win, thinktank says According to right-wing University and thinktank Onward, Keir deputy head of UK Starmer can secure a big in a Changing win for Labour in the Europe, had a more 2024 elections by movnuanced take on the ing to the right in social findings of the issues, the Guardian Onward report. The reported. This would Guardian quoted make him more accepther saying that since able to voters whom the thinktank’s poll Onward classified as was conducted ‘left authoritarian’- leftbefore Liz Truss Keir Starmer leaning in economic became, and was issues but conservative in social ousted as, Prime Minister of issues. This was based on a study Britain, the chances were Labour conducted by Onward last August could still ride on an economyand early September of over centric approach. “Truss really 10,000 British adults on their gendamaged the Conservative party’s eral views as well as their specific reputation on economics, which opinions on Labour. opens up an economic space for Labour that might push some of The thinktank claimed that these social issues out of people’s such a move by Labour would help consideration… If your mortgage is secure the ‘floating voters’ who going up, you might be less conwere in the ‘don’t know’ category cerned about social issues…. I during the polling while simultawould argue that there are quite a neously claiming that they did not few people on that socially conserknow whom they would vote for vative scale who are more in the during the actual elections, or middle, and who Labour can whether they would vote at all. If appeal to without having to tack those floating voters returned to very strongly to the right,” she said. the parties they had voted for in Her views were somewhat cor2019, it would reduce Labour’s 12roborated by James Blagden, point lead to four points.

Onward’s head of politics and The left authoritarians compolling, said: “With an election less prised 61% of all voters and 78% of than two years away, no outcome those who could potentially switch is certain. Keir Starmer has to to Labour. They had voted Tory in climb an electoral mountain of 124 2019 and were 25 percentage seats to reach No 10 despite his points more authoritarian on the polling lead. Labour is still seen as standard British Social Attitudes weak and incompetent by voters. scale of such values than 2019 But fixing his party’s brand and Labour voters. They were also focusing on economic fairness and more numerous than those shiftquality public services, rather than ing from the Liberal Democrats culture war politics, can put him in and the Greens. with a chance of victory,” Blagden Paula Surridge, a professor of told the Guardian. political sociology at Bristol

Palace urges community to spend a day volunteering to mark the King’s coronation in May Britons are being urged to spend a day volunteering in their communities to mark the King’s coronation in May. The Big Help Out will take place on Monday 8 May. It is intended to create a “lasting legacy” of the coronation weekend and the Buckingham Palace is hoping to convince as many King Charles at Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Luton people as possible to “join the work being undertaken After the Service, Their to support their local areas” on Majesties will return to the day, which is also a bank Buckingham Palace in a larger holiday. ceremonial procession, known as ‘The Coronation Procession’.

The Coronation of His Their Majesties will be joined in Majesty The King and Her this procession by other Majesty The Queen Consort Members of the Royal Family. will take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May 2023.

At Buckingham Palace, The The Service will be conducted King and The Queen Consort, by the Archbishop of accompanied by Members of Canterbury. As previously the Royal Family, will appear on announced, the Service will the balcony to conclude the reflect the Monarch’s role day’s ceremonial events. today and look towards the Sunday 7 May 2023 future, while being rooted in The Coronation Concert at longstanding traditions and Windsor Castle pageantry.

On Sunday, 7 May 2023, a Across the Coronation special Coronation Concert will Weekend, there will be further take place at Windsor Castle. opportunities for people to Produced, staged, and broadcast come together in celebration live by the BBC and BBC of the historic occasion. On Studios, the Coronation Sunday 7 May, a special Concert will bring global music Coronation Concert will be icons and contemporary stars staged and broadcast live at together in celebration of the Windsor Castle by the BBC historic occasion. and BBC Studios, with several thousand pairs of tickets to be Attended by a public audimade available via public balence including volunteers from lot.

The King and The Queen Consort’s many charity affiliaThe Coronation Big Lunch, tions, the concert will see a at which neighbours and comworld-class orchestra play intermunities are invited to share food and fun together, will pretations of musical favourites take place across the country fronted by some of the world’s on the same date. biggest entertainers, alongside performers from the world of On Monday 8 May, memdance. The performances will bers of the public will be invitbe supported by staging and ed to take part in The Big Help effects located on the Castle’s Out, which will encourage East Lawn and will also feature people to try volunteering for a selection of spoken word themselves and join the work sequences delivered by stars of being undertaken to support stage and screen. their local areas.

Through a national ballot The King and The Queen held by the BBC, several thouConsort hope the Coronation sand members of the public will Weekend will provide an be selected to receive a pair of opportunity to spend time and free tickets for the Coronation celebrate with friends, families Concert at Windsor Castle. and communities across the United Kingdom, the Realms Alongside the stars of the and the Commonwealth. Their concert, the show will also see Majesties are looking forward an exclusive appearance from to marking the occasion with The Coronation Choir. This the public throughout 2023. diverse group will be created from the nation’s keenest community choirs and amateur What’s happening on the singers from across the United following dates: Kingdom, such as Refugee choirs, NHS choirs, LGBTQ+ Saturday 6 May 2023 singing groups and deaf signing choirs. A new documentary The Coronation Service will exploring the formation of The take place on the morning of Coronation Choir will tell the Saturday, 6 May 2023 at stories of the people representWestminster Abbey. The ing the many faces and voices Coronation is a solemn reliof the country. The gious service, as well as an occaCoronation Choir will appear sion for celebration and alongside The Virtual Choir, pageantry. made up of singers from across Their Majesties The King the Commonwealth, for a speand The Queen Consort will cial performance on the night. arrive at Westminster Abbey in The centrepiece of the procession from Buckingham Coronation Concert, ‘Lighting Palace, known as ‘The King’s up the Nation’, will see the Procession’.

country join together in celebration as iconic locations across the United Kingdom are lit up using projections, lasers, drone displays and illuminations.

The Coronation Concert will be produced by BBC Studios, broadcast live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.

Further details about the concert, the national ticket ballot and the line-up will be released in due course.

The Coronation Big Lunch Neighbours and communities across the United Kingdom are invited to share food and fun together at Coronation Big Lunches on Sunday 7 May 2023, in a nationwide act of celebration and friendship. From a cup of tea with a neighbour to a street party, a Coronation Big Lunch brings the celebrations to your neighbourhood and is a great way to get to know your community a little better.

The Coronation Big Lunch will be overseen and organised by the Big Lunch team at the Eden Project. The Big Lunch is an idea from the Eden Project, made possible by The National Lottery, that brings millions of people together annually to boost community spirit, reduce loneliness and support charities and good causes. Her Majesty The Queen Consort has been Patron of the Big Lunch since 2013.

Thousands of events are expected to take place in every corner of the United Kingdom this May as people take to their streets, gardens, parks and community spaces to join the Coronation celebrations and mark this historic occasion.

Free downloadable resources will also be made available online by the Big Lunch team at CoronationBigLunch.com, to help people and communities start their Coronation Big Lunch planning.

Monday 8 May 2023 The Big Help Out will be held on Monday, 8 May 2023 and is being organised by The Together Coalition and a wide range of partners such as The Scouts, the Royal Voluntary Service and faith groups from across the United Kingdom.

The Big Help Out will highlight the positive impact volunteering has on communities across the nation.

In tribute to His Majesty The King's public service, The Big Help Out will encourage people to try volunteering for themselves and join the work being undertaken to support their local areas. The aim of The Big Help Out is to use volunteering to bring communities together and create a lasting volunteering legacy from the Coronation weekend.

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High Commission of India celebrates Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s 126th birth anniversary at India House Community participates widely, with display of portraits on India’s freedom fighters by Heritage Bengal Global Rupanjana Dutta Heritage Bengal Global celebrated the 126th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on 22 January at Ealing Town Hall in London. Hosting a Saraswati Puja for the second time, the event also saw a portrait drawing competition featuring India’s freedom fighters, where the final works were displayed at the Ealing Town Hall, followed by at India House in Aldwych on 23 January to mark Netajis’ birth anniversary celebration.

A brainchild of the Deputy High Commissioner of India to

Mitali Choudhury, London’s Deputy Mayor Rajesh Agrawal with HBG members at Ealing Townhall Saraswati puja by HBG

attended by dignitaries, including, Sanjay Sharma, Deputy Director of Nehru Centre, Cllr Mohinder Kaur Midha, Mayor of Ealing, Virendra Sharma MP, Rajesh Agrawal, London’s Deputy Mayor for Business, Mitali

Portrait exhibition by Heritage Bengal Global

the UK, Sujit Ghosh, the competition involved the Bengali diaspora globally, as a part of the Government of India's Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative.

Some of the participants for the drawing competition included Aaliya Sen from Germany, Dyutimoy Banerjee from Kolkata, Nandini Kumar, a student at Parsons School

trait of Netaji in the Gandhi Hall, said, “Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his many feats of military and political courage live on.

“The museum in his memory is Calcutta is well worth visiting to see the courage, daring and enterprise that he displayed in escaping from custody in house arrest, his extraordinary journey through India, his efforts to mobilise an army including prisoners of war – all of this is the stuff of legend.”

The envoy also highlighted the legendary freedom fighter’s selflessness, shunning a life of privilege and luxury in favour of the hard road to fight for the independence of his country.

Signatures supporting the cause were collected to kickstart the campaign, so that they could persuade Air India, Indian government, especially the Prime Minister, Aviation Ministry and Ministry of External Affairs to restart the direct flights between London and Kolkata.

Though as a part of the Vande Bharat mission, there were nonstop and direct flights available to Kolkata for a short period of time, decades ago, British Airways and Air India had flown to Kolkata non-stop and directly, before continuing to other destinations like Bangladesh. Though the initial plan is to have London-Kolkata direct

Choudhury, granddaughter of Sarat Bose (Netaji’s brother), INA veteran Ajit Roy, singer Sahana Bajpayi to name a few. It also saw the launch of the LondonKolkata direct flight campaign.

Indian High Commission marks Netaji’s birth anniversary On Monday marking Parakram Diwas and celebrating Netaji’s 126th birth

of Design in New York, Rajib Saha from Harrow, Kalyanmoy Roy from Cambridge, Sayantan Chakraborty from Ruislip, Mahua Bej from Sutton and Sourav Pal from Harrow.

HBG also celebrated Saraswati, that included cultural programme and pushpanjali for all.

The dual celebration at Ealing Town Hall was

anniversary the High Commission of India organised a reception at India House. The portraits

by HBG members were on display at the foyer, in the embassy’s majestic and historical building.

HE Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, in his address following floral tributes to a por-

A photo op meant to publicise the Tory government’s levelling-up fund and showcase PM Rishi Sunak’s connection with the ordinary voters went horribly wrong after Sunak was fined by Lancashire constabulary for not wearing a seatbelt while filming the social media video. This also made Rishi Sunak the second sitting prime minister in history to be fined by the police, which was also his second time in the past 12 months.

Previously, he had been fined along with then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson for attending the infamous Downing Street parties during the lockdown.

Lancashire constabulary said on Friday: “You will be aware that a video has been circulating on social media showing an individual failing to wear a seatbelt while a passenger in a moving car in Lancashire. After looking into this matter, we have today issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty.”

While the police did not reveal how much they fined the prime minister, the government’s safety campaign mandates that any driver or passenger without a seatbelt is breaking the law and therefore is liable to pay up to £500. In the video which was uploaded on Instagram but was then taken down, Sunak could be seen talking to the camera without his seatbelt on while traveling

Rishi Sunak

from one event to another.

The Guardian quoted a spokesperson for Downing Street: “The prime minister fully accepts this was a mistake and has apologised. He will of course comply with the fixed penalty.”

A Labour spokesperson was also quoted as: “Just when you thought this Tory government couldn’t get any more ridiculous, they manage it.” After all, last week was a particularly uncomfortable one for Sunak who also received flak after it came to light that he had travelled to Blackpool in a 14-seat RAF jet. Conservative mayor for the West Midlands Andy Street also criticised the government for fostering a “begging bowl culture” among local authorities following the announcement of the latest round of levelling up funds. A Guardian analysis had also revealed that Tory seats received considerably more money from the fund than other seats with similar deprivation levels.

Zahawi pays huge penalty over tax dispute Vijay Rana addressing the audience

HE Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, paying floral tributes to a portrait of Netaji in Gandhi Hall, India House

PM Rishi Sunak fined for not wearing seatbelt in promotional video

He added, “His message essentially was to reject the idea that had been imposed upon us since 1857, that the people of our subcontinent were largely not a martial race, that Indians couldn’t actually fight… Netaji showed that was not true.”

There was a lecture on Netaji’s military campaign by journalist Vijay Rana and rendering of patriotic songs by members of the community.

Direct Flight campaign launched The Indian Bengalis have launched a campaign, demanding direct (if not non-stop) flights to Kolkata, at least thrice a week, urging community organisations and individuals to join this initiative.

HBG formally launched the petition in association with Asian Voice newsweekly at Ealing Townhall.

flights reinstated, this eventually could be extended to Birmingham, Manchester and Scottish airports in the UK, depending on the demand and could also extend the route to north-eastern states of India from Kolkata.

Direct flights are not just hassle free or important to save time for busy businessmen and professionals, but it also helps pregnant women and the elderly, for whom disembarking and embarking an aircraft, transferring to another, sometimes after collecting and re-checking their luggage is an exhausting task. Even if it’s not a non-stop flight, the sheer fact that you do not need to disembark the aircraft, makes it much easier for those with even slight mobility issues.

Tory party chairman Nadhim Zahawi faces fresh questions over his tax affairs after he was accused of paying a penalty as part of a multi-million-pound settlement with HMRC. The former Chancellor, who attends Rishi Sunak’s cabinet, has been under pressure since it was reported that he paid a seven-figure sum to end a dispute.

Zahawi reportedly paid a 30 per cent penalty, taking the estimated total to more than £4.8 million. Both Mr Zahawi’s team and the Conservative Party were contacted about the latest allegation. Neither has responded to rebut the report. Labour has called for an inquiry into Mr Zahawi and deputy leader Angela Rayner urged HMRC to clear up the “serious questions raised about a potential conflict of interest”. Tax lawyer Dan Neidle has been working to expose the minister’s tax affairs and has estimated that he owed £3.7 million.

The Conservative MP allegedly avoided tax by using an offshore company

Nadhim Zahawi

registered in Gibraltar to hold shares in the polling company he co-founded, YouGov. Former Tory minister Caroline Nokes has said that Nadhim Zahawi should stand aside as Conservative chairman during his inquiry into his taxes.

But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reportedly asked his ethics adviser to investigate Mr Zahawi's financial affairs, saying there are "questions that need answering".

The Opposition however has called him to resign but Chris Philp, a minister at the Home Office, said that it was "reasonable" for Mr Zahawi to stay in post, and it wouldn't be fair to "jump to any conclusions”.

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75 YEARS OF INDIA AND THE UNITED NATIONS by: Amb. Asoke Mukerji

Amb. Asoke Mukerji

India is one of the 51 original founders of the United Nations (UN). India, following the independence from Britain on 15 August 1947, “continued” as an original member of the UN.

Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Pandit, delivered independent India’s first major statement in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on 19 September 1947. She noted that “the great Powers, instead of coming closer together, are drifting farther apart. There is tension, suspense and anxiety, and an uneasy awareness that things are perhaps moving towards some new and annihilating disaster for mankind…”. Rejecting attempts to make India part of the ideological confrontation of the Cold War, Mrs. Pandit said that “ideology is less important than practice. We cannot eat an ideology; we cannot brandish an ideology, and feel that we are clothed and housed. Food, clothing, shelter, education, medical services-these are the things we need.” Independent India had clearly articulated its vision of the UN as providing a supportive global framework for the socio-economic transformation of India.

This vision has been sustained during the past 75 years. Two major achievements stand as a legacy to India’s contribution to the UN so far. First, the successful campaign to democratize international relations enabling former colonial countries to become independent members of the UNGA with the historic unanimous Decolonization Resolution adopted by the UNGA in December 1960. Second, the incremental positioning of sustainable development issues firmly on the central agenda of the UN and its specialized agencies, encapsulated in the UNGA’s unanimous adoption of Agenda 2030 with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015. The SDGs represent a holistic matrix of human endeavour, covering health, education, gender, energy, employment, infrastructure, inequalities, urban growth, consumption, and the environment on land, sea, and air.

These two achievements were made possible by India’s proactive diplomatic engagement with other member-states of the UNGA on the basis of shared values and interests. In 1961, India became a cofounder of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that rejected getting mired in the confrontational bloc politics of the Cold War. The NAM today has 120 of the 193 member-states of the UNGA as its members. In 1964, India joined 77 newly independent developing countries to establish the Group of 77 (G-77), which currently has 134 member-states in the UNGA. The driving force of the G-77 is the creation of an equitable new international order, based on the Charter of Algiers adopted by it in 1967, and Agenda 2030 is the G-77’s core interest

in the UN. The inclusion of democracy and sustainable development added substance to the activities of the UN and its specialized agencies over the past 75 years. The Preamble of the UN’s Agenda 2030 underscores that, “There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development.” Yet, international peace and security is increasingly under threat, primarily due to an increasingly ineffective UN Security Council (UNSC). Currently, over 50 conflicts are on the agenda of the UNSC, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Libya, Syria, Yemen, the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Ukraine. These conflicts have displaced almost 90 million people across the continents.

In South Asia, the rapidly

deteriorating situation in Afghanistan brought about by the UNSC’s refusal to uphold the Doha Agreement endorsed by UNSC resolution 2513 in March 2020 has left half of Afghanistan’s population (about 20 million women) without their basic human rights of education and employment, which are integral to implement Agenda 2030.

Responding to these challenges to international peace, security, and development, Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi proposed an ambitious project to “reform multilateralism” to make it human-centric during the 75th anniversary Summit of the UN in September 2020.

The two main objectives of this are reforms within the UN, particularly of the UNSC; and reforms of interlinked multilateral organizations (the UN, its specialized agencies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and the World Trade Organization) to create a coherent global

framework to respond to common challenges facing mankind. Developing countries, which form the vast majority of the UN membership, have a direct stake in reforming the UN and other multilateral institutions to make them more efficient and responsive. Agenda 2030’s SDG 16.8 contains the unanimous commitment of the UNGA to reform multilateral institutions to “broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance”.

On 12-13 January 2023, India hosted a virtual “Voice of the Global South for Human-centric Development” Summit. A measure of the importance of India’s initiative can be gauged from the fact that 125 countries responded to this initiative, including 47 from Africa, 31 from Asia, 29 from Latin America and the Caribbean, 11 from Oceania, and 7 from Europe.

Participating countries were linked by common concerns regarding issues of sustainable development of priority to them, on which existing multilateral institutions have failed to provide significant outcomes.

The outcome of the New Delhi Global South Summit will be integrated into the G-20 process by India, which is the current chair of the G-20. It is significant that the next two chairs of the G-20 are also prominent participants in the New Delhi Global South Summit, with Brazil taking the chair in 2024, and South Africa in 2025. In parallel, India’s initiative provides a major input into the preparations for the UN’s “Summit of the Future”, planned to be held in New York in September 2024.

Achieving “reformed multilateralism” through these processes would require world leaders to review the international situation after the disruptions caused by natural and manmade causes over the past three years, which have set back the momentum of constructive international cooperation. In this context, a decision by the UN’s “Summit of the Future” to convene a General Conference of the UN in 2025, when the organization marks its 80th anniversary, would be appropriate. As a leading voice for diplomacy, dialogue, and development, India must play a major role in ensuring this objective. *** [Ambassador (Retd.) Asoke Mukerji retired as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York in December 2015 after over 37 years in the Indian Foreign Service.]

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Sky is the l

AMRIT KAAL OF THE

Amb. Lakshmi Puri

W

Dr Bibek Debroy

INDIAN ECONOMY

Recently, India celebrated 75 years of Independence. The idea of Amrit Kaal extends that forward to the next twenty-five years, to 2047, when India will celebrate 100 years of Independence. The India of 2023 is different from the India of 1947 and the India of 2047 will be different from the India of 2023 in ways few can anticipate and project today. If one casts one’s mind back, how many would have guessed changes wrought in India in the last twenty-five years?

The world is uncertain and the long-run even more so. While the future is always uncertain, the current state of the world has been permeated with an additional dose of uncertainty – Covid, geopolitical tensions, collapse of the multilateral system and regionalism, retreat of advanced countries from globalization and the dreaded expression of “recession” in some of those countries. These are external shocks that have been thrust on India, as they have on many emerging market economies, and underline collapse of institutions that provide global public goods, Bretton Woods Institutions included. In passing, global governance has yet to accept rise of economies like India. Lord Keynes is often quoted, usually out of context. A cliched quote is, “In the long run we are all dead.” If one reads the complete text (The Tract on Monetary Reform, 1923), one will find the intention wasn’t quite what out-of-context quotes convey.

Dreaming with BRICS and path to 2050 There is much that is uncertain, in the present and in the long-run of the future. But there is much that is also certain. Within that band of certainty, it is impossible to dispute India’s inexorable economic rise. At one point, much was made of the Goldman Sachs report, on dreaming with BRICS and path to 2050, authored in 2003.

(1) In that report, the average real rate of GDP growth for India was around 5.5%, the explosion in aggregate GDP and per capita GDP by 2050 explained by the nature of the exponential function.

(2) That report didn’t have a figure for 2047, but did have one for 2045. In 2045, India’s aggregate GDP was projected to be 18.8 trillion US dollars and per capita GDP of just over 12,000 US dollars.

(3) None of the reasons behind optimistic projections have been nullified by the present uncertainty – increase in savings/investment rates as a result of demographic transition and income growth, growth drivers in more efficient land, labour and capital markets and productivity enhancement. To use an economist’s expression, India is still within the production possibility frontier, not on it. To state it differently, aggregate growth for India is a summation of growth in States and States are within their respective frontiers, providing plenty of endogenous slack for growth. Had the external world been more benign, India might have grown at 9%. Typically, one tends to extrapolate the gloominess of the present to the future. It is by no means obvious that the external world will continue to be difficult for the next twenty-five years. But even if that were to be the case, India might not grow at 9%. What real growth rate seems reasonable?

The answer depends on the person making the projection and the assumptions. A nominal figure depends on assumptions made about inflation, which is why projections are often in real terms, in today’s dollars. A dollar figure also depends on assumptions made about the dollar/rupee exchange rate, which is why projections often assume the current exchange rate (Goldman Sachs assumed rupee appreciation vis-à-vis the dollar.) A PPP (purchasing power parity) exercise is naturally different.

With inflation and exchange rate changes out of the way, what trajectory of real growth sounds reasonable? The pessimistic forecaster will point to state of the external world and domestic inefficiencies and opt for 5.5%. The optimistic forecaster will point to empowerment through ease of living and provision of basic necessities, ease of doing business, supply-side reforms, and Union government’s capital expenditure and opt for 7.5%. That’s the rough range, with the recognition that as one grows, growth rates slow. As one moves up the development ladder, it becomes more difficult to grow as fast, with the caveat that different States are at different levels of development and there is plenty of slack. To return to the certainty of the long-run, one can plug in one’s own assumptions about real growth, say something like 6.5%, between the two extremes of 5.5% and 7.5%. In 2047, India’s per capita income will then be something like 10,000 US dollars. The total size of the economy will approach 20 trillion US dollars. These numbers are roughly in the same range as the Goldman Sachs one. In Goldman Sachs, the role of exchange rate appreciation was relatively more. In such projections, the role of real growth is relatively more.

If reforms drive the Indian growth trajectory to higher than 6.5%, and that Citius, Altius and Fortius possibility cannot be ruled out, the corresponding numbers will be higher. Even with the relatively conservative numbers, this means India will be the third largest economy in the world, after United States and China and this will naturally be reflected in India’s global clout. If one does a PPP ranking, India will be the second largest, after China. The annual rate of population growth has slowed and is

now less than 1%. Nevertheless, in 2047, India will be the most populous country in the world, with a population of something like 1.6 billion.

Expressions like “developed country” are rarely used these days. The term no longer has a specific definition. The World Bank uses terms like middleincome. Today, India is classified as a lower middleincome economy. In 2047, India will move to the upper middle-income category. Once one approaches a per capita income of 13,000 US dollars, the status becomes high-income. That’s when India can be said to be “developed”. In 2047, India will fall short, but the face of poverty, as we know it, will be completely transformed.

Measuring poverty today Measurement of poverty is based on the notion of a poverty line and using a multi-dimensional poverty index, UNDP has recently documented the sharp drop in number of poor people in India. As economies develop, the notion of a poverty line is of course moved up, beyond a subsistence level of consumption. However, officially, the poverty line used is still the Tendulkar poverty line.

Unfortunately, consumption expenditure data, used to measure poverty, do not exist beyond 201112. Therefore, different people have used different assumptions to measure poverty today. If one uses PLFS (periodic labour force survey) data and the Tendulkar poverty line, the poverty ratio (percentage of population below the poverty line) is around 17% now. By 2047, this ratio will decline to around 5%. SDG (sustainable development goal) reports, among others, have documented pockets of deprivation in selected geographical regions, targeted by the government through the aspirational districts programme. India is heterogeneous and despite provision of basic necessities (physical and social infrastructure, financial inclusion, access to markets, technology, digital access) and the overall message of empowerment, there will be pockets of poverty, even in 2047. But the nature of that poverty will be very different. India will achieve universal literacy, or be pretty close to it. UNDP uses HDI (human development index), an aggregate measure, to gauge human development, moving beyond poverty ratios. Today, India is in the medium human development category, judged by HDI. In 2047, India will move to the high human development category.

Five transitions There are five transitions going on and these will be even more marked in 2047. First, there is a rural to urban shift and urbanisation is correlated with development. By 2047, almost 60% of India’s population will be urbanised. Delhi and Kolkata with populations of around 35 million, Mumbai with more than 40 million. The mind boggles and the government’s programmes are meant to ensure that urbanisation is managed better. Second, there will be grater formalization of the economy. Yet again, formalisation is correlated with growth and development. Individuals will have formal job contracts. MSMEs will graduate to become legally registered. Indian companies will become larger and more efficient, integrated into global supply chains.

Third, the percentage of the population that earns a living from agriculture will decline. Agriculture’s share in GDP will decline to something like 5% and the percentage of population that earns a living from agriculture will not be more than 20%. Fourth, within agriculture, there will be a shift away towards commercialisation and diversification and larger farms. Fifth, there will be greater citizen participation in governance with the “sabka prayas” theme. For years, there was a colonial chip on the shoulder. But the present India is a proud India, a resilient India, an aspiring India. Amritkaal is about that and the country is making great strides on economic front with greater confidence and entrepreneurship.

[Bibek Debroy is the Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Government of India.]

hen the Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Original Song’ was announced on 10 January 2023, the roar of applause for the winning movie ‘RRR’ was echoed manifold in India and the world. It signified the celebration of India’s vibrant cinematic tradition—globally the largest, most prolific and variegated—but also of the richness and virtuosity of Indian art and culture itself.

As India emerges from decades of diffidence to assume a more prominent position on the world stage, this victory feels like a new moment for India@75, a celebration of its soft power renaissance.

A country's soft power, according to Joseph Nye, rests on three resources: its attractive culture, the political values it lives up to, and foreign policies perceived by others as legitimate and having moral authority. It seeks preferred outcomes through attraction and influence rather than coercion or payment in international relations. PM Modi has consciously posited the idea of the civilisational state of India on the world stage and has sought to swell the tide of its consequential soft power in his global engagement strategy.

As he averred, “India is not only a nation, but also an idea and a culture.” One of the oldest, largest and greatest civilisations, India, unlike other civilisations, has maintained continuity with its glorious past. It has built a unique, assimilative and universalist culture that extends beyond historical territory, ethnolinguistic groups, and modes of governance. From this 5,000-years-old tree of wisdom emanate various branches of social, political, spiritual and transcendental thought that govern everyday life in India. They manifest themselves in India’s vision and policymaking on, and for, global public good.

The G20 theme of “One Earth, One Family, One Future” under India’s presidency in 2023 adopts the core tenets of humanism. On issues of global primacy, especially on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the spirit of Gandhian Sarvodaya through Antyodaya – India’s self-belief and actions are being commended. Whether it is his vision for cleanliness, sanitation, housing, food, and energy for all, or digital and financial inclusion and skilling missions, PM Modi has pioneered solutions that are replicable to scale in the Global South.

Positive India narrative Winner of the ‘Champion

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Amb. Lakshmi Puri

limit to India’s soft power

of the Earth Award’, PM Modi has drawn upon India’s deep conviction about harmony with nature to espouse the causes of Green Development, Lifestyle for Environment Mission, and his Panchamrit Action Plan on climate action. This is now a priority theme of India’s G20 Presidency. His leadership on climate justice has won acclaim from developed and developing nations alike. Similarly, India’s Vaccine Maitri, health cooperation, and humanitarian assistance have evoked appreciation.

The Modi government seeks to harness India’s soft power on a wider canvas, to drive a positive India narrative, and to capture alignment in global and regional geopolitics as the global order is re-formed in the wake of the pandemic and the RussiaUkraine conflict. The Prime Minister’s pronouncement of “this is not the time for war” and propagation of the ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ philosophy has gleaned many international admirers.

Soft power is complementary to and mainstreamed into India’s military and economic capabilities. There is a paradigmatic shift in our strategic culture. He has led from the front, and has made concerted efforts to popularise India’s soft power.

Yoga, of course, has become the most successful carrier of India’s soft power. It has become global phenomenon with yoga chant echoing from Japan to the US and from Saudi Arabia to Brazil! The UN General Assembly resolution to make 21 June as the ‘International Day of Yoga’ with the highest support of 175 member-states testifies to its universal appeal. Ayurveda, beauty and wellness, and the flavourful palettes of Indian cuisine have captivated the world. Diwali is fast becoming a global festival.

Indian films are a significant cultural export and influencers of global mores and trendsetters. Raj Kapur and Satyajit Ray shaped the world of cinema forever. Actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Prabhas, and Ram Charan have fan following in Asia, Arab and African countries besides Europe, and North and South America.

Internet, YouTube, OTT and social media platforms have further spread the popularity of Indian stories, and classical and modern music and dance. The wider creative industry of India, including design, textile, fashion, painting, sculpture, crafts, architecture, languages and literature, are admired and emulated for their original and rich aesthetic and design sensibilities with amenability to fusion.

India is leveraging its intrinsic intellectual capital and entrepreneurial genius in positioning the country at the forefront of global knowledge, ICT, and increasingly, Tech 4.0 capabilities that include AI. Unsurprisingly, many of the biggest industry and tech leaders in the West are of Indian origin. India is today the fastest-growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world. India’s emerging economy story is buttressed by its cultural and historical people-to-people links with every corner of the world through trade, travel and tourism as well as its flourishing diaspora of 32 million, with 2.5 million Indians migrating overseas every year – the highest in the world.

India’s soft power as the mother of all democracies, and the world’s largest, pluralistic and tolerant one, has come into sharper focus with its consensus building, and cooperative and mutual benefit ethos which is also the UN ideal. This is in stark contrast to the approach of some authoritarian large powers with their use of coercive power to further their national interests at grave cost to other nations.

A model of collaborative development It is imperative that India wins this battle of ideas and systems because it portends the success of India’s own sustainable development model and the Indian way as much as it validates a viable democratic national and international order. As President Biden said to PM Modi during the Quad Summit in May 2022, India’s handling of the pandemic showed that “democracies can deliver” and busted the myth that "autocracies can better handle the rapidly changing world.” The Global South expects India to reinforce a model of collaborative development that does not reduce diplomacy to a zero-sum game. The Prime Minister himself acknowledged that, “the world is looking at India proudly and with anticipation….searching for solutions to the problems on the soil of India. This change in the world, in the thinking of the world is the result of our experiential journey of 75 years.”

India is reaping both intended gains through well-executed government efforts but also many unintended gains from the soft power of ‘brand India’. Given its huge potential of demographic dividend towards the goal of a 40 trillion economy by 2047, the reservoir of the largest youth and women power, matched with robust democratic institutions and strong military capabilities, India is on the pathway to becoming a leading power. Its burgeoning soft power will ensure that this rise is benign, benevolent and peaceful, one that strengthens a democratic, sustainably developed, and rules-based global order. India’s farsighted thought leadership draws strength from Swami Vivekananda who foresaw “that form of Mother India, the Mother goddess, who shall once again be the Vishwaguru and would lead the world.”

[Writer is a retired Indian diplomat, former Assistant Secretary-General at the United Nations, and former Executive Director of UN Women.]

India takes world centre-stage with G20 presidency Amb. Ashok Sajjanhar Introduction India assumed the Presidency of G20 (the Group of 20 countries comprising 19 large economies and the European Union) for 2023 from Indonesia on 1 December 2022.

While accepting this responsibility, PM Narendra Modi said that India’s G20 presidency will be “inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented.’’

India’s assumption of the G20 presidency has decisively signaled its emergence as a significant player on the global stage. While most countries in the world, both developed and developing, have found it difficult to effectively handle the challenges thrown up by the Covid19 pandemic and the RussiaUkraine conflict, India, through its bold leadership and prudent policies, has been able to successfully navigate the headwinds it has encountered over the last three years.

The Summit The Bali G20 Summit in November 2022 was held at a particularly difficult and uncertain moment in international politics and economics.

India emerged as a ‘’leader, solution provider and consensus builder’’ at the Bali Summit. The shadow of the Russia-Ukraine conflict loomed large over the deliberations in the run up to the Summit.

It was not found possible to arrive at a mutually acceptable language on the conflict in several of the G20 meetings that preceded the Summit. India was able to act as a bridge between the opposing sides on the issue. A compromise solution was achieved which reiterated the assertion by PM Modi to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Samarkand on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit that ‘’today is not an era of war,’’ and that the solution to the conflict should be found through ‘’dialogue and diplomacy.’’

The Declaration, a 19-page document addressed in considerable detail, the major challenges confronting the global economy and financial system.

In his remarks in the first session on Energy and Food Security, PM Modi clearly stated that the United Nations had failed to resolve the political and economic challenges afflicting the world. It is because of the failure of the multilateral organizations that the significance of G20 has increased. PM Modi exhorted the countries to evolve a new world order as had been done after the Second World War. While speaking on the need to make digital connectivity truly inclusive, PM Modi asserted that “digital transformation is the most remarkable change of our era. The proper use of digital technologies can become a force multiplier in the decades-long global fight against poverty. Digital solutions can also be helpful in the fight against climate change.’’ PM Modi asserted that India’s experience of the past few years has shown that if digital architecture is made ‘inclusive’, it can bring about socio-eco-

nomic transformation. He declared that the principle of "Data for development" will be an integral part of the overall theme of India’s Presidency "One Earth, One Family, One Future". Batting for sustainable growth, PM Modi stated that LiFE i.e. 'Lifestyle for Environment' campaign can make a big contribution to this. He encouraged the global community to make sustainable lifestyle a mass movement.

India’s Presidency During its Presidency, India will aspire to deliver outcomes in areas of critical interest such as integrating the climate and development agenda, accelerating progress towards achieving the SDG 2030 mandate, furthering development cooperation, supporting small and marginal farmers, enhancing food security and nutrition, addressing global skill gaps, women empowerment, promotion of blue economy and coastal sustainability, digital health solutions, green hydrogen and tech-enabled learning.

India hit the ground running on assuming the Presidency of the G20. Even before taking over charge, India organised a Special Briefing for envoys of G20 and invitee countries and International Organisations in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on 26 November, 2022. Starting with the first 4-day Sherpa meeting in Udaipur from 4 December, 2022, India has already organised several substantive meetings including the first Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting in Bengaluru; first Meeting of the G20 Development Working Group in Mumbai; first Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion in Kolkata, and several more.

India has also emerged as a strong and clear voice of the global South. There is a persistent feeling among several small countries that their concerns and problems do not get the attention they deserve. In a remarkable path-breaking initiative, India organized the ‘’Voice of the Global South for HumanCentric Development’’ virtual Summit on 12-13 January 2023. The theme of the Summit was ‘’Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose.’’ The Summit brought together 125 countries of the global South to share their perspectives and priorities on a common platform across a whole range of issues. The Summit, as is evident from the numbers, received a strong, positive response across the world. This initiative was inspired by PM Modi's vision of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas’ (the support of everyone, development for everyone, trust of everyone with everyone’s effort), and was also underpinned by India's philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The World is One Family). The Summit was a platform to exchange ideas and solutions, and to unite in voice and purpose, the issues of concern and priorities for the Global South.

In his opening address, PM Modi declared that the Voice of the Global South will be the Voice of India and the priorities of the developing countries will be India’s priorities. PM Modi gave a call for 4Rs - ‘Respond, Recognise, Respect

and Reform’ in context of various priorities of the developing world.

Prime Minister also announced a number of new initiatives by India.

These include – AarogyaMaitri whereby essential medical supplies will be provided to any developing country affected by natural disasters or humanitarian crisis; Global South Centre of Excellence for research on development solutions to be implemented around the world; Global South Science and Technology Initiative to share expertise in areas such as space technology and nuclear energy; Global South Young Diplomats Forum; and Global South Scholarships.

While assuming the Presidency, PM Modi had said that India's G20 priorities would be shaped in consultation with not just G20 partners, but also with our fellow travellers in the Global South, whose voice often goes unheard. This Summit was an opportunity for those countries that are not part of the G20 process to share their ideas, concerns, aspirations and expectations. Several developing countries like Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman and the UAE have also been invited as “guest countries” by India to the G20 Summit in September this year.

Conclusion Accepting the G20 Presidency, PM Modi declared that India would organise more than 200 G20 meetings in 55 different cities on 35 different themes around the country.

Visitors to India will get the full experience of its amazing diversity, inclusive traditions, and cultural richness. He invited all G20 members and international organizations ‘’to participate in this unique celebration in India, the 'Mother of Democracy'’’.

Assuming charge of the G20 at this critical moment is a huge challenge. It is also a great opportunity.

The world is looking at India with hope and expectation to effectively deal with the turbulence engineered by the Covid-19, RussiaUkraine conflict, global economic downturn, and climate change.

India is committed to reach out to all countries of the North and the South, the East and the West to ensure as PM Modi said at the Bali G20 Summit that “next year when the G20 meets in the holy land of Buddha and Gandhi, we will all agree to convey a strong message of peace to the world.’’

India will hand over the baton to Brazil at the end of November, 2023. It is for the first time that the troika comprising of the current, past and future Presidencies of G20 will comprise of three major developing and emerging economies.

This provides a unique opportunity to India, supported by Indonesia and Brazil, to make a significant contribution to peace, security, stability, and prosperity in the world.

India looks forward to its Presidency of the G20 with determination and confidence.

[The writer is former Indian Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Latvia.]

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Dear Financial Voice Reader,

Alpesh Patel OBE

Right I want my pension, SIPP and ISA to get back on track this year again. 2021 was fantastic, so was 2020. But 2022 not good. Part of the reason is I had to hold 80% in cash in 2022 because of the falling market and then belatedly only energy and some health stocks were any good.

So 2023, time to make up those falls. Early signs are investors are taking last year’s gains in healthcare and energy and putting the money into beaten down stocks of last year with good fundamentals eg tech – but let’s dive deeper.

I’ve sold Abbvie and Eli Lilly for instance and bought nVidia, Taiwan Semi, Tesla.

According to Gapen, the U.S. economy is expected to suffer from slower consumer spending by December 2023.

Despite the continued decline in inflation, Gapen doesn’t see inflation reaching the Fed’s 2% target in 2023.

Bank of America reports that a large majority of Wall Street money managers expect stagflation in 2023, similar to the 1970s.

92% of funds managers in the bank’s most recent survey predict low economic growth and high inflation in 2023, while only ten percent anticipate a bullish “goldilocks” scenario in which the economy avoids recession.

Rising interest rates and slowing growth further dampen the outlook for fourth-quarter U.S. earnings after a disappointing third quarter.

I am not as pessimistic. I see profitable companies with strong cashflow giving me a strong 2023 and I should be back on track for my 40% for US stocks and 20% for UK. I will continue filtering companies based on value and good growth plus dividends and strong cash flow and resilient share price performance.

I will continue my emphasis on cash flow. Cash flow is the best way to evaluate a company's financial health. In fact, this metric is often more important than looking at profits.

But what does cash flow tell us? It demonstrates how much capital a business has on hand. While this may seem like a simple or obvious point to consider, it's important for several reasons.

If a company wants to service debts, pay dividends to shareholders, or invest in technology or equipment, it needs cash. Companies with large amounts of excess cash can expand, increase products, acquire other businesses, or return money to shareholders.

That's why cash flow is an important indicator. It's the capital that remains once the company has met its spending and operating obligations. For investors, it can be a way to tell the difference between which companies will increase in price and which will struggle.

So I am excited about 2023. I have started deploying my capital at long last, but in small cautious steps. I will keep you updated in this column.

Home loan lenders getting more anxious as downturn intensifies Banks are bracing for a surge in mortgage defaults as the availability of home loans fell to its lowest level outside of the pandemic in 15 years.

Lenders are becoming more anxious about giving out loans as the downturn intensifies, a survey by the Bank of England shows, signalling troubles are far from over for Britain's housing market. It comes as house prices fell for the first time in over a year from October to November, marking a 0.3pc drop, data from the Office For National Statistics (ONS) showed. The Bank survey, conducted between November 21 and December 9, shows a sharp rise in lenders expecting mortgage defaults to rise in the first quarter of 2023, with a net score of 44.3. This is despite banks saying defaults fell slightly in the final three months of last year.

Meanwhile, when asked about the availability of “secured credit” in the past three months – mainly mortgages – a net score of -33.6 lenders reported a tightening.This reflects banks pulling vast amounts of mortgage products and tightening their lending criteria in the aftermath of Liz Truss' disastrous mini-Budget last year. Apart from the height of the Covid crisis when the housing market was effectively closed down, it is the largest figure since mid- to late 2008 when it was -39.3. A significant share of lenders also expected availability would shrink further at the start of the year. The most commonly cited factor was the changing economic outlook.

Many lenders also reported a declining risk appetite and worsening expectations for house prices, especially in the coming three months. Borrowers with smaller deposits of less than 25pc of the property value were most likely to be impacted, although lenders reported declining availability even for people with larger deposits. Demand for mortgages also dissipated in the final three months of the year, dropping to the lowest outside of the pandemic since records began in 2007.

More lenders than not also expect it to fall further at the start of the year, although mortgage brokers and estate agents say demand has started to pick up again in January.

‘Save to Buy’ scheme permits consumers to save deposit while residing rent-free Developer Fairview New Homes has unveiled its ‘Save to Buy’ scheme, which aims to assist those who are concurrently trying to save deposit and make rent payments.

The new scheme, which is the first of its type in the UK, enables first-time homebuyers to reside in their property without paying rent, with monthly payments going towards a deposit on their property, rather than a landlord.

It also aims to reassure prospective purchasers who are still living with their parents that they can

become homeowners as early as this year. Successful candidates must be firsttime buyers, over 18, have a 1% down payment previously made, be employed full-time (for at least three months), and be qualified by a third-party financial advisor to validate affordability and credit score.

By signing up to the program, applicants are essentially ‘exchanging’ on their property purchase. They’ll pay monthly instalments 100 per cent of which goes towards their deposit until they complete on the purchase.

According to the developer, “These monthly payments are based on the typical monthly rent in the area and the buyer's own resources." As an example, it suggests this amount would be around £1,500, but you can overpay on these monthly amounts and

complete sooner.

The Save To Buy homes will initially be available in Epping Gate, Essex, and New Hayes, west London.

Throughout the year, dozens, and even hundreds, of homes will go on the market, depending on supply and demand.

The homes range in size from one to three bedrooms and are finished in a contemporary style with built-in kitchen appliances.

Additionally, every unit in NewHayes has a private balcony or patio. The current price range is £325,000 to £500,000.

12,000 millionaires left UK since 2016 Britain is fast losing its reputation as a hub for wealthy investors and businesspeople, with hundreds more millionaires leaving last year.

In 2022 a further 1,400 high-networth individuals, defined as those with wealth in excess of $1 million, left Britain, according to data from Henley & Partners, the citizenship advisory firm. There are thought to be about 737,000 such millionaires in the UK currently. The latest exodus continues a trend that

began shortly after the Brexit vote in 2016, since when an estimated 12,000 millionaires have deserted the UK for pastures new.

Among them will be dozens of well-paid bankers, who have been forced by employers to relocate around Europe in the wake of Brexit. The European Banking Authority, the European Union’s industry watchdog, cited transfers from London as a key reason why the number of European bankers earning in excess of €1 million rose

by more than 40 per cent to 1,957 in 2021.

Britain was once a magnet for the wealthy, who were attracted by the strong rule of law and the relative political stability, while a friendly time zone allowed them to conduct their business with sta and clients based around the world.

“Now that Brexit has been entrenched and the very real longer-term consequences are being felt, we have seen increased movement from wealthy UK citizens looking to claw back

their EU status by obtaining an EU residence or citizenship by investment,” Stuart Wakeling, head of Henley & Partners’ London office, said.

Whereas in the past, globetrotting millionaires might have been tempted to base themselves in the UK, most are now looking to the Middle East and Asia. The United Arab Emirates is estimated to have seen the biggest inflow of high-networth individuals last year, according to Henley & Partners.

Chris Giles points out three main reasons for economic woes Britain’s economic prospects appear a little brighter than in November, when the Bank of England forecast one of the longest recessions since the second world war. Growth was surprisingly strong in that month and the labour market, while cooling, remains robust. But don’t put it down to UK exceptionalism: our economy was merely reflecting wider European and global resilience in the fourth quarter of last year.

On almost all relevant international comparisons, the UK’s economy looks sickly. Since the eve of the pandemic, growth has been lower than in all other G7 economies, reflecting weakness in private sector consumption and investment.

Forecasts from international bodies diagnose a chronic rather than acute problem, with no recovery in the UK’s relative decline in sight.

Covid’s scars appear to run deeper in London than elsewhere. Unlike in the brief and disastrous Trussonomics period, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are competent economic managers. They have every chance of meeting Sunak’s New Year economic promises of halving inflation by the end of this year, returning the economy to growth and getting public debt on a declining path. But these pledges are a downgrade on his mission a year ago to “build a future economy

that restores hope and opportunity” by nurturing the nation’s capital, people and ideas. If the UK’s economic problem is relative decline and chronic weakness, we first need to be honest about the causes before thinking about solutions. Three proximate causes are difficult to deny.

The first is Brexit. Over six years since the EU referendum and two years since new trade barriers with Europe came into force, all credible economic analysis suggests that leaving the bloc caused the UK serious economic harm — raising prices but not wages, reducing trade, stymying investment and creating a significant worker shortage. For all their competence in economic management, senior ministers deny this reality.

The Labour party calls for a treaty renegotiation, but by rejecting calls to rejoin the single market, it merely wants to make the best of a bad job.

A second fundamental cause of the UK’s woes is the inability to finance acceptable public services. The state has long squeezed necessary functions of justice, local government, welfare, housing, transport and education in a bid to fund an ageing society that needs better health and social care.

All of these services are now losing their never-ending battle to do more with less.

Despite strikes and crises across the public sector, the

government again pretends it is (almost) business as usual. Labour slams the government’s performance but builds no credibility with suggestions that transformation can be achieved by the odd windfall tax or levy on private schools. Public finances, of course, are not helped by the third impediment to progress, which is simply the difficulty of getting anything built.

Whether it is severe restrictions on building in places where people want to live and work, or the rights given to objectors to development, the UK is held back by impediments to construction — more than half of capital investment.

Conservative MPs, fearful of losing their seats, have given

up on reform and Labour will not rock this particular boat. Here it is in a nutshell.

Three big economic weaknesses hold Britain back compared with our more prosperous peers. In each case there is no strong political voice for change.

The important lesson is not that our politics is broken. Rather, we, the people of Britain, are ultimately to blame. We voted for Brexit, we insist on a Europeanstyle welfare state with US levels of taxation, and while we desire new homes, a large majority, young and old together, don’t want them built near where we live. The outcome is not working, but it is not somebody else’s fault.

Following France in pension age maybe at the cost of votes France has been paralysed by strikes today as much of the country, as predicted, makes clear its unhappiness at President Emmanuel Macron's push to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64 years of age.

Mr Macron argues that the measure, which would save the French government an initial €17.7bn (£15.5bn) per year, is necessary because otherwise, due to the ageing population, the state pension will become unaffordable. The French

president believes raising the state pension age is preferable to either cutting the state pension or retaining the status quo by either increasing government borrowing or putting up taxes. Events in France have prompted some to ask whether the pension age may also have to rise in the UK. The answer is that it already is.

The pension age was set at 65 until November 2018, since then it has gradually risen to the current 66, which it hit in October 2020.

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India to be a USD 3.7 trillion economy in 2023 According to a Reserve Bank article that emphasised how the macroeconomic stability is becoming more established, India's GDP will be worth USD 3.7 trillion in 2023, keeping its lead over the UK as the fifth largest economy in the world.

Based on an article titled "State of the Economy" that was published in the January bulletin of the RBI, recent data arrivals show that the first milestone of monetary policy is being passed— bringing inflation within

the tolerance band.

The objective during 2023 is to tether inflation therein so that it aligns with the target by 2024 – the second milestone, said the article authored by a team lead by RBI Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra.

“At current prices and exchange rates, therefore, India will be a USD 3.7 trillion economy in 2023, maintaining its lead over the UK as the fifth largest economy of the world,” it said.

Apple Chinese vendors gets OK for India entry Given the lack of domestic supplies, up to 12–15 Apple suppliers from China will be authorised to supply essential components.

As the media reported on December 26, Apple had contacted the Center to bring its manufacturing ecosystem to India in an effort to increase production there. Reports claim that Due to sensitivities, the government has taken a harsh stance on permitting Chinese businesses, including those currently operating in India, to receive new investments; nevertheless, an exception has been made in the case of Apple suppliers.

There were problems about letting much Chinese control of these companies that supply parts to Apple but the government decided to permit entire shareholding

to be held as a special case.

The concerns over the entry of other Chinese however, companies, remain and a relaxation is unlikely, sources said.

They claimed that these companies' components are essential to the entire Apple production process. In reality, several months ago, leading Indian conglomerates and companies were contacted to determine if the components could be produced domestically, eliminating the need to let Chinese firms. But with the Indians were unable to produce the desired results, the Chinese vendors of Apple are now being let in. Some of these companies, which are little known, already have a small presence in India but are now expected to ramp up operations significantly.

According to the IMF’s calculations, India will move into fourth place in 2025 and into the third place in 2027 as a USD 5.4 trillion economy.

According to the report, even while inflation may typically be far above expectations, a slowdown in growth with potential for recession in significant portions of the global economy has become the baseline assessment.

Emerging markets seem

Passing The Buck

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

more resilient than they did last year, but in 2023, the US currency and monetary policy will be their main threats.

“In India, the softening of commodity prices and other costs amidst strong revenues appears to have boosted corporate performance,” it said.

India initiated biggest hydroelectric project in AP India has started its largest hydropower project, an 11,000 megawatt (MW) installation in Upper Subansiri, Arunachal Pradesh, fearing to China's threat of "water wars."

It is also moving three stalled projects forward for possible allocation to NHPC in response to Chinese dams being built in the northeast, after recommendations from an appraisal committee and in-principle clearance by the ministry of power. According to government sources, a 60,000MW Chinese project on the Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra) planned at Medog on Arunachal Pradesh’s border could be a cause for concern for multiple reasons — scarcity of water if China decides to divert it, floods affecting lakhs in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam if China sudenly releases water, as well as environmental concerns.

For India, the Brahmaputra accounts for nearly 30% of freshwater resources and 40% of total hydro power potential of the country. Almost 50% of the basin of the Brahmaputra is in Chinese territory.

According to sources, the 2,000 MW Lower Subansiri project will be finished in the middle of this year. In addition to producing power, the several hydroelectric projects are anticipated to help reduce water scarcity for up to a year in the event of a Chinese diversion and manage flooding in the event that China releases exceptionally high levels.

The hydro electric projects overdrive in the north-east, and especially in Arunachal Pradesh, which shares its border with China, is seen as strategic move to counter the potential effects of Chinese flow diversion through the dams it is constructing, considering that 50% of the river basin of Brahmaputra is in the Chinese territory.

Following on from last week’s article, where the clients own properties in an off shore company, and the loan on these has been called in by the lender due to a minor breach in the lease; the clients were unsure whether there was a personal guarantee given when they took out the loan. Their assumption was there was not; however, I insisted that they must find out. This is crucial in deciding what strategy they employ. If they do not have a personal guarantee they have less of the problem and the bank then has an issue.

One of our clients amassed a huge commercial property portfolio, before the credit crunch. If I recall correctly West Bromwich was the lender. They are a 160 year old firm, which started off as a local bank, and then took a more aggressive lending strategy. They were lending without the necessity of a personal guarantee. My client says the reason he is still standing today is because he did not give any PGs on any of the loans he had taken.

Back then, the model was you could borrow a high LTV, that too based on the valuation, and not the purchase price; which, in some circumstances, one could come to a situation where little or no money was put into the deal.

In the aftermath of the credit crunch when values had plummeted, but the debt remained high, he turned around to the banks and said they have an issue, and they both should sit down and sort it out.

He was left holding all the cards. He knew the assets better than anyone; and in a market where the pool of buyers had dried up, he was in a prime position to purchase all the properties back up again, albeit at a far cheaper price. In retrospect, he made money during the credit crunch for two main reasons; he didn’t give a PG, and he was prepared to play and stay in the game.

In the current situation, if it transpires the clients have not given a PG, this could open up another angle to the situation; as with a breach (albeit minor) which will need to be disclosed to any potential purchasers, it is likely to put off the cursory buyer.

This would then potentially make them the front buyers for the bank instead of the debt being a liability, they can now take it off their books, though with a large percentage wiped off, often referred to as 50p in the £1.

As current market conditions are declining this may actually be a viable option for the bank, as a realistic solution.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I suspect as this year progresses, there will be several situations like this arising, though I suspect most will have PGs attached to them.

Indian egg hatcheries India’s largest startup space will soon open at GIFT City set to export 50 million eggs to Malaysia India is on track to export a record 50 million eggs this month, helped by sales to Malaysia, where there have been severe shortages as many small-scale farmers were compelled to reduce production due to skyrocketing feed prices brought on by the conflict in the Ukraine.

The majority of India's egg customers are Middle Eastern nations like Oman and Qatar, but over the past several months, Indian hatcheries have received sizable orders from unexpected sources as production plummeted in some of the leading suppliers in the world.

Malaysia, which used to export eggs to Singapore and other Asian nations, placed the largest such unforeseen order.

To secure egg supplies as prices rose to record highs, Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Mohamad Sabu earlier this month visited

Namakkal, the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where several leading hatcheries are based.

"For the first time, Malaysia is buying large quantities of eggs from India, and it seems that India's egg exports to Malaysia will remain strong during the first half of 2023," Sasti Kumar, joint managing director at Namakkal-based Ponni Farms, one of India's leading egg exporters, told media.

India shipped 5 million eggs to Malaysia in December, and will ship 10 million in January and up to 15 million in February, according Kumar.

The imports from India have helped Malaysia bring prices down from the record highs seen in late December.

Having suffered a shortfall of 157 million eggs in November, the market gap was down to just one million in December, the Malaysian minister said in a statement earlier this week.

Gujarat has taken the lead in enhancing the startup ecosystem, gaining momentum from its innate entrepreneurial drive. The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) would now host the nation's largest startup space and an international fintech institute, with a built-up size of up to 7 lakh square feet.

"The state government is in preliminary level talks with stakeholders to finalise the nittygritty of the

project, which is expected to be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The incubation centre will support fintech startups with assistance and mentorship in research, innovation, skilling initiatives and resource

mobilisation," a senior official at GIFT City told media.

An ADB-funded project called Promoting Research Innovation through Development of Fintech Institute at GIFT (PRIDE) aims to strengthen the

fintech ecosystem in GIFT City. Key sources in the state finance department revealed, "The decision to form a dedicated institution to support Fintech startups within GIFT City was taken during the steering committee meeting of the Centre, wherein the state, centre and GIFT City are all stakeholders. Expression of interest has been invited and soon, stakeholder consultation will be held, following which a new SPV will be established."

RBI reserves increased by $10.42 billion The foreign exchange reserves of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased by $10.42 billion to a five-month high of $572 billion in the week ending January 13, according to latest data.

The reserves were at $572.98 billion in the week ended August 5, 2022.

The increase in reserves at the RBI is the most significant since the week ending December 2, 2022.

Analysts claim that the reason for the increase in reserves was a favourable

valuation impact due to a declining US dollar as well as potential RBI purchases of US dollars.

For the week ended January 13, the RBI’s foreign

currency assets jumped $9.1 billion to $505.52 billion, the data showed.

The Federal Reserve should moderate the pace of its monetary tightening, as seen by the significant decline in the US dollar index last week as statistics revealed falling inflation in the nation.

The rupee strengthened past the 82 per dollar level last week after appreciating 1.7%

against the US dollar.

“The overall balance of payments has improved and so have valuations. There were likely some dollar purchases by the RBI. That can be seen from the improvement in the liquidity situation in the banking system,” Soumyajit Niyogi, director, India Ratings & Research said.

“Moreover, the fourth quarter is typically favourable for flows, whether through export of software services or for debt-equity flows,” he said.

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Canadian minister says Ayurveda in Canada can help ease the burden of hospitals Michael A Tibollo, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Canada, who recently visited the All India Institute of Ayurveda in Delhi, believes that promoting ayurveda in Canada can reduce the strain on its hospitals by preventing numerous ailments through its medicines, philosophies, and way of life.

The Canadian delegation led by Michael Tibollo and the Canada India Foundation (CIF) visited the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA).

To further comprehend the integrative paradigm used by AIIA, the group also visited the institute, hospital, laboratories,

Indian-origin woman became Lieutenant Governor in Maryland Aruna Miller records history, by becoming the first IndianAmerican politician to be sworn in as the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, a state that borders the US capital. A 58-year-old Democrat and former representative to the Maryland House, created history when she was elected as the state's 10th lieutenant governor.

When the Governor is absent or unable to serve, the Lieutenant Governor fills in as the state's second-highest elected official.

In her inauguration speech, Aruna, born in Andhra Pradesh, recognised her family who immigrated to the United States from India when she was seven.

“I spent most of my life trying to fit in the space that didn’t have me and mine, as an immigrant growing up in a new country, or as a female engineer in a male dominated field, as an Indian American legislator in a legislature that looked nothing like me. It took me a long time to realise that it was never about

and other facilities. The Ministry of Ayush also assisted the official delegation from Canada.

Impressed with the facilities of AIIA, Tibollo said, “Being greeted to All India Institute of Ayurveda in Delhi feels wonderful. The institute assisted me in better understanding the value of both Eastern and Western medicine and how the two can coexist for the sake of humanity. Canada

places a lot of emphasis on getting outcomes quickly.”

"Many a times, we forget about prevention, education and doing things that lead us to a better lifestyle. Many doctors over here shared their time with me today. They explained to me how interventions using ancient techniques that are tried and proven and have been around for millions of years can reduce the need for acute medicine and acute care in a hospital setting."

Indian-American lawyer: 1st LGBTQ women to take oath as US council member

Aruna Miller

needing to fit into a space created by others. It was always about having the courage to be my authentic self in every space,” she said.

“Maryland, I am humbled and honoured to be your Lieutenant Governor. We are only just getting started!” Miller tweeted. In the Senate chamber of the State House in Annapolis, she took the oath of office alongside members of her family, the newly elected Governor Wes Moore, and state legislators. She then addressed the cheering audience outside historic building. Moore became Maryland’s 63rd governor, the state’s first and the country’s only current Black chief executive.

Janani Ramachandran, a 30year-old Indian-American attorney, has emerged as the youngest and the first queer woman of colour to take oath as the Oakland City Council member in the US state of California.

In an inauguration ceremony held on January 10, Ramachandran took the formal oath wearing a saree as the Oakland City Council member for District 4.

"WE WON! Honored to be the next City Councilmember for Oakland District 4!! I will officially be the youngest Council member in Oakland’s history, the 1st #LGBTQ woman of color & 1st South Asian to serve on Oakland City Council," the public interest attorney tweeted.

She took to Twitter to express her gratitude and said, "Immensely grateful for all those who believed in me and helped build our movement.

Honored to have my loved ones by my side as I took the

Janani Ramachandran

ceremonial oath!"

Ramachandran describes herself as "a daughter of immigrants from a small village in South India.

According to her website, Ramachandran was a commissioner at the City of Oakland Public Ethics Commission before joining the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs.

The Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley alumnus has worked in several legal non-profits.

Peru: Historic building on fire during Trans women undergone body modifications to national strike A historic building in the center of Peru’s capital Lima caught fire, a few meters from the iconic Plaza San Martin, where thousands of demonstrators gathered to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the closure of Congress.

During a large national strike organized by a workers’ confederation, protesters clashed with police in Plaza San Martin when flames began to raze the building. Some residents in the area said the fire was caused by tear gas bombs thrown by police to break up the protesters.

"They threw tear gas bombs on the roof and the fire started,” said the son of the owner of the building that caught fire, blaming the police for causing the incident. The building, which is 500 square meters (5,382 square feet), is considered a cultural heritage site. Firefighters

continued trying to control the blaze. Two people were killed and another was injured by gunfire amid protests Wednesday in Lima, bringing the overall death toll to 53 since the protests began.

Peru has been the scene of violent protests since former President Pedro Castillo was ousted and arrested after he attempted to dissolve Congress and rule by decree in an effort to avoid impeachment over allegations of corruption.

Boluarte has said she is not willing to step down.

6 more secret papers discovered from Biden’s home Officials from the US Department of Justice found six more classified documents during a search of Joe Biden's family home in Delaware, the president's personal lawyer said in a statement.

“DOJ took possession of

materials it deemed within the scope of its inquiry, including six items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding materials," the statement from Biden lawyer Bob Bauer said.

The discovery came as

part of a Justice Department search conducted Friday after several batches of secret papers from Biden's time as vice president were found at a former Washington office space and the president's home in Wilmington, Delaware.

look like dragon

in brief WOMAN ARRESTED FOR USING FIRE EXTINGUISHER ON FLIGHT ATTENDANTS IN USA A woman has been arrested after she reportedly used a fire extinguisher on flight attendants and police officials at United State's Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, when security personnel were confronting her, as she tried to open a secured door inside the airport. The incident took place at around 9.30pm.

A video of the incident shows Jennifer Kaye Holder arguing with airport staff and claiming someone else paid for her meal. A fire extinguisher is eventually picked up by her and she sprayed it inside the crowded airport.

According to the police, they found the woman spraying the fire extinguisher between Gates D7 and D9. When police officers approached her, Jennifer sprayed them with a fire extinguisher. She was later taken into custody. The Atlanta Police said Jennifer "continued to behave erratically and combative, by spitting and kicking at officers".

Reportedly, three flight attendants were rushed to a hospital with breathing problems.

Holder, meantime, was moved to the Clayton County Jail following the incident, pending assault charges.

NETIZENS AMAZED WITH UFO-LIKE CLOUD IN TURKEY A rare cloud formation resembling an unidentified flying object (UFO) was spotted floating over Bursa, Turkey, on Thursday morning. The almost circular cloud, known as a lenticular cloud, remained intact for about an hour. Several internet users captured the rare phenomena on their phones. It appeared at sunrise and featured a large hole in the middle. "#Turkey an unusual dawn this morning. Footage of a rare natural phenomenon called #UFO lenticular/spying foehn clouds," one user wrote while sharing images and video of the UFO-like cloud.

The videos and images of the bizarre-looking cloud have gone viral across the world.

Hundreds of social media users said that the cloud looked like a UFO. However, Turkey's state Meteorological Serviced reportedly explained that the rare phenomenon was simply a "lenticular cloud". Lenticular clouds are known for their curved, flying saucer-like appearance. They are usually found at heights between 2,000 and 5,000 meters. They are formed when the layer of the atmosphere is just on the cusp of saturation, meaning they are formed as a result of strong wind fluctuations over hills and mountains when the air is stable and moist.

BURGLARS STOLEN DONATION BOX OF HINDU TEMPLE IN TEXAS Some people go too far with the concept and attempt to resemble their favourite animals.

They are called "therians" who believe or feel they are non-human. One such individual is Tiamat Eva Medusa, transgender, who identifies herself as a woman has undergone radical alterations, including the removal of her ears so she can look like a dragon. The former banker has almost 25,000 followers on Instagram, where she frequently posts her images. According to an old News article, Medusa's ears and nostrils have been removed, her eyes are stained green, and she is covered in implanted horns and tattooed scales. She has also spent thousands of pounds to get a forked tongue to fulfil the ambition to transform into a mythical reptilian beast. As per media, the scales in the form of tattoos that cover her body ad face are modelled after the western diamondback rattlesnake.

According to media, a Hindu temple in Texas, United States was raided by burglars who stole some of the valuables. The incident has left the Indian community in the US shocked.

The incident happened at Shri Omkarnath Temple in the Brazos Valley. Only place for local Hindus to worship. As per board member of Brazos Valley Shri Omkarnath Temple, Srinivasa Sunkari statement, “When anything like this occurred to us, there was a feeling of invasion and a loss of privacy.” He further added that “A break-in occurred. Our donation box and a safe where we store our valuables were missing upon their entry through the side window, which was instantly noticeable,” Sunkari said. Security cameras in the temple captured a visitor go past the shrine and directly to the donation box. The suspect then pushed it out the door using the temple's cart. The Brazos County Sheriff’s Office said they are investigating the burglary.

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in brief DOJA CAT WEARS FULL RED BODY PAINT AND 30,000 CRYSTALS Pop star Doja Cat turned heads in Paris, wearing full red body paint and 30,000 crystals as Schiaparelli's show opened the city's Haute Couture week.

It took her team five hours to finish the daring look, called Doja's Inferno. Daniel Roseberry, the creative director of Schiaparelli, and Dame Pat McGrath, a British makeup artist, designed it.

She said Doja Cat had "sublime patience" and described the final product as "a magical, mesmerising masterpiece of sparkling brilliance".

The Swarovski crystals were applied by hand.

The singer wore a red silk bustier, a lavishly beaded tulip skirt, and a matching pair of red knee-high boots in addition to the body paint.

MOONWALKER ALDRIN MARRIES AT 93 Buzz Aldrin, one of the three American astronauts to set foot on the moon in the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, got married to his longtime love on his 93rd birthday. Taking to Twitter, Mr Aldrin posted pictures with his wife Dr Anca Faur and said that they tied the knot in a small ceremony in Los Angeles, California.

Since being shared, Mr Alrdrin's post has accumulated more than 22,000 likes and over 1.8 million views. Buzz Aldrin has been married and divorced three times prior. He is the only surviving member of the Apollo 11 mission's three-man crew. While Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to step on the lunar surface, he was followed 19 minutes later by Mr Aldrin.

The former astronaut retired from NASA in 1971 and in 1998 founded the ShareSpace Foundation, a non-profit organisation to promote the expansion of crewed space exploration.

SWAZI POLITICAL ACTIVIST SHOT DEAD Leading Swazi political activist, government critic and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko was shot dead by unknown assailants in an apparent assassination.

Maseko, who headed the Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) of political parties and civil society groups leading the campaign for democracy in the kingdom, was shot through the windows of his home in Bhunya in the Manzini region. He was watching TV at the time of the attack, according to local journalists. The shooters apparently did not enter the house or take anything. The Times of Eswatini posted a photograph on its Facebook page showing two bullet holes in a window of the house. Maseko’s wife, Tanele Maseko, and children were with him when he died, journalists said.

BLACK-OUT IN PAKISTAN Pakistan suffered a huge power cut following a breakdown in its national grid, leaving millions of people without electricity. Power was out in all the country's major centres, including the biggest city Karachi, the capital Islamabad, as well as Lahore and Peshawar. Power minister Khurrum Dastagir said the grid failure followed a "frequency variation" in southern Pakistan.

He insisted this was "not a major crisis" and power would be back soon. Pakistan often suffers from power cuts, which are blamed on mismanagement and a lack of investment in infrastructure. Earlier this month the government ordered all malls and markets to shut by 20:30 and restaurants by 22:00 under a new energy saving plan.

‘Cruel’ smugglers punished over seven deaths In connection with the deaths of seven migrants, including an entire family, the leader of a people-smuggling operation was sentenced to prison. Rauf Perot Rahimifar, an Iranian Kurd, was convicted along with three others of trafficking and manslaughter relating to a small boat that capsized in the English Channel in October 2020.

The victims included an IranianKurdish family: Rasoul Iran-Nejad, his wife, Shiva Mohammad Panahi, and their children, Anita, 9, Armin, 6, and Artin, 15 months. About 25 people were tipped into the water when the boat sank. Artin's body was discovered in Norway after washing ashore 600 miles away.

Rahimifar, 38, who also has a 2021 conviction for voyeurism in Denmark, was found guilty of arranging the trip and of manslaughter. He had pleaded not guilty at the court in Dunkirk. He was jailed for nine years and given a £60,000 fine.

Mostafa Kakelahi and Hoshiar Khezri, also Iranian Kurds, were held responsible for manslaughter, putting lives in peril on purpose, and running a people-trafficking business. Kakelahi and Khezri were given seven- and five-years’ imprisonment respectively, and fined.

A fourth man, Assalan Ghorbani, was convicted of manslaughter and deliberately endangering life, as well as smuggling and joining a criminal conspiracy.

US mass shootings totalled 39 in just three weeks Two shootings in Half Moon Bay, California, a small coastal town in the San Francisco Bay region, resulted in at least seven fatalities. In Oakland, one person was shot to death and seven other people were injured.

Also on Monday, an 11th victim of the mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, who had been celebrating the Lunar New Year weekend, passed away from their wounds. The scenes of agony and horror are increasingly all too familiar in America.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, 39 mass shootings have actually occurred across the nation in the first three weeks of 2023.

From Goshen, California, to Baltimore, Maryland, communities are in upheaval while others brace for the possibility of such violence in their own backyards.

“A time of a cultural celebration … and yet another community has been torn apart

by senseless gun violence,” Vice President Kamala Harris told a crowd in Tallahassee, Florida.

“All of us in this room and in our country understand this violence must stop.”

However, it is unclear how that will be accomplished given the polarised nature of Congress, the drastically divergent policy suggestions, and the pervasive gun culture.

President Joe Biden asked Congress to "act soon" and enact two legislation that would prohibit assault weapons and highcapacity magazines and raise the legal buying age to 21.

“The majority of the American people agree with this common-sense action. There can be no greater responsibility than to do all we can to ensure the safety of our children, our communities, and our nation,” he said in a statement.

New Zealand PM Jacinda Arden resigns New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made a shocking announcement she had "no more in the tank" to continue leading the country and would step down no later than early February and not seek re-election.

While fighting back tears, Ardern said it had been a difficult five and a half years as prime minister and that she needed to step down because she was only human.

"This summer, I had hoped to find a way to prepare for not just another year, but another term - because that is what this year requires. I have not been able to do that," Ardern, 42, told a news conference.

"I know there will be much discussion in the aftermath of this decision as to what the so called 'real' reason was... The

only interesting angle you will find is that after going on six years of some big challenges, that I am human," she continued.

"Politicians are human. We give all that we can, for as long as we can, and then it’s time. And for me, it’s time."

A general election will be held on October 14 and Ardern's tenure as leader will end no later than February 7. She declared that she thought Labour will triumph in the future election.

Political commentator Ben Thomas said Ardern's statement came as a great surprise because polls consistently showed that she was the nation's preferred prime minister, despite the fact that her party's popularity had declined from the sky-high levels recorded before the 2020 election.

World’s oldest person dies at 118

According to media report, world's oldest person, Lucile Randon, died at the age of 118. Randon, also known as Sister Andre, was born in southern France on February 11, 1904, a decade before World War I. She died in her sleep at her nursing home in Toulon.

Sister Andre had previously been thought of be the oldest European, but after Japan's Kane Tanaka passed away at the age of 119 last year made her the world's oldest person. Guinness World Records had officially recognised her status in April 2022.

French Nun Lucile Randon was raised in the southern town of Ales, the only girl among three brothers, in a Protestant family. She worked as a governess for wealthy families' children in Paris, which she once described as the happiest time of her life.

At the age of 26, she converted to Catholicism and was baptized.

She joined the Daughters of Charity order of nuns at the surprisingly late age of 41, motivated by a desire to "go further."

After that, Sister Andre was transferred to a hospital in Vichy, where she worked for 31 years. Later in life, she moved to the Mediterranean city of Toulon. Prayer, mealtimes, and visits from residents and hospice personnel interrupted her days in the nursing home.

US became largest exporter for Indian gold jewellery The World Gold Council (WGC) said in a report that US has become India’s largest export market for gold jewellery ahead of the UAE. As a result of increased tariffs on Chinese jewellery entering the US, which increased the competitiveness of Indian exporters, the US is now the top market for Indian gold jewellery, according to WGC. Secondly, the UAE’s implementation of a 5 per cent import duty in 2017 and 5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) in 2018 have negatively impacted its competitiveness.

According to the WGC, a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which will go into effect in May

2022, will grant duty-free access to 90% of Indian commodities exported to the UAE. India's exports of gold jewellery have significantly increased and will continue to expand as a result of products sold in the UAE being re-exported.

Exports of jewellery are projected to increase as the Indian government works to increase manufacture and exports.

According to WGC, proposals to establish massive common facility centres (CFCs) at the Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zones (SEEPZ) in Mumbai and Surat, as well as to permit advance payments to foreign precious metal suppliers, could spur sector expansion.

US announced $2.5 billion military aid package for Ukraine The United States has declared another military assistance package of $2.5 billion for Ukraine to fight against Russian aggression, taking the total US military assistance to $27.5 billion.

Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said "This assistance package will provide Ukraine with hundreds of additional armoured vehicles, including Stryker armoured personnel carriers, Bradley infantry

fighting vehicles, MineResistant Ambush Protected vehicles, and High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled vehicles."

The package also includes crucial more munitions for NASAMS that the United States has previously delivered, more Avenger air defence systems, additional surface-to-air missiles, and additional air defence support for Ukraine, he said.

It also contains night vision devices, small arms and ammunition, and other items to support Ukraine as it bravely defends its people, sovereignty and territorial integrity, Blinken said in a statement.

“This package, which includes USD 2.5 billion, will raise the total amount of US military aid provided to Ukraine since the administration's start to an extraordi-

nary USD 27.5 billion," he said.

"Additionally, the United States keeps urging people around the world to help Ukraine. We have witnessed outstanding comradely from our allies and partners, especially in today's Ukraine Defence Contact Group, and we salute the more than 50 nations that have united to provide Ukraine with significant financial help," he added.

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Modi inaugurates Netaji’s memorial in 8-year-old £50 million Andaman & Nicobar on his 126th anniversary diamond firm heiress embraced monkhood

On Parakram Diwas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in a ceremony to name 21 largest unnamed islands of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The islands were named after the 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees. During the program, Modi also inaugurated a model of a memorial dedicated to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose virtually in Andaman to commemorate the freedom fighter’s 126th birth anniversary.

The model of the proposed memorial will be set up on Ross Island, which had been renamed as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Dweep in 2018. It will have a museum, a cable car ropeway, a laser-and-sound show, a guided heritage trail through historical buildings and a theme-based

Owing to the historic significance of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and to honour the memory of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Ross Islands was renamed as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Dweep by the Prime Minister during his Narendra Modi visit to the Island in children’s amusement park, 2018. Neil Island and besides a restro lounge, Havelock Island were also according to officials. renamed as Shaheed Dweep “This land of Andaman and Swaraj Dweep Islands. is the land where the Notably, Union Home tricolour was hoisted for Minister Amit Shah arrived the first time. Where the in Port Blair on Sunday government of independent night for a two-day visit to India was formed for the the archipelago.

He first time. Today is the birth addressed a public meeting anniversary of Netaji on the occasion of Netaji Subhash Bose. The country Subhas Chandra Bose’s celebrates this day as 126th birth anniversary, Parakram Diwas,” PM Modi besides taking stock of said adding that it is a development activities. Shah historic day for the country. is likely to hoist the national

flag during the day and deliver a public speech at Netaji Stadium the same place where the freedom fighter had unfurled the Tricolour on December 30, 1943.

While naming the 21 islands PM office said, “Giving due respect to the real-life heroes of the country has always been accorded highest priority by the Prime Minister.

Going ahead with this spirit, it has now been decided to name the 21 largest unnamed islands of the island group after 21 Vir Chakra Param awardees,” adding that the largest unnamed island was named after the first Param Vir Chakra awardee, the second largest unnamed island named after the second Param Vir Chakra awardee, and so on.

108 women to hold command posts for first time in Indian army For the first time, nearly 108 female Army officers have been approved for the selection grade of Colonel, which entitles them to command units in their respective arms and services.

At Army headquarters, the Women Officers Special No. 3 Selection Board proceedings, which got under way on January 9, are being held to promote female officers from the rank of lieutenant colonel to colonel, putting them on par with their male counterparts. From the 1992 to 2006 batch, 108 positions in the Engineers, Signals, Army Air Defence,

Intelligence Corps, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, and Electrical and Mechanical Engineers are being considered for advancement by up to 244 female officers.

According to military sources quoted in the media, of all the branches and services, the Corps of Engineers has the most openings at 28, for which 65 women are being considered. The Army Ordnance Corps and Electrical and Mechanical Engineering are the next two, with 19 and 21 openings respectively, and

47 female officers are being considered for the rank of Colonel in each.

Seven women officers are being considered for promotion against three vacancies in the Army Air Defence and seven women officers are being assessed for promotion against five vacancies in the Intelligence Corps, the sources said. For the Army Service Corps and the Corps of Signals, 29 and 42 women officers are being assessed for promotion against 14 and 18 vacancies, respectively.

A senior woman officer said she is grateful that while the development came late, it

Citizens lose billions in Football scam CID Crime has unearthed a massive football betting scam in which the game’s fans were cheated to the tune of at least INR 9 billion. The amount involved is expected to shoot up as the Gujarat CID continues its investigations.

The scam was introduced by the accused running it as an “investment opportunity” using a score-predicting app called “Dani-Data”.

Investigations traced the accused to Dubai. CID Crime officials told Mirror that Look-out Circulars (LOC) have been issued against kingpins Lakhan Thakkar and Nayan Shah based in Dubai. “If the two are not apprehended soon enough, we will issue Red Corner Notices (RCN) against them.

Meanwhile, a few more arrests are likely from Kutch in a couple days,” said a senior official. Investigations into the original FIR — which was registered with Palanpur police and then transferred to CID Crime — have helped track down 100

bank accounts of the accused in the state, including 20 accounts in Ahmedabad.

“While the investigations are still on, the money involved is already INR 9 billion. We have also added Sections 465, 468 and 471 of IPC as the whole thing could run into several thousands of crores,” said a CID Crime official.

The money was transferred to Dubai and European countries through illegal hawala channels.

Sources said this money could also have been used for terror funding. “The NIA, Enforcement Directorate and GST department have been informed to join the investigation. Several fake bank accounts in the name of fictitious companies have been registered. The only account which investigators have got hold of till now is of a company called ‘Panther Trading Company’, which has debit and credit transactions of more than INR 9 billion. There are several such accounts that are being probed,” the official

said. “Five accused have been arrested in the scam till date: Dilip Bajiagar, Damji Chauhan, Jayesh Ghelani, all from Adipur in Kutch, Hitesh Chauhan and Ramesh Maheshwari from Anjar,” said a CID crime official.

Police sources said the accused floated the ‘DaniData’ app in May 2022. “The app is related to scorepredicting in football matches played in Europe.

The app promoters lured people into investing money by promising very high returns if the prediction turned out correct. A subscriber used to be given a user ID through which he can invest money,” the official said.

When billions of rupees were invested by football fans, prime suspects Lakhan Thakkar and Nayan Shah in Dubai closed down the app.

The two are believed to have a vast network in Europe.

“We appeal to victims to approach us so that the accused can be brought to books,” the official said.

did come finally. “It is heartening to see that our sheer hard work and persistence paid off, irrespective of being late. It is a day most have been long waiting for,” the officer said.

An eight-year-old girl Devanshi Sanghvi in India who stood to inherit a multi-million-dollar diamond fortune has instead been inducted as a nun to a strict religious order after renouncing worldly pleasures. She was the heir to the Sanghvi and Sons jewellery firm in the western city of Surat, which is also known as "Diamond City" because of its significant role in the international gem trade. Her family is also a follower of the Jain religion, a small but venerable sect of Hinduism that advocates rigorous vegetarianism, nonviolence, and compassion for all living things.

She was feted in a four-day ceremony to herald her new vocation, which at one point saw her ride in a carriage pulled by an elephant, according to pictures shared on local media.

Last week, she arrived at a temple to trade her elaborate garments for a plain white cotton outfit, after having all her hair cut off.

According to an anonymous witness to the event spoke to media said, Sanghvi was well-known within Surat's Jain community for her piety even as a small girl.

“Devanshi has never watched television, seen a movie, or visited a mall or restaurant, they claimed, adding that she frequently attended temple rituals. The infant is among the youngest individuals who have undergone the "diksha" process to give up their worldly things and become a Jain monk” they added.

Gujarati NRI shot dead in USA A non-resident Gujarati in United States having roots in Karamsad town of Anand district was shot dead inside his house in Atlantic City.

Sources said that deceased Pinal Patel was shot by unidentified assailants inside his house when the family had just returned home on Saturday

afternoon at around 1 Indian time. The assailants were inside the house to carry out robbery, sources close to the Patel family said. The Patels had moved to United States in 2003.

While 52-year-old Patel is said to have died on the spot, his wife Rupal, 50, and their daughter Bhakti Patel, 17, were severely injured in

the firing incident. Their family house in Karamsad is currently unoccupied, as Patel's sister lives in Silvassa town in South Gujarat along with their mother.

Neighbour of the deceased, Nilesh Patel, informed media persons about the incident after he got the news of the firing that led to Patel's death.

Egyptian President’s strategic visit to India With Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to visit India as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations, security, defence, cyber security and agriculture is expected to dominate the agenda between the two countries.

The two sides are looking at signing about half-a-dozen pacts on some of these sectors, including IT and culture, and Egypt wants to partner with India on defence and agriculture in a major way. Egypt is interested in procuring defence equipment from India, which includes LCA Tejas, missiles like Akash, DRDO’s Smart AntiAirfield Weapon, radars. This is being developed as part of defence industry cooperation, and one of the markers was that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had

visited Cairo last year when a defence pact was signed. Sisi, a military chief-turnedPresident, is acutely aware of the strategic challenges in the region, and wants to equip the Egyptian military. In fact, to showcase the defence ties, an Egyptian military contingent participated in the Republic Day parade as well.

As a follow-up to their interest in acquiring Indian indigenous technology, Egypt has also been invited to participate in the Aero-India 2023 at Yelahanka Air Force Station, Bengaluru, next month.

Egypt, too, is reciprocating, as India has been invited for Exercise Bright Star — joint training exercises led by US and Egyptian forces held every two years — in Egypt in September this year.

Now, a ‘Dharam Censor Board’ to check anti-Hindu content Saints at the 'Magh Mela' in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj have set up a 'dharam (religion) censor board' that will now check insult of Hindu deities and culture in films, documentaries, web series and other mediums of entertainment. A 10-member censor board has been constituted under the chairmanship of Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati to check defamation of Hindu traditions.

The board's guidelines, released recently, will screen entertainment content on the

pattern of the Censor Board.

Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said that many veterans associated with religion and culture had been included in this board. At present, he himself was handling the responsibility of the chairman of this board. Steps would be taken through the board to stop the production of films that insulted Hindu deities. He said that production of films, series and serials distorting Sanatan culture for cheap popularity would not be tolerated.

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India exceeded China and became Eighth Nizam of Hyderabad ‘Mukarram Jah Bahadur’ passes away at 89 world’s most populous country India may already have surpassed China as the world's most populous nation, which is a big milestone.

The World Population Review (WPR) estimates that India will have 141.7 crore people by the end of 2022. According to official reports, that is just over 50 lakh more than the 141.2 crore figures China reported on January 17 when there was the first dip since the 1960s.

India, a nation where 50 percent of people are under 30, is predicted to have the fastest-growing major economy in the world. The UN predicted that the milestone will be attained this year. India's population climbed to 142.3 crore as of January 18, claims WPR. Even though India's population growth has slowed, WPR forecasts that it will continue to rise until at

least 2050.

The most recent figure for India is 142.8 crore, according to a different estimate from the research platform Macrotrends.

After postponing population surveys due to pandemic disruptions in 2021, the nation did not release its once-every-ten-year census statistics.

Free food rations are still used by almost 80 crore people in India, the largest programme of its sort in

the world, despite the nation's relatively successful recovery from the pandemic and its rapid ecoboom before nomic COVID-19.

Last week, China has witnessed a historic drop in its population, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics. The fall has been reported for the first time in over 60 years after a steady and years-long decline in its birthrate.

Mukesh Ambani’s youngest son gets engaged Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's youngest son Anant and industrialist Viren Merchant's daughter Radhika sought the blessing of Lord Krishna at the temple before beginning the ceremonies. The functions started with a Lord Ganesh puja followed by the reading of the traditional Lagan Patrika (wedding invitation).

Anant's sister and Reliance Retail director Isha Ambani visited the Merchant's residence to invite them to the evening's functions. The engagement festivities started with welcoming the Merchants to

the Ambani family residence, 'Antilia', amidst Aarti and chanting of mantras.

The house was decorated with flowers and balloons.

The couple exchanged the rings after the Gol Dhana and Chunari Vidhi ceremonies. After exchanging the rings, the couple sought blessings from the elders in the family. The Ambanis posed for the shutterbugs after the ceremonies concluded.

While the bride-to-be was a stunner in a gold glittering lehenga with intricate embroidery, the soon-to-be groom kept it classy in a navy blue kurta-pyjama with

a matching embellished Nehru jacket. The whitethemed engagement saw Isha, who welcomed her twins last year with businessman husband Anand Piramal, opted for a chic white ensemble with chunky Kundan jewellery.

New dad Anand was twinning with his better half in a white kurta-pyjama and a matching Nehru jacket.

‘Global Pravasi Rishta Bride calls of portal’ brings more wedding after than 30 million Indian knowing groom diaspora together cannot count money In an effort to unite the more than 30 million Indians living abroad, or "pravasis," the Ministry of External Affairs has launched the Global Pravasi Rishta portal. Through the site, the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian diplomatic missions, and the diaspora are intended to communicate in three ways. This portal can be used for the registration of Indian diaspora members such as – NRI, PIO and OCI. By engaging with the diaspora in real-time and having the ability to send out emergency alerts and advisories, this portal will support crisis management efforts. It will also enable the diaspora to reach the consular officers and services in times of emergencies. The portal will connect the Indian government with the community of Indians living abroad and several government programmes, both new and old, that may be useful to them new as well as existing that might be of benefit to them.Please disseminate the information widely amongst members of your esteemed Associations/Organisations and encourage them to register (for minor, parents are also to register) by clicking the link: https://pravasirishta.gov.in/home; Select region: as *United Kingdom*; Select Mission: as *London* and then register.

It was mathematics that led to a wedding being called off in Uttar Pradesh's Farrukhabad district.

A 21-year-old bride called off her wedding when the groom failed to count currency notes. The shocking revelation came during the marriage rituals when the priest grew 'doubtful of the man's behaviour' and informed the girl's family. The bride, Rita Singh, immediately walked off from the dais which led to a verbal spat between the two families and the police were called. The bride's family claimed that until the day of the marriage, they were unaware that the 23-year-old groom was 'mentally weak'.

After the girl called off the wedding, a heated argument ensued between the two families. The matter reached the police who tried to mediate but the bride was not willing to give in so the baraat had to return.

SHO Anil Kumar Chaube said, "No police complaint has been filed in the matter yet."

Mir Barkat Ali Khan, popularly known as Prince Mukarram Jah Bahadur, the eighth Nizam of Hyderabad, passed away in Istanbul (Turkey), a statement from his office in Hyderabad said.

He was 89.

“We are deeply saddened to inform that Nawab Mir Barket Ali Khan Walashan Mukarram Jah Bahadur, H.E.H The Eighth Nizam of Hyderabad passed away peacefully in Istanbul, Turkey late last night at 10:30 pm (IST),” the statement said.

The body was kept at Khilwat in Hyderabad Chowmahalla Palace for people to pay their last respects.

Thousands of people poured into the palace to pay homage to departed soul.

Later, the body was wrapped in the flag of Asaf

Mir Barkat Ali Khan

Jahi dynasty and brought to Mecca Masjid for a procession. A band from the state police headed the procession, as the Telangana government announced a state funeral for Jah as a mark of respect. At the time of burial, the police gave him a guard of honour.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao visited

Chowmahalla Palace and paid floral tributes to the departed and offered condolences to other family members.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy and other party leaders also paid their tributes.

Mukarram Jah was born on October 6, 1933 to Mir Himayat Ali Khan alias Azam Jah Bahadur, the first son of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of the Princely State of Hyderabad before it was merged with the Indian Union in September, 1948.

His mother Princess Durru Shewar was the daughter of the last Sultan of Turkey (Ottoman Empire) Sultan Abdul Mejid II. She died in the beginning of the 2000s.

85-year-old caught Famous architect in bank scam BV Doshi passed away at 95

City crime branch recently caught an 85year-old man from Kandivali in Mumbai for his alleged involvement in the 2001 multicrore scam in Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank (MMCB) of Ahmedabad.

The accused, Devendra Pandya, was managing director of the bank, which became defunct in June 2012 after it failed to repay nearly INR 15 trillion of depositors.

CID (crime) had in December 2022 announced a reward of INR 25,000 for Pandya, who was on the run for a decade.

"Pandya was first arrested by the CID (crime) in 2002, in connection with 70-odd cases of cheating.He was released on bail in 2012.Later, CID (crime) named him as an accused in seven other cases,” said an officer of city crime branch. The officer said Pandya left his house at Dutt Society near the Ramji Temple in Paldi soon. after he was released on bail. He left his phone at home and went to his daughter's place in Kandivali.

As he could not be traced by CID (crime) for a decade, the agency issued a reward for information on him. After the reward was announced, a city crime branch team began an investigation and learned that his daughter stayed in Kandivali.

Renowned architect and Padma Bhushan recipient Balkrishna Doshi, who worked with legends like Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, died at 95 at his home. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those who paid tributes to Doshi.

“We are deeply grieved to notify you about the demise of Balkrishna Doshi (August 26, 1927–January 24, 2023), a devoted husband, father, grandpa, and great-grandfather,” his family said in a statement.

“Dr BV Doshi Ji was a brilliant architect and a remarkable institution builder. The coming generations will get glimpses of his greatness by admiring his rich work across India. His passing away is saddening.

Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti,” tweeted PM Modi.

In 2020, he received the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour. The Royal Institute of British Architects awarded Doshi with its "Royal Gold Medal" in 2022.

Robbers uprooted 29-foot mobile tower in Patna A gang of criminals removed a 29-foot-tall mobile tower from a busy Patna neighbourhood while posing as telecom company employees, and then vanished without anybody noticing.

After dismantling an entire iron bridge in Rohtas and a rail engine in Begusarai, last year, robbers this year struck in the heart of Sabzibagh locality in

Patna's Pirbahore police station limits.

It was discovered when telecom company personnel discovered their mobile tower and its equipment were gone while conducting a review of mobile towers to launch 5G services.

Police claimed it was unclear when the tower was stolen, but word of the incident quickly spread online. In August 2022,

when everything was in order, the company's service provider conducted its most recent survey.

On January 16, GTL private limited company's area manager, Mohd Shahnawaz Anwar came running to the cops, saying the tower was missing and subsequently a case has been filed against unknown persons under Section 379 (forcible theft) of the IPC.

Judge accidentally shoots himself A judge in Uttar Pradesh was injured after his own gun accidentally went off while he was putting on his gown inside his chamber in the Mirzapur Court complex, police said.

Additional District Judge Talewar Singh was immediately rushed to a

local hospital in Mirzapur, where he was treated and the bullet was removed from his leg. The Mirzapur Police said that the judge was in his chamber and while he was wearing his court gown, the licensed revolver he used to carry, mistakenly fell on the

ground and went off, injuring his leg. Advocates present in the court premises rushed to the aid of the injured judge, who was immediately brought to the district hospital.

He is now out of danger after receiving treatment, officials said.

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SOUTH INDIA

Govt employee faked his Wild elephant captured in Kerela after one of the own death to claim longest search insurance money According to police, a Telangana secretariat employee who was allegedly killed in a car accident turned out to be a crucial murder suspect who staged his own death in order to receive Rs 6 crore in insurance payouts. M Dharma Naik, an assistant section officer, was arrested in Pune.

On January 9, a milk vendor in Venkatapur, Medak, saw a car on fire and called the local elders.

Police believed that the driver may have perished when the car fell into the gorge next to the road and caught fire. The accident theory was junked when the police recovered a petrol bottle and a bag containing clothes and Naik's ID card near the charred vehicle.

Barring a portion of a limb, the body was completely burnt. Police suspect Naik made his family claim the body after identifying it on the basis of a birth mark on the leg.

The last rites were performed after an autopsy, police said.

Sources said the charred body in Naik's car could be that of a hired

driver.

In order to identify those who were with Naik in Venkatapur, police examined active phone data around the crime scene as well as CCTV footage from several locations. A man who remarkably resembled Naik was captured on camera the day after the murder.

"We veered around to the theory that the deceased could be someone else, not Naik. We are investigating whether a family member, too, was part of the conspiracy and misguided the police," a police officer from Medak said. There were several insurance policies in Naik's name. He had bought an expensive car a month before the incident.

Experts of the Kerala forest department recently tranquilised and captured a wild elephant code-named PT (Palakkad Tusker)-7 that gave sleepless nights to many people and killed a morning stroller seven months ago in Dhoni in Palakkad district.

In Dhoni and Mundur, two most affected villages in Palakkad, people celebrated its capture by distributing sweets and came out in large numbers to see the perpetual troublemaker.

Forest officials said it was one of the longest search operations in the state and literally it was a hide and seek for many months. Forest official said out of the 360 days it was tracked, it was spotted 188 days in human habitats and it was also involved in 180 incidents of crop damage, 13 incidents of house destruction and the death of a morning walker Sivraraman (60) in last July. But local people said it was also responsible for two more deaths and at least a dozen cases of wild chasing and attacks on motor vehicles.

The state has been witnessing many incidents of animal incursions these days. Last week, a male tiger that killed a man was captured and shifted to an animal rescue centre in Wayanad in north Kerala and another wild elephant that strayed into Sultan Bathery town in the same district was tranquillised and shifted to an elephant yard. Wildlife experts said change in crop pattern, non-availability of enough food and water in forests and increase in numbers are the reasons behind the growing animal attacks.

PUNJAB

2-woman IPS officers promoted Drone carrying heroin shot down as DGP in Punjab Gurpreet Kaur Deo and Shashi Prabha Dwivedi became the first women IPS officers in Punjab to attain the position of Director General of Police (DGP). They are among seven Additional DGP rank officers who were promoted to DGP, making a total of 13 persons in the state who hold the top police position. The promoted IPS officers are all from the 1993 batch.

Deo, the senior-most promoted individual, is the first woman IPS officer in the Punjab Police. On September 5, 1993. She had earlier served as Additional DGP (Community Affairs Division and Women Affairs), ADGPcum-chief of anti-drug Special Task Force, Chief Vigilance Officer, ADGP (Crime), Bureau of Investigation and ADGP (Administration).

Dwivedi, who was posted as Additional DGP (Railways) with additional charge of modernization, is

also of 1993-batch but had joined as IPS officer on September 4, 1994. “I am elated to make it to the top rank and thankful to the government,” Dwivedi said.

Others who have been promoted to DGP rank include Varinder Kumar (Director, Vigilance Bureau); Rajendra Namdeo Dhoke (chief of Internal Security and Mining Enforcement Directorate), Ishwar Singh (ADGP, Human Resource Development with additional charge of nodal officer for Welfare and State Election); Jitendra Kumar Jain (ADGP, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited), and Satish Kumar Asthana (ADGP, Policy & Rules).

Varinder Kumar has remained in the limelight after formation of the AAP government in the state as Vigilance Bureau has registered several cases in the recent past and booked several influential people.

A drone carrying five kg of heroin was shot down by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Punjab Police in a joint operation near the India-Pakistan international border in Amritsar on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday recently.

Amritsar Rural senior superintendent of police (SSP) Swapan Sharma said upon noticing the drone movement near the Indo- Pak border on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, police teams from Amritsar Rural district shared the inputs with the BSF and jointly conducted an intensive search operation in the area of village Kakkar, which was just 2km away from the international border.

He said the police teams fired at least 12 shots from AK-47 and shot down the drone. The SSP said it was a hybrid six-winged drone, worth Rs 10 lakh and was assembled with parts manufactured in the USA and China. The drone was equipped with hi-tech features, including long-lasting battery backup and infraredbased night vision camera and GPS system, he said.

Swapan said police had rounded-up two people from the spot when they were trying to escape adding the Investigations were on to ascertain the identity of the Pak smugglers, who sent the consignment via drone, and also their Indian associates, who were to receive this air-dropped consignment of heroin.

WEST BENGAL

Village derives its name from Thermocol - their source of livelihood With almost all villagers earning their income through the sale of a variety of products made of thermocol, a small village in West Bengal is catching attention for its peculiar name, kept after the product they make revenue from.

“Shola" village in the Cooch Behar district has its name associated with the livelihood of the people of the village.

About 60 families live in this village and earn their living by selling thermocol items. For the longest time, every family in this village has been supporting themselves by making these items.

Earlier, the villagers used to procure thermocol from Assam, but ever since that window closed,

they have now been getting it from Kolkata.

Some key items made of thermocol include bride and groom crowns, wedding garlands, garlands for various deities. The demand for such items used to be immense back in the day, but in the present, people seem more drawn to use of plastic, among other things.

WB: Fishing at risk due to Algae bloom Fishing along Bengal's coastline is facing a major threat from harmful algal bloom that is spreading fast for days in the Bay of Bengal and its estuaries.

Acting on complaints by fishermen of a sudden dip in catch, scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) visited Digha and Bichitrapur in Odisha in December-end and discovered the algal bloom. They have submitted a report, warning it may just be the beginning of something that could disrupt the entire ecosystem if not monitored and addressed urgently. Algal bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh or marine water, often recognised by the discolouration of water from the algae's pigments. The bloom consists of phytoplankton or free-floating microscopic algae.Not all phytoplankton are harmful but the toxic ones are referred to as harmful algal blooms (HABs), which kill water organisms, especially fish, by causing oxygen depletion. Even after the bloom dies, the microbes that decompose the dead algae use up oxygen. causing fish to suffocate. Scientists believe the thriving of HABS along the Bengal-Odisha coastline is due to chemical effluents in the water and climate change.

in brief FAMOUS GURUVAYUR TEMPLE REVEALS ITS WEALTH The famed Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple in this central Kerala district, which recently revealed details of bank deposits to the tune of over INR 17billion, has declared that it also has over 260 kg of gold in stock. In an RTI reply, the authorities of the temple said it has 263.637 kg of gold comprising precious stones and coins, and nearly 20,000 gold lockets. The management of the shrine had earlier refused to give details due to security reasons.The RTI document, which was provided after an appeal, showed that the temple owns 6,605 kg of silver, 19,981 gold lockets and 5,359 silver ones.

The RTI, however, has not revealed the total value of gold and silver since the antiquity of some of them has not yet been established.

FIRST TURTLE CONSERVATION AND REHABILITATION CENTRE TO COME IN CHENNAI With its long coastline hosting five species of marine turtles, Tamil Nadu’s first Turtle Conservation and Rehabilitation Centre will be set up very soon in Chennai with integrated facilities to rescue injured turtles and rehabilitate them back to the sea after recovery and a special strategy to involve fishing community members as their guards.

To be set up at a cost of Rs 6.30 crores, the centre will have state-of-the-art facilities for promoting conservation efforts alongside promoting research, data collection and creating awareness among other activities.

Though five species of marine turtles are found in Tamil Nadu’s long coastline, it is the Olive Ridley species that mostly nests along the coasts. Officials said a well-planned strategy needs to be in place for long-term and sustainable conservation of turtles as they face severe threats due to increasing biotic pressure, habitat loss, and adverse impact of climate change. Marine pollution including microplastics also causes serious damage to turtle populations worldwide, they said.

WOMAN SOLD AS SLAVE IN OMAN A travel agent and his wife are accused of luring a young woman from the city under the pretence of offering her a job as a babysitter in Oman for a monthly salary of Rs 40,000 before selling her to a Sheikh. Now, she is in the illegal captivity of an influential family.Her husband Buta Singh has approached the SSP for help and also lodged a complaint against the travel agent. Buta Singh claimed that by selling jewellery and taking out a little loan from a cousin, they were able to cover the costs of the flight, visa, and agent charge of Rs. 1.50 lakh. A few months back, she left for Oman. On reaching there, a family received her and took her to their home. Her passport was taken by them.SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana stated the police had registered a criminal case under Sections 420, 346, 370-A of the IPC and Section 13 of the Punjab Travel Professional Regulation Act, 2014, against travel agent Ravi Singh alias Nikku and his wife Jaspal Kaur, both residents of Mansoordeva village of Ferozepur district.

TMC YOUTH LEADER ARRESTED BY ED The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently rrested Trinamool Congress youth leader Kuntal Ghosh for his alleged involvement in teachers recruitment scam, a senior official said. Ghosh, was first detained on Saturday morning by ED sleuths following overnight search operations at his Chinar Park apartment and then arrested, he said. Several documents and a diary were also seized from Ghosh's twin flats during the search operations by the ED, he added. Incidentally, Ghosh has also been summoned by CBI officials for his alleged role in the same scam

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French journalist say Modi can play crucial role in Russia-Ukraine talks

7 injured and 1 critical in twin blasts in Jammu In two back-to-back explosions in the Narwal neighbourhood of Jammu City, believed to be caused by potent sticky explosives set on two cars, at least seven people were hurt, one of them gravely.

The blasts occurred amid a high alert in view of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and five days ahead of the Republic Day celebrations.

Seven victims of the are being explosions treated at the hospital, according to a senior physician at the

Government Medical College and Hospital. One of them underwent surgery because he had splinter wounds in his stomach and his condition was critical.

He identified as Arjun Kumar, a 28-year-old resident of Qasim Nagar.

The doctor informed that six others had suffered minor injuries but they were under severe trauma, for which psychiatrists have been called to treat their post-traumatic stress disorders.

However, additional director general of police

Mukesh Singh said, “Six people were injured in twin blasts at Narwal. A blast occurred in a car in which five people in close vicinity were injured. They are all stable and were shifted to hospital. The area was cleared of all the people but then second blast occurred at a distance in which one more person was injured.

The matter is being investigated.”

The area is a hub of trucks having shops of tyres, automobile parts,

junk dealers and car accessories.

Police officers arrived on the scene quickly after the explosion and cordoned off the area. Shop owners and neighbourhood residents hurried injured people to the hospital.

People with vehicles of various types visit the location, which is a centre of commercial activity, throughout the day for repairs and maintenance.

As the Russia-Ukraine war is about to complete a year in February, a veteran French journalist on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi can play a crucial role in facilitating talks between Russia and Ukraine.

The veteran French journalist said that PM Modi can bring Ukraine and Russia to the table for talks.

“There is a need for someone who can bring Ukraine and Russia to the table for talks and Indian

Prime Minister Narendra Modi can play a key role in facilitating the negotiations between the two warring neighbours,” the veteran French journalist said.

The journalist also praised Ukraine for its courage and said that, "Russia is probably going to try to do a new mobilisation, maybe to strike more... Kyiv, maybe to launch multiple offensives.

The Ukrainians are courageous. extremely They are asking the West to help them."

Indian university issued a notice to students not to screen BBC documentary on Modi A prestigious university in India has threatened severe disciplinary punishment if the students' union proceeds with plans to show a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that the activity would upset peace and unity on campus. The documentary that criticised Modi's handling of deadly riots in his native Gujarat in 2002 was labelled "propaganda", blocked its airing and also barred sharing of any clips via social media in India.

Modi was chief minister of the western state during the violence

that resulted in more than 2,000 deaths, the majority of them Muslims, The students' union of New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, long seen as a bastion of left-wing politics, said on Twitter it would screen the documentary, "India: The Modi Question", at a cafeteria at 9 p.m.

(1530 GMT). On its website, the university administration said it had not given permission for the showing. " This is to emphasise that such an unauthorised activity can

undermine the campus' peace and harmony," it added.

"The concerned individuals/ students are strongly encouraged to immediately cancel the proposed programme; else, strict disciplinary action may be taken in accordance with university rules."

On Twitter, the union president, Aishe Ghosh, had asked students to attend the screening of the documentary, describing it as having been "'banned' by an 'elected government' of the largest 'democracy'. " The Biden administration

Activist Sonam Wangchuk to observe five-day climate fast Sonam Wangchuk, a Ladakh activist who inspired the lead character in the film ‘3 Idiots’, announced that he will begin a five-day climate fast on January 26 in order to show the “power of the sun” and “sustainable carbon neutral technologies”.

Wangchuk explained that during his fast, he will be camping on top of the Khardungla at a height of 18,000 feet, where the temperature will be minus 40° Celsius. He will use solarpowered electricity, hot

water, and possibly a solar bed during the carbon-neutral fast. In a video, Wangchuk declared, "Solar is the way to go for the planet and that is what I will strive to demonstrate on

Air India penalized Rs 30 lakh, pilot loses licence for 3 months The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has fined Air India Rs. 30 lakh for breaking rules in handling the rowdy customer after a man allegedly urinated over an elderly woman co-passenger on a trip from New York to Delhi. The regulator also suspended the pilot-in-command’s licence for three months and slapped a fine of 3 lakh on the airline’s director inflight services. It’s the first such instance in India of an airline being fined for violating norms when dealing with a “disorderly” passenger. “The DGCA was made aware of a passenger misbehaviour event that happened on an Air India aircraft from New York to New Delhi on November 26, 2022, on January 4 when a male passenger allegedly discharged himself on a female passenger," said a statement issued by the DGCA.

probably the world's first climate-neutral fast."

Demonstrating the “power of the sun”, in a specially constructed mud cabin in Ladakh, where Wangchuk posted a video from, the temperature was 20° Celsius even though it was negative 20° Celsius outside. The activist slept out on his rooftop at HIAL Phyang at 11,500 feet in minus 20 degrees Celsius the night before the fast, earning plaudits from business billionaire Anand Mahindra.

India and Pakistan is a matter for those two countries."

The state department spokesman Ned Price said he was "not aware" of the documentary, and segued into a lavish assessment of US-India ties.

"I will generalise by saying that a number of factors support the international strategic alliance we have with our Indian allies. The United States and India have extraordinarily strong people-topeople ties in addition to close political and economic ties," he said.

Building collapses in Lucknow after cylinder blow, 3 dead A multi-story residential building collapsed in Lucknow's Hazratganj, killing at least three people and leaving others fearing they were trapped.

"Rescue operation is going on. NDRF-SDRF personnel have arrived at the spot. Police jawans and fire brigade personnel have also arrived at the spot. Three bodies have been found so far and sent to hospital," Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brijesh Pathak told reporters.

MP village crowdfunds to release their kidnapped men In order to raise money for the release of three of their men who have been abducted by a gang of criminals operating out of the nearby state of Rajasthan, the residents of this Madhya Pradesh village have launched a crowdfunding campaign.

The men - Ram Swarup Yadav, Bhattu Baghel and Gudda Baghel - from Sheopur district have been missing since the last four days. "We don't have land or money, what can we do... we will try and donate 100-2002000 so that we can pay the ransom and secure our boys," said local villager Ramji Baghel.

"Our village houses very

strongly promoted common values and close relations between the United States and India while dismissing questions about a contentious BBC documentary on then-chief minister Narendra Modi's alleged responsibility for the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Despite Washington's desire for regional stability, administration officials responded to Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's request for talks with India with the well-worn refrain that "the pace, the scope, and the character of any dialogue between

poor families, most of whom are livestock farmers. One of those kidnapped farmers is so poor that his house doesn't even have a proper roof, then how are these families going to pay Rs 15 lakh ransom for the release, so we will try and pool in the money," said former sarpanch Siyaram Baghel.

According to sources the Sheopur police are working with Rajasthan police is yet to track the kidnapped farmers. Gangs, particularly dacoits functioning from Rajasthan, have often been active in bordering districts of MP's Gwalior-Chambal region, particularly Sheopur district.

Asked if the collapse on Wazir Hasan road was due to an earthquake earlier in the day, Lucknow District Magistrate Suryapal Gangwar told media,"Nothing can be said now."

Yogi Adityanath, the

chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, has ordered officials to set up suitable medical facilities for the injured.

Hospitals have also been instructed to maintain vigilance.

Deputy chief minsiter Brajesh Pathak, who also is the health minister, reached the Civil hospital (Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Hospital) in Hazratganj and talking to the rescued persons and doctors.

Two agents detained related to demise of illicit immigration of Gujarati family Nearly a year after four Gujarati family members froze to death while attempting to enter the US near the Canada-US border; two agents were detained for helping illegal immigration, according to the police.

As per senior official statement, the agents from Kalol were detained

by Ahmedabad crime branch officials in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad, and two other people from Canada and the US were listed as wanted in connection with an alleged scheme to have 11 people from Gujarat, including the family of four, enter the US illegally from Canada.

Jagdish Patel, his wife and two children from Dingucha village in

Kalol taluka died apparently due to exposure to extreme cold conditions on the US-Canada border in January 2022.

As per Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Crime Branch) Chaitanya Mandlik, "the city crime branch has registered an offence in a case where the accused (agents) forced 11 people to walk in the snow in order to get them to illegally cross the US-Canada border, resulting in the death of four members of a family."

The investigation so far has revealed that the accused persons played a role in trying to get the 11 persons from Gujarat to illegally cross the international border (USCanada), he said.

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N

ominated for the National Dance Awards 2022 - Amina Khayyam Dance Company (AKDC) makes touring dance theatre work using the South Asian dance Kathak as the core narrative.

Kathak Monologues are short Kathak dance pieces, thematic from a South Asian feminist perspective, written & choreographed by Amina Khayyam. Amina Khayyam Dance Company works in collaboration with those who are culturally least engaged, economically challenged and societally disenfranchised - with a focus on the marginalised female voice, not just from the mainstream but from within their own community. Kathak Monologues were developed in workshops with women’s groups across AKDC’s hubs in Luton, Slough and Birmingham from where it progressed participants’ expression and activity as themes for the dance pieces: Bird A stage sequel to AKDC’s critically acclaimed dance film Catch The Bird Who Won’t Fly started in a workshop with a women’s community group – where a participant asked – “What happens to a woman when she runs away from domestic abuse?”

The tone, the expression, the

Kathak monologues

Bird. Image credit: Simon Richardson

nervousness in her voice, the looking away after she asked the question, prompted this scalding emphatic kathak fluence-d piece exploring the social stigma for women in such a situation.

You & Me Man meets Man… discovering a state of happiness he has never known before; but he has a wife and family at home. You & Me confronts the cultural status quo of sexuality.

Manchild A solo piece expressing the feminist aftermath of a beautiful, aspiring, ‘as good as on a silver screen’ relationship gone sour – through an exploration of the growing existentialism of the South Asian male in face of an economically challenging and emotionally strong South Asian woman.

All pieces feature original music performed live by internationally acclaimed musicians - Debasish Mukherjee on tabla, Jonathan Mayer on tenor sitar and Iain McHugh on cello.

Artistic Director Amina Khayyam said: “All the important themes in Kathak Monologues were developed following our workshops with women’s groups. The theme in You & Me explores the subject of being openly gay. The conversations in the workshops made it clear that this is still taboo in the South Asian community and is a subject many are in denial about. The rise in the ‘marriage of convenience’ has become the norm because of pressures to marry and not bring shame on the family. These marriages, often arranged, affect the lives of women who are trapped in marriages they didn’t sign up for and for the men, they cannot be their true self, often living double lives”

Orange Tree Theatre announces full cast for the return of Sonali Bhattacharyya's two billion beats The Orange Tree Theatre announced the full cast for the return of Sonali Bhattacharya’s Two Billion Beats. Nimmo Ismail and Tian Brown- Sampson will direct Shala Nyx (Asha) and Tanvi Virmani (Bettina) in the return of this exhilarating production following its acclaimed world premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre in 2022.

Cast and crew of ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’ support Pakistan floods charity appeal raising over £150,000 A special fundraising dinner was held at Michelin-starred Benares Mayfair in support of UNICEF’s Pakistan Floods Appeal and the Pakistan Environment Trust on 10th January.

Hosted by Ben Goldsmith and his sister Jemima Khan, who is a UNICEF ambassador and writer and producer of the new film What’s Love Got To Do With It? (released 24 February), guests raised over an incredible £150,000 for the two charities. The evening welcomed members of the cast and crew of What’s Love Got To Do With It? including Mim Shaikh, Jeff Mirza, Iman Boujelouah, Naughty Boy and Nitin Sawhney.

More than 100 guests attended including the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Fatima Bhutto, Noreen Khan, Sam Naz, Zeeshan Shah and Aatif Nawaz.

Jemima Khan commented: “The Pakistan floods have been on such a devastating scale that it’s difficult to comprehend, with 33 million people affected and over 7.9 million people displaced.

“As a UNICEF Ambassador for more

Jeff Mirza, Jemima Khan, Naughty Boy, Sadiq Khan, Mim Shaikh, Nitin Sawhney, Iman Boujelouah18

than 20 years, I am helping to raise vital funds to support the children and families affected by this catastrophe, and the Pakistan Environment Trust, founded by my brother Ben, is working to combat climate change in a country that faces some of the most challenging effects of the global environmental crisis.

“What these two great causes need more than ever is financial support, so Ben and I are pleased to be able to raise awareness and much-needed funds for the people of Pakistan.”

The total amount raised at the event, in excess of £150,000, will support UNICEF’s

Pakistan Floods Appeal as well as the Pakistan Environment Trust.

What’s Love Got To Do With It? which is written and produced by Jemima Khan, directed by Shekhar Kapur and stars Lily James, Shazad Latif, Emma Thompson, Shabana Azmi, Sajal Aly, Asim Chaudhry, Jeff Mirza and Mim Shaikh, is releasing in cinemas nationwide on 24th February with music by Naughty Boy, Nitin Sawhney and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

Jasdeep Singh Degun will be joining Norfolk & Norwich festival in May 2023 Norfolk & Norwich Festival have announced virtuoso sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun will be joining the 2023 line up this May, ahead of the full programme launch on Tuesday 21 February.

Photographer Bunshri Chandaria launches artist book depicting dementia experience at museum event On Sunday 29 January 2023, celebrated photographer Bunshri Chandaria is launching Silent Voice, an artist book which depicts a photographic exploration of dementia, at an event hosted by St Alban’s Museum and Gallery.

The book launch event will include an artist in conversation discussion with publisher Eddie Ephraums and a multimedia installation designed to break the stigma so often attached to dementia.

Bunshri was awarded a Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society for Silent Voice, which touches on diaspora, culture and family dynamics.

Inspired by her late mother-in-law’s experience of Alzheimer’s disease, Bunshri has created stunning images which make visible the invisible interior world of a person living with Alzheimer’s.

Bunshri said, “The Alzheimer’s diagnosis of my late mother-in-law, Ramaba, alarmed and saddened me. She was still the epitome of beauty but a disconnect between her and the world had set in. She could not communicate in a manner people were accustomed to. They did not know how to react or interact with her. She went quiet.

“I felt a deep need to give her a voice.

Fortunately, I was very close to her and was privileged to hear many of her untold stories before she passed away peacefully.

“Through Silent Voice, I make visible the invisibility of her Alzheimer’s condition.

I created images to evoke visceral response in the viewer, to emphasise her foggy, confused mind. I wanted the viewer to pause: to look back and forth between images and her spoken memories - to reflect on the harshness of the disease.

“The time constraint of her daily needs had prompted me to photograph spontaneously and intuitively, steering me in a new way: to slow down and breathe, to be light and playful – to embrace her changing world. The project had been my solace, helping me to unleash the deep sadness and loss I felt within.

“I am delighted to be working with St Albans Museum and Gallery on bringing awareness about a harsh subject in an inspiring and creative manner. I look forward to seeing how the public respond to the event – I hope it will encourage people to reflect on how Alzheimer’s can affect us.

The Silent Voice multi-media installation is part of the Invisible Threads Exhibition which can be found in the Keepers Gallery.

Jasdeep Singh Degun

Leeds born musician Jasdeep Singh Degun will perform his debut album Anomaly at St Peter Mancroft on Thursday 18 May with a nine-musician ensemble including the tabla, santoor, esraj, and mridangam. The twelve track album features music rooted in the ancient repertoire of raags, with frameworks used in the improvised performances of Indian classical music and delivered with contemporary flair.

The festival will run for 17 days from 12 May - 28 May 2023 with artists from around the world and the region presenting a huge variety of work and events throughout the city and around the county. Last year, the festival celebrated its 250th anniversary and is considered to be the oldest single-city arts Festival in the UK. The full programme for the Norfolk & Norwich Festival will be announced in February. Full information on all Norfolk & Norwich Festival events at nnfestival.org.uk.

The production opened on 24 January with previews from 20 January and runs until 4 February 2023. Bouncing with wit, Sonali Bhattacharyya’s upbeat play is a coming-of-age story about the unfairness of growing up in a world where you don’t make the rules. Sonali Bhattacharyya was the 2018 Channel 4 writer in residence at the OT, where she wrote Chasing Hares, winning the Sonia Friedman Production Award and Theatre Uncut Political Playwriting Award, produced at the Young Vic in 2022.

Seventeen-year-old Asha is an empathetic rebel, inspired by historical revolutionaries and iconoclasts Sylvia Pankhurst and B R Ambedkar. She’s unafraid of pointing out the hypocrisy around her but less sure how to actually dismantle it.

Meanwhile, her younger sister, Bettina, wide-eyed and naïve, is just trying to get through the school day without getting her pocket money nicked. When Bettina turns to her for help, Asha starts to ask what standing up for her political beliefs really looks like.

Sonali Bhattacharyya is an awardwinning playwright and screenwriter whose productions include Megaball (National Theatre Learning), Slummers (Cardboard Citizens/Bunker Theatre), 2066 (Almeida Theatre), The Invisible Boy (Kiln Theatre) and White Open Spaces (Pentabus Theatre).

Shala Nyx plays Asha. Her theatre credits include The Croydon Avengers (UK tour), The Shadow Factory (NST City), The Gravity (Bristol Old Vic), Cookies (Theatre Royal Haymarket), The People’s Tribunal Crimes of Aggression: Afghanistan Sessions (Camden Peoples Theatre), A Thousand Splendid Suns (UK tour), Listen Local (The Kiln), Kabul Goes Pop (Brixton House). Her television credits include Bottom Knocker Street, Unlike, Henry VI, I Have Covid, Eastenders, Hunted in Afghanistan, Casualty, My American Family; and for film, Der Grosse Bluff, Home, Knock Down Ginger, Gita, The Old Guard, Gifts, and NYE Dubai. Tanvi Virmani plays Bettina. Her theatre credits include The Tempest (Bath Theatre Royal), and Life of Pi (Wyndham’s Theatre). Her radio credits include The Nazi’s Rise to Power. Nimmo Ismail directing credits include Glee & Me, The Christmas Star (Royal Exchange Manchester), Fragments, My England (Young Vic), and SNAP (The Old Vic). Tian Brown-Sampson directing credits include Different Book Covers (Tamasha), Lost Laowais (VAULT Festival), and Like Yesterday (Young Vic).

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Professor of Gastrointestinal Cancer Research at the University of Leeds, Professor Matthew Seymour, said, “Timing is everything when it comes to treating colon cancer. The simple act of bringing forward chemotherapy, given it before instead of after surgery, delivers some remarkable results. Delivering chemotherapy

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It was especially encouraging to find that patients who had chemotherapy before their surgery suffered fewer surgical complications.”

“Scaling up this treatment worldwide, including in low and middleincome countries, could transform cancer care and save many thousands of lives.”

Professor of Surgery at the University of Birmingham, Professor Dion Morton, said, “In many parts of the world cancer treatments can be prohibitively expensive. We wanted to go in the opposite direction, testing a treatment that could be used on the widest possible group of patients.”

"Thanks to funding from Cancer Research UK, doctors in countries around the world will now be able to put these findings into clinical practice, saving many thousands of lives.”

The paper, “Preoperative chemotherapy for operable colon cancer: mature results of an international randomised controlled trial,” was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Researchers say eating disorders can arise at any age Eating disorders are often associated with adolescents and young adults.

However, new research suggests that these conditions can occur anytime during a woman’s lifespan, including midlife. A new study finds that body dissatisfaction is a primary cause of eating disorders, especially during perimenopause.

Eating disorders have serious mental health implications characterized by disturbances in eating behaviour and body image that occur in approximately 13.1 per cent of women across the lifespan. It is

associated with high mortality and morbidity. These adverse health events are likely to be magnified when present at older ages. The study results were published online in Menopause,

the journal of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

Researchers used network analysis statistical models to compare the structure and importance of specific eating disorder symptoms across reproductive stages. However, they admit that larger studies are necessary with this underrepresented female population. The researchers believe that the study confirms that dissatisfaction with body image is a key risk factor for eating disorders across the lifespan, especially at midlife.

ADHD and mental health strongly correlated According to new research led by psychologists at the University of Bath in the UK, adults with high levels of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are more likely to experience anxiety and depression than adults with high levels of autistic traits. This study is the first to show that ADHD is more predictive of poor mental health outcomes in adults than other neurodevelopmental conditions like autism.

The study authors hope their findings will trigger new research into ADHD and ultimately improve the mental health outcomes for people with the condition. Lead researcher Luca Hargitai said, “Scientists have long known that autism is linked to anxiety and depression, but ADHD has been somewhat neglected. Researchers have also struggled to statistically separate the importance of ADHD and autism for mental health outcomes because of how frequently they occur together.”

Hargitai, a Ph.D. Researcher at Bath, added, "Our aim was to precisely measure how strongly ADHD personality traits were linked to poor mental health while statistically accounting for autistic traits.”

"The condition affects many people - both children and adults - and the

fact that more people are willing to talk about it is to be welcomed," said Hargitai, adding, "The hope is that with greater awareness will come more research in this area and better resources to support individuals in better managing their mental health.”

The study used a large, nationally representative sample of adults from the UK population. All participants completed gold standard questionnaires - one on autistic traits, the other on ADHD traits - responding to statements such as "I frequently get strongly absorbed in one thing" and "How often do you feel overly active and compelled to do a motor drove thing like you?"

The researchers found that ADHD traits were highly predictive of the severity of anxiety and depression symptoms. The higher the levels of ADHD traits, the more likely a person is to experience severe mental health symptoms. Through innovative analytical techniques, the study authors further confirmed that having more of an ADHD personality was more strongly linked to anxiety and depression than autistic traits.

Hargitai said, "Our findings suggest that research and clinical practice must shift some of the focus from autism to ADHD. This may help to

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Chemotherapy before surgery cuts the risk of colon cancer relapse Results of a Cancer Research UKfunded clinical trial reveal that giving colon cancer patients chemotherapy before surgery reduces their risk of the disease returning. The FOxTROT trial showed that giving colon cancer patients chemotherapy before rather than after surgery reduced the chance of cancer returning within two years by 28 per cent. A total of 1035 colon cancer patients from 85 hospitals in the UK, Denmark and Sweden were involved in the study, led by scientists at the University of Birmingham and the University of Leeds.

Associate Professor at the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Birmingham, Dr Laura Magill, said, “Up to 1 in 3 colon cancer patients can see their cancer come back after surgery. That figure is far too high and we need new treatment strategies to stop colon cancer from coming back.”

She added, “The standard approach has been to give chemotherapy after surgery to eradicate any cancer cells that might have spread before surgery. But our research shows that giving some of that chemotherapy before surgery increases the chances

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identify those most at risk of anxiety and depression so that preventative measures - such as supporting children and adults with the management of their ADHD symptoms - can be put in place earlier to have a greater impact on improving people's well-being."

According to Dr. Punit Shah, senior author and associate professor of Psychology at Bath, another important aspect of the new study is that it advances the scientific understanding of neurodevelopmental conditions.

"By addressing the shortcomings of previous research, our work provides fresh information about the complex links between neurodiversity and mental health in adults - an area that is often overlooked," he said.

"Further research is now needed to delve deeper into understanding exactly why ADHD is linked to poor mental health, particularly in terms of the mental processes that might drive people with ADHD traits to engage in anxious and depressive thinking," he added.

"At the moment, funding for ADHD research - particularly psychological research - is lacking. This is especially pronounced when you compare it to the relatively high level of funds directed at autism," Shah elaborated.

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Older people with asthma at higher risk for depression: Study

Recent research has discovered that older adults with asthma were at higher risk for depression during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study involved 2000 older Canadian individuals and was published online in Respiratory Medicine.

The numbers were extremely worrying for older adults with asthma who had experienced depression. Approximately onehalf experienced a recurrence of depression during the autumn of 2020, significantly higher than recurrence rates among their peers who did not have asthma.

First author, Andie MacNeil, a research assistant at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW) and the institute for Life Course and Aging, University of Toronto, said, “When considering the high comorbidity between asthma and depression prior to the pandemic, combined with the loneliness associated with extended periods of lockdown and the stress over being labelled high risk for severe Covid19-related outcomes, it is unsurprising that this population experienced a precipitous decline in mental health during the pandemic.”

The sample came from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, a national longitudinal study of older Canadian.

Although respondents with a history of depression had the highest risk, one in seven of those with no pre-pandemic history of depression were depressed during the autumn of 2020, highlighting the toll the pandemic took on many formerly mentally healthy older adults with asthma.

Co-author Grace Li, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Victoria, said, “The pandemic has had detrimental consequences for the mental health of older adults, particularly those who are also navigating chronic health conditions, such as asthma. It is important for clinicians and healthcare professionals to be screening for depressive symptoms among their patients with asthma, even among those who have not shown signs of depression in the past.”

The researchers identified several factors associated with a higher risk of depression among this population, such as experiencing disruptions to healthcare access.

Cultivate these daily habits to avoid a sedentary lifestyle Doctors and health experts have long explained the risks of leading a sedentary lifestyle or adopting a daily routine involving too much sitting or lying down with little or no exercise. A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine aimed to determine the association between physical activity and outcomes of Covid-19 infection.

The many health conditions that are attributed to a sedentary lifestyle are obesity, sleep apnea syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, various musculoskeletal disorders, coronary artery disease, and polycystic ovarian disease. This article discusses tips to incorporate some activity into your lifestyle.

Regular Exercise Exercising for 45 minutes daily for at least five days a week benefits overall health. This can be moderate-intensity aerobic exercise like brisk walking, running, jogging, cycling or swimming. It is also recommended to add resistance training twice a week.

Move your body more Simple changes like taking the stairs instead of lifts or parking your vehicle one or two blocks before your office and walking rest of the way can also help you move more regularly. Climbing stairs may stimulate your heart and boost your muscle, bone, joint, and lung health.

Don’t sit for more than 60 minutes.

Avoid sitting at your work desk for more than an hour at a stretch. Get up and move around, then sit back down. Also, various exercises can be done sitting.

Avoid sugar It is best to avoid bingeing or overeating and cut out sugar-laden treats and sweetened beverages.

Avoid alcohol and smoking.

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Hansal Mehta responds to allegations of “exploiting tragedy” by making ‘Faraaz’

Abhay Deol responds to Anurag Kashyap’s allegations, calls him a “liar” and “toxic”

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ilmmaker Hansal Mehta’s upcoming movie ‘Faraaz’ has stirred quite a controversy. The upcoming film is based on the 2016 terrorist attack on the Holey Artisan cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh. T-Series and Benares Media Works jointly produce the movie in association with Mahana Films. The movie is set to release in cinema halls on February 3.

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Sara Ali Khan celebrates Sushant Singh Rajput’s birthday at NGO A

Mehta recently unveiled the trailer, prompting mixed reactions from Twitterati. However, a particular Twitter user’s comment prompted a response from Mehta himself. The person wrote, “You should be ashamed of yourself. You are a shameless person. You are exploiting a horrifying tragedy for profit without asking the permission of victims family. Why don’t you make film about incidents from your own country.”

Hansal responded by sharing a link to an article, and wrote, “Hopefully this piece gives you the chance to take a more balanced perspective on the issue. Please read.” The mentioned article spoke about “artistic freedom”, “allowing grief to permeate into censorship” and “cancel culture.” It also discussed how the attack was related to many “larger national and global trends.”

Earlier last week, the Delhi High Court heard a plea by the family members of the victims of the terrorist attack against the release of the film, the Delhi High Court asked the parties to sit together to resolve their differences.

Mothers of two victims objected to the film's slated release on the grounds of invasion of privacy.

‘Faraaz’ marks the debut of Zahan Kapoor, the grandson of the late Shashi Kapoor. The film also features Aditya Rawal, the son of actors Paresh Rawal and Swaroop Rawal. The film had its world premiere at the 2022 edition of the BFI London Film Festival. The movie also features Juhi Babbar, Aamir Ali, Sachin Lalwani, Palak Lalwani, and Reshham Sahaani in supporting roles.

ctor Sara Ali Khan celebrated the birth anniversary of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput with children at an NGO. She posted a clip on Instagram where she cut birthday cakes and sang the birthday song for Sushant and the kids. Sara wore a green suit and tied her hair back for the occasion.

The NGO was seen decorated with strings of colourful flags. Sara captioned the video, “Happiest Birthday Sushant. I know what making other people smile meant to you.” She added, "And while you’re watching over all of us, up there next to the rising new moon, I hope we’ve made you smile today too. Shine on (dizzy symbol, milky way, ringed planet, and crescent moon emojis). Jai Bholenath (folded hands emojis)."

Sara also wrote, "Thank you @sunilarora_ @balashatrust for making today so special. People like you make the world a better, safer, happier place. Keep spreading the joy that you do." Fans praised Sara's gesture of celebrating Sushant's 37th birthday with the kids.

A comment read, "More power to you!!

It's people like you who renew our faith in humanity." "I am touched by this gesture, the kids look so happy," said a person. "Sara you are too good, always notice that you

appreciate Sushant," wrote an Instagram user. "So sweet of you," commented another fan.

Sara debuted in Bollywood with Abhishek Kapoor’s ‘Kedarnath’ in 2018 alongside Sushant. Several Bollywood celebrities wished the late actor, including actor Rhea Chakraborty, who dated Sushant.

She shared candid photos of the duo on Instagram and captioned the post, “(infinity sign) +1”.

Sushant made his Bollywood debut with ‘Kai Po Che’ and was featured in several hit films such as ‘MS Dhoni - The Untold Story’ and ‘Chhichhore’. The actor was last seen in director Mukesh Chhabra's ‘Dil Bechara’, released on OTT, opposite Sanjana Sanghi.

The actor was found dead at his Bandra home in Mumbai on June 14, 2020.

Anushka Sharma shares glimpses of her yoga pose, fans call her “super flexible” A ctress Anushka Sharma wowed her fans and friends over the weekend with a yoga pose in what appears to be from her daughter Jamika’s room. The actor wrote along with the photo, “Perspective.”

Anushka added a couple of upsidedown face emojis to her caption. She also tagged her yoga instructor in the Instagram post.

In the photo she posted, Anushka was seen on a yoga mat as she lifted her hips off the floor. Vamika’s soft toys and indoor slides were seen in the background as Anushka practiced yoga inside a room with huge glass windows. Reacting to her post, a fan commented, "Wow." Another one wrote, "Very nice. It looks easy but in reality it is too hard to do... very good Anushka ma'am." A fan called the actor 'super flexible', while another said she was 'a hardworking

mom’.

In her upcoming Netflix movie ‘Chakda Xpress’, Anushka plays the role of cricketer Jhulan Goswami. She often talks about yoga is a big part of her life - from her pregnancy to her everyday workout routine as an actor.

Last year on International Yoga Day in July, Anushka had shared pictures on Instagram of her doing yoga, she wrote in her caption, “A throwback of my yoga journey in pictures… A relationship that starts and stops too sometimes but one that has seen me through all ages and phases of my life. Forever grateful to the ancient and truly unparalleled form of wellness.”

bhay Deol has reacted to Anurag Kashyap’s allegations regarding his behaviour on the sets of their 2009 film ‘Dev D’. Abhay, who is busy promoting his upcoming Netflix series ‘Trial By Fire’, opened up about Anurag telling lies about him to the media. He denied allegations that he had demanded a stay in a five-star hotel room during the filming of ‘Dev D’.

The actor also called Anurag a “liar”, and added that the filmmaker was a “toxic person.”

In an interview in 2020, the filmmaker had said that working with Abhay during ‘Dev D’ was “painfully difficult.” According to Anurag, the actor wanted to do artistic movies but also wanted the “mainstream benefits”, and the “luxuries of being a Deol”.

In the same interview, Anurag had said that during 'Dev D's shoot, Abhay would 'stay in a five-star hotel while the entire crew stayed in Paharganj' in Delhi as the film 'was made on a very tight budget'. Anurag had added this was a reason why 'a lot of his directors went away' from Abhay.

Now, Abhay has slammed Anurag for telling lies about him. He said in a new interview, “I had my heart on my sleeve, and all that is great – but you get taken advantage of, and then you get reactive.

So, he (Anurag Kashyap) was a good lesson for me. Then I just avoided him, because I don’t need toxic people in my life. Life is too short, and there is so much more to explore. But he (Anurag) is definitely a liar and a toxic person. And I would warn people about him.”

Abhay also said that Anurag sent him apology messages after the 2020 interview. “He (Anurag) does that all the time. He was like, ‘You want to shout at me, scream at me…’ And I was like, ‘I don’t care. It’s been 12 years. You don’t feature in my thoughts even now; get over it.’ He said, ‘Forgive me because I have had a bad day.’ I said you are forgiven. I never had a personal agenda. It was far bigger than just me. That is how I feel about everything. How much of this is he going to do? And I would have never taken his name and said the things, had he not gone public either," Abhay said.

Last year, in an interview, Abhay had called Anurag a ‘gaslighter’. They had worked together in ‘Dev D', written and directed by Anurag. After the film, the two never collaborated on a project.

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Sushmita Sen buys herself a brand new Mercedes worth Rs 1.92 Crore A

ctor Sushmita Sen has gifted herself a brand new black Mercedes AMG GLE 53 Coupe. She shared pictures on Instagram, giving her fans glimpses of her new drive. In the video, Sushmita met and greeted several people while her car lay covered. The actor was seen in a black outfit as she unveiled her vehicle. She also wore sunglasses.

Sushmita also received the key to the car, and a gift hamper from the team of Mercedes. As she stepped inside her new car, Sushmita checked out the interiors and gestured as she raised her hands while smiling. The price of the car is estimated to be between Rs 1.63 Crore and Rs 1.92 Crore in Mumbai.

Sharing the clip, Sushmita captioned the post, "And the woman who LOVES to drive… gifts herself this powerful beauty (fist, red heart and wink emojis). Thank you @pardesiinderjit @mercedesbenzind @autohangar @theretreatmumbai for making this such a memorable moment!!! (dancing, clinking glasses, musical notes, and hug emojis).

She also added the hashtags--sharing, new ride, GLE 53 AMG Coupe and celebrate yourself. Sushmita also wrote, "I love you

Kangana mortgaged all her property for ‘Emergency’

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ctor and producer Kangana Ranaut wrapped up the shoot of her next film, ‘Emergency’, and took to Instagram to share some pictures from the sets. The actordirector revealed she had to mortgage her house to make the film. The movie will feature Kangana essaying the role of late prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Kangana posted three pictures from the set, where she can be seen sitting behind the camera in her costume, hair and make-up as the late PM and speaking on a microphone. In the caption, she mentioned how she had to mortgage all her property to ensure the film was complete. She also revealed that she had dengue during the filming of the first schedule. Kangana also expressed gratitude for the crew and told her fans that she is in a “safe place” now, so there is no reason to worry about her.

Kangana wrote, “As I wrap Emergency as an actor today… a tremendously glorious phase of my life comes to its full completion… It may seem I sailed through it comfortably but the truth is far from it… From mortgaging all my properties, every single thing that I owned to being diagnosed with dengue during the first schedule and having to film it in spite of alarmingly low blood cell counts, my character as an individual has been severely tested… I have been very open about my feelings on SM (social media) but I didn’t share all this, honestly, because I didn’t want people, who cared to worry unnecessarily and those, who desperately want to see me fall and were doing everything to make me suffer, I didn’t want to give them the pleasure of my pain…"

The actor, who is also directing Emergency, further wrote, “At the same time I want to share with you all that if you believe just working hard for your dreams or for what you want is enough, think again because that’s not true… You must work hard that’s given even if you are worthy you will be tested beyond your limits and you mustn’t break… Hold on to yourself till you can … you are fortunate if life spares you but you are blessed if it doesn’t… if you break and shatter in pieces… celebrate… because it’s time for you to reborn… it’s a rebirth for me and I feel alive like never before.

Thanks to my tremendously talented team for making it happen for me… PS: all those who care about me please know that I am in a safe place now… I would have not shared all this if I wasn’t… please don’t worry, I only need your blessings and love.”

Kangana announced her film ‘Emergency’ in 2021. It is written

by Ritesh Shah, who also penned Kangana’s last film, ‘Dhaakad’, which failed at the box office. Besides Kangana, actors Anupam Kher, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry, Satish Kaushik, and Shreyas Talpade will also be seen in key roles in the film.

guys!!! #duggadugga." Reacting to the post, Charu Asopa commented, "Wow didi, congrats." Sushmita's brother Rajeev Sen wrote, "Congratulations."

Her fans also congratulated her in the comments section.

In another post, Sushmita shared two pictures as she stood in front of her car with a smile on her face. She captioned the post, "Beauty and the Beast (wink and fist emojis). She also added the hashtags--yours truly, official picture. Sushmita also wrote, "Love love love!!!”

On the work front, fans will see Sushmita in the third season of ‘Aarya’.

The show marked Sushmita's comeback on-screen and her digital debut in June 2020. In the series, the actor plays the protagonist, a powerful and strong character who goes beyond boundaries to protect her family from the world of crime.

Directed by Ram Madhvani, the series also stars Namit Das, Manish Chaudhari, Sikandar Kher, and Vinod Rawat, among others, in pivotal roles. The show's second season was released in December 2021, and the makers haven't yet revealed the release date of the third season.

Apart from this, Sushmita is all set to play the role of transgender activist Gauri Sawant in a new web series titled ‘Taali’.

Sidharth Malhotra reacts to ‘Mission Majnu’s comparisons to Alia Bhatt’s ‘Raazi’

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ctors Sidharth Malhotra and Rashmika Mandanna discussed their recent release ‘Mission Majnu’ in a new interview. The film stars Sidharth as Tariq, an Indian spy in Pakistan, and Rashmika in the role of Nareen, a blind Pakistani. In the interaction, Sidharth spoke about comparing their movie with Alia Bhatt’s ‘Raazi’, and if their film perpetuates the stereotypes of Pakistanis in Hindi films.

Set in the 1970s, ‘Mission Majnu’ is 'inspired by real events' as per the makers. It shows Sidharth Malhotra as a RAW agent who is tasked to complete India's 'deadliest covert operation' in Pakistan. After the film's trailer was released earlier this year, a section of people drew comparisons with ‘Raazi’. Set in 1971, the Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal-starrer were based on the life of a 20-yearold Kashmiri spy named Sehmat, who was married to a Pakistani Army officer (Vicky) to relay back any information she could to the Indian Army.

In a new interview, Sidharth addressed the comparison. "It is never a bad thing if people are trying to find a reference point for a film. It (Raazi) is a good film.

It doesn't feel like it (the comparison) is such an alarming thing. Yes, the elements on the outer periphery seeing the trailer, might look similar. It is in the same decade (1970s), and has similar elements, but I think the experience is completely different. It is only fair to speak to people after January 20 (Mission Majnu's release date), once they see the film... I think it is fair (the comparison), and we will

have a better conversation when the film is out, and we could discuss it. Comparison with a good film is always welcome, it is not a bad thing at all," he said.

When asked if his character in the film helps perpetuate stereotypes of Pakistanis in Hindi films, the actor said, "We have consciously made an effort in the writing that it is never to take on a particular community. I recently did a film called ‘Shershaah’, which is based on India and Pakistan, and the battle that we had, which was documented. Once you see the film, consciously we never really concentrated, barring maybe four scenes on the other side (Pakistan), it was purely about this side (India) and this man's journey, (Army captain) captain Vikram Batra sacrificing his life...

So there is the same conscious effort (with Mission Majnu), there is no personal animosity with anyone, these are just documented historical points, which we will never get complete facts of, so for that you need to establish possibly certain characters in an x amount of time. And the shots they are referring to (from the trailer) are meant to be tongue-and-cheek in the film. So, I think it will be a fair dialogue once everyone sees the film... it is never about a community or taking a dig, which digresses from the film… a religion or a community is never an issue in the film.”

‘Mission Majnu’ is directed by Shantanu Bagchi and co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Amar Butala and Garima Mehta.

‘Pathaan Controversy: PM Modi urges BJP workers to “avoid unnecessary remarks on films”

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ndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked BJP workers to refrain from making “unnecessary” comments about films. The remark comes amidst controversy around Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Pathaan’ which is facing a ban in certain parts of the country. Modi made the observation while addressing the last day of the two-day National Executive meeting last week.

In his address, the PM also asked BJP members to reach out to every section of society, including minorities such as Bohras, Pasmandas and Sikhs, and work for them without electoral considerations. Modi’s statement comes amid the recent protests against Shah Rukh Khan’s film ‘Pathaan’, with several BJP leaders like Ram Kadam and Narottam Mishra criticising the makers over Deepika Padukone’s saffron costume in the song ‘Besharam Rang’.

The song has been in the news for a saffron-coloured bikini worn by Deepika, along with a few shots that several politicians and trolls found ‘vulgar’. As per reports, Hindu

sentiments have been hurt, and people have also criticised the makers as they find an “overdose” of the s*xually appealing look of the actress. Protests are on, with the social media campaign seeking a boycott of the movie.

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Actress Mamta Mohandas opens up about embracing vitiligo

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alayalee Mamta Mohandas has had a tough few years as she battled with cancer, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and now vitiligo. In a recent Instagram post, the actress opened up about her journey with vitiligo. Sharing a sun-kissed selfie, Mamta wrote, “Dear sun, I embrace you now like I have never before. So spotted, I’m losing color… I rise even before you every morning, to see you glimmer your first ray through the haze. Give me all you’ve got for I will be indebted, here on out and forever by your grace.”

Kajal Aggarwal celebrates son Neil turning 9 months K

ajal Aggarwal took to Instagram recently and shared pictures of herself with her son Neil Kitchlu as he turned nine months old. She posted a series of adorable pictures with Neil as she showered love on him. She also wrote a heartfelt note and called him “my darling boy”. The actress and her husband, Gautam Kitchlu, welcomed their son in 2022.

In her pictures, Kamal sported a white shirt with blue jeans and her son wore a blue flannel shirt with dark pants and black socks. In one of the pictures, Kajal looked straight into Neil’s eyes with affection; in another, she held him in her arms.

Taking to Instagram Stories, she shared a cute picture with her son, in which she held up her son and looked at him with love, and wrote, “#My bubble turns 9 months old.”

Sharing the pictures on Instagram, Kajal wrote for Neil, “@Neilkitchlu I can’t wait to see all the things God will do through you. In the meantime, we stay thankful for the past 9 months, and the years ahead. Happy 3/4th birthday, my darling boy.”

Reacting to the post, one of Kajal's fans wrote, “A great actor and a great mother. Love and respect ma'am.” Another fan commented, “Aww!! So lovely (smiley face with tears, red heart and evil eye emojis).” Another fan commented, “Awwwee Neil baby, ma'am you are lucky to have such a beautiful son (red heart emoji).” A fan commented, “So beautiful and emotional moment for every woman to become a mother.” “Beautiful smiles,” added one. Many fans dropped heart emojis for little Neil.

Kajal got married to businessman Gautam Kitchlu in 2020. The two were blessed with a baby boy, whom they named Neil, on April 19, 2022. When her son turned four and six months old, she shared heartfelt notes and talked about parenthood on her social media handles. She celebrated Neil's six months milestone earlier and wrote, "I can’t believe how fast the past 6 months have gone by or the profound change that has taken place in my life. I’ve gone from a scared young woman holding a wriggling mass on her chest and wondering how she was going to care for it to now fulfilling mommy duties and learning as I go along. Of course, balancing full time work and ensuring I never compromise on my time, attention, love, nurturing care for you- is extremely challenging.”

On the work front, Kajal is set to make her movie comeback with ‘Indian 2’ alongside Kamal Haasan and Priya Bhavani Shanka. She also has three Tamil films, ‘Karungaapiyam’, ‘Ghosty’ and ‘Uma’, as her upcoming projects.

Harish Shankar slams Netflix over language-barrier with “non-Telugu heads”

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She held a cup as she drank a beverage while sitting on a chair in the garden. She opted for a black ensemble – a black T-shirt, tights and a jacket. She also added the hashtags--colour, autoimmune disease, autoimmune, vitiligo, Sunday, spotlight, imperfection, no makeup, no filter, embrace the journey, healing and heal yourself. Mamta geotagged the location as Niraamaya Retreats Samroha in Kerala.

Vitiligo is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes the appearance of white patches on the skin triggered by the lack of melanin. Mamta also shared a video of her on the way to a movie shoot and wrote, “With new colours added to my every day, I shift my focus on the new year with vast new opportunities that await me.” Mamta added that her colours might be brand new but she was still the same person.

ilmmaker Harish Shankar of ‘Gabbar Singh’ fame took to Twitter recently to slam streaming giant Netflix India for its language barrier while dealing with their executives. He requested that Netflix appoint representatives who can understand the language so there’s no communication gap during narration.

“Dear @NetflixIndia when you approach for Telugu content please appoint someone from Telugu states in the content department…… It’s becoming very tough for many to deal with Non-Telugu heads while narrations …. Hope you consider my request!!!”

Harish tweeted.

Other Twitter users agreed with his tweet. A person wrote,“Netflix, this is very concerning, most of the artists from India are well-versed in their native language, so you are already missed out great products.

Until you resolve this issue, you can’t grow in India, irrespective of your 'mobile only' offers or movie release plans.”

Another tweet read, “Director Harish

Shankar raises an extremely important issue

especially when it comes to Netflix/ Amazon.

They don’t have a full grasp of what they are actually buying! TV+OTT companies like Star, Zee, Sony have local heads in all leading languages.”

On the work front, Harish Shankar is gearing up to reunite with Pawan Kalyan for the upcoming Telugu film 'Ustaad Bhagat Singh’. The film marks his reunion after eleven years with Pawan. The duo had previously worked together in ‘Gabbar Singh’, the Telugu remake of ‘Dabangg’.

Harish’s next film with Pawan Kalyan is rumoured to be a remake of the Tamil film ‘Theri.’ The project was officially launched last December in a pooja ceremony. The film’s crew includes cinematographer Ayananka Bose, who earlier collaborated with Harish Shankar for the Allu Arjun-starrer Duvvada Jagannadham, art director Anand Sai, editor Chota K Prasad, music composer Devi Sri Prasad and action choreographers Ram-Lakshman.

Oscar 2023 nominations: RRR and two documentaries are up for race R

RR has been nominated for an Oscar - Best Original Song for Naatu Naatu which also won the Golden Globe in the same category. Four other nominated songs will battle against Naatu Naatu are Applause from Tell It Like A Woman, Lady Gaga's, Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick, Rihanna's Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and This Is A Life from Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Two Indian-made documentaries are

also going to the Oscars - All That Breathes has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film and The Elephant Whisperers for Best Documentary Short.

Chhello Show or Last Picture Show, India's official Oscar entry, was excluded from the final list of nominees for Best International Feature Film.

Tamil documentary 'The Elephant Whisperers' directed by Kartiki Gonsalves bagged a nomination in the 'Documentary Short Subject' category of the

95th Academy Awards.

The Indian climate change documentary "All That Breathes" made it onto nominations list. The Shaunak Sen directorial is nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category alongside 'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed', 'Fire of Love', 'A House Made of Splinters' and 'Navalny'.

RRR and the documentaries join a select group of Indian films to have gone to the Oscars - Mother India, Salaam Bombay and Lagaan were nominated for Best International Feature Film. When MM Keeravaani, the composer of Naatu

Naatu, adds an Oscar to his Golden Globe, he will join a select group of Indian Oscar winners that also includes Bhanu Athaiya, who won Best Costume Design for Gandhi, AR Rahman, Gulzar, and sound engineer Resul Pookutty, who won for their work on the British-produced Indian-set movie Slumdog Millionaire.

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Priyanka Chopra’s daughter Malti was “ready to perform” at Vogue photoshoot A

ctress Priyanka Chopra is set to grace the cover of British Vogue’s February edition. Much to everyone’s surprise, her daughter Malti Marie Chopra Jonas made it into the magazine’s photo feature. Their looks were curated by Priyanka’s personal stylist Law Roach, who spoke about working with Malti, his youngest client, in a new interview.

Priyanka posed barefoot in a red midi dress worn with a statement choker. She kept her daughter close to her chest and hugged her, showing off her baby’s red dress as her back was turned to the camera.

Speaking about Malti, Roach said the baby, who turned one this month, was “so quiet” on the set, but when prompted to pose, she would “just smile.” “(Malti) was ready to perform! She was so quiet, but when prompted to do anything, she just smiled,” Roach told British Vogue in a new interview. Speaking about the mother-daughter's photo, one of the most striking images from Priyanka's latest magazine photoshoot, he said, “It’s art.” The stylist, who has worked with celebs like Bella Hadid, Megan Thee Stallion, Zendaya, and many others, also added that he wanted Priyanka and Malti's photo to be 'blown-up and framed' to hang in their Los Angeles home.

Priyanka and singer-husband Nick Jonas shared a

simple, picture-less post celebrating Malta’s arrival in January last year. In the new interview, she opened up about witnessing accusations of “outsourcing” her pregnancy and “renting” a womb, among other things. She said, “I’ve developed a tough hide when people talk about me. But it’s so painful when they talk about my daughter. I’m like, ‘Keep her out of it.’ I know what it felt like to hold her little hands when they were trying t find her veins. So no, she’s not going to gossip.”

Chopra reveals that Malti had to be delivered pre-term, a full trimester before her due date. “I was in the OR when she came out.

She was so small, smaller than my hand. I saw what the intensive-care nurses do. They do God’s work. Nick and I were standing there as they intubated her. I don’t know how they even found what they needed to intubate her.”

The new parents had to shuttle daily to the NICU for the next three months. “We spent every single day with her on my chest, on my husband’s chest. I didn’t know if she would make it or not,” she said. Priyanka revealed in the interview that she had “medical complications,” so “this was a necessary step, and I’m so grateful I was in a position where I could do this. Our surrogate was so generous, kind, lovely and funny, and she took care of this precious gift for us for six months.”

Suhana Khan, Shanaya Kapoor meet Indian fans correct Jane Kendall Jenner at Dubai bash Fonda after she calls S ‘RRR’ a “Bollywood” film uhana Khan and Shanaya Kapoor recently attended a party in Dubai and got to hang out with supermodel Kendall Jenner. Shanaya took to their Instagram Stories to share many pictures with Suhana from the evening. She also shared a picture of them posing with Kendall at the party. The event was the launch party of a luxury hotel in Palm Jumeirah.

Suhana was dressed in a pink short dress, while Shanaya was in a strapless, knee-length red dress.

Meanwhile, Kendall was in an olive green dress paired with latex gloves. Shanaya also shared a glimpse of Kendall chatting with other guests as she sat at a table behind her. She captioned it “fun” with smiling emojis.

Shanaya's mom Maheep Kapoor also shared the video, which featured Shanaya and Kendall in the same frame, and wrote on her Instagram Stories, “I spot my girl”.

On the work front, Shanaya is all set to make her acting debut with Karan Johar's production ‘Bedhadak’. The film stars her opposite two other debutants, Lakshya and Gurfateh Pirzada. It is to be helmed by Shashank Khaitan, who also directed Shanaya's cousin Janhvi Kapoor's debut film ‘Dhadak’.

The film was rumoured to have been shelved as the

film didn't go on floors even several months after the announcement. In July last year, Karan Johar denied the rumours and said it would go on the floors in the first half of 2023.

Meanwhile, Suhana has already wrapped the shooting of her film, ‘The Archies’. Directed by Zoya Akhtar, it will also mark the debut of Shanaya's cousin Khushi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan's grandson Agastya Nanda. Suhana is also rumoured to be dating Agastya. The film will release on Netflix this year and also stars newcomers Mihir Ahuja, Dot, Yuvraj Menda and Vedang Raina, along with Tara Sharma and Delnaaz Irani. Suhana reportedly plays Veronica in the film.

James Cameron asks SS Rajamouli if he wants to make a Hollywood movie

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ilmmaker James Cameron had a brief yet exciting interaction with director SS Rajamouli as he shared his love of the latter’s superhit movie ‘RRR’. The ‘Avatar’ director had told him that he liked the movie so much that he watched it twice. The two met at the Critics’ Choice Awards, where ‘RRR’ won Best Foreign Language Film.

Now in an unseen clip shared by the official Instagram handle of ‘RRR’, Cameron is heard telling Rajamouli that if he ever thinks of making a movie in Hollywood, he should let him know. In the interaction, Rajamouli says, “I saw all your movies… Big inspiration. From ‘Terminator’, ‘Avatar’, ‘Titanic,’ everything. Loved your work.”

Replying to this, Cameron said, “Thank you. That's right. Now watching your characters...It's just like such a feeling to watch them.

And the setup... Your fire, water story. Reveal after reveal. And then you show what happened in the back story. It's like all of them are a homely setup. Why he's doing what he's doing and the twists and turns and the friendship and eventually it gets to a point that where

he can't even kill him when the other reverses...It's just so, so powerful.” Rajamouli said in response, "These words from you are more than an award for me."

Cameron then praised music composer MM Keeravani, who won a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award. He said, "And you composed, right? Because I saw you at the Golden Globes. The score, it's kind of amazing. Because I like the music to kinda stay out of the way and kinda come on in and support when the audience is already feeling something so it builds the theme. But you are using the music very differently.”

He then concluded by saying to Rajamouli, "You can only imagine, what it must be like. Everything that goes behind the movie-making process. Because of all the work and passion you've put in... all that must be yours. All of them must be surprised, your audience back at your home. And I'm sure this must be a bonus one for you.

What you must be enjoying today, the world encounters it… If you ever wanna make a movie over here, let’s talk.”

H

ollywood icon Jane Fonda took to her Instagram account to praise SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’. The movie has had a fantastic run in Hollywood, winning the Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards.

Joining a slew of stars praising the movie multiple Academy awardwinning actor Jane Fonda said she was “transfixed” by it.

Taking to Instagram, Jane shared the official poster of the film. She wrote, "On the complete opposite extreme of the last film I recommended, To Leslie, here’s another new one that took me by surprise: RRR, an Indian movie that’s shortlisted in the Best Foreign Film category. It’s a combination of Indiana Jones, a serious film about imperialism and Bollywood. I was transfixed.”

However, eagle-eyed Indian fans quickly corrected the actor and commented on her post that the film was not a Bollywood product. "Its Tollywood... but we can stick to Indian," said one fan.

Whereas another said, "Not Bollywood, though. Bollywood refers to Hindi language movies."

Another one wrote, "This is not a Bollywood movie it is a Tollywood movie from Telugu film field in India. Now this is called Indian cinema!" A fan even wrote a long note explaining the difference, "It's not bollywood... its TOLLYWOOD... As many of the

foreign countries thinking Indian cinema means bollywood... There are many industries within country where u can also see Diversity in Indian cinema...

Tollywood - Telugu, Kollywood Tamil , Mollywood - Malayalam, Sandalwood - Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Assamese, Odiya, Bhojpuri, Punjabi... and other small film industries... where we make movies in our respective languages... So we are urging you not to consider Indian film as not only bollywood…."

Other fans also noted that Jane had said in the post that ‘RRR’ was shortlisted in the Best Foreign Film category, which is incorrect.

The submission from India was ‘The Last Film Show’. One user wrote, "It’s sad but it is not shortlisted for foreign language film India submitted another film.

It eligible for Best film though and it is one of the best of the year."

Nevertheless, fans were happy that so many actors and stars from the West were championing the film, where one fan commented: "I am impressed to see non-Indians using their platform to recommend and/or promote Indian productions. There are a lot of misconceptions about that industry. Thank you, Jane."

Another comment read: "Because of u guys are sharing the movie to others.. RRR getting more recognition Thank You.”

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28 Jan - 3 Feb 2023

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India’s massive victory against NZ in 3rd ODI Rohit Sharma scored his first ODI century in three years while Shubman Gill continued his explosive run to power India to 385 for nine in the third and final game against New Zealand. The two put up a belligerent 212-run opening stand as Rohit (101 off 85 balls) got to the three-figure mark for the first time since January 2020.

Gill (112 off 78) got his fourth ODI hundred. Earlier, New Zealand chose to bowl first after winning the toss. Devon Conway (138) did everything he could during the chase, but it was not enough.

He was always running out of partners at the other end as the Kiwis never looked settled in the chase. The two players that stood out for India with the ball were

Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav. The other Indian wicket-takers included Yuzvendra Chahal, Umran Malik, and Hardik Pandya.

India is now the top-ranked team in the world. They have white washed New

KL RAHUL AND ATHIYA SHETTY TIE THE KNOT Zealand it has been another comprehensive performance in Indore. Indians have been bowling fairly well on this flat pitch.

Shubham Gill the youngest player to register a double-century in an ODI The youngest player to ever register a double-century in an ODI is Shubman Gill. At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, he scored 208 runs off 149 deliveries in the first ODI match against New Zealand.

The 23-year-old became the fifth Indian after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan to score double hundreds for India in ODI Gill also became the fastest Indian to record 1000 ODI runs during the game.

First White Card shown in the history of Football In the first-ever, during a women’s derby match between Benfica and Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, a ‘white-card’ was introduced by the referee. Since the 1970 FIFA World Cup, footy fans have become familiar with the referee flashing the yellow card and the red cards to offending players. However, this was the first time when a white card was used in the game.

This happened in a women’s cup match being played in Portugal on Saturday when someone on the bench in the dugouts reportedly felt ill at the

in brief

end of the first-half. The referee brandished the white card to both medical teams who had rushed to the aid of the unwell fan in the stands in recognition of their ‘sportsmanship’.

The white card has been introduced in Portugal alongside many FIFA initiatives of late. Football’s international governing body has also introduced concussion substitutes to the game, as well as longer stoppage time – which was most notable during the group stage matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

ICC loses $2.5 million in internet scam The worldwide governing body of cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC), allegedly lost nearly $2.5 million in online scam last year.

According to the reports, the ICC was cheated by the scamster not once, not twice, but four times.

Surprisingly, the authorities at the ICC's Dubai office did not have a clue that they were being cheated until last week. It is reported that the scamster from the US acted as a vendor of the ICC and emailed the cricket body's CFO for a payment from an email id that

was apparently similar to the ICC. The loss of $2.5 million is significant, as it is equivalent to four times the grant an Associate member with ODI status earns every year from the ICC. An ICC associate nation earns $500,000 to $1 million per year from ICC grants.

As per the report, the ICC is conducting an investigation about the incident and informed law enforcement agencies in the US. However, the exact manner in which the scam took place is not yet known.

World Athletics permits transgender women to contest in female category A new idea that is mentioned in the World Athletics consultation paper could permit transgender women to compete at the highest level in the female category, according to reports in the media. A decision could be made following voting in March.

According to the source, the new regulations would also apply to athletes at different stages of sex development, such as Caster Semenya of South Africa, who is now prohibited from competing in events lasting between 400 metres and

one mile.

Transgender athletes, as per World Athletics ‘preferred option’, will have to keep their maximum testosterone level to 2.5 nanomoles per litre for a period of two years. The current regulations, known as the

Female Classification Eligibility Regulations To enable athletes to compete in races from the 400-meter to the mile, athletes with different sex development set the threshold limit for testosterone at 5 nanomoles per litre for a period of six months.

India’s prominent women wrestlers accused WFI prez for sexual harassment India’s most esteemed female wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, accused BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment.

While speaking to media behalf of the women wrestlers allegedly exploited – the wrestlers staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi – Vinesh Phogat, the country’s only double World Championship medallist, said, “Women wrestlers have been sexually harassed at national camps by coaches and also the WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan. Some of the coaches appointed at national camps have been sexually harassing women wrestlers for years.

The WFI president is also involved in sexual harassment.

Sharing the stage with Vinesh and endorsing the

allegations, India’s lone Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik said, “We have just come to save them. For them, we are fighting. We will speak up when it's time. We will offer the person conducting the investigation the identities of those who were taken advantage of.”

Vinesh provided specifics regarding the alleged abuse of national and international wrestlers by the WFI president and coaches.

“This exploitation is happening every day. Why does the camp happen in Lucknow? We have

written to the PM and the Sports Minister … The reason it’s happening over there is because he has a house there and so it’s easy to exploit the girls. They trouble us too much. They get into our personal lives and relationships. They want to know everything,” she said.

Others supporting the

wrestlers and also protesting against what they called the “dictatorial practices” of the federation were Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia, Olympian Anshu and world junior silver medallist Sonam Malik. Bajrang’s wife and national-ranked wrestler Sangeeta Phogat was also present.

Boxing medalist Mary Kom to head #MeToo probe Boxing great and Olympic medallist Boxing great Mary Kom will be leading the sports ministry's Oversight Committee to manage day-to-day affairs of wrestling body amid #MeToo row. The ministry had directed the Wrestling Federation of India to suspend "all ongoing activities with immediate effect", including the Ranking Tournament in Gonda, UP, Sharan's stronghold. It also suspended Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) assistant secretary Vinod Tomar, a fallout of the grapplers' allegations of sexual harassment and corruption against the sports body's chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Actress Suniel Shetty has announced that her daughter Athiya Shetty and her longterm partner, cricketer KL Rahul, were married in a private ceremony. Suniel and his son Ahan Shetty left the wedding venue later in the evening to give out sweets to the media who had gathered outside. Suniel also said that he is ‘officially a father-in-law’ now. Speaking to the media persons, he described the wedding as, “Very beautiful, small, very close family event." Before going public, Athiya and KL Rahul had been dating for a few years. The two kept teasing one another on social media even though they never discussed each other in public. With a birthday post, they finally made it official on Instagram. Their romance was then made public at a red-carpet appearance at the premiere of her brother Ahaan Shetty's film.

INDIAN CRICKET BOARD TO EARN INR 40 BILLION FROM WOMEN’S CRICKET The BCCI is all set to get richer by at least INR 40 billion with some of the top business houses set to bid aggressively for the five Women's IPL (WIPL) teams that would be auctioned. According to market experts, the teams are expected to shell out in the "range of 500 to 600 crore INR" per team in the closedbid auction. "WIPL has huge potential but most of the legacy teams would like to mix optimism with pragmatism," an industry insider, who has previously worked on men's IPL team bid, told ahead of auction. "Expect a few bids in the range of INR 5 billion upwards. INR 8 billion plus could be a bit ambitious but BCCI won't complain," he added. More than 30 odd companies have bought the bid documents worth INR 500,000 including all the 10 men's IPL teams. Well-known corporate houses such as Adani group, Torrent group, Haldiram's Prabhuji, Capri Global, Kotak and Aditya Birla Group have also shown interest in buying a team.

INDIA KNOCKED OUT OF HOCKEY WORLD CUP India was knocked out of the ongoing Hockey World Cup after the hosts endured a tough 4-5 defeat in the penalty shootout against New Zealand in the must-win crossover tie in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. After both teams finished 3-3 after full time with nothing to break the deadlock in shootouts, New Zealand held their nerves and outsmarted India in sudden death to bring an end to an instant classic and secure a place in the quarterfinal Indian goalkeepers PR Sreejesh made three terrific saves but was replaced by and Krishan Pathak after he injured himself during the process. Pathak too made a couple of crucial saves but Shamsher failed to beat the New Zealand goalkeeper, which was his third attempt. The match saw India dominate possession and circle penetration but the hosts endured quite a few nervy moments. The action started with both sides showing high intensity as New Zealand came very close to scoring in the opening quarter. However, a brilliant save by Sreejesh denied New Zealand an early lead as the first quarter finished goalless. India put on a much stronger show in the second quarter as Lalit Kumar Upadhyay scored the opener inside the first three minutes.