Asian Lite UK - Sep I 2019

VOL XII ISSUE IX SEPTEMBER I EDITION, 2019

MODI meets BORIS

SHAH’S STRATEGY P5 P2

INDEPENDENCE DAY FESTIVITIES AT KING’S CROSS P20

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MODI MEETS BORIS AT BIARRITZ

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Modi, Johnson have ‘good’ meeting, discuss boosting ties….reports Asian Lite News

rime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday had a “good meeting” with his UK counterpart Boris Johnson, days after the two spoke over phone during which Modi raised the issue of vandalism of the Indian High Commission by a Pakistani mob.

In their first interaction after Boris Johnson moved to No. 10, Downing Street, Modi and the UK Prime Minister discussed ways to further boost bilateral ties, as they met on the sidelines of the G7 summit here.

“Connected histories, common future. PM @narendramodi had a good meeting with UK PM @BorisJohnson on margins of #G7 summit. Discussions focused on strengthening our bilateral ties going forward, inter alia, in trade

and security of the mission, its personnel and visitors. Downing Street in a readout of the conversation, said Johnson told Modi that Kashmir is a bilateral issue.

The British Prime Minister “made clear that the UK views the issue of Kashmir is one for India and Pakistan to resolve bi-

laterally”. “He underlined the importance of resolving issues through dialogue,” it said. Modi also congratulated Johnson on his election to the office, and expressed his readiness to work with him for strengthening the strategic partnership between India and the UK.

FREE TRADE WITH INDIA

& investment, defence & security, S&T and education sectors,” MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Modi is participating at the G7 as a Special Biarritz Partner.

“Besides participating in two Sessions on Climate, Biodiversity, Oceans & Digital Transformation, PM will hold a number of bilateral meetings with other

leaders on the sidelines,” Kumar posted.

On August 20, Modi, in a telephone conversation with Johnson had drawn his attention to vandalism of the Indian High Commission by a violent Pakistan-led mob on August 15. The British PM regretted the incident and assured that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure safety

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rime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that he discussed a free trade agreement with Narendra Modi at the G7 Summit at Biarritz in France last month. This is the first time such a disclosure has come from anyone.

Replying to a question from an Indian-origin MP Shailesh Vara about ties between Britain and India post Brexit, Johnson said in his conversation with Modi they discussed “doing a big free trade agreement with India”.

There had been no specific reference to an FTA in the read-out earlier put out by Johnson’s office at 10 Downing Street. This stated: “The Prime Minister met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 Summit today. The leaders agreed to further strengthen our bilateral partnership after Brexit - including by working more closely together to overcome barriers to trade and build on our economic ties.” @Ray News Service

BRITISH INDIANS TO DESERT KEY POLITICAL PARTIES British-Indian voters can sway at least 120 constituencies in the 650-member parliament – approximately one for every 92,000 people, or one for every 68,000 parliamentary electors. Of the 650 parliamentary constituencies, 97 were won by a margin of 5% or less of votes cast. As Britain is heading for a snap election, the support of Indian voters are crucial for any party to win seats, especially in the South….writes Kaliph Anaz

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ashmir is creating ripple effects in the shores of Britain.

Prominent British-Indian politicians and party members are planning to desert their political affiliations and launch a new forum as Britain’s leading parties taken anti-India stance on domestic and international arena. Both the ruling Conservatives and opposition Labour parties are accused of promoting Pakistan-sponsored propaganda.

Nearly 1.5 million Indians/NRIs are living in Britain and their support is crucial for any party to come to power as Brexit dividing communities across Britain.

Brexit Party led-by right-wing politician Nigel Farage is poaching pro-Brexit voters from both Conservatives and Labour. The Liberal Democrats are garnering support from anti-Brexit voters because of their consistency on Europe. The Green and other smaller parties are also supporting Lib Dems. British-Indian voters can sway at least 120 constituencies in the 650 parliament – approximately one for every 92,000 people, or one for every 68,000 parliamentary electors. Of the 650 Parliamentary constituencies, 97 were won by a margin of 5% or less of votes cast. As Britain is heading for a snap election, the support of Indian voters are crucial for any party to win seats, especially in the South.

Asian Lite spoke to several prominent members of the community and they are united in their criticism against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for promoting Paki-

stani propaganda and London Mayor Sadiq Khan for his failure to provide enough protection to Indians/NRIs celebrating Independence Day near India House on August 15. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a harsh critic of radical Islam and famous for his letter-box comment on Muslim women in veil, is trying to woo the Muslim votes by appeasing the Pakistani community. Indian community in London is still fuelling with rage over the attack on them by the Pak-sponsored protesters. Indians gathered near India House to celebrate Independence Day were pelted with water bottles and eggs. The protesters pay little respect to women and children in their best attires and the presence of large number of elderly parents who were on a visit to their children during the annual school holidays. They were also shocked to see pro-Khalisatn Sikhs with Kirpans aggressively shouting and trying to break the police cordon. Police later confirmed seizing one “offensive weapon” and four arrests!

“I still can’t believe how this happened at a city like London,” said Mr Prabhakar Kaza, a prominent leader from the Telugu community. “The police failed to deliver their duty. How can they let thousands of protesters to a venue where we were celebrating our Independence Day. Actually they facilitated the protesters by closing the key road adjacent to India House.”

Minal Jaiswal from Indians in London forum in viral video seek explanation from London Mayor Sidiq Khan for the lack of security during the protest.

“I was shocked to witness the rowdy scenes near India House,” said Minal. “Pakistani men in religious attires showing rude gestures to a family audience at a public place and the police are taking no action.” A co-ordinated work by Home Office, Police and Indian High Commission rescued trapped Indian families to the safety of India House during the protest.

REVIVING INDIA LEAGUE Social media platforms are thrive with various debates including the formation of a new political party or reviving India League, a forum launched

by VK Krishna Menon in 1929 to sway the opinion of British public in favour of India’s freedom. CB Patel, Publisher & Editor of Asian Voice/Gujarat Samachar, is the current chairman of the forum.

British Indians are also criticising the government stand on Kashmir as Foreign & Commonwealth Office keeping its silence. Three Indian-origins representing the Cabinet – Home Secretary and former Indian diaspora champion Priti Patel; International Development Secretary Alok Sharma and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak, sonin-law of Infosys Chairman NR Narayana Murthy.

Sajid Javid, the Chancellor, is also claiming Indian ancestry because his grandparents are from “undi-

vided India.”

Reports reveal that UK is supporting Chinese initiative to internationalise Kashmir at UN forums.

(Asian Lite is awaiting reply from Foreign& Commonwealth Office to get a clarification on the UK’s stance after UN Security Council closed door meeting held on 16th of August). Reliable sources say UK is toeing the idea of supporting Pakistan on Kashmir.

“This will make the life miserable British-Indian supporters of the Conservative party,” says Mr Buddhdev Pandya MBE, veteran journalist and political analyst based in London. “Indian voters are always loyal to their leaders. David Cameron won the hearts of Indians during his tenure at No10 and Indians are still in favour of the Conservatives. But Kashmir will rock that relations.”

The Indian community is also hurt by the government calling Kashmir as “Indian Administered Kashmir.”

“We should start calling Scotland and Northern Ireland as England Administered Scotland and England Administered Ireland,” Pandya added.

“Kashmir is an integral part of India and the current changes are India’s internal affairs and no need for anybody to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation.”

Post-Brexit Britain needs India more than India needs Britain,” said Mr Pandya. “A country with 6 plus GDP growth and 1.3 billion population can call the shots in the changed global business climate and I hope Britain will realise that fact sooner. Indians in Britain should assert their position and should think about launching a new political party or reviving India League, an instrumental tool in swaying public opinion during the colonial era.

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Civil unrest brewing as Boris move sparks protests

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he move to prorogue Parliament will become the poll tax chapter of Boris Johnson’s premiership.

The issue has already sparked protests across the country and they will assemble in London on Saturday.

The petition to challenge the Boris move has reached 1.2 million.

Journalist Paul Mason, entrepreneur Gina Miller and others are spearheading the campaign. Senior politicians are fearing the move will snowball into protests across the country, a general strike and civil service disobedience which will cripple the government. It will be a They are challenging the credibility of the prime minister to take a drastic step. Boris become prime minister after winning 92,000 votes of Tory members.

“Suspending parliament to stop debate is unprecedented,” Mr Mason said in a series of Tweets. “Briefing that you will ignore a vote of no confidence is a declaration of war on our democracy. it’s that simple. It’s a coup against our constitution.

“Protest again... but get ready for events in every town/city this Saturday. If rich people steal our democracy then mass, peaceful civil disobedience is legitimate. They don’t know what they’ve unleashed.”

Commons leader Jacob ReesMogg, who went to meet Queen at Balmoral Palace, said the outrage was “phoney”, and

that the move was “constitutional and proper”.

“The candyfloss of outrage we’ve had over the last 24 hours, which I think is almost entirely confected, is from people who never wanted to leave the European Union,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“This is the greatest period of anger for them, or of confected anger, because after 31 October we will have left,” he added.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Monarch was dragged in the Brexit melee by Tories.

Corbyn, a staunch Republican, said the royal prerogative is against

ened of parliament is frightened of democracy. I hope that every member of parliament, in feeling this humiliation, will use every legal and constitutional weapon to obstruct a government proposing to force on the British people a historic change for which they have long since lost any mandate.”

Major newspapers are also condemned Boris’ move. They stressed the importance of keeping the parliament at centre of any political debate in this country.

“If Mr Johnson’s prorogation ploy succeeds, Britain will forfeit any right to lecture other countries on their democratic shortcomings, the

democracy which involves discussion, negotiation and inevitable compromises. It vests the power to take decisions on behalf of voters in MPs, and allows them to deliberate on matters of detail — and in the case of Brexit, the most complex demerger in postwar history, detail matters.

“History has shown that charlatans, demagogues and would-be dictators have little time for representative government. They seek ways around parliament before concluding it is an inconvenience. Mr Johnson may not be a tyrant, but he has set a dangerous precedent. He and the ca- to call a snap election and win a bal around him who have chosen this “thumping majority”. The Labour is revolutionary path should be careful 12 point behind the Conservatives.

The Daily Telegraph said the Protesters take part in a demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain. Queen Elizabeth annext few weeks will be chaotic but nounced Wednesday she has given her consent to the request of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend the Britpraises the prime minister for acting ish Parliament. It means the House of Commons will sit only for a few days after it returns from its summer recess. “boldly”.

Parliament will then resume with a State Opening of Parliament by the British monarch on Oct. 14.

A snap YouGov poll conducted the wishes of a majority of the House Financial Times said in its editorial. what they wish for.” on Wednesday found 47% of British of Commons”.

But three pro-Brexit right-wing adults thought the decision was un“The UK’s constitutional arrangeHe said the granting of Johnson’s ments have long relied on conven- papers supported Boris’s move. The acceptable, with 27% saying it was request would “deprive the electorate tions. The danger existed that an un- Daily Mail said the protests are the acceptable and 27% unsure. of the opportunity to have their rep- scrupulous leader could trample on “hysterics of the Remain irreconBut it found the suspension was resentatives hold the government to such conventions. That has not hap- cilables” and predicted Mr Johnson’s supported by 51% of people who account, make any key decisions and pened, in the modern era, until now. tactic will paying off during the ne- voted Leave, with 52% of Conservaensure that there is a lawful basis for “Britain’s representative govern- gotiations with EU. tive voters also approving of the action taken”.

The Times urges Mr Johnson move. ment is an exercise in deliberative Michael Heseltine, deputy prime minister under Mrs Tahtcher, housands of protesters took to streets in said that he was the UK on Saturday against Prime Minappalled by the anister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend nouncement.

Parliament in the run-up to Brexit.

“The governProtests were ongoing in cities including Manment’s decision chester, Leeds, York and Belfast. Protests were exis a constitutional pected to take place in more than 30 towns and cities, outrage,” he said. including Edinburgh, Belfast, Cambridge, Exeter, “A government Nottingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham. which is frightIn London, Whitehall was brought to a standstill, with protesters chanting “Boris Johnson, shame on ing democracy. We have an unelected Prime Minister you”, the BBC reported.

The decision to prorogue Parliament prompted shutting down the elected representatives of the Britan angry backlash from MPs and opponents of a no- ish public who are supposed to be scrutinizing the deal Brexit. Critics say that the motive behind the biggest upheaval since the end of the war.

“I think people who voted Remain or Leave Prime Minister’s decision was to give lawmakers in the House of Commons less time to stop a no-deal should take to the streets today – no one voted for a no-deal Brexit.

Brexit.

“There will be Remainers (at the protests) but However, Johnson has dismissed the claim, saying that it was to allow the government to hold a I’ve had Leavers get in touch with me and tell me Queen’s Speech and outline its “very exciting agen- they will be marching, too.”

In Oxford, crowds holding banners gathered outda” for the future.

When Parliament is suspended, no debates and side Balliol College, where Johnson studied at univotes are held. This is different to “dissolving” Par- versity. Named “Stop the Coup”, the protests were liament – where all MPs give up their seats to cam- organised by anti-Brexit campaign group — Another Europe is Possible. paign in a general election.

The group said that there were protests planned If this prorogation happens as expected, it will in Amsterdam, Berlin and the Latvian capital Riga. see Parliament closed for 23 working days.

Meanwhile, a petition against the Prime MinisChancellor Sajid Javid, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, defended Johnson’s move. ter’s plan to suspend Parliament has received more “It’s quite usual this time of year for Parliament to go than a million signatures.

And on Friday, former Tory Prime Minister John in to a recess. It’s perfectly correct and appropriate to Major announced he will join forces with anti-Brexit prorogue Parliament.

“I think it’s absolutely right that this prime minis- campaigner Gina Miller to oppose the decision to ter and his government get the chance to set up their suspend Parliament in the courts.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “The idea agenda,” he said.

Speaking before the London protest, journalist this is some kind of constitutional outrage is nonand activist Owen Jones, said: “This is about defend- sense.”

Protesters Hit Streets in London, Manchester

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MAHARASHTRA HIRES EXPERTS TO DEFEND AMBEDKAR MUSEUM

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he Maharashtra government named two prominent experts to oppose the attempts to shut down the Ambedkar House, a memorial dedicated to Babasaheb Ambedkar in London, a top official said.

The Ambedkar House at 10 King Henry’s Road in north London was where Ambedkar lived during his student days at the London School of Economics in 1921-22, before returning to India and getting involved with the freedom movement and becoming the architect of the Indian Constitution besides championing the cause of the downtrodden and Dalits.

However, the local authority, the Camden Council, recently initiated a move to close down the four-storeyed memorial situated in residential premises, which has been challenged by the Indian government.

An Independent Planning Inquiry is scheduled to rule on the matter next month.

In order to strengthen the case in favour of the memorial, Maharashtra on Friday said that it has appointed legal expert Steven Gasztowicz and city planning expert Charles Rose to argue the matter on its behalf before the Inquiry, scheduled on September 24.

The state has also engaged the services of a reputed firm of solicitors, Singhania & Company, to represent it.

“These two experts will be part of the committee which, through the Indian High Commission, will present our side of the case at the next month’s hearing.

The state government has treated the matter very seriously and will make all efforts to satisfy the concerns raised by the local council,” an aide to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

He added that when the state government had bought over the property through the Indian High Commission, it was in a very dilapidated state and it was repaired from

Ambedkar House in London

safety viewpoint with the work on converting it into a memorial still underway.

The Maharashtra government had purchased the property for 3.1 million pounds when it was put up for sale by its original owners in 2015, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated it during his UK trip in November that year.

The property had earlier been accorded recognition as an English Heritage site since 1991, and sports a blue plaque with the legend “Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar 18911956, Indian Crusader for social justice, lived here 1921-1922.”

The local council has, however, raised objections to the move to convert the property into a museum-

cum-memorial on various grounds, including the disruption it causes to the quiet atmosphere of the residential neighbourhood, and wants it to be returned to its original status.

Republican Party of India (A) President and Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale said that under no circumstances would the Dalits allow the change of status of the museumcum-memorial in London and that all attempts would be made to protect it.

“I am in touch with the Indian High Commissioner in London and the Ministry of External Affairs here to take up the issue with the UK authorities and resolve the matter at the earliest,” Athawale said.

Congress’ Leader of Opposition

Vijay Wadettivar said the Ambedkar House has immense historical and emotional value for the people of the country and the government must raise the issue with the British government to ensure that its status remains unchanged.

For India, and specifically Maharashtra, the property has sentimental value and special historic significance as it was here that the young Ambedkar spent a crucial period of his formative years and academic career.

Ambedkar House has already become a popular ‘must-visit’ site on the itinerary of Indian tourists visiting the UK, to click pictures, admire the place and pay tributes to Ambedkar.

PRINCE ANDREW DEFENDS FRIENDSHIP WITH EPSTEIN

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rince Andrew on Saturday defended his former friendship with multimillionaire financier and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, saying “at no stage” did he “see or suspect” any criminal behaviour.

The Duke of York said in a statement that there had been immense speculation about Epstein who apparently killed himself in a New York jail earlier in August while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

“This is particularly the case in relation to my former association or friendship with Epstein.

Therefore I am eager to clarify the facts to avoid further speculation.”

Andrew said he met Epstein in 1999 and saw him once or twice a year during the time he knew him, and also stayed in several of his residences, the BBC reported.

“At no stage during the limited time I spent

P R I N T • D I G I TA L • O N L I N E • E V E N T S •

with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.

Video footage emerged this week showing the prince inside Epstein’s Manhattan mansion in 2010.

“I have said previously that it was a mistake and an error to see him after his release (from prison) in 2010 and I can only reiterate my regret that I was mistaken to think that what I thought I knew of him was evidently not the real person, given what we now know,” said Andrew.

The duke added that he had “tremendous sympathy” for all those affected by Epstein’s behaviour. “This is a difficult time for everyone involved and I am at a loss to be able to understand or explain Epstein’s lifestyle. I deplore the exploitation of any human being and would not condone, participate in, or encourage any such behaviour,” said Andrew.

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Shah Targets Top Security to Protect $5 Trillion Economy HOME MINISTER AMIT SHAH: Modiji wants to make India a $5-trillion economy, and put it among the world’s top three. But economic progress is not possible without securing the country. There is need to maintain external security and law and order in the states …. A special report by Asian Lite

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ome Minister Amit Shah stressed on the importance of maintaining India’s internal and external security to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of making the country a $5-trillion economy.

“Modiji wants to make India a $5-trillion economy, and put it among the world’s top three. But economic progress is not possible without securing the country. There is need to maintain external security and law and order in the states,” Shah said during the 49th Foundation Day celebrations of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).

He said over 34,000 personnel had sacrificed their lives to maintain law and order within the country lending credibility to the Police Force, and urged policemen to carry forward the good work done by their colleagues.

MAOIST INSURGENCY Home Minister Mr Shah termed Maoism as a major internal security challenge and asked the authorities to maintain synergy between the states and Centre, while building local forces to neutralize organisations run by insurgent groups.

After abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution from Jammu and Kashmir, which gave special status to the erstwhile state, the Centre’s focus is to eliminate Maoism completely.

The Minister’s remarks came at a review meeting related to Maoism in New Delhi.

The meeting was attended by Chief Ministers and the representatives of 10 Maoist-affected states - Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

He urged the states to adopt a focused, time-bound approach to completely eliminate the left-wing extremism (LWE) to ensure all-

round development of the affected regions.

“Though incidents of LWE violence have come down, focus needs to be kept to eliminate it completely and all efforts need to be maintained by the Centre and states. There is need for capacity building of local forces to effectively neutralize Maoist organizations from their areas,” Shah said.

He stressed the need for vigilance and efficiency of the local police in the militancy-affected states.

Shah asked the states to use Central schemes and their own budget for police modernisation.

He also focused on the need to check flow of funds to Maoist organisations.

The Home Minister called upon the states to rationalize their surrender policy to mainstream innocent individuals caught in the trap of Maoist violence and specifically talked about accelerating the pace of opening of schools under Eklavya model as well as ensuring the presence of banking facilities within 5 km to all citizens.

Assuring the state governments that the Centre would cooperate fully in eliminating Maoism, Shah said time has come for the security forces to formulate a proactive strategy to deal with the issue.

“Innovative measures need to be employed to prevent IED (Improvised Explosive Device) incidents that have caused significant number of casualties in recent years,” said Shah.

Talking about the national strategy to counter Maoism formed in 2015, Shah said that it was a multipronged approach consisting of security, development and ensuring participatory governance and rights for local tribals.

Under this strategy, he said, the protection of the rights of local citizens is the priority.

In a first of its kind initiative since assuming charge at the Home Ministry, Shah said Maoism has no place in Prime Minister Narendra

Modi’s vision of ‘New India’. Observing that Maoist organisations are against democratic institutions and that violence subverted the democratic process at the ground level, Shah said their strategy is to misguide people to keep them ignorant.

Referring to the success of security forces against Maoist violence, the Home Minister said the last few years have seen lesser number of districts being affected by LWE. From a high of 2,258 events of Maoist violence in 2009, Shah said, the events came down to 833 in 2018. “The number of deaths dropped from 1,005 in 2009 to 240 in 2018. From 96 districts affected by naxal violence in 2010, the number of districts affected was reduced to 60 in 2018.”

Union Ministers, including Nirmala Sitharaman,

Nitin Gadkari, Narendra Singh Tomar, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Arjun Munda, Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy along with Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh attended the meeting.

Directors General of paramilitary forces and senior officials of state governments were also present in the meeting. A total of 1,400 Maoists were killed between 2009 and 2018. As many as 310 incidents of Maoist violence were reported in the first five months this year across the country in which 88 people were killed. The Centre is implementing special assistance for most Maoist-affected districts with an annual outlay of Rs 1,000 crore to fill critical gaps in public infrastructure and services.

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Manchester marks 200th anniversary

of Peterloo Massacre Events from 200 years ago were relived in Manchester when the city remembered one of the most shameful atrocities in British history, the Peterloo Massacre.

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rowds of people gathered in the busy and bustling city center to commemorate the massacre which on August 16, 1819, left 18 dead, the youngest aged just two, and 700 injured. Four of the dead were women.

The commemoration event kicked off on Friday with a solemn reading of the names of those who died when cavalrymen on horseback, waving their swords, charged at a gathering of around 60,000 people in St Peter’s Field, Manchester on August 16, 2019. Some of the names were read by descendants of the victims. The bell at the nearby Town Hall was rung in honour of those killed. The first to die in an attack that shocked

the country two centuries ago was two years old William Fildes, who was thrust from his mother’s arms when she fled the cavalry. Of the 700 were injured; 168 were women.

History lecturer, Professor Robert Poole, who has written a book about Peterloo, said people were attacked as they tried to escape the charge by the cavalry.

“People were crushed, piled up against this wall, piles of people falling on the ground on top of each other,” he said.

Dr Shirin Hirsch, researcher at People’s History Museum in Manchester, said: “Historians have noted that women were disproportionately targeted at Peterloo. Their presence shocked the

establishment, challenging the prevalent ideas of women as subservient and domesticated wives.

“The British government was keen to cover up the massacre, imprisoning the reform leaders and clamping down on those who spoke out against the government. Within days the massacre was being reported upon both nationally and internationally.”

Three days of events are taking place across Manchester to mark the bi-centenary of the massacre which came after local magistrates ordered the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry to disperse a crowd gathered to demand parliamentary representation at a time when few people in Britain were allowed to vote. Performances, exhibitions and a reading of witness statements made at the time were being read out to bring alive the dramatic events from 1819.

Manchester Histories, main organisers of the commemoration, said: “The Peterloo Massacre was a watershed moment that would mark Manchester as

a radical city like no other and become a defining moment for Britain’s democracy. The 60,000-strong crowd walked to the meeting point at St Peter’s Field in Central to call for parliamentary representation. Shortly after the meeting began and whilst the orator Henry Hunt was making his address, local government forces charged into the crowd on horseback and with swords drawn.”

Manchester’s culture spokesperson, Councilor Luthfur Rahman, said: “The Peterloo Massacre was an important event in Manchester’s history and should not be forgotten.”

Karen Shannon, CEO of Manchester Histories, described the commemoration as a poignant occasion, adding: “The Peterloo Massacre is a globally significant milestone in the history of democracy that also set Manchester’s path as a radical city of progress, change and where equality is championed.”

SOHO THEATRE TO HOST

Sumit’s Nothing About Godzilla Sumit Anand’s stand up explores his daily life – daydreaming, growing up in a village in India and thinking it’s a town, and, of course, polar bears. Sumit Anand’s latest show Nothing About Godzilla from September 2, Monday to September 7, Saturday…. Reports Asian Lite News

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TICKETS FROM £10 SOHOTHEATRE.COM 020 7478 0100

oho Theatre in association with Comedy Wagon present the rising star of Indian standup comedy Sumit Anand’s latest show Nothing About Godzilla from September 2, Monday to September 7, Saturday.

Having flown into the comedy scene five years ago, Sumit has looked back many times ever since. Every time he thought of quitting comedy to fail as a musician, somebody would book him. Eventually, he would like to fail as a magician.

Sumit’s stand up explores his daily life – daydreaming, growing up in a village in India and thinking it’s a town, and, of course, polar bears.

Sumit regularly gigs in New Delhi and Mumbai amongst other Indian cities. He makes his Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut with Nothing About Godzilla, following a run of the show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) and a 10 date, nationwide Indian tour in June 2019.

He made his UK debut at Soho Theatre in July 2018, sharing a bill with Karunesh Talwar in the Cabaret bar. The run was a critical hit receiving praise from the Metro and the Evening Standard. He previously performed standup in Malaysia and Singapore and at the MICF 2017.

In the last decade, the growth of stand-up comedy in India has been stratospheric, and Sumit is one of the finest comedians on the ever-growing Indian comedy scene. Sumit’s show marks the third time Soho Theatre has joined forces with the Indian production company Comedy Wagon, following their collaborations on Sumit’s 2018 Soho Theatre run and Lauren Pattinson and Ahir Shah’s Tour of India in 2017.

SUMIT ANAND: NOTHING ABOUT GODZILLA Tickets from £10. www.sohotheatre.com 02074780100 @sohotheatre / @ChantAnand

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A NAANI MISSION TO Instil Values in Children Asian Lite International columnist Riccha Grrover meets Mrs Kiran Agarwal to find out more about her journey of creating an animation series with adding pertinent content on Internet which is child-friendly

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rs Kiran Agarwal, an illustrious alumnus of the coveted London School of Journalism got into the entertainment business more out of passion and love for showcasing content which is pure quality. Having authored and published books dealing in cultural awareness and religious rituals of India, her professional profile boasts of many such achievements. She has to her credit as a writer, books with short stories on value systems for children which have garnered high-praise response amidst various literary personalities and has got acclaim at various literary festivals of India.

Kiran Agarwal chose to foray in the web space as a producer and content maker, with her children’s animation show Sabak Degi Naani which is a series of small animation videos for children on YouTube under her channel WOKA. Asian Lite International columnist Riccha Grrover meets Mrs Agarwal to find out more about her journey of creating an animation series with adding pertinent content on Internet which is childfriendly.

Riccha Grrover - When did you set up WOKA as a banner for making movies for children? What does WOKA stand for?

Kiran Agarwal-The inception of WOKA happened about 2 years back..Woka is my brainchild and it’s a creative expression of the world I envisage for children so WOKA stands for *World of Kiran Agarwal*.

RG- How long is an average movie timewise? Are the films both in Hindi and English? Do the Hindi films have subtitles?

KA- The short feature movies are 4.5 mins each across season 1 series but Season 2 has about 6.5 mins of each movie. The films are made both in Hindi and English.

We do not have subtitles for the Hindi version but that is because we already have the same episode recreated in English.

RG- What age group is the film suited for? What are some of the themes of the

films you make?

KA-The age group we are catering to is 3-7 years primarily though good films and content do not bar themselves to an age group! However as primary target age group is 3-7 all the learnings, challenges and issues with that age group are being catered to, also basic human emotions such as compassion, anger, jealousy and various other feelings come in roleplay. Then some topics such as over-use of electronic gadgets, synthetic makeover for play rather

inspire young minds...if children watching my show evolve as lovely human beings, I would consider that my biggest fee!

RG- How many films have you made so far and what more is in the pipeline for WOKA in terms of your future vision?

KA-We have made a set of 24 films for our Season 1 and we intend to make 24 episodes for Season 2. There are three more catalogues that are currently under preproduction and shall release soon under my Tube especially designed keeping children channel WOKA. in mind.

I chose YouTube as my Platform to showcase our animation show as it has wide access and reaches globally to one and all. In today’s time and age there is nothing bigger than the internet and free to air platforms are very powerful when it comes to showcasing entertainment based channel for children.

To me it was very clear that WOKA which stands for World of Kiran Agarwal, our digital channel, will produce only high quality content, as quality is the only thing that will withstand the test of time. Through our 3D animation videos, which cater to children’s sensibilities, I want to provide wholesome entertainment for them and yet subtly impart a rich value system. It is my We might look at producing a full- give back to society in my own way.” fledged motion film too so watch this space!

WOKA is a fun time animation stories RG-How do you think your films with in movie format for children away from pertinent messages for children help all learnings, yet again it’s there to enable them in shaping a worldview and how them to learn ‘values of rightful living’ that do you think it will help their parents - will help them reach for greater heights in can they use these films as a medium to life as achievers and visionaries in their share good lessons on safety, obedience, own right. Music, songs, 2D / 3D colouretiquette et al ? ful animations, relatable characters are emKA- In to- ployed as tools of imparting child friendly day’s day and messages to them. age when techKiran Agarwal talking about her diginology as a me- tal world concluded “It’s a digital content dium is running platform that parents could rely upon, for a race in our their children to watch, without any iota of heads it’s nice doubt and hesitation. Ideally, I want all the to stop and relax and make our children children to see our animation videos, make connect to each other and with themselves merry, sing and dance with the characters at a more human level...so yes in that regard and enjoy themselves. WOKA is all and all our channel WOKA is showcasing moral about children.” based stories through our catalogue ‘SABAK DEGI NAANI’ Season 2. Through the various topics that have been touched the viewers will realise that we are providing a wholesome, complete and a holistic approach to develop young but sharp minds! So yes we know parents will be benefit from it in more ways than one!

Mrs Agarwal signed off by saying that “WOKA is an entertainment Channel on You-

WOKA: “It’s a digital content platform that parents could rely upon, for their children to watch, without any iota of doubt and hesitation. Ideally, I want all the children to see our animation videos, make merry, sing and dance with the characters and enjoy themselves. WOKA is all and all about children.” than the natural environment to play and then things related to children’s self-safety is shown through our videos and these have an impactful message.

RG- What and who was your inspiration for setting up WOKA? KA-My grand-daughter is my inspiration to do this as I wanted to show quality content to her as she was growing up. Baring few popular shows rest of the shows that I witnessed disappointed me and so I thought that we should make some quality content with a global appeal for children and the rest is history (in the making)!

RG-How do viewers access these films? Is there a subscription or can it be seen via google/YouTube? Is there a link you can share so readers can follow that?

KA-Generally people can go to YouTube and type my channel WOKA Hindi to watch the shows in Hindi and WOKA English to watch the same in English. The shows are free of cost as I do not believe in levying charges to

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Indians in Britain relive partition with pain Kavita Puri produced a three-part series, “Partition Voices” for BBC Radio 4 that won the Royal Historical Society’s Radio and Podcast Award and its overall Public History Prize. She has now converted this into a similarly-titled book “to remember the time before separation so the next generations understand that there were Hindus in Lahore, and Muslims in Amritsar”….writes VISHNU MAKHIJANI

H

itherto, the thoucelebrate Diwali. Friends and sands of Indians strangers who transcended hawho had migrated tred to commit acts of kindness to Britain in the and humanity during the worst wake of the partition of the of times. sub-continent had lived in “It cannot just be the stories silence, perhaps wanting to of hate and violence which are bury the ghosts of the past as passed down. Even though evethey sought to make a new life. ry story told to me was shatterTwo years ago, award-winning ing. I felt hopeful. Hopeful that Author Kavita Puri journalist and broadcaster Kapeople wanted these stories of vita Puri produced a three-part series, “Par- compassion to be recognised, and that the vistition Voices” for BBC Radio 4 that won the ceral pull of the place of your birth, and that of Royal Historical Society’s Radio and Podcast your ancestors - the love of your land - remains Award and its overall Public History Prize. so strong. Hopeful that these are the stories She has now converted this into a similarly- that will survive too,” Puri writes in “Partition titled book “to remember the time before Voices” (Bloomsbury). separation so the next generations underTo this end, London-based journalist stand that there were Hindus in Lahore, and Poonam Joshi in her book “Arms to Fight, Muslims in Amritsar”.

Arms to Protest: Women Speak Out About “Hindus who tied rakhis on the wrist of Conflict” has this quote from her mother, Nirtheir Muslim brothers, and Muslims who mal, who fled her home in Punjab and ended brought laddoos to their Hindu friends to up in England:

“Partition can be summarised in great detail or in one sentence.

But I still feel great distress that what happened shouldn’t have happened. I think we should talk.

We should talk about it very openly - we should know what happened at that time. And there is no distress in talking about that. It did not happen to one or two people. It happened on a large-scale... it became a part of history... and it is no crime to be a refugee.”

A similar strain runs through the 23 chapters of the book, divided into three parts - End of Empire, Partition and Legacy.

Take the story of Gurbaksh Garcha, “smartly dressed in a Nehru waistcoat”, exuding gentleness and calm, “a calm that must have been tested many times during his time as Mayor of Lewisham, navigating the local politics”.

“Gurbaksh’s home was in a picturesque village amid the fertile plains of the Punjab... It was a harmonious and tight-knot community. Religious difference was barely thought about. They never imagined one day they would separate from each other,” Puri writes.

“Just before partition, Gurbaksh noticed posters going up around the village inciting bloodshed against the Muslims his family had lived alongside for decades. They said that anyone demanding India should be split to create Pakistan would ‘get kabristan’.”

And then the mayhem started - and he too fled, to land up in England in 1958. “But this story is not one Gurbaksh has ever talked of. It is too painful to recount. His children never asked.

And anyway, he did not want to expose them to things he had witnessed.

“He is still angry at the way and manner of the British withdrawal. Gurbaksh calls himself an agnostic Sikh. He feels his faith in humanity has been shaken, that human beings are fragile. How little it takes to turn them into beasts,” Puri writes. But then, it’s not only the migrants who feel the pain. There is, for instance, the reverend Canon Michael Roden from Hitchin (now Canon Chancellor of Bristol Cathedral).

“In his church, by the pews...stands a modest memorial. It shows a map of British India with a red line marking the 1947 division. A single A4 typed sheet of paper on a music stand explains that, in the absence of a national memorial, this makeshift one, in his fourteenth-century church, will act as a surrogate to commemorate the millions who died and were displaced. Around the sign, candles are lit in remembrance,” Puri writes.

At the end, the sentence reads: “We have screened the most beautiful part of this church to symbolize terrible loss of life, loss of mutual trust and loss of access to holy sites at the time of partition.”

ADITI MITTAL: MOTHER OF

INVENTION AT SOHO THEATRE Soho Theatre London to host Aditi Mittal’s Mother of Invention from September 9, Monday to September 14, Saturday….reports Asian Lite News

S TICKETS FROM £11 SOHOTHEATRE.COM 020 7478 0100

tar of Netflix’s Comedians of the World, Aditi Mittal returns to the festival with her show Mother of Invention, as part of Soho Theatre’s 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe season.

Joining an illustrious line of shows by straight, white men about their Daddy issues, this is a show by a straight, brown woman about her Mummy issues. Since her last show at the Fringe, Aditi was one of four comedians chosen to represent India on Netflix’s Comedians of the World special.

Aditi appeared on the comedy stage at the 2017 Mayor of London’s Diwali Festival in Trafalgar Square presented by Soho Theatre.

She was also presented by Soho Theatre for her Edinburgh Fringe debut with the show Global Village Idiot. Aditi made her Soho Theatre debut in 2016 with Things They Wouldn’t Let Me Say, which was later turned into a Netflix

special which went live on the streaming site in 2017. Aditi’s comedy has featured in documentary films Stand Up Planet and Menstrual Man, she has performed with the BBC World Network since 2013 and has written columns for Grazia and the Financial Times. She has appeared on every major English and Hindi network in India and starred in her own BBC Radio 4 series, A Beginners Guide to India.

Consistently rated one of the top 10 comedians in India, Aditi was one of the first five Indian comedians to be on the line up for Comedy Store India and has also performed at Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Montreux Comedy Festival in Switzerland.

ADITI MITTAL: MOTHER OF INVENTION Tickets from £10. www.sohotheatre.com 02074780100 @sohotheatre / @ChantAnand

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UK to extend post-study work rights for foreign students

T

he number of Indians studying in the UK has almost doubled in the last three years, with over 21,000 student visas issued to Indians till March 2019. A white paper on extending the duration students can stay and work post study is also in the works in an effort to make Britain an attractive destination for Indian students, officials said.

With Australia and Canada attracting international students in droves with their easier work and study norms and overtaking the UK as preferred student destination, the new British government is giving serious thought to giving education cooperation the attention it deserves.

The number of Indian students in the UK registered a 40 per cent increase over the last year. Of the Indian students who applied for visas, 96 per cent were successful, said British High Commissioner Dominic

Asquith. The Ministry of External Affairs said in Parliament that as many as 7,52,725 Indian students are studying abroad, with the US the preferred destination for higher education.

Canada and Australia take the second and third spots. The US has 2,11,703 Indian students.

Canada introduced its Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (PGWPP) in 2006 to allow students to gain work experience which qualifies for permanent residency. Australia’s point-based immigration policies were also aimed at encouraging international students to pursue permanent residency in Australia.

However, after the UK announced the abolition of post-study work rights in 2011, the number of Indian students went down sharply from a peak of 38,677 in 2011 to 16,655 in 2016.

Keen to attract foreign students, who according to a 2017 study gener-

ated more than 25 billion pounds for the economy and helped give a boost to regional jobs and local businesses, the British government is planning to increase the number of months a foreign student can stay back and work.

“There is a proposal to increase the post-study work rights from the current four months to 12 months,” said Tom Birtwistle, Director North India, British Council.

The UK government is also

launching a #GetReadyForClass campaign over the next month to help guide international students through the application process and encourage them to apply early.

Among other measures to deepen bilateral education cooperation, 20 Vice Chancellors from UK Universities are visiting Delhi and Hyderabad in the first week of September.

“They will meet HRD Ministry officials and VCs from India. There will be a high level policy dialogue in an area of mutual interest to both -on the future employability prospects of graduates of higher education systems. It will be a chance to highlight some of the major success stories of the UK-India partnership in higher education,” he said.

In September, senior officials from the London School of Economics will be on a multi-city tour of India. At the end of the month, a team from Leeds University will visit India.

A new programme - the UK India Education & Research Initiative (UKIERI) Mobility Programme: Study in India -- will allow UK undergraduate students to do part of their degree course in Indian institutes. The programme is funded by the governments of both the countries.

Around 200 British students will be studying in India from September 2020 as part of the programme, said Birtwistle.

In another initiative, the British Council’s Future Leaders Connect programme, a global leadership network for emerging policy leaders, will see this year four young Indians as part of it.

Hasiba Begum, Kajri Babbar, Shambhavi Singh and Shreya Juneja will join those selected from other countries at the Future Leaders Connect programme at the University of Cambridge in November.

Johnson’s ‘desi’ cabinet shows Indian diaspora impact: Envoy

P

LONDON: Asian Lite International SAAZ DigiTech Ltd Boardman House, 64 Broadway, Stratford, London E15 1NT. TEL: 0044 2032901853, Email: info@asianlite.com

rime Minister Boris Johnson’s ‘desi’ cabinet, with three Indian-origin leaders in his top ministerial team, is a profound testament of the impact of the Indian diaspora in the UK, British High Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith said.

Johnson has appointed Priti Patel as Home Secretary, Alok Sharma as International Development Secretary and Rishi Sunak as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

The Cabinet also includes Pakistani-origin Sajid Javid in the top job of Chancellor.

“The ‘desi’ cabinet is a testament to just how diverse the UK is, and also what an impact the Indian diaspora makes in the UK. It is fantastic profile of the current state of UK,” Asquith said at a media briefing.

To a question on Britain’s new immigration policy under the new government, which is to leave the European Union by October 31, he said that Johnson has made it clear that the UK should “attract the best of brains”.

Asquith said that Johnson “has made clear that he is a profound supporter of making sure Britain attracts the best of brains”, and his government will “overlook the whole immigration process”.

He added that Priti Patel “has made clear that once we leave the EU, we will not favour geographical barriers and it will be open to all, on the basis of merit”.

Johnson has announced to explore an “Australian style points-based system” as part of “a radical rewriting” of the immigration system.

Both Johnson and Patel support “economic” migration and don’t support giving priority to EU migrants - which could be beneficial for skilled Indians, including students who go to the UK to study.

The Prime Minister has instructed the Migration Advisory Committee, a panel of academics and economists who advise the government on migration policy, to re-design the UK’s post-Brexit immigration system.

Patel has also announced that priority would be given to “those with the highest skills and the greatest talents - to attract those who add the most to our economy”.

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INDIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS AT BEDFORD Ruchi Ghanashyam, High Commissioner of India joined Bedford Communities to Celebrate Indian Independence Day….reports Asian Lite News

O

ver 350 people gathered at Bedford to witness an historic event. This was the first time in town’s history that the Indian flag was raised at both, the Harpur Square and then at the Old Town Hall building. To commemorate the event, Ruchi Ghanashyam, High Commissioner of India travelled to Bedford on the most significant date in the Indian calendar to raise the Indian flag.

The event was organised by Bandhan Bedford, a diverse group of women of Indian origin, supported

by Bedfordshire Asian Business Association, Social Education Voluntary Association (SEVA) Trust UK and over 20 leading charitable, voluntary, community, multi-faith organisations including local Gurdwaras and Temples, all came together to celebrate Indian Independence Day in Bedford Town Centre on 15 August.

In her address she congratulated

Ruchi Ghanashyam, Commissioner of India

High

the Bandhan Group and SEVA Trust UK for engaging with diverse groups to celebrate this special day. She outlined the key reforms that the Indian High Commission have been undertaking to better serve the Indian Diaspora. She thanked all the organisations and Mayor of Bedford, Dave Hodgson, for the great support in this event.

“It was great to see so many people joining in the celebrations to mark Indian Independence Day in Bedford, a great town that values diversity,” said Dave Hodgson.

Professor Gurch Randhawa, Deputy Lieutenant for Bedfordshire, Mohammad Yasin, MP, Meryl Dolling, High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, along with representatives from Bedfordshire Police, Fire Authority, local Councillors, Community, Business and Youth Group Leaders also joined the formal proceedings. Bedford MP and the Deputy Lieutenant highlighted the important contribution that the

Indian Community has made to Bedfordshire’s thriving and diverse community.

Various cultural and dance performances ‘spiced up’ the celebrations.

This historic event was concluded with the hoisting of the Indian flag at the Old Town Hall Building followed by breakfast for all attendees that was provided by the local faith and voluntary organisations.

Dr Vinita Manjure, chairperson of Bandhan said “It is a matter of great pride that people from all cultures, languages, states and religions have come together in solidarity and united to mark this special occasion.”

Charan Sekhon, a local councillor and chairman of SEVA Trust UK said “It is a great honour to be part of the organising community group that worked so hard in bringing all communities together. We are truly proud to celebrate this special day in Bedford, a town that welcomes all and values diversity so much’’

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TRIBUTE TO MR NAIPAUL

BY VISHNU MAKHIJANI

H

e once famously said that “the only lies for which we are truly punished are those we tell ourselves”. He has been compared to Joseph Conrad, widely regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language. He has been accused to being unsympathetic to the Third World and “allowing “himself quite consciously to be turned into a witness for the Western prosecution”. One thing is for sure: Unlike many of his contemporaries, V.S. Naipaul, who died on August 11, 2018, six days short of his 86th birthday, was an unmatched literary maestro whose works will live for a long time to come.

He visited India thrice and penned his penetrating observations in three books about the country from which his grandparents had emigrated to Trinidad in the 1880s. “An Area of Darkness”, “India: A Wounded Civilization” and “India: A Million Mutinies Now” were debated with much fervour when they released and continue to be discussed for their critical yet relevant views about the development of India as a nation. These books have been brought together in “The Indian Trilogy”.

Naipaul wrote some of his finest pieces of reflection and reportage in the form of six essays “India: Essays”, where he approaches India through the residue of Indian culture and the scattered memories of 19th-century emigrants, eventually leading to a special understanding

of Mahatma Gandhi. Through these writings he offers an exceptional and sustained meditation on the country that never was his. His last public appearance in India was in January 2015 at the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), where he spoke at length and was even moved to tears at the overwhelming reception he was accorded.

His last words on stage were in reply to a question from veteran lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who asked him why he called India “An Area of Darkness” and suggested that it was instead an area of light.

“Ram is a friend and he left a very friendly comment,” Naipaul riposted.

That was the measure of the man.

Naipaul’s first critical success was his fourth novel, “A House for Mr. Biswas” that is generally thought to to be autobiographical in nature -- Mr. Biswas representing Naipaul’s father and Biswas’ son, Anand, representing Naipaul.

It gained acclaim as #72 on Modern Library’s list of 100 best Englishlanguage novels of the 20th century, and it was featured on Time’s list of 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.

This was, in fact, the first of numerous honours that came Naipaul’s way and which included the Nobel Prize for Literature (2001) and the Booker Prize for “In a Free State” (1971). He was awarded the Trinity Cross, Trinidad and Tobago’s highest national honour in 1989 and was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.

In awarding him the Nobel Prize, the Swedish Academy noted: “Nai-

paul is Conrad’s heir as the annalist of the destinies of empires in the moral sense: what they do to human beings. His authority as a narrator is grounded in the memory of what others have forgotten, the history of the vanquished.”

It also praised his work “for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories...

“Naipaul is a modern philosopher carrying on the tradition that started originally with Lettres persanes and Candide. In a vigilant style, which has been deservedly admired, he transforms rage into precision and allows events to speak with their own inherent irony.”

Not surprisingly, for a man of his stature, Naipaul had his share of critics. Novelist Robert Harris has called Naipaul’s portrayal of Africa racist and “repulsive”, reminiscent of the

fascism of Oswald Mosley, a British parliamentarian of the 1920s who became the leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in the 1930s.

Edward Said, a professor of literature at Columbia University, maintained that Naipaul “allowed himself quite consciously to be turned into a witness for the Western prosecution”, promoting “colonial mythologies about wogs and darkies”. Naipaul’s worldview, according to Said, was most noticable in his book-length essay “The Middle Passage”, written following Naipaul’s return to the Caribbean after 10 years of exile in England, and “An Area of Darkness”.

Naipaul was also accused of misogyny and of “chronic physical abuse” against his mistress of 25 years, Margaret Murray, who wrote in a letter to The New York Review of Books: “Vidia says I didn’t mind the abuse. I certainly did mind.”

But then, as Joan Didion, an American essayist known for conveying her moral sensibility through a highly accomplished use of syntax, wrote about Naipaul in The New York Review of Books in 1980: “The actual world has for Naipaul a radiance that diminishes all ideas of it. The pink haze of the bauxite dust on the first page of Guerrillas tells us what we need to know about the history and social organization of the unnamed island on which the action takes place, tells us in one image who runs the island and for whose profit the island is run and at what cost to the life of the island this profit has historically been obtained, but all of this implicit information pales

in the presence of the physical fact, the dust itself... The world Naipaul sees is of course no void at all: it is a world dense with physical and social phenomena, brutally alive with the complications and contradictions of actual human endeavour... This world of Naipaul’s is in fact charged with what can only be described as a romantic view of reality, an almost unbearable tension between the idea and the physical fact.” The last word undoubtedly belongs to Dwight Garner, who wrote in The New York Times on August 12, 2018: “V.S. Naipaul... had so many gifts as a writer - suppleness, wit, an unsparing eye for detail - that he could seemingly do whatever he wanted.

What he did want, it became apparent, was to rarely please anyone but himself. The world’s readers flocked to his many novels and books of reportage for ‘his fastidious scorn’, as the critic Clive James wrote, ‘not for his large heart’. In his obvious greatness, in the hard truths he dealt, Naipaul attracted and repelled.

“He was a walking sack of contradictions, in some ways the archetypal writer of the shifting and migratory 20th century. His life was a series of journeys between old world and new.

He was a cool and sometimes snappish mediator between continents. Indian by descent, Trinidadian by birth, Naipaul attended Oxford and lived in London, where he came to wear elegant suits and move in elite social circles. ‘When I talk about being an exile or a refugee I’m not just using a metaphor.’ he said. ‘I’m speaking literally’.”

Book Lauds Ranjit Singh’s Secular Policies

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anjit Singh needs to be studied, celebrated and humanised not just in Punjab but all over India. There are many unique aspects of his court, most notably his insistence on meritocracy and pragmatic embrace of true secularism, which I feel are very essential for India given where we find ourselves today….Vishnu Makhijani meets writer Sarbpreet Singh The secularism of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) needs to be stuided in the current context for the manner in which he brought together a collection of warring misls (confederacies) to create a Sikh Empire that stretched from the Khyber Pass in the west to western Tibet in the east, and from Mithankot in the south to Kashmir in the north, says US-based poet, playwright and commentator Sarbpreet Singh in a new

book.

“Ranjit Singh needs to be studied, celebrated and humanised not just in Punjab but all over India. There are many unique aspects of his court, most notably his insistence on meritocracy and pragmatic embrace of true secularism, which I feel are very essential for India given where we find ourselves today,” Singh told IANS in an email interview on his book “The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia” (Tranqebar/pp 242).

Given the vastness of the subject, the book focuses on Ranjit Singh’s cosmopolitan Sikh court in Lahore.

Beginning from the repeated invasions of Nadir Shah to the innumerable skirmishes between Afghan and Sikh misls to the rise and consolidation of Ranjit Singh’s Sukerchakias

misl, the book brings alive the Maharaja’s tumultuous but effective reign.

One is introduced to Akali Phoola Singh, who won Ranjit Singh some of his most notable victories, but never fully submitted to him; the teenaged courtesan Bibi Moran, the love of Maharajah’s life; Josh Harlan, a Quaker from Philadelphia (who features in the title) who became a trusted administrator but defected to the Afghans, and many

more such characters.

What could the rise of Maharaja Ranjit Singh be ascribed to? “After the collapse of the Mughal Empire, Punjab had descended into anarchy.

The repeated incursion of Ahmed Shah Abdali further weakened the Mughals’ hold over Punjab.

“The only resistance Abdali encountered was form Sikhs who had consolidated into 12 misls, who were constantly jockeying against each other, but would unite in the face of an external threat. Ranjit Singh came from one of the smallest and weakest of the misls, the Shukerchakias.

“Aided in no small part by his brilliant and visionary mother-inlaw, Sada Kaur, who was married into the once powerful Kahnayya misl, the young upstart was able to

seize power and get himself crowned the King of Lahore, which had been the capital of Mughal Punjab. His genius became apparent quickly as he started consolidating power and through a combination of alliances and military adventures, soon became the master of the entire Punjab.

“One of the early master strokes of his reign was a treaty with the East India Company, which enabled him to secure his eastern border and continue expanding elsewhere. Despite being unlettered, Ranjit Singh was a shrewd leader, who excelled at attracting the best talent, an attribute that played a huge role in his success.

His rule was marked by peace in the territories he controlled. While he ruled with an iron hand and was an absolute monarch, he was known to be scrupulously fair, never tyrannical and generous to defeated foes,” the author explained.

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INDIAN RUPAY CARD LAUNCHED IN THE UAE

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175,000 merchant locations of 21 businesses to accept India’s RuPay card in the UAE

round 175,000 merchant acceptance locations of 21 businesses and 5,000 ATMs in the UAE will soon start accepting India’s RuPay card.

RuPay card, an Indian indigenous equivalent of Mastercard or Visa, was launched in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who swiped his card for buying Indian sweets at a shop temporarily set up at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE is the first Middle East country to witness the launch of RuPay card after its overseas launch in Singapore and Bhutan.

Three prominent banks – Emir-

ates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Bank of Baroda - will soon start issuing RuPay card in the UAE, Navdeep Singh Suri, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, said at the launch ceremony.

A Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, to establish a technology interface between the payment platforms in India and UAE was exchanged between the National Payments Corporation of India, NPCI, and UAE’s Mercury Payments Services.

The MoU will enable the RuPay card to be used at point-of-sale terminals across the UAE. Individual businesses are expected to announce the start date of accepting the card in

their outlets. The representatives of 21 business groups, who were present in the launch ceremony, will be accepting the card in their merchant locations in the UAE. The businesses are: NMC Healthcare, Lulu Group, Aster DM Healthcare, Landmark Group, Sobha Ltd,

Apparel Group, Nikai Group, Regal Group of Companies, ITL Cosmos, Jashanmal National Company LLC, Allana Group FMCG Products, Petrochem Middle East, Transworld Group, Al Dobowi Group, VPS Healthcare, UPL Group, Conares, Al Maya Group, EFS Facilities Services Group, Emaar and DP World, according to the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE receives close to three million Indian tourists annually, who can use the RuPay card in the UAE. RuPay is the first-of-its-kind India’s domestic debit and credit card payment network, with wide acceptance at ATMs, point of sale devices

and e-commerce websites across India.

The network has been developed to offer secure, user friendly and cost effective solutions to facilitate low value payments and build a cashless transaction environment, the embassy said.

Today, there are close to 500 million RuPay cards in circulation in India.

RuPay has also tied-up with international players like Discover, Japan Credit Bureau and China Union Pay to enhance its international acceptance and recently achieved a milestone of issuing 25 million RuPay– Discover global cards.

MODI: UAE can be India’s ‘valuable partner’

I

ndia has embarked on the ambitious, yet achievable, path to be a US$5 trillion economy by 2024-25. We are targeting about US$1.7 trillion dollar worth of investments in the coming five years.

To achieve this vision, the government is working to promote inflows from domestic as well as foreign sources…. A special report by Binsal Abdulkader, WAM India finds a partner in the UAE to achieve its ambitious dream of achieving a US$5 trillion economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Emirates News Agency, WAM, in an exclusive interview.

“We consider the UAE as a valuable partner in realising the objective to reach US$5 trillion economy through a mutually beneficial partnership,” said Modi who starts tonight a two-day state visit to the UAE. “India has embarked on the ambitious, yet achievable, path to be a US$5 trillion economy by 2024-25.

We are targeting about US$1.7 trillion dollar worth of investments in the coming five years. To achieve this vision, the government is working to promote inflows from domestic as well as foreign sources,” the Prime Minister explained.

He said that the UAE-India relations are “at their best ever”, adding that the UAE investments in key sectors in India are growing.

“There has been an increasing interest in investments in India in sectors ranging from renewable energy, food, ports, airports, defence manufacturing and other sectors,” Modi said.

“UAE investments in [sectors such as] infrastructure and housing are being enhanced.

“The UAE is our third largest trade partner with about US$60 billion bilateral trade in 2018-19. Many

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, UAE

of our companies are investing here in UAE. Both countries are working closely and vigorously to implement the commitment of US$75 billion investment by UAE in India.

“I feel immensely proud of conveying that India-UAE relations are at their best ever,” added the Prime Minister.

He highlighted the importance of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement signed during the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to India in January 2017 as the Chief Guest of Indian Republic Day. “Since then we have made enormous progress in implementing agreements signed in key areas, including defence, security, investment in infrastructure, energy and more. In other words, our relations are truly multi-dimensional,” Modi pointed out.

“I sincerely compliment the leadership and direction that His Highness

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed has personally provided in taking this relationship to new heights,” he said.

The Prime Minister believes that his third visit to the UAE, in the last four years, reflects the desire and will of the two countries to sustain the momentum achieved in the bilateral relationship.

“In this visit, I look forward to further strengthening our all-round cooperation. I also look forward to holding discussions with my brother His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed. I greatly admire his vision. I always find exchange of views with him stimulating and energising,” he explained.

“We have a number of important matters to discuss regarding bilateral relations as well as the regional and global situation. I am confident that my visit will serve to further strengthen our robust and vibrant relations,” Modi said.

“I am very upbeat about the trajectory of our relations and for opening up new areas of cooperation. I think

there exist huge potential to make this cooperation a win-win (partnership) for both countries,” he added.

About the Order of Zayed, the highest civilian award of the UAE, which he is receiving on Saturday morning, the Prime Minister said, “It is an honour of special significance for me and my fellow 1.3 billion Indians. It commemorates the memory of a great and visionary world leader, the father of this beautiful nation, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.”

“It is an even greater honour to be conferred this Order in the birth centenary year of Sheikh Zayed. His ideas, vision and wisdom are very much relevant in the contemporary times.

This award for me also symbolises the brotherly ties between our two countries and their peoples,” Modi stressed.

About Indian community in the UAE, he said, “We are immensely proud that the rich contribution of our community to building a modern, diverse and vibrant UAE are acknowledged and appreciated by the leadership of the UAE. “Apart from the Indians whose remittances sustain their families back home in India, we are also witnessing a steady increase in investments into India by some of the top Indian business leaders in UAE. “I extend my deepest appreciation to the leadership of UAE for looking after the well-being of the Indian diaspora here like a true guardian. I would also like to thank the leadership of UAE for the steps taken recently to provide long-term visas and other benefits to expatriates.”

Talking about the global economic situation, the Prime Minister said, “Global economy is facing some headwinds. Experiences of last five years, however, give me the confidence that the Indian economy and

people of India have everything in them to not only face but also counter any headwinds.”

India’s fundamentals are very strong, driven by “numerous” strengths, he said.

The last 5 years have seen the highest average growth and lowest average inflation in the last three decades, Modi went on to say, adding that India has been improving its performance in “almost all global rankings,” such as ease of doing business or innovation.

He said India had significantly increased its contribution to global growth in the last five years, making India an important engine of global economy.

“I am confident that the collective endeavour of 1.3 billion Indians comprising millions of farmers, hundreds of thousands of industrialists and young entrepreneurs and start-ups and women, will ensure this.” He said.

“India’s skilled human resources, rapid infrastructure growth and the world’s biggest market are reasons for our optimism. At the same time, we are focused on further improving our competitiveness through long-term reforms.”

These encompass steps to move even higher in ease of doing business, tax reforms with lowering tax rates and simplifying procedures, labour sector reforms and FDI-related reforms to make investment in India more lucrative, he explained.

During the past few years, he said, India has become “the fastest growing major economy in the world,” adding that all the macro-economic parameters such as current account deficit, fiscal deficit and inflation were brought down to acceptable levels.

The vision for the next five years is to have an investment-led growth, Modi concluded.

14 EDIT

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SECURING KASHMIR

P

rime Minister Narendra Modi has in his tenure taken bold foreign policy decisions, including a firm line towards Pakistan by declaring “talks and terror could not go together”. It is the new Home Minister Amit Shah who has now demonstrated that the internal governance of India will be handled with the same decisiveness and strategic outlook.

Success of bold decisions depends on prior assessment of their repercussions and full preparations for seeing through their implementation. The politicians in the Valley, who had over the years become totally dependent on separatists and Pakistan agents for acquiring power, raised the chorus “valley was on the edge” after witnessing the Centre’s armed mobilisation and desperately huddled together to warn of “explosive repercussions” if there was any infringement of the “sovereign rights” of the Kashmiris.

The Centre had no problem with putting these leaders under house arrest on the eve of Home Minister’s announcement. They have been more pro-Pakistan than even the separatists in recent months and were lately becoming desperate as the law on corruption was beginning to catch up with them.

The activities of the separatists and Pakistan agents supported by the political leaders of the Valley had assumed a proportion where there was talk of separate flag and separate Prime Minister for Kashmir. All of these forces were talking the language of Pakistan and even putting up with the display of ISIS flags in the Valley traceable to ISI-sponsored elements.

The Valley-based political parties had made a mockery of the democratic rule by paying no attention to the developments and by toeing the line of Pakistan that J&K was not a territorial dispute, but a Muslim issue.

The new Modi regime, in which all internal security matters are now being handled by a pro-active Home Minister, is going to come down with heavy hands against any misadventure of the Pakistan army from across the LOC in Kashmir.

It has already tightened the screws on the pro-Pakistan separatists who had had a free run of the state all these years because of the patronage they enjoyed from the governments run by the Valley-based parties.

The new deployment of security forces will make it easy for the local police to put down any disturbances. Any effort of the Centre to bring Kashmiris closer to the nation’s mainstream for their development and protection against an external threat should be viewed without any political prejudice. The entire country is open to the idea of Kashmiri youth -- both men and women -- pursuing both economic and socio-political opportunities in the rest of the country.

BY D.C. PATHAK

MODI TAMES TRUMP AT G7

G

iven US President Donald Trumps unpredictability, India has been well prepared to meet and match his every mood, whether on trade or on Kashmir, as the successful conclusion and outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modis meetings with him show.

Even before his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Osaka on the sidelines of the G20 in June, President Trump had taken to Twitter to vent irritation over India hiking its tariffs on US agricultural and industrial imports in retaliation to the US raising tariff on steel and aluminium imports from India. “Unacceptable”, said the president, demanding that the tariffs be withdrawn.

Having realised by now the US President’s unpredictability, India has been going for meetings with him well prepared, and preferring to look at the larger picture in ties rather than getting bogged down with his utterances.

In a pointer to the burgeoning trade ties and just how mutually beneficial the relationship is -- India-US bilateral trade reached $142 billion in 2018, witnessing a sevenfold increase since 2001 -- and is expected to jump to $500 billion in five years. Thus, rather than taking umbrage at the president’s testy language, Indian officials have been working with their US counterparts behind the scenes to soothe over the ruffles in ties.

And it has worked. For in his meeting with PM Modi in Biarritz, France, on the sidelines of the G7, President Trump did not mention his irritation over any trade issue. Being a hugely successful businessman, the US president understands the language of buy and sell and profit well, and anything that benefits his country is always a good thing.

On Kashmir, President Trump gave India some tense moments when he said in July that he would like to mediate on the issue, and that PM Modi had suggested this to him during their Osaka meeting. India denied that PM Modi ever said such a thing and stressed that Kashmir is a bilateral matter.

India is now well prepared to tackle the US president’s unpredictable utterances. New Delhi now says just enough to convey its message, without going into any kind of quibbling over the wordings of what Trump has said, and prefers to work with US administration officials who know just how important the ties are.

Since Trump would be happy with anything that stands to benefit his coun-

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try, India has already promised to buy more shale oil, with $4 billion worth of imports already in the pipeline. Indian ventures in the US are also creating jobs in the US. A CII report last year said that Indian companies have created more than 113,000 jobs in the US and invested nearly $18 billion in the country.

In the defence arena too, India has managed to soothe over US concerns over purchase of Russian S-400 Triumf missile systems. India’s defence purchases from the US, which stand at $ 18 billion since 2008, are set to rise with New Delhi lining up defence deals worth $10 billion over the next few years, which would obviously please the US president.

India has already bought C-17 and C-130J transport planes, the P-8i maritime reconnaissance aircraft, Harpoon missiles, Apache and Chinook helicopters and M777 howitzers. India is set to buy 10 more of the state-of-the-art P-8 aircraft, armed with Harpoon missiles and torpedoes, and more MH-60 Romeo helicopters and Apache attack helicopters.

These deals are beneficial to the US, and the president understands this well. So, when the two leaders met in Biarritz, there was affability in the air, and the US president voiced confidence in India’s ability to manage Kashmir, and most importantly Pakistan. It is not just India that has been studying the US president’s moves. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had tried his luck too during his meeting with Trump on July 22 in Washington. With his country having virtually nothing to offer in terms of business and relying heavily on US aid, Imran Khan had taken to flattery and played the Afghan card to win over the US president, and made him utter his offer to mediate on Kashmir.

Pakistan thought it was victory, and hoped to build on it.

But it has come to naught.

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OPǧEDIT 15

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Advantage India as Pakistan Wither The world is tired of the Kashmir issue that it sees cannot be resolved with any intervention. There is no ear willing to hear Pakistan’s wailing when that nation is perceived in the West as harbinger of Islamist militancy and export of terrorism. Islamabad’s claims of having made “sacriϔices in ϔighting terrorism” are taken with more than a pinch of salt…..writes Rifan Ahmed Khan

I

ndia has won Round One of the diplomatic battle with Pakistan that promises to be prolonged and intricate, judging from the cold to lukewarm response of the world community to Islamabad’s loud protests at the changes India is enacting in its own territory of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

For one, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has not thought it necessary that the Pakistani complaint to it is urgent enough to call an early session.

Secondly, Poland, the current UNSC Chair has emphasized that the issue is bilateral to be resolved by the two South Asian rivals. Poland is speaking on this for the first time.

It has not changed its stance despite a telephone talk between its Foreign Minister and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Thirdly, Russia that many in the diplomatic world have perceived as getting close to Pakistan --- because China is close to Pakistan – has been cold to Islamabad’s overtures. Moscow continues to call the Kashmir strictly bilateral. Russia, since the Soviet era, has been closely associated with the Kashmir issue in support of India, which includes the Tashkent Agreement if 1966, the Friendship Treaty of 1971 and vetoes exercised when at the end of an armed conflict, Bangladesh emerged.

Fourthly, China, on whom Pakistan depends heavily, if not solely, but abjectly, to stir trouble for India on any issue, has been cautious. It has expressed concern and has hinted at Indian action being ‘unilateral’. But it has stopped well short of anything that can be interpreted as criticizing India. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, who met his Chinese counterpart, well after Qureishi had, explained India’s state well and emphasized that any difference of opinion on any issue need not become a dispute.

Pakistan’s Islamic world comrades and benefactors – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE among them, have been cautious, too. Islamabad has sought an early meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), which has not indicated an urgent date. In any case, the OIC has become toothless and Pakistan, which got away getting it to pass many a resolution critical of India in the past, is not in any hurry, so far, even to call a meeting.

Woman CRPF personal shaking hands with kid in Kashmir.

The UAE envoy in New Delhi has cautiously supported what India says – that it is India’s internal matter.

Additionally, West Asia from where Pakistan could expect support, is in a mess. Arabs are fighting each other, while Iran is daring the United States. Saudis and the UAE have been allies in fighting the Houthis in Yemen for five years, but the latest

is that they have ended up attacking each other.

Finally, the United States has got embroiled itself with President Trump making offers of mediation and arbitration in the Kashmir dispute. He inadvisedly offered it as a booster to Pakistan so that it would deliver on the Afghanistan front. Trump desperately wants to quit that conflict and needs

Pakistan for it. The Trump offer has put the US on a bit of a backfoot. The US would love to woo Pakistan, but not annoy India – and not on Kashmir issue. It has wisely stated, quoting none else but the Indian standpoint, that it is a bilateral issue.

All in all, two important points emerge. One: the world is tired of the Kashmir issue that it sees cannot be resolved with any intervention. There is no ear willing to hear Pakistan’s wailing when that nation is perceived in the West as harbinger of Islamist militancy and export of terrorism.

Islamabad’s claims of having made “sacrifices in fighting terrorism” are taken with more than a pinch of salt.

It is clear that the world community would watch the issue closely and cautiously, but seems unlikely to take any initiative at the UNSC. China is aware of this and will not easily put all its eggs in Pakistani basket.

Two: Pakistan does not matter when seen in comparison with India, a large economy that is open and all are willing to do business with it. In-

deed, Pakistani leaders have publicly begun to lament that the world community is too enamoured of India to be critical of it.

Pakistan is realising that the past UNSC resolutions, 11 of them, that it had scuttled, do not add up to anything in the present century. The world has moved on. What has the UN done, asks an analyst and himself replies that it has not done anything beyond appealing to all sides concerned to “exercise restraint and maintain peace.”

Qureshi’s letter to the UN raises alarm about a conflict on this issue among the two nuclear powers. This amounts to pointing the gun on the head and seeking help. It is un likely to work.

Qureshi hit the point hard while addressing a rally in Muzaffarabad meant to express ‘solidarity’ with the Kashmiris in India (obviously not mentioning Jammu and Ladakh) that nobody at the UN or the UNSC is “waiting with garlands to welcome us.”

INDIA TO ADD STEEL TO DEFENCE Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces the creation of Chief of Defence (CDS) post, fulϔils defence’s long-pending proposal….reports Rafeek Ravuther

I

ndia is putting defence on top priority as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) post, that has been a long-pending recommendation of various defence panels.

Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of 73rd Independence Day, Modi said: “I want to announce a major decision from the Red Fort: India will have a Chief of Defence Staff — CDS. This is going to make the forces even more effective. The new CDS post will oversee all the three wings of the armed forces.”

The creation of a CDS post had been a major recommendation of the Kargil Review Committee — of integration of the three services — Army, Navy and Air Force — under a Chief of Defence Staff. However, no concrete action was taken on this, until now.

The government appointed Lt Gen D.B. Shekatkar (Retd) as head of an 11-member committee to recommend measures to enhance the

combat capability of the armed forces and re-balance defence expenditure.

The committee suggested a fourstar Chief of Defence Staff as the chief military adviser to the Defence Minister.

The Prime Minister’s announcement was immediately welcomed by former Army chief General Ved Prakash Malik (retd), who was the army chief during the Kargil War. “Thank you PM Modi for announcing historic step of institution of CDS. This step will make our national security more effective and more economical. It will ensure better jointmanship and multi-disciplinary Acoordination. Salute,” he tweeted.

Focus on Environment Asserting that single-use plastic is not good for the environment, Modi urged the people and shopkeepers to eliminate the use of plastic bags completely.

Modi said single-use plastic poses grave threat to the environment.

“Can we free India from singleuse plastic? The time for implement-

ing such an idea has come. Teams must be mobilised to work in this direction. A significant step must come out by October 2,” Modi said.

Urging citizens too, to pitch in, Modi said it would be a good opportunity for the shop owners to advertise with their won cloth bags: “Shop owners and small entrepreneurs should start gifting their customers cloth bags with their branding and inculcate the good habit in the same stroke.”

Asking the people to prefer digital transactions instead of cash transactions, Modi told the shopkeepers: “You already have a board outside your shops that reads: ‘Aaj nagad, kal udhar’. Similarly you can have a board saying ‘yes’ to digital payment and no to cash payment.”

Emphasising on the requirement of simultaneous poll, the Prime Minister said: “Dream of one nation, one tax has been achieved by the implementation of the GST (Goods and Services Tax). Our nation has also successfully achieved One Nation, One Grid in the Power sector.

“Today, India is talking about

One Nation, One Election. So a discussion must be held on this,” he said.

The Prime Minister also urged the farmers to minimise the use of chemical-based fertilizers in their farmlands.

Stressing on creation of wealth, Modi said: “Wealth creation is a great national service. Let us never see wealth creators with suspicion.

Only when wealth is created, it will be distributed.

“Wealth creation is absolutely essential. Those who create wealth are India’s wealth and we respect them,” Modi said.

16 OPǧEDIT

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‘Kashmir an internal matter’ During the bilateral talks in China, Jaishankar says the revocation of Kashmir’s special status and division of the state “had no bearing on Pakistan as it was an internal matter”.....reports Asian Lite News

I

ndia has conveyed to China that the change in status of Kashmir is an internal matter and would have no implication for its boundaries with Beijing.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also sought to reassure his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that India was not raising any additional territorial claims and the Chinese concerns in this regard were misplaced.

During the bilateral meeting with Wang, Jaishankar also emphasised that the revocation of Kashmir’s special status and division of the state “had no bearing on Pakistan as it was an internal matter”.

China has strongly backed its allweather friend Pakistan over Kashmir, and voiced “serious concern” over the Kashmir situation, stressing that Kashmir is “a legacy of history between India and Pakistan”.

Beijing also said that New Delhi should avoid actions to “unilaterally change the status quo” of Kashmir.

Talking firm, Jaishankar told Wang that the changes in Kashmir “did not impact the Line of Control”.

Last week, China termed the creation of Ladakh Union Territory as “unacceptable and void”, and accused India of “putting Chinese territory in the western section of the border under its administration, which affects China’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

He said that regarding IndiaPakistan relations, the Chinese side “should base its assessment on realities”.

Jaishankar said that India, as a responsible power, “had shown restraint in the face of provocative Pakistani rhetoric and actions”.

“India has always stood for nor-

malisation of the ties in an atmosphere free of terror,” he said.

When Wang brought up developments pertaining to legislation passed recently by the Indian Parliament on Jammu & Kashmir, Jaishankar “conveyed that this was an internal matter for India. The issue related to changes in a temporary provision of the Constitution of India and was the sole prerogative of the country”.

“The legislative measures were aimed at promoting better governance and socio-economic development.

There was no implication for either the external boundaries of India or the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. India was not raising any additional territorial claims. The Chinese concerns in this regard were therefore misplaced,” he said.

The reference to “additional territorial claims”, is an answer both to Beijing and to Pakistan, which has termed the moves on Kashmir as “annexation”.

“The Chinese Foreign Minister also referred to rising tensions between India and Pakistan as a result of these changes. EAM emphasised

that these changes had no bearing on Pakistan as it was an internal matter. It did not impact the LoC. Where India Pakistan relations are concerned, Chinese side should base its assessment on realities,” an MEA statement said.

“India, as a responsible power, had shown restraint in face of provocative Pakistani rhetoric and actions.

India has always stood for normalisation of the ties in an atmosphere free of terror,” the statement added.

Jaishankar told Wang that the future of India-China ties depends on mutual sensitivity to each other’s core concerns, and it is vital to “not let differences become disputes”.

Jaishankar held talks with Wang, and the two sides also inked four agreements, including in cooperation in sports, cultural exchanges and traditional medicine.

Jaishankar’s visit, which was meant to firm up the agenda for the second informal summit between

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, saw both sides also focusing on India’s moves on Kashmir -- revocation of a special status for J&K and splitting the state into two. Putting forth the vision for the future of India-China ties, Jaishankar said: “The future of the India-China relationship will obviously depend on mutual sensitivity to each other’s core concerns. It is natural, both as neighbours and large developing economies that there would be issues in our ties.

“Properly managing differences is therefore vital. As our leaders agreed in Astana, differences should not become disputes. That is how IndiaChina relations can remain a factor of stability in an uncertain world.

“The positive direction of ties after the Wuhan Summit has opened up a world of new convergences. Exploiting this and taking our ties to a new level will require strong public support in both societies. The media can make a major contribution to that goal,” he said.

Jaishankar’s comments are significant as they also come three days after Wang’s meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who has sought Beijing’s support in censuring India at the UN Security Council over Kashmir.

Addressing the 2nd meeting of the India-China High Level Mechanism on Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges here, Jaishankar said he had held detailed and productive discussions with Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

“Our discussions were especially significant as we prepare for President Xi Jinping’s visit to India for the 2nd Informal Summit later this year and celebrating the 70th Anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations next year,” Jaishankar said at the meeting held at the Diaoyutai State Guest House.

In his remarks, Wang said that China is closely following the escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan and urged New Delhi to maintain peace and stability.

Wang said the two sides held in depth talks, which are “especially important for the high level engagement for the second informal summit” between their leaders in October.

He said the two sides need to strengthen their economic cooperation mechanisms, including have more defence engagements, and deepen trade relations.

Wang said “China appreciates India’s concerns over trading imbalances”, which is heavily tilted in Beijing’s favour.

He also said that both sides need to live by the UN charter and “respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries and address all issues though dialogue”.

On the unresolved boundary question, Wang said both sides will use the mechanism of the Special Representatives to seek early progress as well as the CBMs in place.

Earlier, Jaishankar met Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan and held talks.

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OPǧEDIT 17

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The Pekinese Tactics to Please Islamic World With the Islamic world, China has used energy and trade as weapons. The Chinese model works on the premise that if you can make a weak country dependent, it is possible to make a strong country an ally using the same weapons but with differing tactics….writes Abhijit Sharma

C

hina is today racing towards becoming an economic powerhouse. While its economy does face challenges, China’s ability to use its global economic clout is no longer in doubt. That Beijing is able to employ its economic muscle to achieve its goals particularly with the Islamic world is an example to other countries, a case in point being Israel and India.

With the Islamic world, China has used energy and trade as weapons. The Chinese model works on the premise that if you can make a weak country dependent, it is possible to make a strong country an ally using the same weapons but with differing tactics.

The purpose of China’s strategy is to buy Islamic silence on Xinjiang, a province that is host to the Uyghurs, who are ethnically Turkik. The latest in the Chinese offensive was fired on 23 July 2019 when the State Council Information Office released a White Paper on Xinjiang which claims that the Uyghurs became Muslims not by choice but by force, and Islam is not their only religion, in a bid to justify

Chinese President Xi Jinping

its controversial policies in Xinjiang.

The White Paper states, “The Uyghur people adopted Islam not of their own volition … but had it forced upon them by religious wars and the ruling class.”

China has major internal problems in Tibet and Xinjiang but little spoken about. The persecution of the Uyghurs had remained largely unknown to the rest of the world, till

2018 when media reports began to focus on it. This was followed by Ambassadors of the EU being taken to Xinjiang to see things for themselves.

Despite unprecedented atrocities, the Islamic world remained silent. This was because of two reasons. Firstly, China’s economic relations with the Islamic world gave it a measure of surety that they would not speak on the internal affairs of China. Second,

more importantly, some of these nations share the same views with China on domestic freedom and expression.

A closer look at how China buys Islamic silence would be illustrative here. In the case of Iran, China is energy dependent. However, China has decided that it will continue to buy Iranian oil despite US sanctions.

It has stated that it will negotiate this with the US, but has not reduced its POL import from Iran. In May 2019, the Chinese oil tanker Pacific Bravo departed from the Persian Gulf laden with about 2 million barrels of Iranian oil.

With smaller nations in the Islamic world, the model of investing (literally) in their political and economic set up and creating dependencies continues. China has of late been using the BRI as an excuse to do precisely that. So how does this system work of buying silence as and when it is needed in the Islamic world? It is quite simple, China works on the principle of doing favours and taking it when it becomes due.

To that extent, countries like India and Israel have much to learn. Israel, of course, is a past master in handling

situations involving Islamic nations, because it is essential to their very survival. Their relationship with the US is also very good. India on other hand is new to this game. But it is a fast learner and understands the value of keeping a strategic balance in the Islamic world. This is because as a rising power, the ability to have relations with countries based on economic heft will be crucial. Thus, for instance, in the neighbourhood itself, India needs to have a far clearer perspective on how it can specifically retain its influence.

The Chinese experience of dealing with the Islamic world informs us that it is possible to buy Islamic silence on domestic issues. But not for long, the refrained references in the OIC to Xinjiang make it clear that the Chinese model is not perfect.

Recall that at the March 2019 meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the OIC in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, there was a mention of the work being done by China to look after the Muslim minorities in China. It is a starting point and one can visualise more to come, though it will continue to be mooted.

Modi Visit Cements Ties with Bhutan

BY SHUBHA SINGH

P

rime Minister Narendra Modis two-day visit to Bhutan was aimed at re-engaging with the Himalayan neighbour during his second term in office as part of his ‘neighbourhood first policy. The visit had added significance since Bhutan has been changing under its new government and India-Bhutan ties had to be reoriented to the new winds blowing in Bhutan.

In 2014, Thimphu had been the first foreign capital Prime Minister Modi had visited shortly after the NDA government was formed; it was an indicator of the special relationship shared between India and Bhutan. After the 2019 general election, his first foreign destination was to Maldives to attend the inauguration of the new government in Male headed by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. On his way back to Delhi from Maldives, Prime Minister Modi had stopped over at Colombo at the request of the Sri Lankan government.

Modi’s visit to Bhutan has signaled a deepening of the bilateral ties and converting them into a more

broadbased relationship. Both sides are making efforts to diversify and develop their ties to a wider variety of sectors that go much beyond the traditional cooperation in the hydropower sector.

The visit took place at a time when there is greater international attention on Bhutan, just after the visit of senior United States official John Sullivan and a visit by the Chinese ambassador to India, Luo Zhaohui earlier in the year. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan was on a visit to Thimphu last week, followed by a two-day trip to Delhi. It was the first visit to Bhutan by a senior US official in the past two decades as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted. During his discussions in Thimphu, Secretary Sullivan emphasized the “importance of expanding people to people ties between the US and Bhutan and enhancing joint efforts to combat human trafficking.”

Though Bhutan does not have diplomatic relations with the US or China as part of its longstanding policy, both the US and China have increased their informal contacts and interaction with the Bhutanese government in recent times. China has made efforts

to reach out to Bhutan to establish formal diplomatic relations; Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou visited Thimphu in July 2018, the first high level visit from China after the Doklam impasse in 2017 when Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and Indian army soldiers had a 72-day face-off in the trijunction region between China, Bhutan and India.

China has made major in-roads in South Asia with large infrastructure projects in the past decade, from Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar. Beijing was keen to include Bhutan in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Though Thimphu declined the invitation to attend the BRI summit in April, China has attracted

interest among Bhutanese youth who favour increasing Bhutan’s interaction with China.

As Bhutan has made its transition to democratic governance, it has modernized and opened out at its own pace. With three changes in government through three elections, there is greater political awareness and debate over policy issues in the country.

Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering’s government aims to diversify the economy and reduce dependency on hydropower export. There is a growing view, especially articulated by the younger generation that believes Bhutan should increase its engagement with a wider range of countries, including China.

Hydropower exports to India provide more than 40 percent of Bhutan’s domestic revenue. India is Bhutan’s main development partner and Bhutan’s hydropower export form the bedrock of the development cooperation. The Indian government has made plans to expand its partnership from its heavy dependence on the hydropower sector to other areas and assist Bhutan in increasing trade in a wide range of products. Bhutan’s Prime Minister Lotay Tshering and Modi

jointly inaugurated the 700 MW Mangdechhu hydropower project in the Trongsa Dzongkhag district in central Bhutan. They also inaugurated the Ground Earth Station and SATCOM network linked to ISRO’s South Asia Satellite that would facilitate communication, public broadcasting and disaster management in Bhutan. Scientists from Bhutan are to travel to India where ISRO would help them design and launch a small Bhutanese satellite.

India used to be the top destination for young Bhutanese to study abroad, but in the recent years, Bhutanese students are choosing to go to western countries, resulting in a significant reduction of Bhutanese students studying in India. India and Bhutan are in the process of establishing linkages between top Indian institutions and colleges in Bhutan. Modi said to the students at the Royal University of Bhutan: “people energise our ties.”

Prime Minister Modi reiterated India’s support to Bhutan’s current Five Year Plan as he outlined a new programme of cooperation with Bhutan that included space, education, Information Technology, healthcare and science and technology that is line with Bhutan’s new priorities and aspirations.

18 ASIA

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19

Indian-origin Doctors Seek Lancet Apology The Lancet, a scientiϔic journal of international repute, has published such an unscientiϔic opinion-based editorial in the ϔirst place, to outright anger that it has used its own reputation to provide dubious credibility to the critics of the Indian government’s decision to revoke the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir…..The editorial board should retract the article and publish a public apology for this unscientiϔic article and reϔlect on the future direction of the journal… writes Kaliph Anaz

B

ritish Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), Britain’s largest organisation for Asian doctors, slammed the Lancet editorial which criticised India’s move to change the status of India.

In a letter to Dr Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet, the organisation said the “editorial has caused our members considerable sadness, distress and consternation.”

BAPIO represents over 50,000 doctors working at National Health Services (NHS). The editorial, titled Fear and uncertainty around Kashmir’s future said: At least 28 000 Indian security forces have been deployed; in the capital city Srinagar, a lockdown has been implemented that suspended communication and internet links, and a strict curfew has been imposed. The militant presence raises serious concerns for the health, safety,

and freedoms of the Kashmiri people.

“We regret to inform you that your editorial ‘Fear and uncertainty over Kashmir’s future” published on August 17, 2019 has caused our members considerable sadness, distress and consternation,” Dr Ramesh Mehta OBE, President and Dr JS Bamrah CBE, Chairman of BAPIO wrote in the letter. “The responses have ranged from puzzlement that the Lancet, a scientific journal of international repute, has published such an unscientific opinion-based editorial in the first place, to outright anger that it has used its own reputation to provide dubious credibility to the critics of the Indian government’s decision to revoke the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir.

“The ink had barely dried on the amendment to Article 370 when the Lancet decided to publish its own prediction of the future fate of the

population of Kashmir without the prerequisite knowledge of the culture, historical facts and corroborated data.

Such a pronouncement by a medical journal can only be deemed as conjecture and is neither necessary nor welcomed by our members, and therefore we would like to register our strongest possible objections over the article and its contents.

“If the Lancet was of the opinion that India’s move was controversial, then surely it should have considered how such a provocative editorial would be perceived by a large major-

ity of Indians, in the United Kingdom and abroad. The article claims that the ‘militant’ presence (of the Indian army) raises concerns for the health, safety and freedoms of the Kashmiri people, implying that India has deployed militant forces to the territory.

Nothing could be further from the truth because it is in fact the Indian ‘military’ that have been called to action, with the intention of doing e xactly the opposite as the Lancet supposes. Indeed, the early indicators are that the region is mainly peaceful and the State’s residents have been

able to register their protests. “The editorial cites a study by Medecins Sans Frontieres and provides a link in the third paragraph of the editorial which does not work, so it is evident that the study has been withdrawn by the organisation. There is however a reference to a Medact Blog on ‘War, violence and the mental health crisis in Kashmir’ which does work, and we noted that the author, against whose name appear the words ‘810gs, Health Through Peace, Nuclear Weapons, Peace and Security, may have significant conflicts of interest which remain undeclared.

The Indian Medical Association condemned journal, saying it was unfortunate that it had “committed breach of propriety by commenting on a political issue”. The association also accused The Lancet of “interference into an internal matter of Union of India”.

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Bharat Meri Jaan at Kings Cross London Indian Independence Day Celebrations at busy Kings Cross station attracts thousands of travellers. An Inspiring Indian Women Initiative captured the attention of the British public ….reports Asian Lite

L

ike always, IIW always aspires to take the noise of Indian spirit of celebration amidst non-Indians.

The purpose is to make the passersby pause and listen to the Indian beat, the colours of India, the unity in diversity, the Bhangra beats, the Garba beats and the Jai Ho echo.

Where else could be the best place to make some noise be, other than the most iconic and historic station in Central London, Kings Cross!

Soon the extravaganza began, with Veena Storm from StormV Academy, at the helm of weaving the various states of India into one beautiful garland.

The atmosphere at the iconic station was upbeat! Audience participation was equally fantastic! The event was successful in spreading the message of Indian Independence day celebrations with people stopping by and even joining in. The initiative was all about reinforcing the values of love, peace, happiness and brotherhood.

Most of them who participated were non-professional mothers, passionate to make a difference to soci-

ety. It was all about bringing together everything that connects the necklace of colourful India!!

Various performances are as follows, Garba and Punjabi Dance by Rhythm Arts & Dance Academy, Choreographed by Shine Krishna .

Participants were - Aman Sharma, Pooja khetrapal, Deepika nandwani, Ashna and Alka Pardesi.

Indhradhanush kids - (Nilanjana) presented (BENGALI FOLK), (JAI HO) : Abrita Chatterjee, Shreya Paul, Sneha Paul, Rishika Mazumdar Sneha Paul, Little amazingly talented Srijita Saha sang (VANDE MATARAM .

Manali Soni presented Dholna from Rajasthan while Sneha Sanghani Shah performed a patriotic number and Ketaki Ranade Bhat performed Lavani from Maharashtra.

Chinu Kishore from NEICCUK (North Eastern Indian Cultural presented the beautiful Bihu dance from Assam. Audience were awestruck watching beautiful Indian SemiClassical and Cuban Salsa fusion

by Alkananda Mohapatra & Dayana Toncheva.

In the classical side, Bharathanatyam was superbly performed by beautiful Raeshma Venkatesan and classical fusion of Bharatnatyam and Kathak was presented by extremely talented Sowmya J Krish & Anusha Jagannathan, Bhavisha Patel, Manali Soni, Shital Kamdar, Rajeshwari , Usha Parmar performed on a very popular patriotic Bollywood number.

Their tricolor costume was very eye catching. The icing on this cultural

showcase was a beautifully sung, Aai merey watan ke logon by 9 year old Tanisha Biswas.

The curtain call was equally joyous when everyone including the commuters joined in to various popular songs like Jai ho, Vande Matram etc.

Much of the success of the event owes to Rashmi Narvekar and Sowmya J Krish. The DJ of the day was Ananth. Photographer of the amazing

clicks is Mr C.K Naidu and the videography was done by Kush.

On this Independence Day, we take a minute or two to thank for such a precious gift. Take time to cherish our life and our motherland. Not forgetting the sacrifice made by our heroes who have made this day a reality.

And this honest initiative was also to scream to the world that India is a country to be reckoned with. Happy Independence Day 2019!

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KASHMIR: Desperate Imran on Plan B

Financial crisis and the pressure of FATF besides ostracisation in the global stage over terror funding put Imran Khan and his generals on a tight corner. The military top brass and ISI now took the Kashmir campaign back to the drawing board and employing its old tactics to unleash terror on India through militant groups, nurtured over the years…. writes Kaliph Anaz

A

s international community gave a cold shoulder to Pakistan’s Kashmir campaign, Prime Minister Imran Khan is changing gears to adopt Plan B to save his face. He is urging the brainwashed Pakistanis to come on street tomorrow (30th August) in between 12 to12.30 to protest against India’s decision to change the status of Kashmir.

It is easy to sell the Kashmir idea to the Pakistanis because they are accustomed with the fake news peddled by the Army and politicians, the benefactors of the campaign. The tough stance by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to prevent the regime aiding militancy in the region putting both the civilian and military rulers in trouble. They can’t fleece the international patrons by pretending to be on a campaign against the militants. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.

The final chapter of Osama episode exposed the credibility of Pakistan’s army and the government.

They are now paying the price for letting a wanted criminal to hide in the backyard of a military garrison. The international community gave a cold shoulder to Pakistan’s Kashmir campaign because they knew it is India’s internal issue. All the international forums including UN Security Council, Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), G7 were in favour of India.

The Communist China become a laughing stock in the global stage when they started preaching about human rights violations and occupation when Hong Kong is on turmoil.

Millions of Hong Kong residents were on streets with umbrellas to protest against the puppet regime and their masters in Beijing. Pakistan’s partnership with China is another reason for the country’s ostracisation on world stage.

Imran and his generals are now desperate. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The only way to keep the campaign alive is to grab the media attention and unleash violence.

The call for protests across the country by a sitting prime minister against a neighbouring sovereign nation indicate how desperate Captain Khan is to revive the campaign.

The military top brass and ISI took the campaign back to the drawing board and employing its old tactics to unleash terror through militant groups, nurtured over the years. It has removed restrictions on militant groups and their notorious leaders.

They are allowing cross border LOC infiltration to carry out terrorist attacks in India. Their mandate has

gone beyond J &K to other parts of India. Pak militants are already deployed in the region and Indian border security officials are witnessing a big push across Machal sector, where infiltrators from Lashkar-e-Taiba of wanted international terrorist Hafiz Saeed were engaged inside 500 meters inside LoC. Just before going to the US to meet President Trump, Imran promised to nick Lashkar and its leaders.

Mr Saeed is technically under arrest but he can call the shots where ever he is now. Poor Trump! He wasted one of his Tweet boasting of Saeed’s arrest.

Hafiz Saeed is Pak regime’s favourite militant but the favourite terror outfit is Jaesh-e-Mohammed.

They are in regular contact with its leader Masood Azhar despite reports of his poor health. Mr Azhar was designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations on May 1 and Pakistan was forced to ban JeM to adher the terms with FATF. But sources reveal that they are still very much active and a brother of Mr Azahar, who planned the highjacking of IC814 in 1999, has been relocated to Pak Occupied Kashmir. He has been out in charge of operation in J&K. Jaish is viewed as the “deadliest” and “the principal terrorist organisation in Jammu and Kashmir”. The

group was responsible for several terror attacks: 2001 attack on Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly, 2001 Indian Parliament attack, 2016 Pathankot airbase attack, 2016 attack on the Indian Mission in Mazari-Sharif, 2016 Uri attack, and 2019 Pulwama attack. The group has been designated as a terrorist organisation

by Russia, Australia, Canada, India, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the United Nations.

In 2016, Jaish was suspected of being responsible for an attack on the Pathankot airbase in India. The Indian government has accused Pakistan of assisting Jaish in conducting the attack. Pakistan denied assisting Jaish, and arrested several members of Jaish in connection with the attack, who were then released by the security establishment according to a report in Dawn.

In February 2019, the group took responsibility for a suicide bombing attack on a security convoy in the Pulwama district that killed over 40 security personnel, named as one of the largest attacks in recent years.

It appears that while India is bracing for another Pulwama or Mumbai, Mr Khan is tactfully built up his defence to protect Pakistan from any fall out of their action.

Despite his promises to the US to contain the terrorists, Captain Khan is letting the Jaish to have a free hand in Kashmir. Its sleeper cells are trying to collaborate with drug cartels to raise additional funds. They are active along the India- Pakistan border in Punjab / J&K for carrying out attack in cities of Northern India. There are also reports that Mumbai, which witnessed horrific terror attack in Nov 26, 2008 is again in radars, mainly to push India back from its economic

progress. Pak leaders are quite jealous about India’s progress on various fields.

Imran’s cabinet colleague Railway Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad has been unleashing tirade against India at international platforms. He broke the diplomatic protocol to threaten to India at a public meeting in Manchester which was attended by Labour leaders like Afzal Khan MP. (See video). Minister Rasheed said revoking Article 370 will be the beginning of the end of India and threatened to destroy Indian economy. He urged the audience, most of them Pakistanis in Manchester, to fight for Kashmir. He used the religious card to support his claims.

Pakistani leaders and their masters in Beijing want to put hurdles on India’s growth to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025 and nothing can stop that juggernaut to roll on.

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Kashmir to create more jobs Governor Satya Pal Malik said the process has started to ϔill 50000 vacancies in government on top priority….

Reports Asian Lite News. NAFED to commit over Rs. 5000 Crores for apple procurement in Valley

T

he Government of Jammu and Kashmir will fill up 50000 vacancies in various government departments in the next few months. This was announced by Governor Satya Pal Malik at a Press Conference held at Raj Bhavan. He urged the youth to come forward and participate actively in this recruitment process as this would be the largest single recruitment drive ever in Jammu & Kashmir or Ladakh.

He further announced that his Government is working with various central agencies to put together a scheme to provide a minimum support price for the apple crop in the state and that NAFED was willing to commit over Rs. 5000 Crores for procuring over 50 percent of apple production of the State. This would benefit over 7 lakh apple farmers.

The Governor also announced that in order to provide relief to the people, it had been decided to open up mobile phones in all 10 districts of Jammu (barring one location) and that mobile phones would also be made functional in the entire revenue district of Kupwara and Handwara Police districts in the Kashmir valley. It may be noted while the Government has already announced opening of landline connections in the Kashmir valley.

Referring to the recent situation in the Valley, the Governor mentioned that a number of

Roadmap to promote tourism in J&K, Ladakh

W

ith eye on developing manpower and promote exchanges between the tourist and the locals in the newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, a special roadmap had been prepared, said Union minister of Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel.

According to Patel, the government plans to rope in locals to promote tourism in the Valley. Under the ‘Bed & Breakfast’ scheme, the government will pay the locals who will offer food and shelter to tourists.

“We will encourage locals to offer lodging facilities at their residences to tourists,” Patel said.

Patel said upgradation of manpower, which would include training guides, asking people to host tourists at their homes in areas where there was shortage of hotels and give them basic training was required to boost tourism in the two new UTs -- J&K and Ladakh.

The ministry also plans to motivate Kashmiri youth to go for online training schemes, which could help them become tourist guides and provide a source of income. “We will primarily focus on upgrading manpower and offer them training facilities in Delhi and J&K as well as online,” Patel said.

Patel said there were no major difference in the plans for Leh and Kashmir.

Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik addresses a press conference in Jammu

important decisions had recently been taken regarding Jammu and Kashmir. He observed that these decisions are historic and will open new vistas for the growth of all three regions – Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh. Governor mentioned that the decisions were taken keeping the interests of the people of Jammu & Kashmir in mind and to ensure that they benefit from the rapid economic growth happening in the rest of the country. He however assured the people that the Government would take every step to ensure that the heritage, language and identity of the region would be preserved and protected and that no assault of any kind would be allowed on its culture.

Governor also announced that restoration of normalcy and deepening of democracy remained the government’s priority and as a first step, elections to Block Development Councils would be conducted and completed before the end of October.

He said that keeping in view the magnitude of the decisions that were taken, it was necessary to ensure that there is no loss of human life and that peace and public order are maintained.

However, there had been a constant endeavour to relax restrictions as quickly as possible and that as of now 81 out of 111 police stations in the Kashmir had already got day time relaxations and further relaxations would be considered in the days to come. He also observed that schools are also being gradually opened up and that over 3000 primary schools and 1000 middle schools are open and efforts would be made to gradually open up more.

The Governor expressed satisfaction that not a single person has died so far in police action in the state and people have been most cooperative and patient. Noting that this was in sharp contrast to earlier disturbances of 2008, 2010 and 2016 where a large number of people had lost their lives the Governor noted that the present situation was the result of the government’s efforts to maintain peace and frustrate the evil forces. He said that all security forces have worked day and night to ensure that normalcy can be gradually restored without causing harm to individuals.

He also cautioned the people to be alert to mischievous and motivated rumours being spread to disturb peace and cause disaffection.

He assured that there are no shortages of medicines in any hospitals or of any other essential

commodity and that the situation was being monitored closely by the Advisors. People were being facilitated in every possible way e.g. by supporting patients in need or by opening airline booking counters at TRC for travellers.

J&K to Host Investors’ Summit

T

he Government would organise the first ever Jammu and Kashmir Investors’ Summit 2019 .

Principal Secretary, Industry & Commerce and Tourism Department, Navin K. Choudhary informed this while interacting with the media fraternity during a press conference at Convention Centre, Jammu.

Navin Choudhary informed that the State Government has decided to organise the first ever J&K Investors’ Summit to attract investments in various sectors of the economy of the state and to showcase Jammu and Kashmir as a favorable investment destination.

The naugural as well as valedictory ceremony is likely to be attended at the highest level of the country besides senior Ministers of the Union Government, various Secretaries to the Government of India, representatives of other State Governments as well as top industrialists and business groups of the country. Besides, there will be wide range of technical sessions covering various sectors of the economy shall also be held.

Choudhary informed that Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has been roped in as the National Partner for the Summit and they will support the State Government by way of making list available of Industry & Trade to be invited, holding road shows both within and outside the country and other organizational aspects of the summit.

It was further informed that the State Government has already hired Ernest &Young (E&Y) as the Knowledge partner and Price Water House Cooper (PWC) as the Media management partner through transparent bidding process. E&Y will be responsible to do the documentation of various policies, secto-

ral policies and other incentives available in the state.

Principal Secretary further informed that Road-shows have been planned within the country at various States including Ahmadabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. In addition, the Road-shows will also be organised in countries like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, Netherlands, Singapore and Malaysia.

He said that the objective of holding these Road-shows is to sensitize the potential investors regarding the opportunities available as well as support and incentives to be provided by the State Government.

The State Government has identified key thrust sectors such as Horticulture & PostHarvest Technologies, Tourism & Hospitality, Film Industry, IT & ITeS, Handloom & Handicraft, Agro & Food Processing, Manufacturing & MSME, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Skills and Education, he said, adding that there would also be Ambassadors’ meet and a Media meet at New Delhi next month to ensure wider participation in the Summit.

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BUSINESS 23

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FPI outflow continues despite surcharge rollback Analysts also noted that foreign investment in the equity segment across the world is drying up as investors are going for safe-haven assets like gold, as against risky assets like equity in times of a global growth slowdown…. Writes RAVI DUTTA MISHRA

D

espite the government rolling back the controversial tax surcharge on Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), the markets have seen continuous selling by FPIs in four out of five stock exchange trading sessions since the Centre’s announcement last month.

Analysts say that growth worries have taken center stage, and with the June quarter GDP growth rate reported at a dismal 5 per cent, the outflow trend in Indian bourses is unlikely to reverse anytime soon.

“FPIs have historically been inclined to the banking and financial sectors, including the NBFC’s, which indicates their bet on India’s overall growth story. This is why we see most inflow, as well as the outflow, in the financials,” said Narendra Solanki, Head Fundamental Research, Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers.

Analysts also noted that foreign investment in the equity segment across the world is drying up as investors are going for safe-haven assets like gold, as against risky assets like equity in times of a global growth slowdown.

An outflow of nearly Rs 3,600 crore has been witnessed from the equity segment, in continuation of the relentless selling trend seen over July-August after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her maiden budget levied the tax surcharge on FPIs. “The pre-Budget position is restored. It is being done to encourage investment in the capital market,” the Sitharaman had said.

Some analysts said that but for the FPI tax rollback, the outflow could have been worse.

The flow of FPIs, also known as “hot money” because of their high

Container Terminus of Container Corporation of India

sensitivity to the extant health of the economy, is closely interlinked with the performance of the Indian stock markets.

Following the FPI tax surcharge announcement on July 5, the Sensex and Nifty fell sharply from their respective lifetime highs owing to

the sharp outflow of foreign funds.

Heavy outflow in a stiff macro-economic scenario has been witnessed earlier during the global financial crisis of 2008, while the most recent one took place in October last year.

Agreeing with Solanki, Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities said:

“Even the announcement of bank consolidation will be a non-event as far as the market is concerned. These steps will take time to show affect.

The growth figures will certainly take a toll on the financial markets.”

Announced on Friday, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of the current fiscal stood at 5 per cent -- at its lowest in over six years.

“India’s real GDP growth clocked an average of 7.7 per cent during 2014-18 and 8 per cent in the first quarter of 2018-19, but it began to shed momentum through the rest of 2018-19.

The year 2018-19 began on a robust note, but it was to be marked by unanticipated swings and turning points that would take their toll on India’s macroeconomic performance,” the Reserve Bank of India said in its annual report last week.

HOW TO SHORE UP GDP? G 10 things Indian government can do to stem the slowdown in economy …. K YATISH RAJAWAT shares some tips

rowth has momentum and slowdown has inertia. The Indian GDP growth has fallen to 5 per cent in the April-June quarter, from 8 per cent. This slowdown can only be reversed if both short-term and long-term reforms are undertaken.

The fall in GDP growth is sudden and dramatic. Till now, while only businesses were talking about the slowdown, it is now a reality for the country. People worry about how bad things are and is this bottom or the beginning of a slowdown.

There is concern about the speed and nature of the government and industry’s response, and will these actions turnaround things immediately, or not.

These concerns and perceptions need answers as they affect consumer confidence and consumption.

Acknowledging the problem is not a sign of weakness or acceptance of any blame. It’s a fact that leadership in the corporate sector has failed to recognize the major transition taking place in their sector that has affected consumer demand.

Sectoral collapse has happened because of poor business decisions in banking, real estate, construction and lately in non-banking finance companies (NBFCs)/housing finance companies (HFCs). Now all these sectors

are looking for stimulus packages to bail them out from their mistakes.

Take the auto sector, for example.

It did not prepare for shifts in consumer behaviour and market needs.

They contribute almost 6 per cent to the GDP and offer employment to 37 million people and are clamouring for stimulus on behalf of their employees.

The stimulus has to be for both employees and corporates. The sector is asking stimulus to protect jobs, but it does not mean it will happen as they move to electric vehicles (EV).

EVs have a fraction of moving parts as compared to an internal combustion engine. The engine and drive line are two crucial components of the internal combustion engine that contribute 50 per cent of the auto component industries’ revenues. The move to EV will disrupt the supply chain of components at one end and maintenance and repair on the other. This needs specific incentives to upskill employees to maintain, repair or make electric vehicles.

Upskilling of mid-level workers is the core component of all sectoral stimulus packages. The disruption in industries is not cyclical or because of economic slowdown. There is a structural shift in many industries because of technology or shift in consumer preferences. Automation is affecting jobs in both manufacturing and

Nirmala Sitharaman

services, which displacement is also affecting the consumption cycle. The stimulus for auto companies has to promote investment. India needs an investment of $40 billion in batteries for EVs. Auto companies can get incentives for making this investment.

They can be incentives to shift existing production lines to electric cars.

These are, however, palliative measures and will not turnaround the economy The bigger issue is revival of consumption demand.

The government has had discussions with several sections of business and economists over the last few weeks. It has plucked out all the prickly issues which created a negative perception and eroded trust. But if a tyre is losing air pressure removing

nails from the road ahead will not stop the air from leaking. Action has to inspire confidence among consumers to spend and for industry to invest. Removing taxation on foreign portfolio investor and other prickly issues is a hygiene factor. It shows the government is correcting mis-steps faster.

Addressing it within a week, which the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did shows the speed of response.

This is important as it will bring back the confidence in the industry, investors and market. But the confidence to spend or even pay EMIs has to be restored. It is equally important to set the right expectations for a return to normalcy or a turnaround in growth.

The massive mandate this government received shows the expectation of the common man. Not setting the expectation right or distorting the timelines will not serve to inspire consumer confidence. People are pragmatic and patient if they understand the time it will take to come out of the current situation. They know there are no shortcuts out of slowdowns.

The current initiatives are either short-term measures or long-term reforms. The consolidation of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) announced on August 30, falls into the latter category. It will not turnaround the banking sector, ease the credit flow or even improve the transmission of interest cuts

-- the three most important problems contributing to the slowdown. The consolidation will take time.

The consolidation of the PSBs is a structural reform much needed, long overdue and may reduce the recapitalisation requirements. The governance reforms will improve the process of supervision, hiring and compensation.

It will not change the credit evaluation, disbursement and monitoring of loans, which is the core problem in PSBs. The culture of poor evaluation of borrowers and lack of risk mitigation has contributed to the non-performing asset (NPA) mess in the PSBs. This culture cannot vanish overnight as it’s entrenched in processes and behaviour. Banking leadership can use the disruption to overhaul the culture and build a new system and processes. If they get sucked into the merger and take their eyes off credit growth, customer retention, their merged entity will be weaker than the sum of the parts. Both merger and governance reforms were important but are obviously not sufficient from the slowdown point of view.

To kick-start the consumption cycle money has to go into the common man’s pocket. This can happen by reducing income tax for the lowest slab, as recommended by the Direct Tax Code report.

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GANESHA GOES GREEN WAY

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Mumbai gears up for ϔirst giant eco-friendly Ganpati idol…. Writes QUAID NAJMI

or the first time in the 126year history of sarvajanik (public) Ganeshotsav celebrations, a prominent association will unveil gigantic ‘ecofriendly’ idol of Lord Ganesha.

The 22x19 feet idol, with Lord Ganesha shown in a gentle, but striking, sitting pose, was commissioned by the Tejukaya Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Trust (TSGT), in the Lalbaug area.

“After a lot of deliberations, we decided to forego the regular inexpensive Plaster of Paris (PoP) idol in favour of an eco-friendly one this year. We expect it to be a trend-setter and shall continue to make only ecofriendly idols henceforth,” said TSGT Vice-President Ashish C. Rampure.

The approximately 1.20 tonne idol has been designed and crafted by legendary artist Rajan Zad, known for making huge idols for different organisations across Maharashtra.

“Initially, he made a clay mould of the Tejukayacha Raja Ganesh idol and then covered that with papier mâché, a sticky mixture comprising ordinary paper mixed with either flour or glue or water.

“Then the idol took shape with several layers of papier mâché to make it a solid structure. It’s stone-

hard but can easily dissolve in water, barely within an hour,” Rampure said.

However, the idol cost went up to Rs 12,00,000, against the normal Rs 400,000 for a regular clay idol of this size. The rise in cost is also attributed to total absence of clay moulds in the market for making eco-friendly Ganesh idols, and the long time taken to dry it, according to Zad. After the idol was dried, it was painted with natural water colours to

bring out the magical qualities of the Lord Ganesha.

The idol will be unveiled on Monday, the first day of the 10-day festival of Ganeshotsav across Maharashtra and other parts of India.

Another speciality of the TSGT idol is it’s ‘manually immersed’ instead of sliding it of rails in the Arabian Sea off Girgaum Chowpatty on Anant Chaturdashi, the final day of the festival that falls on September

12 this year. “After careful planning, the idol is transported in a truck to the beach-front. From there, around 350-400 trained volunteers join hands to carry the idol on shoulders, right into the water where it’s gently immersed,” said Rampure.

The BrihanMumbai Sarvanajik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS) chief Naresh Dahibhavkar termed the TSGT’s efforts as “nothing short of revolutionary”.

“Along with the government, we have also been appealing associations to switch to eco-friendly idols to protect seas, rivers, lakes, ponds, wells and other water bodies. We are happy that TSGT has taken this step, which will inspire other associations,” Dahibhavkar told IANS. However, the Lalbaug-cha Raja Sarvanjik Ganeshotsav Mandal (LRSGM), which hosts the worldfamous ‘Lalbaug-cha Raja’, has no immediate plans to switch to the ecofriendly idol. “We are entering the 86th year of celebrations this year, and we shall continue with the traditional PoP idols,” said LRSGM chief Balasaheb Kamble.

Nevertheless, organisers of the Lalbaug-cha Raja create ecology awareness. Its 2018 celebration theme was ‘save the evironment’ and it includes a lot of eco-friendly measures during the celebrations.

According to idol-makers, roughly one-third of idols sold are made of eco-friendly materials, and it is increasing every year as awareness and concern for environment deepens.

Dahibhavkar is hopeful that taking a cue from TSGT, other mandals that display mega-idols, would be inspired to switch over to eco-friendly idols from next year.

Mrs Kapoor’s Daughter’s Wedding Returns Back by Popular Demand! Bollywood-inspired Stage Spectacle, Mrs Kapoor’s Daughter’s Wedding, launches second UK Tour …. Reports Asian Lite News

B

ack by popular demand, following its sell-out UK tour earlier this year, Bollywood-inspired, British Asian stage spectacle, Mrs Kapoor’s Daughter’s Wedding, is back for extended dates as part of its second tour of 2019, once again entertaining audiences young and old with an intimate invite into a typical Asian household as it prepares for a wedding in the family, with all the Bollywood trimmings.

Hailed one of the best British Asian theatre productions of recent years, championed by audiences and critics alike, Mrs Kapoor’s Daughter’s Wedding returns for three, further UK tour dates in London, Bradford and Leicester, following its unprecedented popularity.

Uniting onstage YouTube sensation Parle Patel; West End singer Shahid Abbas Khan; and singer Drupti Vaja, Mrs Kapoor’s Daugh-

ter’s Wedding is a laugh out loud, ticulously transferred from home to comedy-dance production for a fam- stage. ily audience that follows the life of The production is packed with Mrs Kapoor, played by Parle Patel, cultural reference points and nuances, bursting with colour, energy and live comedy sketches that will resonate with audiences of all ages. Bollywood dancing that showcases the craft of AK Bollywood dancers is harmonised with live singing, a fashion show and Rhythm ‘n’ Bass dhol players to create a stage extravaganza unique to the who is mother to five daughters, one UK stage.

Mrs Kapoor’s Daughter’s Wedof whom is getting married.

Audiences are taken on a ka- ding is written, directed and choleidoscopic journey in true Bolly- reographed by Archana Kumar, Winwood style, with hearty measures ner, UK Battle of Bollywood; and of romance, drama, comedy and ac- Founder, AK Productions and AK tion, through the highs and lows of a Bollywood Dance. The production is typical Asian wedding, from the first a collaboration between AK Producfamily arguments to the emotional tions and AK Bollywood Dance that witnessing of the couple’s first dance. will tour a team of 35 dancers, actors, Mrs Kapoor’s Daughter’s Wedding singers, dhol (drum) players and propresents the rollercoaster melodrama duction staff. The dancers originate of the big, fat Indian wedding, me- from the London-based AK Bolly-

wood Dance group that have featured in Bollywood productions such as the 2018 film release Namastey England as well as at major events in and around the Capital such as Diwali on the Square, held by the Mayor of London in London’s Trafalgar Square.

TOUR VENUES AND DATES Sunday 15th September: Watford Colosseum (Matinee Performance: 1.30pm; Evening Performance: 6.30pm) - Watford Colosseum - Box Office: 01923 571 102

Saturday 21st September: St George’s Hall Bradford (Matinee Performance: 2.30pm) St George’s Hall Bradford – Box Office: 01274 432 000 Sunday 22nd September: Leicester Haymarket (Matinee Performance: 1.30pm; Evening Performance: 6.30pm) Leicester Haymarket Theatre – Box Office: 0116 296 1236 Website and Ticket Purchase: www.mkdw.co.uk

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WOMAN 25 ASIAN LITE HEALTH

SEPTEMBER I 2019 Website: www.asianlite.com Email: newsdesk@asianlite.com

70-90% of Indians are Vitamin D deficient

A

new study revealed that 70-90 per cent of Indians are Vitamin D deficient and this condition was significantly associated with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

This finding by P.G. Talwalkar, Diabetologist at Shushrusha Hospital in Mumbai, further confirms that Vitamin D deficiency leads to chronic diseases.

“Pregnant women in India have up to 84 per cent prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency, which also correlates with the level of Vitamin D deficiency in their newborns,” said Srirupa Das, Medical Director, Abbott India, Mumbai.

“In adults, Vitamin D deficiency is as-

sociated with low bone mass and muscle weakness, which results in increased risk of fractures and bone disorders such as osteoporosis,” Das said.

In the study conducted on 1,508 individual, researchers said that in Mumbai there is 88 per cent prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency in urban adults.

It also revealed that 84.2 per cent of Type 2 diabetes patients were Vitamin D deficient, as were 82.6 per cent of hypertension patients.

“Our study also investigated co-occurrence of deficiency with hypothyroidism and obesity or overweight condition. A majority (76 per cent) of hypothyroid patients had low

levels of vitamin D. Moreover, 82 per cent of patients were obese, indicating that there may be a link between the deficiency, its comorbidities and body weight,” said Talwalkar. d “These findings highlight the need for routine screening to ensure early diagnosis in D deand effective management of Vitamin ficiency to help reduce the burden and risks associated with non-communicable disease,” Talwalkar added. ncy in a The causes of Vitamin D deficiency sun-drenched country like India are manifold, said the researchers. quate exMost people do not receive adequate

MOST INDIANS FEEL napping may improve R

posure to sunlight, as modernised lifestyles have resulted in less time spent outdoors for work or leisure.

Moreover, high levels of air pollution can hamper Vitamin D absorption in the skin.

This is why lean people get fatty liver disease

WORK PRODUCTIVITY

A

new survey found that most Indians felt napping at work might improve productivity, adding that a nap room could contribute towards better workflow.

For the results, Wakefit.co, an online sleep solutions start-up, conducted a nation-wide survey to emphasise the importance of sleep wellness in the workplace.

The ‘Right to Work Naps’ survey, conducted with over 1,500 respondents, showed that a 70 per cent of people did

not have a nap room at their workplaces and 86 per cent of the respondents confirmed that a nap room would definitely help improve overall productivity at work.

The research revealed that 41 per cent of the people surveyed suffered from irregular sleep patterns because of workrelated stress and working late at night.

“Given the rising sleep-related issues in our country, we felt it was imperative for us to take action and encourage cor-

porates and employees to rally for nap rooms at their workspaces,” said Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, co-founder and Director of Wakefit.co.

The survey also found that constant state of work anxiety hampered 31 per cent people’s sleep at night, while almost 20 per cent respondents felt sleepy at work all the time and 51 per cent were drowsy most of the time.

The Great Indian Sleep Scorecard 2019, Wakefit’s annual sleep survey, validated this, by revealing that 80 per cent of people felt sleepy at work one to three days a week.

The research shows that one in four respondents felt commuting to work hampered their sleep patterns the most.

While coffee or tea continued to be the popular choices to ward off sleep, there seemed to be a rising awareness towards the need for an active lifestyle.

According to the survey, 33 per cent of people wanted their companies to get a nap room to increase focus on work wellness Research has found that taking a nap for 20-30 minutes increases short term alertness among people. While nutrition and exercise are popular work wellness themes around the world, nap room installation can ensure that sleep its due credit in companies’ employee wellness programmes.

In light of these findings, Wakefit’s ‘Right to Work Naps’ initiative aims to highlight the positive impact of sleep wellness in employees’ health, well-being and productivity at work.

esearchers have discovered how fatty liver disease develops in lean people, aiding the development of potential treatments for these patients.

“Lean fatty liver patients have a very distinct metabolism compared to non-lean ones, which can explain some of the differences we see in disease progression,” said Jacob George, Professor at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research in Australia.

Fatty liver disease - a condition characterised by a build-up of fat in the liver - affects a quarter of the world’s population.

Although it commonly develops in overweight and obese people, many individuals with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of less than 25kg/m2 develop the disease and tend to have worse outcomes compared to obese patients.

During the study, researchers compared the metabolism, gut bacteria and genetic profiles of patients with lean and nonlean fatty liver disease to determine factors that contribute to disease development and progression.

Compared to non-lean patients, lean patients had higher levels of bile acids, which play a role in the digestion of fats, and a protein called fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19).

According to the study published in the Journal of Hepatology, Bile acids and FGF19 increase energy expenditure, which can explain why lean individuals with fatty liver disease stay lean.

This suggests that lean patients with a fatty liver may have an ‘obesity-resistant’ profile and better adaptation to an excess intake of calories.

“We also identified changes in particular gut bacteria and novel genes that can influence the development of fatty liver disease in lean patients. For example, we identified that a variant in the gene TM6SF2, previously linked to fatty liver disease, is more common in lean patients,” said co-lead researcher Mohammed Eslam.

Without treatment, fatty liver disease can result in liver scarring, liver cirrhosis and, in severe cases, liver failure.

“The metabolic adaptive mechanisms in lean fatty liver disease tend to be lost in the late stages of the disease. This could explain why these patients have worse disease outcomes compared to their obese counterparts,” Eslam said.

26 ASIAN LITE BOOKS

SEPTEMBER I 2019 Website: www.asianlite.com Email: newsdesk@asianlite.com

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Dalrymple Digs Out Company’s History The Anarchy - The East India Company, Corporate Violence, And The Pillage Of An Empire” - The East India Company today remains history’s most ominous warnings about the potential for the abuse of corporate power -- and the insidious means by which the interests of shareholders can seemingly become those of the state. For, as recent American adventures in Iraq have shown, our world is far from post-imperial, and quite probably will never be…. Writes Vishnu Makhijani

H

istorian, writer, art curator, as also an awardwinning broadcaster and critic, William Dalrymple has quite exceeded himself with his latest book. The towering 522-page tome, which was in the making for six painstaking years, thoroughly dissects the machinations of the East India Company (EIC) that began as a trader but gradually became an occupying power before it was cut to size -but exists even today, owned by two brothers from Kerala “who use it to sell ‘condiments and fine foods’ from a showroom in London’s West End”.

“The East India Company today remains history’s most ominous warnings about the potential for the abuse of corporate power -- and the insidious means by which the interests of shareholders can seemingly become those of the state. For, as recent American adventures in Iraq have shown, our world is far from post-imperial, and quite probably will never be.

Instead, the Empire is transforming itself into forms of global power

R

ead about the diehards in the e-commerce space who refused to give up even as the world was crashing around them; next, relive the battles of the Kargil war that gave new meaning to the concept of grit and determination; and finally, look at political issues through a turbulent mother-daughter relationship. There’s much food for thought the Asian Lite Bookshelf has to offer this weekend. Time to sharpen your knowledge!

1. Book: How I Almost Blew It; Author: Sidharth Rao; Publisher: Westland; Pages: 298 Most revolutionary entrepreneurs ran back to the hills and never came back after the dot-com crash of 2000.

“But the few who stuck their necks made terrific comebacks four to five years later when, fuelled by a new optimism, venture capital firms started setting-up in India again,” Rao, himself an angel investor and co-founder of Webchutney, now rechristened Dentsu Webchutney, writes.

“The hundreds of millions of dollars that were pouring in turned almost every high-net-worth individual into an ‘angel’. Youngsters - as fresh as hot bricks from a kiln - were raising money from investors who had missed the bus earlier,” Rao adds.

2. Book: The Kargil Victory -

that use campaign contributions and commercial lobbying, multinational finance systems and global markets, corporate influence and the predictive data harvesting of the new surveillance --capitalism rather than -- or sometimes alongside -- overt military conquest, occupation or direct economic domination to effect its ends.

“Four hundred and twenty years after its founding, the story of the East India Company has never been more current,” Dalrymple writes in “The Anarchy - The East India Company, Corporate Violence, And The Pillage Of An Empire” (Bloomsbury).

To explain the “loot”, the Hindustani slang for plunder and one of the very first Indian words to enter the

English l a n guage, the author graphically transports the reader to the 13th century Powis Castle, a craggy fort in the Welsh Marches, which houses the treasures that Robert Clive brought home from India.

“For Powis is simply awash with loot from India, room after room of imperial plunder extracted by the East India Company in the 18th century. There are more Mughal artefacts stacked in this private house in the Welsh countryside than are on display in any one place in India -- even the National Museum in Delhi,” Dalrymple writes.

Battles From Peak To Peak; Author: Colonel S.C. Tyagi (retd); Publisher: Speaking Tiger; Pages: 166 What makes this book a standout is that it is a clinical account of the various battles that took place between May 3 and July 26, 1999, as the Indian Army moved to evict Pakistani soldiers disguised as militants who had occupied the icy heights along the Line of Control in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

“There are many stories of bravery and courage from the war but it is not easy to compile all of them in just one book. After a period of two decades, the present younger generation needs to be reminded of the tales

ASIAN LITE BOOK-SHELF

of bravery of the warriors in Kargil to inspire and motivate them. This account of the Kargil war is an effort towards that direction,” Colonel Tyagi writes.

3. Book: The Parrot Green Sari; Author: Nabaneeta Dev Sen (Translated from Bengali by Tutun Mukherjee); Publisher: Thornbird/ Niyogi Books; Pages: 127 The works of Nabaneeta Dev

Sen, one of the prominent Bengali litterateurs of our times with more than 80 books to her name, reflect her intellection on an amazing array of social, political and psychological topics under different genres.

This is more than evident in “The Parrot Green Sari”, the last of her Naxal triology after “I, Anupam” and “In a Foreign Land, By Chance”.

4. Book: Transforming Systems - Why the World Needs a New Ethical Toolkit; Author: Arun Maira; Publisher: Rupa; Pages: 221 “The Sustainable Development Goals which citizens of all the countries are aspiring for, form a stage in the larger story of humanity... (but) the world is changing very fast because of humanity’s own actions, such as the development of new digital technologies and artificial intelligence,” writes the multi-talented Arun Maira, a former member of the Planning Commission (2009-14) who was with the Tata Group for 25 years and was also Chairman of the Boston Consulting Group, India.

“I hope the ideas in this book will be useful for readers who intend to make the world better for everyone and wish to find more purpose in

He then provides a fresh perspective.

“We still talk about the British conquering India, but that phrase disguises a more sinister reality. It was not the British government that began seizing great chunks in India in the mid-18th century, but a dangerously unregulated private company headquartered in one small office, five windows wide, in London, and managed in India by a violent, utterly ruthless and intermittently mentally unstable corporate predator -- (Robert) Clive.

India’s transition to colonialism took place under a for-profit corporation entirely for the purpose of enriching its investors,” the book says.

“The Company’s conquest of India almost certainly remains the supreme act of corporate violence in world history. For all the power wielded today by the world’s largest corporations -- whether ExxonMobil, Walmart or Google -- they are tame beasts compared with the ravaging territorial appetites of the militarised East India Company.”

The Company had been author-

ised by its founding charter to ‘wage war’ and had been using violence to gain its ends since it boarded and captured a Portuguese vessel on its maiden voyage in 1602. Moreover, it had controlled small areas since the 1630s.

Nevertheless, the defeat of Mughal emperor Shah Alam in 1765 “was really the moment that the East India Company ceased to be anything even distantly resembling a conventional trading corporation, dealing in silks and spices, and became something altogether much more unusual”.

“Within a few months, 250 company clerks, backed by the military force of 20,000 locally recruited Indian soldiers, had become the effective rulers of the richest Mughal provinces. An international corporation was in the process of transforming itself into an aggressive colonial power.”

By 1803, when its private army had grown to nearly 200,000 men, twice the size of the British army, “it had swiftly subdued or directly seized an entire subcontinent. Astonishingly, this took less than half a century.

their own lives,” Maira writes. It’s a book that could well become a Bible soon.

5. Book: Burnout - Beat Fatigue To Thrive In An Overworked World; Publisher: Penguin; Pages: 298 Remember these lines by Welsh poet William Henry Davies: “What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.”

It’s all about burnouts. “Though beating burnouts requires a deliberate and collaborative effort, where the individual, organisation and society have to come together to achieve this common goal, the primary onus still rests on you: the individual,” writes senior psychologist and business

6. Book: Blue Is Like Blue; Author: Vinod Kumar Shukla (Translated from Hindi by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra & Sara Rai); Publisher: Harper Collins; Pages: 168 Vinod Kumar Shukla, one of the finest living writers in Hindi and one of the few truly original imaginations in world literature, has been quietly forging his own idiosyncratic path away from the public gaze in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

That is all set to change with “Blue Is Like Blue”, the first-ever translation into English of his short stories that deal with “smaller-thanlife” people who live in India’s smalltowns -- their lives and experiences, their small joys and sorrows.

They live in rented accommodation, often in single rooms, where one electric bulb does for light. When the light dims because of low voltage, it is like air escaping from a punctured bicycle tube.

There’s a nail to hang clothes from and a wall-to-wall string for the washing. When the clothes are dry, you place the carefully folded shirt under a pillow and lie down to sleep.

Money is a concern, but the bazaar is the place to go and spend time in, especially if you have nothing to buy. The fear that you may be overcharged accompanies every transaction, but joy is not entirely absent.

leader Anju Jain who has worked in India, Singapore and the US helping countless individuals counter stress.

“Ultimately, you have the choice to prevent burnouts, beat it or remained burned out.

“Take the challenge and become obsessive about the well-being of you and others,” Jain commands.

So, read the book and take the challenge.

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FEATURE 27

SEPTEMBER I 2019 Website: www.asianlite.com Email: newsdesk@asianlite.com

Meet Mr Uri

BY DURGA CHAKRAVARTY

A

ctor Vicky Kaushal, who has tasted the highs of high in a career just spanning four years, admits that being an actor comes with its share of insecurities, but it is a human thing that should be embraced.

“Of course (being an actor comes with insecurities), and it is a very human thing. Everyone feels insecurity and in this profession you get so much love that the stakes of insecurities become higher. Several ‘what ifs’ creep in because nothing is permanent. No success or failure is permanent. No good or bad time is permanent. So, it leads to insecurities,” Vicky told IANS in a telephonic chat from Mumbai.

The actor says it is important to be surrounded by people who know you for the person you are.

“For me, it is important to surround myself with people who know me for the human being I am and not the actor. I am with my family and I am very close to my college friends. I get my grounding from them. So they help me be secure and help me be in touch with who I am,” he said.

“Without success or failure that the person that I am... But I think insecurities are a very human things and we should embrace them and live through it and flush them out. Live

them and flush them out as they will teach you things.”

Vicky’s filmography is loaded with hits each different from one another. He ventured into the world of acting in 2015 with the critically acclaimed film “Masaan” and was later seen in successful movies like “Raazi”, “Sanju”, “Manmarziyaan” and “Uri: The Surgical Strike”, which earned him a National Award for Best Actor.

Asked if he feels pressure with so many hopes riding on him, Vicky said: “Of course there is pressure. But it is a healthy pressure.

It is a pressure that I am craving for and I have been wanting. When you begin, when you give auditions and struggle and looking for opportunities that time you think that people believe in you and give you more responsibilities and they give you more work.

This is what you were looking for when you started.”

The 31-year-old star says he has “lived many years of struggle” and is now welcoming the pressure with open arms.

“Now (when I am ) getting this pressure, I don’t take it it in a negative way. Instead I welcome it, and I really like this pressure because I have worked hard to get this pressure (on me). So, this pressure will bring out the best in me. I will do something because of the pressure and it will be at least good work,” he

said. After his is last release “Uri” recorded blockbuster ckbuster returns and also won him m a National Award as Best Actor, Vicky is currently seen in the music video “Pachtaoge” with actress Nora Fatehi. How does he see the trend of filmstars branching into music videos? deos?

“I am a nineties kid and back in thosee days we used sed to o wait for these se mu-sic videos. The culture of indiediepop brought ght music videos. os.

Even today, y, when I watch ch these music I get a smile on my face, I did ePachtaoge’ for the love of being a nineties es kid and for or those chilldren who o cannot see those music videos,” he said.

‘CONTENT IS KING

but stars add values’ T

hese days, content, more than a films star, mostly draws people to the theatres, feels veteran producSajid Nadiadwala. er Saj ““The audience has changed. Earlier, there used to be undying fans.

If an a actor became ill or injured, fans would commit suicide by setting fire on themselves or jumping off off.. I remember I had been to Bangalore galo when Amit ji (Amitabh Bachchan) chan was injured. People went into mourning. mourn They broke bangles, stood in long queues outside temples to pray for him him. Even Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai Mumba was shut. But today content is the king king. People are going for content, the audie audience wants this change,” Nadiadwala said said.

He added: “Earlier, they (actors) a would have ha a starry image. That would not work now. Today the audience wants chilled-out chilled-ou and relaxed guys. Ayushmann (Khurrana) (Khurrana is working big time. Look at every actor acto of these days, there is no extra

charisma off screen. If you have great content, if you are nice with the media, the audience and your fans, that works. The attitude and arrogance of that generation wouldn’t work now.”

Nadiadwala, who has traditionally worked with big stars and mega budgets, has now produced a relatively modest film, “Chhichhore”.

Talking about “Chhichhore,” he said: lWe had discussed this film before “Dangal” and started working on it after the release of “Dangal”. Today I can happily say that it is one of my finest products till date. The audience will be surprised after watching the film because the trailer does not give away even five percent of the story.”

Although Nadiadwala acknowledges the growing importance of content-driven commercial cinema as “Chhichhore”, he points out in the same breath that star power is not fading away.

“Star power ensures a film opens well (at the box office). Star power opened a (film like) “Mission Mangal”. It has done (business worth) Rs 200 crore. So, star power is always there,” he said.

He recalled the days when today’s superstars like Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan were struggling to craft a position for themselves in the industry.

Nadiadwala, who has produced some of Salman’s early movies like “Jeet,” “Judwaa,” and “Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega,” and hits like “Mujhse Shaadi Karogi” and “Jaan-E-Maan,” which starred Salman with Akshay, said: “I have always made films with actors who became superstars. Akshay’s (Kumar) first or second film was mine. We met in school, then in college and then in our struggling days.

There were many films with Salman (Khan), too. Eventually, they became stars.”

Nadiadwala’s upcoming biggies include the Salman-starrer “KIck 2”, and Housefull 4,” starring Akshay Kumar. He also produces “83”, about India’s 1983 World Cup win, starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone.

For now, however, Nadiadwala is gearing up for the September 6 release of “Chhichhore”. The film stars Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Prateik Babbar, Tahir Raj Bhasin and Naveen Polishetty in key roles.

28 CINEMA

SEPTEMBER I 2019 Website: www.asianlite.com Email: newsdesk@asianlite.com

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Stars turn investment savvy

BY VINOD MIRANI

N

o more living for the present. A bungalow in Bandra and Juhu in Mumbai, a horde of friends every evening to enjoy the flow of free Scotch and to think that this is the way life is going to span out is pass. This is how a lot of stars lived over the years.

It was said that the popularity of a star was measured by the amount of footwear outside his Darbar (sitting room) and further confirmed by the number of bouquets he/she received on a birthday or when the star’s film was released.

The result was that a lot of these old time artistes rose to the highest pedestals of stardom, had the best of everything for a while but died in penury! The footwear/footfalls at the Darbar in the heydays were missing at the star’s funeral procession. Shatrughan Sinha, who was the lone known star to attend the funeral of the once Golden Jubilee star, Bharat Bhushan, observed that no one except him from the film industry attended the funeral.

It seems, the bouquets and footwear were temporary indicators of popularity.

Stardom is just a phase in an actor’s life; does not last forever. A few make the transition from stardom to character roles and manage to sustain, though not as gloriously. Well, the stars in those days were not quite prepared for the days ahead, the what-if days. These stars, probably, never thought of investing for a lifetime of returns.

The usual practice to survive when the bad days caught up was to sell the bungalow, move to a luxurious flat and, later, sell this flat and go middleclass. This happened with Bharat Bhushan who had given some of the biggest hits of his time in Baiju Bawra, Barsaat Ki Raat and Basant Bahar. Meena Kumari, for instance, also had to move from a bungalow to an apartment and, even that was sold for a pittance to recover

her income tax dues. Raj Kapoor faced setbacks with a couple of films he produced. And, finally, for Bobby, which launched Rishi Kapoor, he had to stake his life’s earning, RK Studio, because even his regular distributors had deserted him.

Fortunately, for all concerned, the film clicked.

Not so long ago, Amitabh Bachchan faced a problem going on the verge of bankruptcy as he formed a company to indulge in film production and related business. Luckily for him, he survived that and a new glorious chapter started in his life.

There were many such instances with lead stars as well as with the second rung actors.

But, there were a few others who were wise with their money. Ashok Kumar was known to invest wisely and so was Rajendra Kumar. The stock market meant a long-term investment in those days; more about regular dividends and less about trading. Also, the knowledge of the market was limited. Real estate was the thing.

Rajendra Kumar built a preview theatre and a couple of other facilities and so did Sunil Dutt within their premises. Rajesh Khanna invested in real estate and a hotel in the South. Sadly for him, he was not very aware of where his money was invested. Even those, who formed partnerships with him in film production or distribution were not always honest.

Wiser sense prevailed with the stars who followed. The smartest during the time was Jeetendra. He, probably, never liked to keep his money idle. He even loved to discuss it and was not above asking a journalist earning a thousand

or two what he thought of certain shares like Orkay since he had a few crores to invest! He also invested in the distribution of films along with his brother-in-law, Ramesh Sippy. Jeetendra decided to invest in a posh bungalow in Hyderabad since most of the time his films were remakes of Telugu films and he had to stay there in hotel rooms for long times.

But, for one thing, Jeetendra was not greedy and was practical. After a few hits of his South remakes in Hindi, he was offered a raise in his remuneration by his producers. To their chagrin, Jeetendra refused saying, “A couple of hits and you want to pay me more. But, if I deliver a flop or two, things will be different as the producers won’t find my price viable.” But, he did not pass up the opportunity totally. He suggested that they may pass on that benefit to his distribution firm which bought the rights of all his films.

Dharmendra had set up a state-of-the-art recording studio along with a preview theatre at a prime Juhu location. The Khan Brothers, Feroz and Sanjay, were more into owning race horses. Most of the actors may be investing here and there but their main attraction was always related to films. Vinod Khanna too decided to open his own distribution office, later venturing into film production. Mithun Chakraborty had built a couple of five star hotels in Ooty and also shifted his base to Ooty. Jackie Shroff was a stakeholder in Sony Entertainment Television when the company made its entry into India.

Coming to the new generation of actors, they know their priorities. Most of them are very well educated -- male and female both.

Of course, since many or most of them come from outside Mumbai, their first priority is to buy a house. But, as they start earning enough money to feel secure, they venture out to invest whatever surplus they hold. The actors today know that a place in the sun has its expiry date and they always have a Plan B ready. But, the problem with this generation is, they follow the

LESSON FROM SAXENA Dulhan wali feeling

A

ctress Janhvi Kapoor, who will be seen essaying the role of Indian Air Force combat pilot Gunjan Saxena in “The Kargil Girl”, says the latter has taught her the true meaning of bravery.

Gunjan, who was the first woman to fly the combat aviator into a war zone during the Kargil War of 1999, turned a year older on Saturday.

Wishing the pilot on her birthday, Janhvi took to Instagram and wrote: “ Happy Birthday Gunjan mam! Thank you for teaching me the true meaning of bravery, the importance of working hard and sincerely and for paving the way for millions of women in our country.

“You’re an inspiration and a

A

hero, without ever having tried to be.

Your story has helped me believe in myself, and hopefully will help others too.”

Along with the post, she posted a photograph in which she can be seen posing and sharing smiles with Gunjan.

“The Kargil Girl” is directed by Sharan Sharma. It will release on March 13, 2020.

ctress Alia Bhatt on Saturday surprised her fans with her bridal look.

The “Raazi” actress posted a couple of photographs from an ad shoot on Instagram in which she is seen dressed as a bride.

Donning a red lehnga, Alia looks graceful in the pictures.

She completed her look with an emerald necklace and subtle make-up.

“Dulhan wali feeeling,” she captioned the images.

Netizens are going gaga over Alia’s wedding look from the advertisement.

Many users commented “Ranbir ki dulhan” on the pictures.

“Ranbir dulhan lejayenge,” a user wrote.

Alia is in a relationship with actor Ranbir Kapoor. Earlier this year, a lot of rumours were doing the rounds on the Internet that Ranbir and Alia Bhatt plan to get married at the beautiful Lake Como -- just like Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone.

But in an earlier interview to IANS, Alia’ mother Soni Razdan denied them saying ,”It is totally baseless”.

trend. They go with whatever is hot and in news.

For instance, many actors ran to Gujarat holding meetings with the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and eventually investing in Wind Power or some such project. Then, the attention shifted to start-pps -- the reigning watchword in the market. And, that is where a lot of money is going.

While almost all actors, male as well as female, have film production houses usually making films in joint ventures, the other preferred business seems to be restaurants. Dino Morea was one of the firsts to start a restaurant while also being associated with fitness activities for the public. Sonu Sood has set up a chain of restaurants while Arjun Rampal is into owning pubs. Shah Rukh Khan has a top rated VFX set up besides owning an IPL team, Kolkata Knight Riders, along with Juhi Chawla. Preity Zinta also owns a stake in the IPL team Kings XI Punjab. Ajay Devgn has invested in a VFX unit as well as a cinema chain, NY Cinemas, which already has nine cinemas in operation with another dozen in the offing as per the company’s website. Hrithik Roshan has set up his own fashion label, HRX, besides investing into real estate. Similarly, Akshay Kumar is also reported to be more inclined towards real estate.

John Abraham has some stake in the construction business. Aamir Khan is involved with the furniture brand, Furlenco. Suniel Shetty is heavily into digital domain and also owns a talent management company.

Anushka Sharma has ventured into fashion with her own label, Nush. Deepika Padukone is also an active investor betting on multiple enterprises. She co-owns a fashion label, All About You, with Myntra. Her other investments are Furlenco, a furniture company, and a beauty products label, Purplle and the latest being yogurt brand, Epigamia.

(Vinod Mirani is a veteran film writer and box office analyst. The views expressed are personal)

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DISNEY turns older, bolder, and more mature

BY SUGANDHA RAWAL

T

he Walt Disney Company is rebuilding its kingdom by introducing bolder icons, diverse storylines and embracing innovative technology.

The idea is to weave all of it to weave a timeless entirety that accommodates tastes of children as well as adults.

Comicbook superheroes, new arrivals in the Disney zone, would make you do a rethink if you still hold onto the notion that the studio is only all about children’s funfare.

From introducing the first Muslim superhero with Ms Marvel to adding power of She-Hulk and Moon Knight to its slate to teasing fans with zombie Captain America, the recent D23 Expo gave a sneak peek into Disney’s plan to expand into a territory one never quite associated with the studio.

There’s more. Disney will facilitate Peggy Carter’s picking up the shield to become Captain America and Wakanda king T’Challa becoming Star Lord in “What If...?”, as well as the action-packed avatar of “Black Widow”. Experiments you never associated with Disney are also in the offing - for instance, the idea to blend the style of classic sitcom with “WandaVision”.

Not to forget the ongoing tussle between Disney and Sony over Spider-Man. “We have completely reorganised and repositioned the company for the future,” said Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger as he got on the stage to host the 2019 Disney Legends Award ceremony in Anaheim last week.

He was signalling at the acquisition of 21st Century Fox and upcoming streaming plat-

form Disney+. “This is an extraordinary time for our company. An era of sweeping and profound change, not just for our company but for the entertainment world. Some find the pace of change daunting, frankly we find it exhilarating.

It inspires us to be more innovative and raise the bar higher...There has never been a better time to be a Walt Disney Company,” Iger said.

It is important to note that Iger has been driving the change for the company, founded in 1923 by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney. He joined the company in October 2005, and since then has sealed landmark deals by acquiring Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox. After enjoying a successful decade with kiddie entertainers including “The Lion King”, “Aladdin”, “Pocahontas”, “Lilo And Stitch”, and also reaching out to young adults with stuff like “Pirates Of The Caribbean”, Disney struggled to find pace due to setbacks that came with “The Country Bears”, “Snow Dogs” and “HomeOn The Range”. That’s actually when the wave of reinvention swept into the company.

The Disney family expanded with mergers, which sometimes introduced new worlds, and sometimes took the audience to faraway galaxies (the “Star Wars” universe).

The company acquired fictional universes that would let it expand its content base in all directions, to chart a greater success story. New characters also allowed fresh opportunity to set up new theme parks, launch new merchandise and chart new terrain in the gaming arena.

Since the beginning, Disney was a place for children -- thanks to its animated projects. Disneyland brought together the kids with the older generation by offering a ride into their fantasti-

Key to successful marriage is respect: Eva Longoria

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ctress Eva Longoria says that being supportive of each other, respect and being able to “dream bigger” as a couple makes for marital bliss.

“It’s respect. When I was younger it was so much about what I needed to accomplish, and I’ve accomplished so much already that I can really sit back now and enjoy the success and continue to dream bigger with a partner,” Longoria, who is divorced twice and tied the knot with husband Jose ‘Pepe’ Baston in May 2016, told Stellar magazine.

Longoria was previously married to actor Tyler Christopher between 2002 and 2004 and basketball player Tony Parker from 2007 until 2011, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She had earlier gushed about how being married to Pepe is “the best” thing to have happened to her. “(Married life) is better than I could ever have imagined it to be. I don’t think I could love another human as much as I love Pepe.

I’m obsessed. I talk about him a hundred times a day! He’s the best,” The 44-year-old actress had said.

The actress became a mother for the first time 13 months ago when she and the 51-year-old Mexican businessman welcomed their son Santiago into the world, and has said she has no regrets about waiting until she was in her 40s to start a family.

Mickey Mouse and his gang of cute toons have company on Planet Disney, and their new friends aren’t fairytale princes and princesses.

The world’s favourite studio for family ϔilms just let in R-rated superheroes as well! positions us well as we launch Disney+, and the addition of original and library content from Fox will only further strengthen our direct-toconsumer offerings,” Iger said in the company’s earnings report released last month.

In fact, the storylines have also been infused with more mature themes. In “Frozen”, for instance, a powerful heroine was introduced. The Disney princess is no more the damsel in distress, and female characters have found courage to follow their dreams. Also after introducing a superhero of African descent with “Black Panther”, Disney have set the stage to launch the first gay superhero.

Now, they are pepped up to take forward the legacy of “The Simpsons”, “Deadpool” and “Avatar”. Alan Horn, co-chairman and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Studios, promises more adult twists to the Disney story.

“With Fox, we can make movies that right now I say no to. Take ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, which is PG-13. It’s a hit movie and very, very good. But there’s no way we could make it under the Disney label because the characters smoke cigarettes and other content,” Horn said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

New characters and heroes might be shining bright in the Disney world, but they haven’t forgotten their roots.

“No matter how big we get, no matter how many years pass, no matter how much our company and our world change, we have never lost sight of one thing and that is -- it all started with a mouse,” Iger said.

cal world. But Disney was missing the link to connect with the young adults.

That’s when they decided to launch Marvel’s “Iron Man” in 2008 with Robert Downey Jr, who was going through a tough phase due to his struggle with drug abuse and stint in prison.

The film kicked off the phase one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

There was no looking back since then, as Marvel films became big blockbusters, with “Avengers: Endgame” ending the decadelong reign of “Avatar” as the world’s highestgrossing film of all time. The company wants to continue walking on the same path because it is reflecting well on the profit charts. Disney has already surpassed $8 billion in global ticket sales this year.

“I’d like to congratulate The Walt Disney Studios for reaching $8 billion at the global box-office so far this year -- a new industry record -- thanks to the stellar performance of our Marvel, Pixar and Disney films. The incredible (Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at popularity of Disney’s brands and franchises sugandha.r@ians.in)

Kirsten Stewart not afraid to voice her political beliefs

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ollywood actress Kristen Stewart surveillance program. Stewart, who plays Jean says she is not afraid of anyone Seberg in the film, is also known for her outspowhen it comes to voicing her politi- kenness. In 2017, she declared she is bisexual. cal beliefs publicly.

“It’s not hard for me to wear my politics. It shows up in the work I do… (and) in conversations that I have. I like that interaction. I’m so lucky to have it!” Stewart said at the press conference of her new film, “Seberg” at the ongoing Venice Film Festival, according to a “Variety” report.

The actress’s comment came in the wake of a question from the media whether film actors at all need to involve themselves in politics and political causes.

“Seberg” is a political thriller directed by Benedict Andrews that narrates the story of iconic actress Jean Seberg, best recalled for her classic performance in Jean-Luc Godard’s arthouse gem, “Breathless.”

Seberg’s supporting the Black Panther Party and her closeness to civil rights activist Hakim Jamal, saw the FBI illegally put her under their

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‘YANKS’ spend weekends at theme parks

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oung adults with no kids (YANKS) in Mumbai and Pune are not all work and often seek holiday or weekend activities such as camping, trekking and visit to theme or amusement park, a survey said.

Nearly 70 per cent respondents agreed that visit to a theme park outranked other weekend holiday or leisure activity for them.

The next big thing for 55 per cent of the surveyed audience is watch-

ing movies as a preferred mode of holiday activity, said the survey titled conducted by Adlabs Imagica with Hansa Research that involved 3,600 respondents.

“Spending on traditional forms of entertainment by YANKS is not the preferred choice. They look forward to more experiential adventures like travel and concerts to enjoy themselves and company of others with incredible spends on entertainment which is a key trigger for theme

parks”, Dhimant Bakshi, joint CEO, Adlabs Imagica, said in a statement.

Travelling is no longer restricted to a once a year activity as more and more people are preferring long weekends trips to break the monotony of their regular schedules.

Nearly 97 per cent respondents stated that mobile Internet has eased the information search process empowering them while 39 per cent of the YANKS relied entirely on social media, the findings showed.

THE SUCCESS STORY OF MOMO From 1 table to 274-store chain in 11 yrs. With 274 kiosks, small and medium size outlets and big eating joints spread over 13 Indian cities that employ 2,200 people, their projected turnover by the current ϔiscal end would be around Rs 200 crore … writes SIRSHENDU PANTH

E

leven years ago, college students Sagar Daryani and Binod Homagai invested Rs 30,000 to start in Jadavpur a small venture -- selling an Indianised version of the Tibetan delight, momos.

With 274 kiosks, small and medium size outlets and big eating joints spread over 13 Indian cities that employ 2,200 people, their projected turnover by the current fiscal end would be around Rs 200 crore.

Daryani and Homagai now plan to come up with fully automated machines to prepare their delicacy, which would tumble out of conveyor belts beyond Indian shores.

That, in short, is the fascinating tale of the humble past, present growth and likely technology-driven future of the quick service restaurant chain Wow! Momo.

Headquartered at Jadavpur, where it all started in 2008 with a kitchen, two cooks and a table, Wow Momo Foods Private Limited today fully owns and operates 271 outlets. The rest three in Kerala are franchises.

“We were both greenhorns in business, though Sagar’s father had a shop. We were final year B.Com students. Before the results were out, we had launched our business. We thought it was worth taking the risk. If it doesn’t work, we’d go for jobs,” 34-year-old Homagai, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, told IANS. “I’m a Nepali, we make momos at home. So we thought of this food because we could see the culture of momos developing in Kolkata,” he added.

The first store opened in Gachhtala area of Tollygunge in Spencer’s Retail hypermarket, where the momos were supplied from the base kitchen in Jadavpur. Sales touched Rs 2,000 a day. While Homagai managed the store, with two part-time chefs, Daryani stood outside, distributing leaflets, talking to the customers, giving them free samples.

“We ran an offer every 15 days -- buy three, get one free. The offer boosted the sales by 45 to 50 per cent, thereby covering the salaries of the two chefs,” he said.

Impressed with their success, the hypermarket chain gave them another store. And very soon they got a third one in the swanky South City Mall, “which made us a brand”.

“The part-time cooks now became full-time. And we also started hiring front end staff,” he said.

From then on, there was no looking back. They were opening a store every month, and the speed accelerated as time went by. In 2011, Daryani and Homagai decided to expand beyond Kolkata, by setting up a store in Bengaluru.

Till 2015, they had 44 stores and the only bank loan was of Rs 25 lakh.

But that year, they roped in IAN, world’s leading horizontal seed stage platform, to invest Rs 10 crore. “With that money we started building a good management team.”

Homagai was candid enough to admit neither he, nor Daryani -- the company Chief Executive Officer, had visualised in the early stages that their business would reach such levels so soon. On the contrary, they had to surmount hurdles every now and then.

“First, if your brand is not established, people don’t want to come and work with you because they feel the future is uncertain. Then there were a

lot of licencing and government policy issues. In every department we had to fight, and we learnt things the hard way,” he said.

They also struggled in innovating and experimenting with new products, while having to take a call on the stalls in some locations not doing good business.

However, the biggest challenge came in 2011 when the Pollution Control Board closed down the Jadavpur unit as the company didn’t have a pollution licence.

“But we didn’t close down. We took a house on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. For at least three months our office was shifted there. We fought. We got the licence, and started again in Jadavpur,” said Homagai.

Through the tough times, the partners’ key drivers were passion and the mental strength “not to leave anything easily and go all out in our fight to make it a success.”

The West Bengal capital still continues to be the hub of their business, with over 100 stores, including around 15 in the Kolkata Metro stations.

Asked about the employment they have generated, he said: “We have 2,200 people working on payroll. Plus there are 700 vendors.”

But what next? Do they have plans to become a listed company?

Homagai answered in the affirmative. “We’ll close 2019-20 with near about Rs 200 crore. We have a five-year target to ramp up our turnover to Rs 1,000 crore. Once that happens, may be in six-seven years, we may opt for the IPO route.”

As for carrying their footprint abroad, the company was talking to international franchises, in Bangladesh, Dubai in United Arab Emirates and some European nations.

But before venturing overseas, they want to make their company more technology-driven.

“We have our research and development team, which prepares the recipes that are followed in the kitchen. That has also helped in maintaining the product quality and standardisation.

“We use manual machines which do everything except folding of the momos. In one or two years, folding also can be done through machines.

Also in the next couple of years, we may have automated machines with conveyor belts from which momos will be coming out,” said Homagai.

“If you go to foreign countries where labour cost is very high, if everything comes out of a machine, it will be easier,” he added.

ONAM ON A LOW KEY

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nam celebrations in Kerala will be a low key affair as the state is recovering from devastating floods, the state Cabinet decided.

Heavy rains have battered several districts of the state since the past fortnight leaving 125 people dead and destroying property worth crores. Over 6,000 people are still staying in 86 relief camps set up in the state.

Last year, the state government was forced to cancel Onam celebrations after the state witnessed similar floods and devastation.

Onam is the harvest festival of the state. It is primarily celebrated for three days, but the festivities continue for more than a week with educational institutions closed and the state holding cultural programmes in all the 14 district headquarters. This year however, the gala may be subdued.

The state government has announced distribution of Rs 10,000 relief payment to all the flood-affected families before September 7. The concerned secretaries and the village officials have been asked to distribute the compensation amount to the victims.

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Lakme Fashion@20

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he Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2019 ended with much pomp and glamour.

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan brought the curtains down as she walked the ramp for designer duo Gauri and Nainika at the Lakme Absolute Grand Finale of the bi-annual fashion event that completed 20 years.

Donning a matte black, layered gown, the actress looked a vision in black as she strutted on the ramp amid a grand set which looked no less than a castle.

The designer presented shimmery evening gowns, jumpsuits, skirts and dresses in solid colours like powder blue, black, brown, green. Floral motifs, 3D floral embellishments, frills and sequins dominated the collection. There was a strong hint of a shine, shimmer and botanical-inspired embroideries. The rubber boots which the designer paired with almost all the outfits were definitely a hit.

The final day of LFW 2019 also saw National Award winning

actress Kangana Ranaut close the show for designer Disha Patil, wearing a powder blue embellished lehenga-choli with a onesided extended shoulder drape.

Patil’s collection comprised occasion wears. There were motifs and patterns of the Kilim or Persian rugs that were woven into the garments. Origami drapes added glamour to the shoulders and necklines of the garments. Colours ranged from ivory, powder blue, teal and peach. A variety of options for the lehengas, cholis and dupattas, asymmetric, long, choli and off-shoulder top with pants and skirt were also spotted.

Designer Punit Balana launched his collection called “Rabari” which was an ode to textiles and embroidery done by the Rabari women.

Shilpa Shetty turned showstopper for the show. She was wearing a shimmery lehenga with a mirror work halter choli. There was a heavily-embroidered skirt and shirt in blacks, black and white spaghetti strap maxi, lehengas and

Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan with fashion designers Nainika and Gauri at the Lakme Fashion Week Winter/ Festive 2019 in Mumbai

sarees with mirror work cholis. There were Bandhani for lehengas, saris, kaftans, trapeze top with skinny pants and jacket teamed with a full-flared skirt and shirt in bright yellow colour.

Making a comeback on the ramp after five years, Genelia Deshmukh turned showstopper for designer Saroj Jalan. Genelia was wearing a heavily embellished, red ankle-length lehenga, blouse, dupatta, teamed with a jacket and saree.

Jalan’s line included fluid panelled skirts, statement embroidered coats with multi- materials and panelled

belts. The pieces had fitted waist line and flared hems. The highlight was corseted blouses.

Debuting on the ramp was actor Vijay Varma who strutted for Mumbai based men’s wear label Tisa in an allblack kurta and churidar, teamed with a sequined jacket.

Actress Malaika Arora made an appearance in a plunging neckline, fitted choli with giant, layered, fan sleeves and a slinky, rose, embroidered marsala, high-slit long skirt for designer Diya Rajvir.

Soha Ali Khan, looked regal as she

walked for designer Kavita Agarwal in a beige lehenga, choli and dupatta - all heavily embellished with golden and deep green.

Veteran Shabana Azmi walked for designer Kaveri in a black and white layered kurta teamed with a pink pleated dupatta with white frills.

Esha Deol made an appearance with her two-year-old daughter, Radhya Takhtani, for Hamleys.

Actress Urvashi Rautela walked for Pink Peacock by designer Masumi Mewawalla. She was donning an embroidered, sky blue gown with a cape.

‘My conϔidence is my strongest quality’

BY PUJA GUPTA

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ollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan says her belief in herself is the best quality she has and that gives her the confidence to live the life on her own terms.

The actress, who walked the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week grand finale themed on #FreeYourLips which was about freedom of expression, has said: “The theme, for me, is about freedom for women to make the choice of what they want to do, what they want to wear or how they want to live their life. I think first thing that comes to my mind is freedom”.

The “Veere Di Wedding” actress said my “strongest personal quality is that I believe in myself and my confidence.

The fact that I live my life the way I want to, and on my own terms is what I think is the best quality I have”.

On work front, Kareena will be next seen in the movie “Good News”, starring with Akshay Kumar and slated to be released on December 27. The film will bring back the actress to the silver screen after a year break. The film, slated to be released on December 27, is based on a couple who are trying to conceive.

The film, Kareena believes, will be a laughter riot. “I’m sure people are going to love it. It’s got a different concept and it’s releasing during the holiday period. It will be a laugh riot,” she said.

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Top Indian brands commit to sustainability

BY PUJA GUPTA

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ixteen retail fashion brands have signed the Su.Re (sustainability resolution) project launched by the Textile Ministry, IMG Reliance and Clothing Manufacturers Association Of India (CMAI).

Textile Minister Smriti Irani launched the project, in association with the UN, on Thursday at the Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2019 being held here.

Retail brands like Spykar, Westside, Trends, Shoppers Stop, fbb, House of Anita Dogre and Lifestyle and Max joined the movement that aims to develop sustainable sourcing policy for consistent prioritising and utilising certified raw materials that have a positive impact on the environment.

In her address at the event which was also attended by Renata Lok-Dessallien, UN Resident Coordinator in India, Irani said: “Never before in a population our size has voluntarily driven the retail force of India and fashion elite along with the government to come together at one platform. That this has happened voluntarily

makes me proud. On October 2, we shall step into the 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. Gandhi said to the world, ‘be the change you want to be’. And today, the resolution on sustainability is a reflective of that very thought of the Mahatma.”

She said that sustainability is the fourth criteria for 57 per cent of the consumers of the apparel and design industry.

“This (project) makes it not only responsible business but also smart business. This project will impact worth Rs 30,000 crore in the market. Everything that we consume, we must consume responsibly.”

Jaspreet Chandok, Vice President and Head of Fashion, IMG Reliance, said: “This is a true confluence of what we want to stand for in fashion in the country which is a melting point of ideas that brings transformational change. Today is a major step towards that change with the launch of Su.Re which is the first and the largest initiative by the fashion industry.

“This initiative is just a start point. In the next five years, it will reach millions and millions of garments in the country turning from non-sustainable resources to sustainable resources.”

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‘OUR GENERATION OVER CONSUMING RESOURCES’

BY PUJA GUPTA

B

ollywood actress Kangana Ranaut who recently made headlines after making a public appearance wearing a plain cotton sari says a generation that is “over consuming resources” is noticing her Rs 600 sari.

The actress has urged people and the fashion industry to be “considerate” and encourage celebrities when they repeat their outfits and recycle fabrics.

“I’m happy, people have noticed it. I tell the fashion industry we, as a generation, are over consuming

resources. We got to be consider- They are so poor that they can’t afate. Also, the shaming (of people) ford pesticides and synthetic fabrics for repeating outfits and recycling and are o organic, by default. fabrics should be stopped,” topped,” said We don don’t realise that. We tar. got to aappreciate that.” the “Manikarnika” star.

Remarking that we need to Re Recently, Kangana’s encourage people every very time sister Rangoli Chandel tly, she took to Twitter to upload a they style differently, said, “They got to apprepprephotograph photo of the actress ciate that spirit. Also, so, in th the sari. “On her way h we spent so much to JJaipur today, Kangan is wearing Rs 600 on organic stuffs na when they come sari she picked from fancy stores. from Kolkata. She But we don’t rewas shocked to ally see the peoknow one can get ple -- farmers and such good organhandicraftsmen. ic cotton in this

amount and it’s heart breaking to see how hard our people work and how little they earn. Please support our own before international brands take away this also from them. Indian weavers,” she captioned the photograph.

Commenting on this, the National Award winning actress said, “Just because it’s from the roadside (shop) doesn’t mean it’s not good.

When you buy it from a big store, it does make it a different stuff.”

Kangana said her perception towards herself changed after she entered the Bollywood, and now she didn’t think herself as a “small entity” whose contributions were irrele-

vant. She believes that every person can contribute to the world and even a small contribution is relevant.

“I initially used to think the world is very big and I’m very small and I can’t make a difference to the world. But I don’t feel like that any more.

I feel everyone of us can contribute to the world. Believing that we are irrelevant in this scheme of things is the biggest mistake that we make,” she told IANS. “As a women, I don’t always have to stuck up to big producers, heroes and directors. I don’t believe in this. I feel as a individual I have a standing,” Kangana said.

One Woman Army AGAINST SCAMS “As a journalist with the print and electronic media for almost three decades, I have covered several political and social issues. One of the topics in a television debate programme that I anchored for a regional television channel was on fraudulent multilevel marketing ϔirms since many ϔirms came under the scanner of the police at that point of time,” …..Vishnu Makhijani meets author/journalist Aruna Ravi Kumar

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et rich schemes - call them what you may - have siphoned off some Rs 7 lakh crore but no one seems to bat an eyelid, laments Aruna Ravikumar, a three-decade veteran of the print and electronic media, in her new book, tracing their origins to the liberalisation of the economy in 1991.

“The losses in Ponzi and pyramid (Multi-Level Marketing-MLM) in the country are being pegged at INR 7 lakh crore and no one’s batting an eyelid. These figures don’t seem to matter anymore in a country that has gotten used to scams involving huge amounts of money in the banking system,” Hyderabad-based Ravikumar writes in “Marauders of Hope” (The Write Place/ Crossword).

“So sick and tired have citizens become of these mind numbing figures that the shock element is long gone.

We have even started comparing scam figures finding one less dangerous than the other in the manner of comparing school grades.”

Just how true this is can be gauged from three high-profile cases currently in the public eye - Saradha (Rs 1,200Rs 4,000 crore), Rose Valley (Rs 17,000 crore) and IMA (Rs 2,500 crore) - none of which are anywhere near closure. In the case of the first, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee went to the

Aruna Ravikumar

extent of staging a sit-in protest against the questioning of former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar for his alleged involvement in the goingson. Autonomous regulatory institutions “have to exercise their authority without fear to serve the purpose for which they were established. We have examples of officers following the rule book and remaining true to their conscience, despite may pressures. They ought to be role models for those in various positions of authority if the system providing a shield to the corrupt has to be cleansed,” Ravikumar maintains.

How did the book come about?

“As a journalist with the print and electronic media for almost three decades, I have covered several political and social issues. One of the topics in a television debate programme that I anchored for a regional television channel was on fraudulent multilevel marketing

firms since many firms came under the scanner of the police at that point of time,” said Aruna.

“Shocking details about the modus operandi, the huge amount of money being made by people outside the country, evasion of taxes, money laundering, the web of deception and trail of broken relationships in a marketing model that encourages tapping social contacts for recruitment led me to study the subject in depth. I also realised that people were talking about bank frauds and other financial institutions but there was no conversation around fraud that impacts everyone in society and is more than Rs 7 lakh crore in the two decades since these companies entered India post liberalisation. There was a story here that had to be told and I told it,” she added.

Speaking about her research for the book, the author said this proved to an eye-opener and made her acutely aware of the survival instincts of the “Marauders of Hope”.

“I spoke to victims, company representatives, whistle-blowers, the judiciary and police officers who acted without fear or favour in the best interests of the people. I went through court judgements, newspaper articles, video clippings and all available material on fraudulent financial schemes in the oneand-a-half-years that led to the book,” Aruna added.

Shabana Azmi roots for handloom revival

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eteran actress Shabana Azmi has said she is a huge admirer of handloom work, adding that we should support the handloom industry so that we can save the dying art.

Azmi was interacting with the media while inaugurating fashion designer Shraddha Sawant’s exhibition named ‘The Magic of Looms – Massakali’.

At the exhibition, Indian handloom sarees like Chanderi, Benarasi, Zari, Khadi-Jamdani, Ikat, Kanjivaram, Garhwal, among others, and over 500 hand-woven creations by weavers from across India are on display, to keep alive the dying art.

“Firstly, I want to congratulate Shraddha Sawant for her lovely initiative. I really like handloom work since my childhood because my mother Shaukat Kaifi was really fond of handloom work. She inculcated the love and respect for handloom work in me as well,” said Azmi.

Azmi recalled that she had shot a film called “Susman”, which highlighted plight of handloom weavers.

“Many years ago, I did Shyam Benegal’s film called ‘Susman’ (1987) in which Om Puri played the role of a weaver and I played his wife. It highlighted the struggle of rural handloom weavers in the wake of rapid industrialisation. In that era, only men used to weave but now when I see women also weave, I feel really happy,” she said.

Azmi said that people should support the handloom industry in their own capacity. “When we talk about workforce in India, then I feel that people who do handiwork are really important, but the handloom industry has been restricted to a very few parts of the country. I feel it’s a huge part of our culture, history and tradition, and because of this industry, many weavers are getting employment opportunities. So, I feel we should support them in our own capacity.”

Shabana Azmi is the most honoured actor at the National Film Awards, having won in the Best Actress category a record five times.

A Padma Bhushan recipient in 2012, she was last seen in Aparna Sen’s 2017 film, “Sonata”.

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Hillary Clinton & Chelsea pen ‘Gutsy Women’

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elebrating the women who have inspired them throughout their lives, a new book by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton will feature portraits of more than 100 women, celebrating the histories that all too often get overlooked or are left unwritten.

“The Book of Gutsy Women: Favourite Stories of Courage and Resilience” will release on October 1, the publisher, Simon & Schuster UK said.

The women featured in the book range from Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old climate activist whose Asperger’s syndrome has shaped her advocacy, to Sor Juan Inés de la Cruz, a 17thcentury nun and poet whose outspoken views on women’s role in society scandalised audiences.

Other stories include: Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War surgeon who was arrested more than once for wearing trousers; Marie Curie and her daughter Irène, who worked side-by-side in their laboratory; Rosa May Billinghurst, the

Reliance Foundation founder-chairperson Nita Ambani and her daughter Isha Ambani with US former First Lady Hillary Clinton at Swadesh Bazaar

suffragette who lost the use of her legs and campaigned in a tricycle for the right of women to vote; Shirley Chisholm, who ran for US president in 1972 and paved the way for generations of women in office; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman to lead an African country; Manal al-Sharif, who captured the world’s attention in 2011 when she filmed herself driving a car in defiance of Saudi custom; Chimamanda Ngozi

Adichie, whose wry and wise observations about feminism have changed the conversation; Ellen DeGeneres, who broke barriers in media and entertainment while making audiences laugh; as well as heroines in the Secretary and Chelsea’s own circles of friends and family, and more.

“Each of these women has fought and won the kinds of victories that pave the way for progress for all of us. To us, they are all gutsy women leaders with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done. This book is a continuation of a conversation Chelsea and I have been having since she was a little girl, and we are excited to welcome others into that conversation,” Hillary Clinton said.

“The gutsy women in this book share a fierce optimism that their work and lives will make a difference in the world. And, they’re right,” said Chelsea Clinton. “We hope readers will draw strength from their stories as we have, because if history shows one thing, it’s that the

XYZA BACANI: Asians need to de-colonise

BY ARUNDHUTI BANERJEE

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elebrated Filipino documentary photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani, who has been travelling to several Asian cities to capture the lives of migrant domestic workers, says that Asians are quite influenced by the colonial culture, and to find their voice and reclaim their space, they need to de-colonise their minds.

“I think it is important to de-colonise our minds to find our voice in the cultural space. We Asians are highly influenced by western culture and that should be stopped.

We have to reclaim our space and tell our own stories to find our voice,” said Xyza.

The photographer has travelled to more than 18 states in the United States of America and several cities in Asian countries including India.

She was in Bhutan to attend the Mountain Echoes 2019 festival and talked about her new book titled “We Are Like Air”.

The book shares the story of her personal journey from a 19-year-old domestic help to a celebrated photographer, who in 2016 became a recipient of grants from Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Mountain Echoes is a festival of arts, literature, and culture that completed a decade this year is organized by India Bhutan Foundation and graced by The Royal patron Her Majesty the Royal Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck.

Xyza found Bhutan to be very peaceful and seemed impressed by its happy people.

“I also liked their traditional dress and food,” she shared. Asked about when and

how she discovered photography, Xyza said: “I felt it when I shared my holiday pictures with my mother. I became the eye for her to view the world because all her life she just worked and never got a chance to travel the world. From there I started photographing street people, labourers and domestic workers -a world I knew. I started telling their stories and they got a chance to share their lives through my pictures,” she shared.

Being a photographer who creates awareness on labour migration and human rights, what does she have to say of the ongoing global conversation on gender equality and changing social scenario of women?

“I think people are more careful with their words and thoughts when it comes to stereotyping women now. That is surely happening because of the constant conversation that is taking places, though not really a lot of action. There is still a lot that is needed to be done. There is casual sexism in the way we talk to women and treat

them, and it will not go away overnight,” she said. “Pay parity is there in the professional world based on gender. It is among things that should be brought into notice,” she added.

Her book shares the story of her mother who was also a migrant domestic help.

It left an impact on their relationship.

“The book healed me, and I built a stronger bond with my mother. I rebuilt a good relationship with my parents and family that was otherwise going away.

Sometimes, we do not communicate with our parents to let them know how much we love them. Through this book, I conveyed my emotions better,” she revealed.

Did she ever faced negative attitude from the elite class because of her original financial background?

“I did get that ‘look’ from those people who are not so kind, but you see I am so lucky get the opportunity that I have got, coming from that background. I really do not bother by those un-kind people because there are thousands out there who draw inspiration from my journey,” Xyza replied.

Success, however, has not changed equations at home. “My mother still asks me to go to the grocer’s to buy stuff. We are as basic as that,” she said.

What change did money bring in her life? “(It has brought) comfort. Now I can travel comfortably to many parts of the world because of my profession.

I can also take my father along whenever possible because he loves travelling.

I can give my parents a lifestyle that they deserve because they really worked hard to survive poverty,” she concluded.

world needs more gutsy women.”

Ian Chapman, Simon & Schuster UK CEO said: “This book has some astonishing stories of inspirational women and, in sharing what they have meant to them, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton give us an insight into what has made them who they are. We could not be prouder to be publishing this book in the UK this autumn.”

Secretary Clinton’s previous books include ‘It Takes A Village’ (1996); ‘Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets’ (1998); ‘An Invitation To The White House: At Home With History’ (2000); ‘Living History’ (2003); and #1 Sunday Times bestsellers ‘Hard Choices’ (2014); and ‘What Happened’ (2017). All of her memoirs have been instant #1 New York Times bestsellers.

Chelsea Clinton is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller ‘She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World’ (2017), among others and, with Devi Sridhar, ‘Governing Global Health: Who Runs the World and Why’ (2017).

Seeking answers to the real Sunanda Pushkar

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ust who was Sunanda Pushkar? A businesswoman par excellence, a socialite or a high-profile politician’s wife. Just like her death in a hotel room in the national capital on January 17, 2014 has raised more questions than have been answered, there is no easy way to define the Sunanda that lived.

“There are undoubtedly many who will still remember and sorely miss her, but with time, the memories have been packed and stored away in the deep recesses of their minds,” author Sunanda Mehta writes in “The Extraordinary Life And Death of Sunanda Pushkar” (Pan Macmillan) that released earlier this month.

Mehta, who studied with Pushkar at a convent in Ambala, remembered her childhood friend at a discussion here on Tuesday, describing her as “at once warm, cheerful, outrageous and a wee bit manipulative, just like all of us”.

Pushkar’s close friend Nalini Singh, a senior journalist and perhaps the last person to speak to her before she died, added a sombre note: “Sunanda Mehta’s book is the chronicle of a death foretold for twenty-first century India.”

“Sunanda had told me that we needed to retrieve/decode Shashi’s (husband Shashi Tharoor) phone messages,” Nalini Singh said of her conversation with Sunanda Pushkar the night before her death. The reference was to Mehr Tarar, the Lahore-based Pakistani journalist, who, according to the biography, “was the real trouble” in the Pushkar-Tharoor household and was a major factor in the collapse of her marriage to the diplomat-turned-politician.

“Everything else that was exploding around them was a mere spin-off from the core issue that had turned Sunanda from a feisty, vivacious and confident woman into a suspicious, cantankerous, antagonistic wife scrambling for proof of her husband’s infidelity,” Mehta writes in Pushkar’s biography.

“Too much publicity had an adverse effect on the case,” Meeran Chadha Borwankar, an IPS officer who retired as the head of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) and who was closely associated with Pushkar, said.

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Radha Krishna Mandir @ 50

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adha Krishna Mandir, Gandhi Hall, celebrated 50th anniversary recently. The Hindu Religious Society organised an event to mark the occasion. Swami Shri Gyananand ji Maharaj and Swami Shri Gopal Sharan Devacharya Ji ( India ) were the chief guests. They performed the special pujas with a team of local priests including Shastri Shree Krishan Joshi. Lord Mayor of Manchester Councillor Abid Latif Chohan was also present along with several community leaders.

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Qatar Unveils 2022 World Cup Logo

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atar unveiled the logo for the 2022 World Cup which will be hosted by the Gulf emirate by displaying it in public spaces in Doha and cities around the world Tuesday.

The design is a stylised Arabic white unisex shawl with maroon patterning displayed in a figure-ofeight symbolising infinity while creating a heart shape above the words “FIFA WORLD CUP Qatar 2022”.

It was projected onto the vast facade of the country’s National Archives in the capital’s southern Msheireb district to fanfare that in- hundreds. The building was illumi- year of the tournament.

It was also due to be displayed cluded a procession of soldiers on nated with the emblem at exactly horseback watched by a crowd of 20:22 local time -- the same as the at major global attractions including

Times Square in New York, London’s Leicester Square and recent tournament host cities Moscow, Johannesburg and Sao Paulo.

The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), which is responsible for organising the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, said the logo was projected to to major landmarks in Qatar and 23 countries around the world, in addition to displaying it on giant screens in a number of world capitals simultaneously.

The Supreme Committee stated that the logo of the World Cup was revealed by displaying it on the facades of buildings and landmarks in the Qatari capital Doha (Katara, Souq Waqif, Sheraton Hotel, Al

Shoula Tower), Kuwait (Kuwait Towers), Muscat (Opera House), and Beirut (Raouche Rock) , Amman (Royal Hotel), Algeria (Opera House), Tunisia (Hammamet), Rabat (Corniche Rabat), and Iraq (Baghdad Tower, Tahrir Square).

Of the eight stadiums Qatar is building or refurbishing for 2022, Khalifa International was already open and will host this year’s World Athletics Championships.

The Championships will be a major test of Qatar’s readiness to host a global sporting event. Tens of thousands of spectators are expected to descend on the desert nation ahead of the tournament which begins on September 27.

Shruti Seeks More Women to Play Cricket

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hruti Saujani is the City Programme Manager at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Her role is focussed on empowering more women from Indian, Pakistan, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi backgrounds in Britain to play cricket at all levels.

Shruti’s lifelong passion is to create equal opportunities in the game and she recently dedicated her dissertation to understanding the barriers that people from South Asian backgrounds face in sport. Her dedication for a more equal playing ground in cricket has seen her appear on the BBC, Sunrise Radio and a number of other media titles.

Day-to-day, Shruti travels the country - leading a team of City Programme Executives - to set up cricket initiatives in cities across the UK. Her work is part of Sport England’s commitment to get more women playing cricket - in November 2018, the ECB received £1.2m in funding from the National Lottery awarded by Sport England to develop a network

Former Indian cricketer Mithali Raj

Shruti Saujani

of 2,000 female role models to inspire the next generation of cricket.

Shruti supports the delivery of All Stars Cricket - the ECB’s entry-levelcricket programme for five to eight year olds and looks for role models and volunteers across seven cities who can help show young people the positive part that cricket can play in their lives. Asian Lite’s Safeena Ahmed meets Shruti.

How the ICC World Cup 2019 to influence cricket here especially the BAME community?

You can see the noise, the excitement across the grounds during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. We see the passion in the stands and a fantastic representation of fans for the various teams.

It is vital we build on the legacy of the World Cup and ensure that we continue to make cricket accessible for all the communities and continue to build on the buzz and the excitement the World Cup has brought. It’s also important to highlight there are so many ways you can be involved in the game

from playing, to watching, to volunteering, to coaching. There is a role for everyone.

What is your take on South Asian communities’ fondness for cricket and what is hampering them to come forward?

We are looking to recruit a diverse workforce and empower more and more women to step forward and take part. It has really demonstrated that British South Asians can step forward get a career in the game and also enjoy playing in their spare time. In turn we hope to see an increase of South Asians stepping forward and changing the game.

Why the ECB sees representation of South Asians in cricket as hugely important and what is their strategy to attract more Moen Ali and Mont Panesar to the field?

Our South Asian Action Plan, which was launched over a year ago, looked to address some of the barriers South Asian face in engaging with the game. We know there is a passion for the game, in the stands and in recreational cricket and we want to use that to get more people involved at every level. We are looking at different talent pathways, creating role models from elite players to grassroots

coaches and building inner-city cricketing facilities. As a result hopefully we will see a increase in South Asians coming through into the professional game in the coming years.

BAME women are always hesitant to come on field. How will you break the barriers?

We know there are a number of barriers, including a lack of role models, suitable facilities and cultural and societal expectations. We are working to remove this barriers. In just four months we have introduced women only sessions, made cricket more accessible in inner cities for BAME women and we have even introduced cultural appropriate kit such as headscarves, longer t shirts and skins to ensure everyone feels comfortable taking part.

How All Stars Cricket is empowering South Asian women from communities in cities across the UK? All Stars Cricket has been a vehicle to engage South Asian women - we believe that they are more likely to take part in activity if they have a connection through family such as son, daughter niece or nephew. By creat-

ing safe environments week on week you see the confidence in some of our South Asian female volunteers increasing and each of them are becoming role models. This strong cohort of women are also supporting and bring the best out in each other.

Why it is so important to the ECB to get more South Asian children playing cricket from a young age?

The Action Plan made a commitment to better engagement with South Asian communities at every level of the game. By making cricket more accessible to children at a young age we can hopefully create a life long passion of the game. This passion can hopefully lead to more coaches, volunteers and players coming through.

Any timeframe to achieve the targets?

We know that this isn’t a quick fix. Our All Stars Cricket City Programme has targets for the next four years, and we want to ensure every female who engages with us has an amazing experience of our sport.

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Vijay to join English county side Somerset

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ut of favour India opener Mu- Ali who was recalled by Pakistan earlier rali Vijay on Sunday signed this month.” for English county side SomVijay, 35, has played 61 Tests, scoring erset, the club said in a state- nearly 4,000 runs at an average of 38.28 ment. with a top score of 167. He featured in three “Somerset County Cricket Club are County Championship matches for Essex pleased to be able to announce that Murali last season, scoring over 320 runs at an averVijay will be joining the Club as our over- age of 64.60. seas player for the final three Specsavers “I am excited about the challenge of tryCounty Championship matches of the sea- ing to help Somerset push for the County son,” Somerset said in a statement on their Championship. Somerset have an excellent official website. reputation and I am looking forward to being “The top order batsman replaces Azhar a part of what they are trying to achieve,”

Vijay said in the statement by Somerset.

“We are delighted to have been able to secure the services of such a high-quality player for the remainder of the County Championship. To have signed a player of his class and ability at this stage of the season is a real coup.

“He has experience of English conditions, having played in the Championship for Essex last year, and that was extremely important to us when it came to selecting a replacement for Azhar,” Somerset CCC Director of Cricket, Andy Hurry said.

Sindhu Creates Badminton History Born in a family of volleyball players, Sindhu was drawn into the sport after Gopichand’s 2001 All England badminton championship triumph. Sindhu was 17 when she hogged international limelight after she stunned 2012 London Olympics gold medallist Chinese Li Xuerui in the China Masters

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.V. Sindhu did not break down, but she had tears in her eyes when the national anthem was being played at St. Jakobshalle in Basel. Moments after becoming the first Indian to win the BWF World Championships, a feat taller than her 5’10” frame, she could have let herself go.

But she did not.

Sindhu quietly thanked her mother on her birthday, said she won it for the country which celebrate her along with Saina Nehwal as queens of badminton, and wore the gold medal with pride as her childhood mentor and national coach Pullela Gopichand watched from a distance.

There was a calmness about the stage, but never quite about the enormity of her feat. After enduring a poor year given her lofty standards, Sindhu, like she always does, rose to the big stage and saved her best for the final act.

The 24-year-old crushed Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-7, 21-7 in just 36 minutes in one of the most lopsided finals ever to add another feather to her glittering cap, which gave the sport in the country wings after Saina had set the wheels in motion. Sindhu had come close to winning the World Championships on two occasions in the past two years.

In a pulsating final in 2017 that lasted nearly two hours and involved a 73-shot rally, Sindhu went down fighting to Okuhara, who became the first Japanese player to win a singles title at the World Championships.

Sindhu again reached the final in 2018, only to go down to Carolina Marín of Spain. She finally broke the jinx on Sunday in front of a strong Indian crowd, which cheered her vociferously.

Apart from the two silver medals Sindhu won in the last two editions, she had also won the bronze in 2013 and 2014. With five medals under her belt, Sindhu now has the most number of singles medals at the Worlds along with Zhang Ning of China, but what stands out is the time she took to collect these laurels. Sindhu has five medals from just six appearances in the tournament.

Right up there with Sunday’s win is Sind-

hu’s silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016, when she went down fighting against Carolina Marin after playing superb badminton right through the Games.

Sindhu became the fourth Indian to win a silver at the Olympics after shooters Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (2004, Athens) and Vijay Kumar (2012, London) and wrestler Sushil Kumar (2012, London).

The Hyderabad girl also became the fifth woman player from India to win a medal in Olympics history and the first to bag a silver. At 21 then, Sindhu was the youngest Indian to win a medal at the Olympics.

Born in a family of volleyball players, Sind-

hu was drawn into the sport after Gopichand’s 2001 All England badminton championship triumph. Sindhu was 17 when she hogged international limelight after she stunned 2012 London Olympics gold medallist Chinese Li Xuerui in the China Masters.

In 2013, in her maiden appearance at the World Championships, Sindhu upset defending champion and reigning Olympic silver medallist Wang Yihan of China in the third round and went on to win the bronze.

She repeated her feat in 2014 and since then has dominated the World Championships like no other player. Sindhu is also the player with the most number of wins (21) at the Worlds since her debut appearance in 2013 with Spain’s Marin coming a close second with 20 victories.

After Li Lingwei, Gong Ruina and Zhang Ning, Sindhu is now the fourth player to win a gold, silver and bronze in the women’s singles event at the Worlds.

To cap off what she has achieved so far, Sindhu is the only player to be a defending women’s singles medallist at the Olympics, Worlds, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games at the same time. Besides her silver at Rio 2016, Sindhu grabbed a silver at the 2018 Asian Games before losing to Saina Nehwal in the final of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Sindhu is also the reigning BWF World Tour Finals champion. She was deservingly conferred India’s fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, in 2015.

OCTOBER 27

2019

SPECIAL EDITION

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sian Lite is producing a special edition to celebrate Diwali 2019. The edition will focus on the Success Sagas of the British Asians in dierent ďŹ elds including culture, business, politics .& sport The special edition will carry several informative articles besides proďŹ les and interviews with several .prominent members from the community Asian Lite Special Diwali Edition with a long shelf-life .is ideal to promote your product and services For more details, please write to info@asianlite.com

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