April 2018

Email your CV to info@theasianindependent.co.uk 

• Journalist • Tele-Sales • Content • SEO • Admin 

APRIL 2018 

Asaram gets jail till death 

Jodhpur : A special trial court set up at the 

heavily fortified Jodhpur Central Jail on 

Wednesday sentenced self-styled godman Asaram 

Bapu to jail till death, finding him guilty of raping 

a teenaged girl in his ashram in 

August 2013. This is the second 

conviction in a high-profile sexual 

offence case involving a self-styled 

guru after Dera Sacha Sauda head 

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was 

sent to jail for 20 years last August. 

Special Judge Madhusudhan 

Sharma sentenced co-accused Shilpi 

and Sharad to 20 years’ jail each 

and acquitted two others, Prakash 

and Shiva. Besides, the court 

slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on 

Asaram and Rs 50,000 each on the 

other convicts, public prosecutor 

Pokhar Ram Vishnoi said. 

“Soon after the verdict, 77-yearold 

Asaram and other convicts broke 

down. The court considered 

Asaram’s act under the heinous crime category,” 

victim-family’s counsel Rajendra Singh told mediapersons. 

“A self-claimed spiritual guru has done the disgusting 

act of sexual exploitation with his 

teenaged disciple who had full faith on him. The 

convict should not be spared and the maximum 

punishment be awarded, lifer to Asaram till natural 

life time, and 20 years each to his assistants 

who felicitated him in the act,” Singh said, quoting 

from the 453-page verdict. “We had complete 

faith in the judiciary and are happy that we got justice,” 

the victim’s father said, adding that the family 

had been living in constant fear and their business 

had been hit. Asaram sexually exploited a 16- 

year-old girl from UP’s Shahjahanpur in his Manal 

ashram near Jodhpur on the intervening night of 

August 15-16, 2013. The chargesheet against 

Asaram and the four co-accused was filed by the 

police on November 6, 2013, under various 

Sections of the POSCO (Prevention of 

Children from Sexual Offences) Act, 

Juvenile Justice Act and the Indian Penal 

Code. Arrested in Indore and brought to 

Jodhpur on September 1, 2013, Asaram was 

under judicial custody since September 2, 

2013. He also faces a rape case in Surat in 

which the Supreme Court earlier this month 

gave five weeks to the prosecution to complete 

the trial. 

Asaram unsuccessfully moved 12 bail 

applications, of which six were rejected by 

the trial court, three each by the Rajasthan 

High Court and the Supreme Court in the 

last 56 months. The city of Jodhpur on 

Wednesday turned into a fortress with the 

deployment of the RAC, RPF and the state 

police in strength. Also, flag marches were 

held throughout the city, DCP-East Aman 

Deep Singh said. Several die-hard Asaram followers 

were detained early this morning from the railway 

station, bus terminals and in the vicinity of 

the jail. The Union Home Ministry had issued an 

advisory to Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryna to 

remain alert. 

SAINT TO SINNER 

-Aug 15, 2013 : A 16-year-old girl accuses 

Asaram of raping her in his Jodhpur 

ashram 

-Sept 1 : Asaram brought to Jodhpur, 

remanded in custody 

-October : Three women accuse Asaram 

and his son Narayan Sai of rape in Surat, 

Gujarat 

-June 11 : Surat case witness dies after 

being shot at in Rajkot hospital 

-January 2015 : Asaram’s cook Akhil 

Gupta, another witness, shot in 

Muzaffarnagar 

-May 13 : Mahendra Chawla, prime witness 

in case against Sai, shot at in Panipat 

-March 14, 2016 : Accused of killing 

Akhil Gupta, Asaram’s henchman Kartik 

Haldar held 

-Nov 6 : Chargesheet against Asaram and 

four co-accused 

-March 19, 2017 : Trial begins against 

Asaram in Jodhpur 

-April 7, 2018 : Special court hears final 

arguments 

-April 17 : Rajasthan High Court orders 

the special court to deliver verdict in 

Jodhpur Central Jail 

Maharani Jindan’s earrings fetch ? 

1.6 cr in London auction 

Oil prices expected to jump 

by 20%, says World Bank 

Washington: The prices for energy commodities like oil, natural gas 

and coal are expected to jump by a whopping 20% this year, the World 

Bank has said in a report. This is expected to have an adverse impact 

on India, given that the country is heavily dependent on import of major 

energy commodities. Agricultural commodities, including food, are 

anticipated to see a price rise of over 2% this year. 

LONDON : A pair of gold 

pendant earrings from the collection 

of Maharani Jind Kaur 

(also known as Jindan Kaur), 

the mother of the last Sikh 

ruler of Punjab, sold at 

Bonhams Islamic and Indian 

sale here on Tuesday for a 

record price £175,000 

(approximately ?1.6 crore) . 

Jind Kaur went on to be 

appointed as the defacto ruler 

of Punjab before being captured 

by the British. It was 

only many years later when 

she arrived in England that her 

jewellery, including the earrings 

on sale, were handed 

back to her The earrings had 

been estimated to sell at a 

price between £20,000 and 

£30,000. 

Oliver White, Bonhams 

head of Islamic and Indian art, 

said: “These gold earrings are 

a powerful reminder of a 

courageous woman who 

endured the loss of her kingdom, 

and persecution and privation, 

with great dignity and 

fortitude”. 

“The impressive price paid 

for these beautiful pieces of 

jewellery conveys their significance.” 

The earrings were 

part of a collection plundered 

by the British army when she 

was deposed in 1846. The 

items then confiscated and 

brought to London included 

the Kohinoor diamond and the 

Timur Ruby.

UNITED KINGDOM 

2 April 2018 

www.theasianindependent.co.uk 

UK gifts historic 

shipwrecks to Canada 

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has 

announced that the UK has officially gifted the 

historic Franklin Wrecks to the Canadian government 

and Inuit community. Ownership of the 

two shipwrecks, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, 

two of the most archaeologically important shipwrecks 

in the world, was formally transferred to 

the Canadian government with the signing of a 

Deed of Gift at a ceremony today. With this historic 

transfer, Inuit of Nunavut, who played a key 

role in their discovery, will also become joint 

owners of the wrecks and artefacts. The ceremony 

at the Canadian Museum of History saw the 

Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate 

Change, Catherine McKenna, accept ownership 

of the wrecks on behalf of Canada from the UK 

government, represented by the British High 

Commissioner Susan le Jeune 

d’Allegeershecque CMG. Mr Torsten Diesel, 

from the Inuit Heritage Trust spoke of the importance 

of this transfer to Inuit. The gifting is an 

historic milestone in the long-standing cooperation 

between the UK and Canada on the issue. 

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: 

We have deep historic links with Canada and 

this gift is testament to our prospering relationship. 

The story behind these vessels is both fascinating 

and incredibly important to the history of 

both our nations. The UK joined forces with the 

Canadian government and Inuit population to 

search for these ships for 172 years and I’m 

delighted they will now be protected for future 

generations. The two ships, under the command of 

Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin, set sail from 

England in 1845 on an ill-fated voyage through the 

Canadian Arctic to find the Northwest Passage. 

During the treacherous journey, the ships became 

trapped in thick sea ice. Despite many attempts to 

locate the wrecks, they proved elusive for over 

172 years. In 1997, the UK and Canadian governments 

signed an agreement giving custody and 

control of the wrecks and their contents to Canada, 

while still remaining property of the UK. 

Plans to strengthen NHS 

cyber security announced 

A new multi-million pound 

Microsoft package will ensure 

NHS systems have the most upto-date 

software with the latest 

security settings. The deal with 

Microsoft will ensure all health 

and care organisations are 

Team AI : 

Devinder Chander 

Editor-in-chief 

Fred Shakir 

Marketing & Creative Manager 

Columnists 

V.B. Rawat 

Farzana Suri 

Arun Kumar 

Head Office 

46 Summer Rd, Erdington 

Birmingham, B23 6UR. 

Tel : +44 7878 456 484 

Email : 

info@theasianindependent.co.uk 

Advertisement 

Enquiries 

+44 7475 475 343 

The Asian Independent is an 

Intellectual Property of 

Samaj Media Enterprise Ltd 

using the latest 

Windows 10 software 

with up-todate 

security settings 

to help prevent 

cyber attacks. 

Since 2017 the 

government has 

invested £60 million 

to address cyber 

security weaknesses. 

A further £150 

million will be spent 

over the next 3 years 

to improve the NHS’s 

resilience against attacks. This 

will include setting up a new 

digital security operations centre 

to prevent, detect and 

respond to incidents. 

The centre will: 

allow NHS Digital to 

respond to cyber attacks more 

quickly allow local trusts to 

detect threats, isolate infected 

machines and kill the threat 

before it spreads 

Other measures to improve 

cyber security include: 

£21 million to upgrade firewalls 

and network infrastructure 

at major trauma centre hospitals 

and ambulance trusts 

£39 million spent by NHS 

trusts to address infrastructure 

Blow for PM May as MPs 

back Britain staying in 

EU customs union 

London, British Prime Minister Theresa May 

suffered her biggest Brexit blow so far when MPs on 

Thursday backed a call in the House of Commons for 

Britain to stay in a European customs union. 

A debate, promoted by 

the main opposition Labor 

Party, was agreed unanimously 

after a four hour 

debate in the House of 

Commons, Xinhua reported. 

Although the vote is not 

binding on the government, 

many politicians believe it 

will influence May’s future 

thinking on a deal she wants 

with the European Union 

after Britain leaves the bloc. 

The vote means the 

House of Commons will 

formally ask the government 

to remain in a customs 

union with the EU. May has 

insisted that Britain will 

leave both the customs 

union and European single 

market when it parts company 

with the EU. 

Labor MP Yvette Cooper, 

who chairs the House of Commons home affairs 

committee, said she and other select committee 

chairs called for the debate because they think the 

customs union issue needs to be debated. Cooper 

urged the government to bring forward a “proper 

weaknesses 

new powers given to the Care 

Quality Commission to inspect 

NHS trusts on their cyber and 

data security capabilities 

a data security and protection 

toolkit which requires 

health and care organisations to 

meet 10 security standards 

a text messaging alert system 

to ensure trusts have access 

to accurate information – even 

when internet and email services 

are down 

Health and Social Care 

Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: 

We know cyber attacks are a 

growing threat, so it is vital our 

health and care organisations 

have secure systems which 

patients trust. 

debate” for the Commons, saying: “It is time for the 

government to stop running away.” 

The motion called on the government to include 

as an objective in negotiations on the future relationship 

between the UK and 

the EU the establishment 

of an effective customs 

union between the two territories. 

Supporters of Britain 

staying in a customs union 

with the EU fear it will 

have a dramatic impact on 

Britain’s trading relationship 

with EU member 

states, and will pose a 

threat to the Northern 

Ireland peace treaty. But 

the government insists that 

leaving the customs union 

and single market will 

enable Britain to strike 

trade deals across the 

world. 

Conservative MP 

Marcus Fysh said staying 

in an EU customs union 

plan would entirely give up 

control to the EU and 

would weaken the UK’s sovereignty. 

MPs were told the EU is the UK’s largest export 

market for goods, accounting for a total of $202 billion 

of exports and $336 billion of imports in 2016, 

with a frictionless border. 

PM meeting with President 

Aliyez: 26 April 2018 

Prime Minister Theresa May met 

President Aliyez of Azerbaijan. 

A Downing Street spokesperson 

said: This afternoon the Prime 

Minister hosted President Aliyev of 

Azerbaijan in Downing Street for a 

bilateral meeting. The Prime Minister 

welcomed President Aliyev and said 

that she was pleased that he had chosen 

the visit the UK so soon after his 

inauguration. The leaders agreed on 

the importance of the UK-Azerbaijan 

relationship and of our co-operation 

on issues of shared interest including 

regional security and energy. They 

noted the commercial opportunities 

presented by our close ties, underlined 

by the sixth Production Sharing 

Agreement between BP and SOCAR 

which they witnessed being signed 

following the meeting. They discussed 

matters of regional and global 

security and agreed on the need to 

restore international norms against 

chemical weapons use. The Prime 

Minister thanked President Aliyev 

for Azerbaijan’s continued contributions 

to regional security including 

through its support to the NATO mission 

in Afghanistan. They spoke 

about the threat to security posed by 

foreign fighters returning from Syria 

and Iraq and agreed on the importance 

of continued close co-operation 

and information sharing between our 

security services. The Prime Minister 

and President Aliyev discussed 

democracy and human rights in 

Azerbaijan. They agreed that the UK 

and Azerbaijan would continue to 

work to address concerns both bilaterally 

and through multilateral organisations 

in order to support sustainable 

development and modernisation 

in Azerbaijan. 

* The Asian Independent and people associated with it are not responsible for any claims made by the advertisers and do not endorse in any products or services advertised. Please visit www.theasianindependent.com/tc for more information.



British kids walk for 

India’s homeless 

London : A great 

many lost, abandoned, 

or homeless children 

wander into India’s railway 

stations every year, 

from where they are 

often trafficked or 

exploited. Last Sunday, 

the same day as the 

London Marathon, 

about 170 British school 

boys, aged 6-13, took 

part in a 10-mile walk to 

raise money for such 

children in India. 

The children from 

Papplewick, a private 

school for boys in 

Ascot, managed to raise 

£18,000 (about 16.5 

lakh). The money would help run 

Child Help Desk at the Salem station, 

established last year by Railway 

Children, a U.K.-based charity that 

helps street children, abandoned children, 

or those at risk of trafficking in 

India, East Africa and even in Britain. 

“It was heartwarming to see children 

so charitable, and even little ones 

walking with their parents, siblings 

and also their pet dogs to help kids in 

another country,” said Saritha Selvan, 

whose son participated in the walk. 

The funds raised are expected to help 

Defence Secretary announces latest 

wave of cadet units in schools 

the programme protect 876 children 

for a year. 

Trafficking point : A recent survey 

by Railway Children found that 

“two or three children arrive unaccompanied 

at Salem station every 

day” and that it was “easy for these 

vulnerable children to 

be lost without trace.” 

Salem has been 

reported to be a notorious 

transit point for 

child trafficking, 

from where young 

boys and girls often 

get sold into factories 

as child labour. Child 

Help Desks aim to get 

to the children before 

the traffickers do, and 

provide the traumatised 

kids a safe place 

to stay until a more 

permanent shelter is 

found. 

The Child Help 

Desk at the Salem 

station was opened in July last year. It 

assists abandoned, missing, or runaway 

children who end up in the station 

premises, and aims to restore 

them to their family or provide necessary 

assistance in coordination with 

government agencies. 

April 2018 

3 

Duke and Duchess of 

Cambridge name son 

Louis Arthur Charles 

London, The Duke and Duchess of 

Cambridge have named their son 

Louis Arthur Charles, Kensington 

Palace said on Friday. In a statement 

the Palace said: “The Duke and 

Duchess of Cambridge are delighted 

to announce that they have named 

their son Louis Arthur Charles. “The 

baby will be known as His Royal 

Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge.” 

The prince is the duke and 

duchess’s third child, the younger 

brother of Prince George and Princess 

Charlotte, and Queen Elizabeth’s sixth 

great-grandchild, reports the 

Guardian. Lord Louis Mountbatten 

was Prince Charles’s great-uncle who 

was assassinated by the IRA in 1979. 

Prince Louis of Battenberg was the 

Duke of Edinburgh’s grandfather’s 

name. The three names are popular 

choices recycled by the royal family. 

Prince Charles is Charles Philip Arthur 

George, while Prince William is 

William Arthur Philip Louis. Prince 

George’s full name is George 

Alexander Louis. 

It has taken four days for the new 

prince’s name to be released. He is 

fifth in line to the throne, and was born 

on Monday. Both Prince George and 

Princess Charlotte’s names were 

released two days after their births, but 

Prince William’s name was not made 

public for seven days, reports the 

Guardian. 

The Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, has 

today announced that 26 schools across the country 

will create new cadet units under the 

Government’s Cadet Expansion Programme 

(CEP). Schools across the UK will benefit from 

the latest round of openings, including three in 

East Anglia, two in the East Midlands, four in 

Greater London, one in the North East, four in the 

North West, one in the South East, six in the West 

Midlands, three in Yorkshire & Humberside, one 

in Scotland and one in Wales. The announcement 

came as the Defence Secretary had the opportunity 

to meet cadets at Phoenix Collegiate School 

in West Bromwich and see first-hand the new 

skills that students have gained.Speaking at the 

event, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: 

Being a cadet offers students unrivalled opportunities 

to develop new skills, enjoy unforgettable 

life experiences, and be inspired by our world 

class Armed Forces. 

I’m delighted to announce a new round of cadet 

units in schools across the UK, showing our commitment 

to ensure students from all backgrounds 

have the chance to fulfil their potential. The cadets 

I met today impressed me with their confidence, 

problem solving and teamwork – skills that will 

stand them in good stead in the future. Phoenix 

Collegiate was approved in the last wave of cadet 

units, and has been on parade now for over a year. 

The latest round of cadet units ensures the 

Government remains on target to have a total of 

500 running in the UK by 2020. 418 cadet units 

are already up and running and this latest wave 

takes the total approved units to 453. Many are 

opened in less prosperous areas where opportunities 

for cadet units were previously limited. The 

Cadet Expansion Programme is backed by £50 

million funding from Libor fines, which covers set 

up costs, uniforms, equipment and training. The 

benefits of the cadet experience were highlighted 

in an independent report published by 

Northamptonshire University, which found that 

being a cadet can increase social mobility and help 

disadvantaged children reach their potential. 

Robert Goodwill MP is also conducting independent 

research into how schools can best 

utilise their cadet units; assessing the benefits of 

having a military ethos and values in schools 

provides to its pupils. The findings will be completed 

by the end of September 2018.




Plymouth trio banned from waste 

trade for fly-tipping around Cornwall 

The Environment Agency, councils 

and the police teamed up to track 

down gang who spoiled scenic beauty 

spots. Three men from the Plymouth 

area have been banned from the waste 

trade for fly-tipping in Cornish beauty 

spots. Wayne Plummer, of Burrator 

Avenue, Princetown, Ashley Brown, 

of Tollox Place, Plymouth and 

Michael Baggally, of Wolseley Road, 

Plymouth, were all given Community 

Orders requiring 100 hours of work 

after admitting the illegal deposit of 

household, industrial and commercial 

waste and not being registered waste 

carriers. 

They dumped waste, including old 

sofas and carpets, in scenic locations, 

even setting fire to it on one occasion. 

All 3 were ordered to pay £520 compensation 

and given a Criminal 

Behaviour Order for 5 years, preventing 

them from being involved in the 

waste business. Baggallay, who had 

his hearing for sentencing adjourned 

pending a mental health assessment to 

establish his fitness for work, 

Most national elections 

not free and fair: Study 

LONDON: A new study titled “How to rig an 

election” by academics at the London School of 

Economics and the University of Birmingham 

lists six ways polls are undermined, and concludes 

that a high proportion of elections across the 

world are not free and fair. 

The number of elections across the world has 

reached an all-time high, but this has done little to 

increase the quality of democracy, the study published 

as a book by Nic Cheeseman (Birmingham) 

and Brian Klaas (LSE) says. 

Their research demonstrates that a high proportion 

of national elections are not free and fair – 

enabling authoritarian leaders to remain in power 

– with the emergence of new technology playing a 

part in the process of manipulation, the university 

said. The research is based on more than 500 

interviews and the two academics’ experience of 

watching elections on the ground in countries 

such as Belarus, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, 

Thailand and Tunisia. 

It also seeks to reveal the extent of the democratic 

decay that has benefited dictators. They use 

six strategies dictators to undermine the electoral 

process and guarantee victory: “invisible rigging” 

or gerrymandering and exclusion, buying hearts 

and minds, divide and rule strategies and the use 

of political violence, stuffing the ballot box in 

ways old and new, hacking the election using new 

technology, and, tricking the international community 

into endorsing the result. 

appeared at Plymouth Magistrates 

Court on Monday 23 April 2018. 

Plummer and Brown were both sentenced 

on 10 April 2018. 

The prosecution followed a joint 

investigation between the 

Environment Agency, which took the 

lead role, South Hams Council, 

Plymouth City Council, Cornwall 

Council and Devon and Cornwall 

Police. 

A spokesperson for the 

Defence Secretary honours 

allies Australian and New 

Zealand on Anzac Day 

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has 

laid a wreath at the Cenotaph to mark the 

wartime service of Britain’s close allies 

Australia and New Zealand. 

Veterans from both countries gathered to 

mark Anzac Day, which honours the anniversary 

of the first major military action fought by 

Australian and New Zealand forces during the 

First World War. 

ANZAC stands for Australian and New 

Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those 

forces quickly became known as Anzacs, taking 

pride in the name. 

After laying a wreath at the Cenotaph the 

Defence Secretary attended a service of commemoration 

and thanksgiving alongside military 

personnel at Westminster Abbey. On Anzac 

Day, we remember the sacrifice and courage of 

troops from Australia and New Zealand. Almost 

a century has passed since the end of the First 

Environment Agency, said: This 

criminal behaviour was premeditated 

and planned and the environmentallysensitive 

locations were chosen by the 

defendants for their remoteness in 

order to better escape detection. 

World War and Britain is proud to have served 

side-by-side with them in many conflicts over 

the last 100 years. Our alliance is one of the 

most constant and enduring military partnerships 

in history, one which will continue to protect 

our shared values and commit to make the 

A spokesperson for South Hams 

District Council, where some of the 

waste was tipped, said: 

I’m delighted that we’ve been able 

to work with the Environment Agency 

and other local authorities to secure a 

conviction in this instance. 

I hope this sends a message that flytipping 

will absolutely not be tolerated, 

and we will prosecute offenders. 

On 2 November 2016, Cornwall 

Council was alerted to fly-tipping in 

the car park at Cremyll on the Rame 

Peninsula that included sofas and 

carpets. 

Further offences followed in 

January 2017 at Little Lane in 

Bovisand and two days later near 

Torpoint. The final offence happened 

at Hooe Road in Plymstock 

when waste was dumped on a public 

footpath and set on fire. Devon and 

Somerset Fire and Rescue attended. 

Evidence found at 3 sites linked the 

waste to all 3 men. The total clean-up 

cost was more than £5,000. 

world a safer, more secure place. 

Gavin Williamson has met with his counterparts 

from Australia and New Zealand earlier 

this year to examine how allies can continue to 

work together against evolving threats. 

Currently the UK partners with both Australia 

and New Zealand in a number of ways, including 

the UN peacekeeping mission to South 

Sudan, uniting in the Global Coalition to defeat 

Daesh, committing to establish stability in Syria 

and Afghanistan, and combining on humanitarian 

missions such as Ebola in Sierra Leone. 

To provide security to the seas, the UK works 

side-by-side with Australia and New Zealand as 

part of the Combined Maritime Force, to tackle 

drug and weapon smugglers. Additionally, as 

part of our strengthening relationship the Royal 

Navy ship HMS Sutherland visited Australia in 

February and March, allowing further opportunities 

for our naval forces to collaborate. 

Visions for Peace Building and Sustaining Peace 

Statement by Ambassador Jonathan 

Allen, UK Deputy Permanent 

Representative to the UN, at the 

Security Council Briefing on 

Peacebuilding 

Thank you Mr President. And may 

I start by thanking the Secretary- 

General, State-Secretary Neculaescu 

and Commissioner Chergui for their 

briefings. As I remember saying in 

Addis last September at the Security 

Council’s joint meeting with the 

African Union PSC, our relationship is 

vital, and we must continue to 

strengthen it if we are to have success, 

so it is particularly good to see you 

here, Commissioner Chergui. 

The UK shares the briefers’ alarm 

at the scale and complexity of violent 

conflict today. The costs are mounting, 

whether we measure those in lost 

lives, displaced families, human rights 

violations, extreme poverty, or peacekeeping 

and humanitarian budgets. 

Our motivation to prevent further conflict 

and to sustain peace must be 

greater than ever. And I agree very 

much with the Secretary-General on 

the importance of human rights in this 

context, both of course as a warning or 

trigger of conflict, but not only that. 

We believe that activity at national and 

local level on human rights can be an 

important contribution in of itself to 

stability and conflict prevention. 

The UK very much welcomes 

Secretary-General Guterres’ vision for 

peace building and sustaining peace, 

and particularly the renewed focus on 

conflict prevention set out in his 

report. We also fully endorse the 

understanding that supporting countries 

to sustain peace should be a 

shared priority across the whole UN 

system, from peace and security to 

developments and human rights. 

Many of our own ministries and governments 

have come to this conclusion. 

The UK government has decided 

that over half of our development 

spend will be in conflict and fragile 

states, as that is the greatest challenge 

in reducing poverty today. This does 

not, as some might be concerned, does 

not mean that the respective mandates 

of different parts of the United Nations 

are under threat. And in this regard, we 

welcome the fact that both the General 

Assembly and the Security Council 

will adopt resolutions committing to 

further implementation of the 

Sustaining Peace Vision agreed in 

2016. 

The UK has identified three priorities 

for future work.




5 

Penny Mordaunt announces UK aid commitment 

to protect civilians, aid workers 

and hospitals targeted by the Asad regime 

UK to provide emergency medical 

support and help protect medical facilities 

and brave humanitarian workers 

being deliberately targeted in Syria. 

The UK will provide lifesaving 

emergency medical support and help 

protect medical facilities and brave 

humanitarian workers that are being 

deliberately targeted with bombs and 

chemical weapons by the Asad 

regime, the International Development 

Secretary Penny Mordaunt will say in 

Brussels today (Wednesday 25 April). 

UK aid will help to train thousands 

of doctors and nurses to deliver trauma 

care in the most extreme conflict 

zones and to immediately respond to 

attacks, including how to remove 

shrapnel and treat blast injuries, burns 

and wounds from mortar fire. It will 

also provide essential medical supplies 

such as sutures, oxygen, blood 

and anaesthetics. 

UK support aims to keep medical 

facilities open and we are are providing 

blast proofing materials and sandbags 

to reinforce underground medical 

facilities and limit the damage from 

attacks. 

Ms Mordaunt announced that the 

UK will provide at least £450 million 

this year to alleviate the extreme suffering 

in Syria, as well as providing 

vital support to millions of Syrian 

refugees sheltering in neighbouring 

countries. 

With at least 30,000 people currently 

injured every month in Syria, it is 

expected that around a quarter of this 

UK aid support in Syria will be spent 

on healthcare next year. 

Speaking at the Brussels conference 

on ‘Supporting the Future of 

Syria and the region’, Ms Mordaunt is 

expected to say: 

It is clear the Syrian Regime and its 

backers, Russia and Iran, will attempt 

to block every diplomatic effort to 

hold the regime accountable for these 

reprehensible and illegal tactics. 

Syria is now one of the most dangerous 

places on earth for aid workers 

and medical staff. Medical facilities 

Duchess of Cambridge 

gives birth to boy 

London, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and wife of 

Prince William, gave birth to a baby boy on Monday, the royal 

family announced. The child was born at 11 a.m. in St. Mary’s 

Hospital weighing 8lbs 7oz (3.8 kg). The royal couple’s third 

child is fifth in 

line to the 

British throne 

after grandfather 

Prince 

Charles, father 

Prince William 

and two siblings, 

the BBC 

reported. The 

newest addition 

to the 

royal family is 

a younger 

brother to 

Prince George, 

4, and Princess 

Charlotte, 2, 

and is Queen Elizabeth II’s sixth great-grandchild. 

“The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the 

Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and members of both families 

have been informed and are delighted with the news,” 

Kensington Palace said in a statement. “Her Royal Highness and 

her child are both doing well,” it said. Prince William was present 

for the birth. Prime Minister Theresa May tweeted her 

“warmest congratulations” to the couple. “I wish them great happiness 

for the future,” she said. 

and schools have been deliberately 

targeted, aid has been blocked to 

starve communities into submission, 

and rape and sexual violence have 

been deployed as routine weapons of 

war. Today’s pledge of UK aid support 

will help keep medical facilities open 

in the face of relentless attacks so doctors 

and nurses can save the lives of 

innocent Syrians, as well as helping 

the millions of Syrian refugees sheltering 

in neighbouring countries. But 

today can’t only be about pledges of 

money and we cannot allow anyone to 

turn their backs on the global rules and 

standards that keep us all safe. 

We’re calling for an immediate 

ceasefire and safe access so that brave 

aid workers and medical staff can do 

their jobs without fear of attack. This 

year, we must go beyond commitments. 

We must see concrete actions, 

which lead to greater protection for 

civilians and aid workers and work 

together to put Syria on a path towards 

peace. It is estimated that at least 478 

health facilities have been attacked or 

destroyed and at least 830 health 

workers have been killed in Syria 

since the conflict began in 2011. 

There has been an increase in the 

number of health facilities in Syria targeted 

in the first months of 2018, with 

36 facilities attacked in February 

alone. Last year UK aid supported 

more than 175 health facilities, with 

more than 11,000 trained healthcare 

workers that delivered 2.2 million 

consultations. 

On top of this, UK support has provided 

specialist training and equipment 

to respond to chemical weapons 

attacks, as well as providing personal 

protective equipment for frontline aid 

workers and 20,000 ampules of antidote 

to treat the effects of some chemical 

agents. The UK will continue to 

use our position as a permanent member 

of the UN Security Council and on 

the Human Rights Council to support 

resolutions that seek to protect civilians 

and humanitarian workers, as 

well as calling for existing resolutions 

to be observed by the regime and its 

backers. 

With 5.6 million Syrian refugees 

sheltering in neighbouring countries, 

the UK aid commitment announced 

today will also provide support in 

Jordan and Lebanon so that Syrian 

refugees can remain close to home 

until they are one day able to return 

safely. On top of this, the UK will provide 

additional support for refugees in 

Turkey. 

Home Secretary statement 

on the Windrush generation 

The Home Secretary’s statement to the 

House of Commons on the Windrush generation. 

From the late 1940s to the early 1970s, 

many people came to this country from 

around the Commonwealth to make their 

lives here and help rebuild Britain after the 

war. 

All members of this House will have 

seen the recent heartbreaking stories of 

individuals who have been in this country 

for decades struggling to navigate an 

immigration system in a way they 

never, ever should have been. 

These people worked here for 

decades. In many cases they helped 

establish the National Health Service. 

They paid their taxes, enriched our culture. 

They feel British in all but legal 

status and this should never have been 

allowed to happen. 

Both the Prime Minister and I have 

apologised to those affected and I am 

personally committed to resolving this situation 

with urgency and purpose. Of 

course an apology is just the first step we 

need to take to put right the wrong these 

people have suffered, but before I get on to 

the steps we will be taking I want to 

explain how this situation has arisen. 

The Immigration Act 1971 provided that 

those here before it came into force should 

be treated as having been given indefinite 

leave to enter or remain in the UK, as well 

as retaining a right of abode for certain 

Commonwealth citizens. Although HMS 

Windrush docked in the Port of Tilbury in 

1948, it is therefore everyone that arrived 

in the UK before 1973 who were given settlement 

rights and not required to get any 

specific documentation to prove these 

rights. 

Since 1973 many of this Windrush generation 

would have obtained documentation 

confirming their status or would have 

applied for citizenship and then a British 

passport. 

From the 1980s successive governments 

have introduced measures to combat illegal 

immigration. The first NHS treatment 

charges for overseas visitors and illegal 

migrants were introduced in 1982. 

Checks by employers on someone’s 

right to work were first introduced in 

1997, measures on access to benefits in 

1999, civil penalties for employing 

illegal migrants in 2008, and the most 

recent measures in the Immigration 

Acts of 2014 and 2016 introduced 

checks by landlords before property is 

rented and checks by banks on account 

holders. The public expects us to 

enforce the immigration rules 

approved by Parliament as a matter of 

fairness for those who abide by the rules. 

And I’m personally committed to tackling 

illegal migration because I have seen 

in this job the terrible impact has on some 

of the most vulnerable in our society.


ASIA 


4 Indians figure 

in Time’s top 100 

Chandigarh : Four Indians have figured 

in Time magazine’s list of ‘The 100 Most- 

Influential People’. 

Entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal, Indian- 

American business executive Satya Nadella, 

film actress Deepika Padukone and Indian 

cricket team’s captain Virat Kohli have 

found their way to Time’s latest issue. 

In Kohli’s profile — written by Sachin 

Tendulkar — Kohli has been called a household 

name and a champion in cricket. “Even 

back in 2008, his hunger for runs and consistency 

was remarkable, something that has 

become the hallmark of his game,” Sachin 

wrote while recollecting the moments 

around a decade back when Kohli led the 

Indian Under-19 cricket team to win the 

World Cup. 

A piece on Deepika’s contribution has 

been written by American actor Vin Diesel. 

“So often in the entertainment industry, we 

deal in stereotypes, and people get stuck in 

certain markets. Deepika is the best the Earth 

has to offer. She’s not just here to represent 

India; she’s here to represent the world,” 

Diesel wrote. Sachin Bansal, the executive 

chairman of Indian e-commerce company 

Flipkart, has written on Ola’s co-founder 

Bhavish Aggarwal. “After all, he co-founded 

Ola, one of the world’s largest ride-sharing 

companies, scaled it to more than 100 Indian 

cities, empowered millions of driver-partners 

and commuters, and is a flag bearer for 

India’s consumer-tech ecosystem — all by 

the age of 32,” Bansal noted. Ola has become 

one of the first home-grown tech companies 

to meaningfully expand outside India. 

Satya Nadella, an Indian-American business 

executive, has been added for restoring 

Microsoft’s spirit of innovation. “Growing 

up in India, Satya Nadella fell in love with 

cricket, a sport whose grace comes from 

melding stars into a cohesive and harmonic 

team,” Walter Isaacson, a professor of history 

at Tulane University and a former managing 

editor of Time, noted. Since becoming 

CEO of Microsoft in 2014, Nadella has used 

those principles to restore the company’s 

spirit of innovation, Isaacson has written. 

Earlier, in the list of contenders, the name 

of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also 

figured. However, he could not make it to the 

final list. PM Modi had been named among 

the contenders last year as well as in 2016. 

(With agency inputs) 

Pakistan’s Ahmadi community releases 

damning persecution report 

Islamabad : Pakistan’s disenfranchised Ahmadi community 

released an annual report on Saturday that detailed growing hostilities 

against the minority sect, including indiscriminate arrests and 

impediments blocking them from voting in general elections. 

Ahmadis are forbidden from calling themselves Muslims or 

using Islamic symbols in their religious practices. They face discrimination 

and violence over accusations their faith insults Islam 

and community leaders say that open vitriol and calls for violence 

against the community intensified in 2017. 

“Under pressure from religious extremists, the Ahmadis were 

denied registration in joint electoral lists,” community leaders said 

in a news release accompanying the “persecution report”. 

“The preparation of separate electoral lists being prepared 

specifically for the Ahmadis in Pakistan is the worst kind of discrimination,” 

they said. 

With a general election due in 2018, politicians from both the 

religious fringe and established parties have had the Ahmadis in 

their sights. 

The ultra right-wing Tehreek-e-Labaik party began a political 

furore late last year after lawmakers from the ruling Pakistan 

Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) approved apparently small 

changes to the election law that discarded a requirement for Ahmadi 

voters to declare they are not Muslim. 

Protests ended after the government met its demands, scrapping 

the proposed amendments and accepting the law minister’s resignation. 

Labaik has since staged smaller protests and openly 

denounced the Ahmadi community. 

The Ahmadis consider themselves to be Muslims but their recognition 

of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who founded the sect in Britishruled 

India in 1889, as a “subordinate prophet” is viewed by many 

of the Sunni majority as a breach of the Islamic tenet that the 

Prophet Mohammad was God’s last direct messenger. 

Legal restrictions began in 1974, following a constitutional 

amendment declaring Ahmadis non-Muslim. A decade later military 

dictator General Zia ul Haq barred Ahmadis from identifying 

themselves as Muslim.


ASIA 


Dalmia Bharat group 'adopts' Red 

Fort; Cong questions govt move 

How private entity given mandate to maintain the iconic structure, asks opposition party 

New Delhi : The Congress on 

Saturday questioned how a private 

entity was given the mandate to maintain 

the iconic Red Fort, days after a 

corporate house signed an agreement 

with the tourism ministry under its 

'Adopt a Heritage' project. 

The Dalmia Bharat group, under 

the memorandum of understanding, 

would maintain the monument and 

build basic infrastructure around it and 

has committed a sum of Rs 25 crore 

for the purpose over a period spanning 

five years. 

"They are handing over the iconic 

monument to a private business. What 

is your commitment to the idea of 

India, to the history of India? We 

know you have no commitment, but 

we still want to ask you," Congress 

spokesperson Pawan Khera told 

reporters here. 

"Do you have dearth of funds. Why 

funds for the ASI (Archaeological 

Survey of India) lapse, why do they 

lapse. See the CAG (Comptroller and 

Auditor General) reports. If they have 

paucity of funds, then why do they 

lapse," he asked. 

IndiGo Airlines and the GMR 

23 chapters on Sikh history 

in Class XII book removed 

Chandigarh/Patiala : The deletion of 23 

chapters from the Class XII history book of the 

Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) — pertaining 

to important aspects of the Sikh history— 

has raised a storm in the state. 

The PSEB, after reviewing the syllabus, has 

reportedly removed the chapters concerning the 

history of Sikh gurus and their teachings — 

Anglo-Sikh wars; the rule of Maharaja Ranjit 

Singh and annexation of Punjab among others, 

from the textbook. 

While newly inducted Education Minister OP 

Soni said he was not aware of this, PSEB officials 

admit that certain 

chapters from the last 

year’s syllabus have 

been deleted to “bring 

the syllabus on a par 

with the National 

Council of Educational 

Research and Training 

(NCERT)”. 

They added that 

these chapters would 

now be taught in Class 

XI, and the new textbooks were currently in 

print. However, the syllabus of class XI, circulated 

online to some schools, does not mention that 

the ancient Sikh history will be included in their 

textbooks. It is learnt that while a print order for 

11,000 history books was made, 3,500 have 

already been printed. The new syllabus of Class 

XII , without the above mentioned chapters, has 

also been shared online with the affiliated 

schools. 

Among other important aspects of Punjab history 

that are no longer part of the Class XII history 

book are chapters on Sikh struggle against 

Mughals and Ahmad Shah Abdali and the origin 

and growth of Sikh Misls and Banda Singh 

Bahadur. These have been replaced by chapters 

on modern history, early and medieval history 

and political and economic developments in 

these periods and the rise of nationalism and 

freedom struggle. 

As the matter took political overtones with 

former Education Minister and SAD spokesperson 

Daljit Singh Cheema demanding a high-level 

probe and action against officials guilty of deleting 

chapters and wrote a letter to Chief Minister 

Amarinder Singh, the latter dismissed as malicious 

the SAD’s allegation of deletion of chapters 

on Sikh gurus. 

Lambasting Akali Dal leaders for trying to 

spread “misinformation” on a sensitive religious 

issue, the CM said Akalis had shown gross irresponsibility 

by making a baseless public statement 

without bothering to check on the facts. 

“The fact is that the courses have merely been 

realigned with the 

NCERT syllabus to 

enable students from 

Punjab to compete at the 

national level," said the 

Chief Minister, making it 

clear that not even a single 

word had been deleted 

by the board. 

The history chapters 

had been now spread 

across classes XI and 

XII, on the recommendation of an expert committee, 

of which a SGPC representative was also 

a member, he said. He added that under his directive, 

a chapter on the lives of four Sahibzadas 

had been incorporated in the textbooks. 

Prof Gurmeet Singh Sidhu, head of the 

department of religious studies, Punjabi 

University, said the PSEB had omitted major 

parts of Punjab history from classes XI and XII 

syllabus. Moreover, the facts were wrong and 

history had been distorted. 

“Removing the Sikh history means we are 

depriving our students of knowing their past, 

which is highly damaging for any culture. I have 

read Class XII and I am shocked to find so many 

factual errors in the book, which shows that the 

board was least concerned about Punjab history. 

We have constituted a three-member committee 

which will be presenting a report to the CM and 

the Education Minister, along with supporting 

documents highlighting all mistakes,” he said. 

group were also in the race to bag the 

project. 

The Dalmia Bharat group has 

agreed to provide certain basic amenities 

at the 17th century monument 

within six months. These include providing 

drinking water kiosks, street 

furniture-like benches and signages to 

guide the visitors, according to the 

ministry. The entity has also agreed to 

put up within a year tactile maps, 

upgrade toilets, light up the pathways 

and bollards, carry out restoration 

work and landscaping and build a 

1,000 sq ft visitor facility centre. 

It will also provide a 3-D projection 

mapping of the fort's interior and exterior, 

battery-operated vehicles and 

charging stations for such vehicles and 

a thematic cafeteria. 

Responding to Khera's remarks, 

Minister of State for Tourism K J 

Alphons said under the scheme started 

last year, the ministry is looking at 

public participation to develop heritage 

monuments. 

"The companies involved in these 

projects will only spend and not make 

money. They will create amenities 

such as toilets, provide drinking water 

7 

for the tourists so that their footfalls 

increase. They might put up signs outside 

to say that they have developed 

the amenities. If they are spending 

money, there is nothing wrong in taking 

credit for it," he said. 

"I want to ask the Congress what 

they did for the past 70 years. All the 

monuments and facilities around them 

are in terrible shape. In some places, 

there were no facilities at all," he said. 

As of March this year, 31 prospective 

'monument mitras' (friends of heritage 

sites) have been shortlisted by a 

oversight and vision committee for 

developing tourist-friendly amenities 

at 95 monuments, heritage and other 

tourist sites including the Red Fort, 

Qutub Minar (in Delhi), Hampi 

(Karnataka), Sun Temple (Odisha), 

Ajanta Caves (Maharashtra), Char 

Minar (Telangana) and Kaziranga 

National Park (Assam).

8 MARCH 2018 

ASIA 


Asaram’s daughter distances 

65% of video 

consumption in rural 

India: Smriti Irani 

New Delhi, An average Indian spends 

200 minutes a day on mobile apps and 65 

per cent of video consumption the country 

is from rural areas, said Union 

Minister Smriti Irani on Friday. 

In the backdrop of latest data, the 

Union Information and Broadcasting 

Minister called upon the media and entertainment 

industry to think about new 

things that can be offered to consumers. 

Speaking at the 69th valedictory session 

of Development Journalism Course 

at the Indian Institute of Mass 

Communication here, Irani said that times 

had changed and the journalist was no 

longer the last word on a given piece of 

news. “Things have changed from the 

time when editor had the last word on the 

narrative. Now consumer also decides on 

the narrative and asks about the source of 

information. In this age of data exploding 

from every nook and corner, many would 

google every piece of information, and 

therefore, it is important to be credible,” 

Irani said. 

The Minister said the video consumption 

in rural areas was set to grow further 

in the days ahead, according to an official 

release. “An average Indian spends 200 

minutes a day on mobile apps and 65 per 

cent of video consumption in our country 

is only from rural areas and is slated to 

grow further. In this scenario, the media 

and entertainment industry should think 

about what new things can be offered to 

the consumers,” the release quoted her as 

saying. 

herself from disgraced father 

Gandhinagar, Distancing herself from her 

A Surat-based woman has accused Asaram of 

father and his empire, the daughter of convicted 

self-styled godman Asaram, stated on Friday that 

she had taken a different path a long time back. 

“The world outside believes that I am very 

much involved in the daily affairs of the ashrams, 

whereas the ashram management believes that I 

have been independent of the ashram for over 17 

years,” Bharti told the media outside the 

Gandhinagar court. Bharti was at the court for a 

hearing where she and her mother Lakshmi have 

been named as accomplices in yet another rape 

case against Asaram. 

raping her multiple times between 1997 and 2006 

at his centre in Ahmedabad. Four other women 

followers – Dhruvben, Jassi, Nirmala and Meera 

— have been named in the chargesheet for abetment 

of rape. 

A Jodhpur court sentenced Asaram this week 

to life imprisonment on charges of raping a minor. 

Claiming ignorance of Asaram’s future legal 

action, Bharti said: “The legal team in Jodhpur 

does not consult us. Whether they would go to 

High Court or not, they would take a decision. I 

have no knowledge.” 

Apart from heat Delhi suffers from bad air quality 

New Delhi, The national capital, though at 

39.2 degree Celsius, a notch above the season’s 

average on Friday, still saw relief with three 

degrees drop in maximum temperature, a Met 

official said, but the air quality still remained 

“very poor”. 

Parts of Delhi continued suffering heat with 

Palam area recording 41 degrees, a notch above 

the season’s average. On Thursday, Palam recorded 

43.9 degrees. Gurugram and Faridabad in 

Harayana recorded 39.2 degree Celsius. 

With 46.5 degrees, Churu in west Rajasthan 

was the most hot place in India on Friday. 

For the National Capital Region, weather analysts 

attributed change in wind direction, from 

dry and warm westerly winds to humid and cool 

easterly and south-easterly breeze as the reason 

for the temporary respite. 

Possibility of light showers towards Saturday 

may add to the respite for Delhi and neighbouring 

areas, the India Meteorological Department said. 

Mercury will however start caching up from 

next week onwards. The minimum temperature 

on Friday was recorded at 26.4 degrees Celsius, 

two notches above the season’s average. 

“Temperature in Delhi and surrounding areas 

will remain below 40 degrees for next two to 

three days, due to the easterly winds and western 

disturbance. After that mercury will start to rise,” 

Mahesh Palawat, director of private weather analyst 

Skymet told IANS. 

According to the IMD, light rains may 

improve the weather of Delhi in next 24 hours. 

“Delhi may see light rain shower towards late 

Friday night or Saturday morning,” an IMD official 

said. 

The humidity oscillated between 39 to 57 per 

cent. 

Thursday’s maximum temperature was recorded 

at 42 degrees, two nothces above the season’s 

average, while the minimum temperature was 

recorded at 25.5 degrees Celsius, a notch above 

the season’s average. 

According to Central Pollution Control Baard, 

the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi on Friday 

was kept at 306, considered very poor, while on 

Thursday it was 312. 

2,655 candidates in fray for 

Karnataka Assembly polls 

Bengaluru, In all, 2,655 candidates 

are in fray for the ensuing 

May 12 Karnataka Legislative 

Assembly polls, according to a 

data from the state Chief 

Electoral Office. Of the 3,509 

who filed valid nominations by 

the last date on Tuesday, 583 candidates 

withdrew by Friday and 

271 were rejected after their 

papers were scrutinised on 

Wednesday, according to the data 

which was made available on 

Friday night. 

Of the candidates in the fray, 

including 219 women, 222 are 

from the ruling Congress, 224 

from the opposition Bharatiya 

Janata Party (BJP), 201 from 

Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), 1,155 

Independents and 800 from other 

national, regional and fringe parties, 

according to the final list 

released by the poll panel. 

Mulbagal constituency in the 

state’s Kolar district has the highest 

number of contesting candidates 

with 39 in fray for the seat. 

Friday was the last date for the 

candidates to withdraw their 

nominations. Polling will be held 

in a single phase for all the 224 

Assembly constituencies in the 

state, including 36 reserved for 

the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 

15 for Scheduled Tribes (STs). 

The votes will be counted on 

May 15. 

Pak doctor who 

aided Osama 

hunt shifted to 

‘safe location’ 

Islamabad, Shakil Afridi, a 

doctor who helped the USA’s 

Central Intelligence Agency 

(CIA) track down Osama bin 

Laden, has been moved out of a 

prison in Peshawar to an undisclosed 

‘safe location’ in another 

city, the media said. 

Afridi had been imprisoned 

in the Central Prison Peshawar 

for almost seven years after he 

ran a phoney vaccination campaign 

in Abbottabad city to 

help the CIA track down and 

kill the former Al Qaeda chief 

in a controversial raid on May 

2, 2011. A year later, Afridi was 

sentenced to 33 years in prison 

for involvement in anti-state 

activities by a tribal court in 

Pakistan. 

Speaking to the Express 

Tribune, an official of the 

Peshawar prison said that a 

large number of police as well 

as army contingent reached the 

prison on Friday and took 

Afridi away amid tight security. 

The official said he had no idea 

where the prisoner had been 

shifted. Another official said 

Afridi had most probably been 

moved out of the province.

www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA April 2018 9 

MP Governor tells 

BJP leaders 'how 

to get votes' 

Bhopal : A controversial video of Madhya 

Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel has surfaced 

in social media, in which she is seen giving "vote 

mantra" to a BJP woman leader, advising her to 

take up the cause of malnourished children herself, 

instead of depending on government officers. 

"These officers do not need votes, but we 

do," she tells the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 

leader pointing to the officers in the video. 

The video is believed to have been shot during 

Patel's visit to Satna district of the state on 

Thursday, when she was talking to BJP leaders in 

the area at the local airport. 

She also advises the woman leader -- Satna 

Mayor Mamta Pandey -- and other party leaders 

to adopt poor and malnourished kids in the area 

if they want to get votes in the upcoming polls. 

"Eradicating malnourishment is our responsibility. 

Engage councilors to achieve it. You don't 

get votes just like that. You have to ensure people 

get what they want. The government is providing 

Rs 500 every month for each child... The 

children should get its benefit. Only then the 

dream of Narendra (Modi) Bhai will be fulfilled," 

says Patel. 

Patel, a former Gujarat Chief Minister, tells 

Pandey to "visit poor people and adopt their 

kids" to get their votes. The Governor's video has 

left a section of the people red-faced, who have 

now tweeted the video to President Ram Nath 

Kovind, saying she is misusing her post and 

demanding action against her. 

Bypolls to 4 Lok Sabha, 10 

assembly seats on May 28 

New Delhi, The bypoll to the Kairana Lok Sabha 

seat in Uttar Pradesh will be held on May 28 as the 

Election Commission on Thursday announced dates 

for bypolls to four Lok Sabha seats and 10 assembly 

seats across ten states. Apart from Kairana in Uttar 

Pradesh, parliamentary 

bypolls will be held on 

May 28 for Palghar and 

Bhandara-Gondiya in 

Maharashtra and to the 

Nagaland seat. 

The seats where 

assembly bypolls will be 

held on May 28 are 

Noorpur (Uttar Pradesh), 

Shahkot (Punjab), 

Jokihat (Bihar), Gomia 

and Silli (Jharkhand), 

Chengannur (Kerala), 

Palus Kadegaon 

(Maharashtra), Ampati 

(Meghalaya), Tharali (Uttarakhand) and Maheshtala 

(West Bengal).Counting on all the seats will take 

place on May 31. The bypoll in Kairana gains significance 

as the ruling BJP had lost two prestigious Lok 

Sabha bypolls in Uttar Prdesh in March after the 

Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party joined 

hands against it. The BJP lost Gorakhpur, earlier represented 

by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the 

Phulpur, earlier represented by Deputy Chief 

Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. The success of 

Samajwadi Party candidates in both Gorakhpur and 

Phulpur had come as a boost to efforts by opposition 

parties to forge a a common understanding against 

the BJP in the run up to 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The 

contest in Kairana will be watched with considerable 

interest as the seat 

was also held by the 

BJP. The vacancy 

arose after death of 

sitting MP Hukum 

Singh. 

Bhandara-Gondiya 

and Palghar Lok 

Sabha seats were also 

held by the BJP. 

Byelection to 

Bhandara-Gondiya 

Lok Sabha seat was 

necessitated when in 

early December 2017, 

sitting member Nana 

Patole quit the BJP and the Lok Sabha seat to join the 

Congress. The Palghar seat in north Konkan fell 

vacant after the sitting BJP MP Chintaman Vanga 

died on January 30 following a heart attack. 

Nagaland Lok Sabha seat fell vacant following 

resignation of Neiphiu Rio, who was elected as Chief 

Minister. The BJP, which had won an absolute majority 

in the 2014 General Elections with 282 seats, has 

lost seven seats in Lok Sabha by-elections held so far 

in the last four years and its present tally is 274. 

Pakistan’s new 

finance minister 

presents budget as 

oppn protests 

ISLAMABAD: The outgoing PML-N government's 

newly appointed finance minister 

Miftah Ismail presented its sixth budget in 

Parliament on Friday amid opposition protests 

calling for a budget covering only the remaining 

three months of the administration’s tenure. 

The defence budget was set at Rs1,100 billion, 

from a revised budget estimate of Rs 999 

billion for the previous year, or 18.5% of the 

total outlay. During Ismail's address, members 

of the opposition continued their protests and 

uninterrupted chanting of slogans. They surrounded 

his dias and threw papers in the air. 

Opposition members also ripped apart 

copies of the budget while PML-N lawmakers 

encircled Ismail's dias to keep protesters at a 

distance.Ismail said the government is using 

data mining and other technologies to catch tax 

evaders. 

"We have given people one last chance to 

declare their domestic assets. We will catch 

them and prosecute them if they do not avail 

our tax amnesty package," he said. According 

to a copy of the budget 2018-19, the total outlay 

has been set at Rs 5,932.5 billion, up from 

Rs 5,103.88 billion last year The target GDP 

growth rate for the upcoming fiscal has been 

set at 6.2%, against 6% for 2017-18. The total 

tax target is Rs 4,888.6 billion, of which taxes 

comprise Rs 4,435 billion. 

2nd Martha Farrell Award Ceremony held at Delhi: 

Women empowerment through participation 

Martha Farrell Foundation 

has been working with women 

groups across India since inception. 

The core activities of the 

foundation are to empower 

women through participation 

and action-oriented programmes. 

Gender inequality has 

been the curse of all the developing 

and developed societies 

since civilization. Patriarchy and 

subordination of women are 

embedded in the social system of 

India. In societies such as ours, it 

is almost a given that women 

will spend much longer caring 

for the home and children than 

men. In the 1850s the women 

groups in the United States of 

America struggled to include 

women in the provisions of 14th 

and 15th Amendments 

(Extending citizenship rights and 

granting voting rights). In India, 

Savitribai Phule opened the first 

school for girls in 1848 with the 

support of his husband Jyotirao 

Phule which allowed the women 

of marginalized sections of the 

society to get an education and 

prepare them to assert for their 

rights. Education is the only tool 

through which women and men 

can achieve social and economic 

mobility in life. 

The patriarchal mindset in 

India needs to be changed. A girl 

child is not welcome at the time 

of birth. Statics reveal that 

women are vulnerable in every 

part of India. Public transport is 

often intermittent, they face 

harassment en route and late 

working hours leave them open 

to greater risk of violence. 

Casting couch is prevalent in 

every field of industry. 

According to 2016 report by 

National Crime Record Bureau 

(NCRB), more than 3 lakh incidents 

of crime against women 

were recorded. Such crimes 

against women belonging to the 

marginalized sections of the 

society increased manifold. 

India is an emerging economy. 

Data reveals that only 25 

percent of Indian women are in 

the workforce, while for China it 

70 percent. To reduce this gap, 

inclusive policies need to be formulated 

and implemented. 

Women need to develop a scientific 

outlook for that dogmatism 

and superstitions should be 

rejected. Dowry system needs to 

be annihilated. Social and economic 

inequality can only be 

reduced through empowering 

women. Men monopolization 

over the mind of women needs 

to be demolished. They need to 

be empowered not only at the 

regional level but also at the 

national level. The representation 

of women in Parliament of 

India needs to include. 

Since independence, several 

initiatives on the part of the government 

as well private organizations 

are taken in safeguarding 

the vulnerable women. 

Contributions by Martha Farrell 

Foundation, Society for 

Participatory Research in Asia ( 

PRIA) and Rizwan Adatia 

Foundation in empowering 

women are commendable and 

need to be supported by every 

sensitive citizen of the world. 

During the function, awards 

under different category were 

given to individuals and institutions. 

The J&K Government has 

admitted in the Legislative 

Assembly while giving a reply 

that 11,786 cases of crime 

against women in 2016 were 

reported. Gang Rape, 

Kidnapping are common in the 

state of J& K. In that situation, 

Nadiya Shafi, a promising individual 

from Kashmir has been 

working among marginalized 

women groups to educate them 

about their constitutional and 

legal rights. Malti Sangne of 

RSCD, Maharashtra received 

institution category award. 

RSCD organized several programmes 

for the empowerment 

of marginalized women in the 

state of Maharashtra. 

A dialogue took place on the 

sensitive issues concerning 

women among the panelists. 

Rizwan Adatia, Founder & 

Chairman of Rizwan Adatia 

Foundation, a visionary, philanthropist 

narrated his story how 

he began his journey from a 

humble background. His mother, 

a pious woman motivated him to 

engage in social services particularly 

for the vulnerable women. 

From that day onward, he and 

his family have been working for 

the upliftment and empowerment 

of marginalized women. 

Rizwan said: “There is need to 

bring about change in the minds 

and hearts of the people and create 

awareness in the society 

towards gender equality”.Sohail 

has been creating awareness 

among boys and girls through 

sports platform. He said: Girls 

and boys can understand better 

when they engage in open discussion”. 

The discussion was 

moderated by Ms. Poonam 

-Rahul Bali, 

Senior Correspondent, The 

Asian Independent, New Delhi 

Muttreja, Population Foundation 

of India. A song was sung by 

Tripy Sama, musical band mesmerized 

the audience. Nandita 

Pradhan Bhatt, Director, Martha 

Farrell Foundation thanked the 

guests for participation. 

Addison Aaron 

A First Class Full Service 

International Law Firm 

Committed To Winning Matters. 

Tel : 0121 213 4812 

law@addisonaaron.com 

w w w . a d d i s o n a a r o n . c o m


Accountants 

City Accountants 

29 Foremans Road, Sparkhill, 

B’ham B11 3AA 

Tel. 0121 777 8000 

www.city-accountants.co.uk 

43B Formans Rd, B’ham, B11 

3AA | Tel: 0121 777 8000 

Barber Shop 

JC Hairstyles 

78 Gipsy Ln, Leicester LE4 

6RE 

Tel: 0116 266 9188 

271 Tat Bank Rd, Oldbury, 

Birmingham, B68 8NP 

Tel : 0121 544 0068 

Ladypool Rd, Birmingham, 

B128JY 

Bars & Pubs 

5 Market Pl, Tipton, DY4 7EJ 

Tel : 0121 557 6506 

Bank 

118 Soho Rd, B21 9DP 

Tel : 0121 515 0400 

182 Soho Rd, Birmingham, 

B21 9LP, Tel : 0121 507 9940 

173-175 Soho Rd, B’ham, B21 

9SU | Tel : 0121 523 5973 

290 Soho Rd, Birmingham, 

B21 9LZ | Tel : 0121 554 9082 

Builders 

S &P Builders 

Sukhi Mob. : 07737 060 121 

Pamma Mob.: 07450 762 550 

Bearwood Maintenance 

Mob. 07811 392 786 

Raj & Raj Building Work 

B’ham | Mob. 07404 042 783 

Birmingham Building 

Construction 

Osman Abyan 

Managing Director 

Mob; 07429 398 280 

birminghambuildingconstruction@hotmail.com 

Carpentry 

Flora Carpentry 

Sunny Mob. 07403 586 305 

Mail: gurdipflora@hotmail.com 

Carpets 

UK Carpets 

1188-1190 Warwick Rd, Acocks 

Green, B’ham B27 6BT 

Tel. 0121 707 6424 

www.uk-carpets.com 

Corner Shop 

165 -167 Stratford Rd, B’ham, 

B111RB | Tel : 0121 772 1322 

523 Foleshill Rd, Coventry, 

CV6 5AU | Tel : 024 7666 5277 

Wallsal Rd, Wednesbury, 

WS10 9SJ 

44a Pinson Rd, Willhall, 

WV132PR | Tel : 01902 606302 

42 Church St, Bilston, 

Wolverhampton, 

WV14 0AH 

Aaron’s Catering Services 

Brewery Street, off High Street 

Smethwick B67 7RA 

Tel : 0121 555 8400 

Mob : 07805 337 232 

Mail: info@aaronsfoods.co.uk 

Web: www. aaronsfood.com 

Indian Sweets 

& Catering 

We Cater For All Occasions; 

Weddings, Birthdays, 

Engagements Parties or any 

other Social Functions. 

Big Discounts on 

Bulk Orders 

Quality Service and 

Years of Experience 

71 Great Bridge, 

Tipton, DY4 7HF 

Tel. 0121 238 2648 

Mob: 07413 426 930 

Mail: vivek_18hp@yahoo.com 

Café & Restaurants 

84 Oxhill Rd, Birmingham, 

B21 9RH | Tel : 0121 554 5517 

225 Holyhead Rd, Birmingham 

B21 0AP | Tel : 0121 515 4110 

20 High St, Smethwick, B’ham, 

B66 1DX | Tel : 0121 558 8488 

86 High St, Smethwick, B’ham, 

B66 1AQ | Tel : 0121 558 8372 

Tollgate Shopping Precinct, 

Smethwick, Birmingham, B67 

7RA | Tel : 0121 565 2122 

Tollgate Shopping Centre, 

Brewery St, Smethwick, B’ham, 

B67 7RA | Tel : 0121 555 8400 

285-287 High St, Smethwick, 

Birmingham, B66 3NJ 

Tel : 0121 565 2187 

166 High St, 

Harborne,Birmingham, 

B179PN 

314, High St, 

Harborne, Birmingham, 

B179PU 

10, Rood End Road, 

Oldbury, Birmingham, 

B688SH 

125 High St, West Bromwich, 

Birmingham, B70 6NY 

Tel : 0121 525 9458 

142 High St, West 

Bromwich, Birmingham, 

B706NY 

40 Old Walsall Rd, B’ham, 

B42 1NP 

205 Dyas Ave, Birmingham, 

B42 1HN 

572 Kingstanding Rd, B’ham, 

B44 9SD | Tel : 0121 373 3549 

563 Coventry Rd, Small Heath, 

Birmingham, B10 0LP 

Tel : Tel: 0121 572 6397 

703 - 705 Stratford Road, 

Sparkhill, B’ham, B11 4DN 

Tel: 0121 778 5100 

71 Great Bridge, Tipton, DY4 

7HF | 0121 238 2648 

48A Lower High St, 

Wednesbury, WS10 7AL, 

Tel : 0121 505 1211 

200 Dudley Rd, Wolverhampton, 

WV2 3DT | Tel : 01902 450939 

Barcroft Rd, Wolverhampton, 

WV2 3HF | Tel : 01902 451113 

Cash & Carry / 

Supermarkets / 

Corner Shops 

Radias Superstore 

121-127 Melton Rd, City 

Centre, Leicester LE4 6QS Tel: 

0116 266 9409 

A1 Cash and Carry 

112 Green Lane Road, 

Leicester, LE5 3TJ 

Tel: 0116 212 2129 

Shah's Pan House 

523 Foleshill Rd, Coventry, 

CV6 5AU 

Tel: 02476 665 2777 

Catering 

Sukhdev's Catering 

Unit 4, 5/7 South Road, 

Hockley, Birmingham B18 5LT 

Tel: 0121 314 1247 

Mail: sukhdev@sukhdevfoods.com 

www.sukdhevcaterings.co.uk 

Double Glazing 

Star Windows (GB) Ltd. 

16 Rolfe St, Smethwick, 


Tel. 0121 555 8333 

Electronics 

86 Great Hampton St, B’ham, 

B186EW 

Fence 

T & D Fencing 

Unit 405, Smethwick Enterprise 

Centre, St, Smethwick, B66 2AR 

Tel. 0121-565 4533 

www.TandDfencing.co.uk 

Hardware Store 

Queens Park Stores 

Diy • Furniture • Beds • Bathrooms 

224/230 Court Oak Road, 

Harborne, Birmingham B32 2EG 

Tel: 0121 – 4282164 

www.queensparkstores.co.uk 

27A W Bromwich St, Walsall, 

WS1 4BP :| Tel : 01922 642329 

CLASSIFIED 

Health Care 

Premium Community Care 

86 Digbeth, B’ham B5 6DY 

Tel. 0121 643 9808 

Insurance 

Crownsway Insurance 

Brokers Ltd. 

183 Holyhead Road, 

Handsworth, Birmingham 

Tel. 0121 554 3566/9788 

www.crownsway.co.uk 

Insurance Broker 

46 Summer Rd, Birmingham, 

B236UR 

DJS House, 183 Holyhead 

Road, Birmingham, B21 0BD 

Tel : 0121 554 3566 

Lettings & Sales 

Ignite Properties 

44A High Street, Leamington 

Spa, CV31 1 LW 

Tel.: 01926 930 251 

www.ignite-properties.co.uk 

Angel Estates Ltd 

251-253 Rookery Rd, 

Birmingham B21 9PU 

Phone: 0121 448 0717 

M & R Lettings & Sales 

Wolverhampton 

Tel. 01902 833 844 

Sodhi & Co. 

123 Evington Road, Leicester 

Tel. 0116 255 3455 

www.sodiandco.com 

Library 

Birmingham Rd, Birmingham 

B43 6NW 

193 High St, Harborne, B’ham, 

B179QG 

Kingstanding Road, B’ham, 

B44 9ST | Tel : 0121 464 5193 

Meat Shop 

Soand Meat Shop 

122 Green Lane Road, Leicester 

Tel. 0116 276 0658 

326 Ladypool Rd, Birmingha, 

B128JY 

Punjab Meat Center 

16 Tollgate Shopping Precinct, 

Smethwick, B’ham B67 7RA 

Tel. 0121 448 7279 

169 Rookery Rd, Birmingham, 

B21 9QZ, Tel : 0121 554 1988 

Tollgate Shopping Precinct, 

Smethwick , B’ham, B67 7RA 

Tel : 0121 558 4441 


Birmingham, B70 6NY 

Tel : 0121 553 3555 

37 High St, West Bromwich , 

Birmingham, B70 6PB 

Tel : 0121 553 5231 

600 -602 Coventry Rd, Small 

Heath, Birmingham, B10 0US 

Tel : 0121 773 0234 

542 -544, Coventry Rd, Small 

Heath, Birmingham, B10 0UN 

Tel: 0121 771 0292 

711/713 Stratford Road, 

Sparkhill, Birmingham, B11 

4DN | Tel: 0121 778 5553 

Soand Meat Shop 

122 Green Lane Road, Leicester 

Tel. 0116 276 0658 

Punjab Meat Center 

16 Tollgate Shopping Precinct, 


Tel. 0121 448 7279 

Stand Meat Shop 

122 Green Lane Road, 

Leicester, LE5 3TJ Tel: 0116 

276 0658 

New Asia Meat Centre 

119 Caludon Rd, Coventry CV2 

4LR Tel: 024 7644 7900 

Gill Meat & Grocery 

Unit 12, Tollgate Shopping Centre, 


Tel : 0121 558 4441 

383 Mosley Rd, B’ham, 

B129DD 

Tat Bank Rd, Oldbury, B’ham 

B68 8NR 

212 Golden Hillock Rd, B’ham, 

B112PN 

Birmingham, 

B10 0QP 

Mortgage 

Zakir Mortgage 

128 A, Stoney Lane, B’ham 

Tel. 0121 449 7091 

Mob. 07890 615 016 

Motoring 

BR Car Care 

383-387 Moseley Rd, B’ham 

B12 9DD 

Tel. 0121 440 0779 

Mosque 

Off License 

Super Wines and Spirits 

91-793 Stratford Rd, 

Birmingham B11 4DG 

Tel: 0121 778 5016 


10 

4-6 Beauchamp Ave, B’ham, 

B201DR 

255 Lodge Rd, B’ham, 

B18 5SJ 

91-793 Stratford Rd, B’ham, 

B11 4DG | Tel: 0121 778 5016 

138 Clay Ln, Coventry, 

CV2 4LT 

Brax News, 156-160 W 

Bromwich St, Walsall, 

WS1 4DE 

Darlaston, Wednesbury, 

WS10 7TQ 

Party Hall 

Supreme Banqueting and 

Conference 

10, Roebuck Lane, West 

Bromwich, B70 6QP. 

Tel: 0121 553 3921 

Radio 

715-C Parkfield Road 

Wolverhampton, WV4 6EE 

Tel. 1902 681 655 

TM 

Sky Digital Channel 0205 

24 hour Entertainment 

On Sky, On-Line, On Mobiles 

Studio : 01902 457875 

Reception : 01902 450533 

Safety Lockers 

MINT Safety Deposit Centres 

MacDonald Road, Leicester, 

LE4 5HD | Tel. 0345 222 3456 

School of Motoring 

Bains School of Motoring 

Mobile: 07973 281968 

Tel: 0121 523 2848 

Security Services 

Your Security Services Ltd. 

86 Digbeth, B’ham B5 6DY 

Tel. 0121 448 0750 

www.ysrl.co.uk 

Singers, Stage and 

TV artists 

Babbu Chander 

Wolverhampton 

Mob. 07492 129 321, 07429 119 530 

Sukhdev Jassi 

Bedford | Mob. 07901 796 669 

Pamma Lasadia 

Wolverhampton 

07448 886 166


Solicitors Chaudhary’s Cash & Carry 

Stratford Rd, Birmingham, B11 

4BP | Tel: 0121 778 3800 

Dadiyal Supermarket 

118-120 Alum Rock Rd, B’ham, 

B8 1NH 

Desi Bazaar 

560 Coventry Rd, Small 

Heath, Birmingham, B18 0UN 

Tel: 0121 773 9909 

Braitch Solicitors 

28 Chapel Ash,Wolverhampton 

Mob. 07773 374 848 

Tel. 01902 711 200 

Indian Advocate & Top 

Immigration Services 

Wolverhampton 

Tel.01902 457711 

Mob. 078 2828 3992 

Midland Immigration 

Services Ltd. 

255 Melton Road, Leicester 

Tel. 0800 0304 998 

VKM 

48, Queen St, Wolverhampton 

WV1 2BJ 

Tel: 01902 311 1155 

Super Market 

Sabar General Stores 

113, Holyhead Road, 

Handsworth B21 0HH 

Tel : 0121 551 6423 

Wayco Supermarket 

72A Soho Road, Handsworth, 

BIRMINGHAM, B21 9BH 

Tel : 0121 551 8711 

Soho News 

129 Soho Rd, BIRMINGHAM, 

B21 9ST 

Al Halal Supermarket 

7 - 13 Alum Rock Rd, B’ham, 

B8 1LL | Tel: 0121 327 0074 


360 Coventry Rd, Birmingham, 

B10 0XE | Tel: 0121 753 4391 



B11 4DG | Tel: 0121 777 1510 

Aujla Supermarket 


B‘ham, B706PB 

Buy and Save 

Rood End Rd, Oldbury, B’ham, 

B688SH 

Desi Mass Bazar 

Ladypool Road, Birmingham, 

B128TT 

East & West Supermarket 


B11 4DN | Tel: 0121 7773904 

East & West Super market 

132 - 136 Ladypool Rd, B’ham, 

B128JA 

Food World 

121 Villa Rd, Birmingham, 

B19 1NH | Tel: 0121 554 6532 

Food World Super market 

728 Stratford Rd, Birmingham 

B11 4BP | Tel: 0121 777 8636 

Gill Super market 

330A Soho Rd, Birmingham, 

B21 9NA | Tel : 0121 523 5272 

Grocery Store 

New Street, Smethwick, B’ham, 

B66 4PH | 

Hill Top Super market 

125 Hill Top, West Bromwich, 

Birmingham, B70 0RU 

Tel : 0121 505 3529 

Khan Super Market 

618 - 620 Coventry Rd, Small 

Heath, Birmingham, B10 0UT 

Tel : Tel: 0121773 6843 

Lifestyle Express Apna 

Food & Wine 

Albret Rd, 

B’ham, B21 9QX 

Lodge Supermarket 

70 Lodge Rd, West Bromwich, 

Birmingham, B70 8PA 

Tel : 0121 553 4004 

Londis Supermarket 

23 Acfold Rd, Birmingham, 

B20 1HD 

Malhi's Supermarket 

Bacchus Rd, Birmingham, B18 

4RE 

Money Saver Food Store 

Ladypool Rd, 

B’ham, B128TT 

Pak Super Market 

121-125 Lozells Rd, B’ham, 

B19 2TR | Tel : 0121 554 2711 

PAK Supermarket 

Unit 1 Cape Hill Retail Centre, 

Cape Hill, B’ham, B66 4PH 

Tel : 0121 558 6786 

Pak Super Market 

42 Alum Rock Rd, B’ham, B8 

1JA | Tel: 0121 328 7868 

Punjab Food Store 


B’ham, B706NZ 

If You See This... 

List Your Business Here 

Call : 07878 456 484 

Punjab Supermarket 

Birmingham : 

B11 4DX 

R S Superstore 

58 Nineveh Rd, Birmingham, 

B21 0TE | Tel : 0121 554 1687 

S & B General Store 

3 College Rd, B’ham B20 2HU 

Tel : 0121 523 4371 

Sabar General Store 

113 Holyhead Rd, Birmingham 

B21 0HH | Tel : 

Sonali Supermarket 

537, Coventry Rd, Small 

Heath, Birmingham, B10 0LL 

Tel: 0121 773 8236 

Toor Supermarket 

93 Rookery Rd, B’ham, B21 

9QX | Tel : 0121 554 0796 

Vegmart 

147-149 Soho Rd, B’ham, B21 

9ST | Tel : 

Villa Supermarket 

117 Villa Rd, B’ham, B19 

1NH | Tel : 0121 554 2374 

Wayco Supermarket Ltd 

72A Soho Rd, B’ham, B21 

9BH | Tel : 0121 551 8711 

Heer Super Store 

19-21 Clay Ln, Coventry, CV2 

4LJ | Tel : 024 7645 6903 

Warley Supermarket 

75 Bridge St, Wednesbury, 

WS10 0AH | 0121 505 5898 

Banga Stores 

59A Lea Rd, Wolverhampton, 

WV3 0LW | 01902 338835 

Samra Supermarket 

418 Dudley Rd, Wolverhampton 

WV2 3BP | 01902 458814 

Sandhus Supermarket 

15 Bargate Dr, Wolverhampton, 

WV6 0QW | Tel: 01902 311556 

Take Away & Cafe 

Chick King 

225 Holyhead Rd, B’ham 

B21 0AP | Tel. 0121 515 4110 

Jalandar Sweet Shop 

86, High St, Smethwick, 


Apna Punjab Sweet Centre 

65A, Purely Road, Leicester 

LE4 6PB 

Tel: 0116 266 6567 

Taxi & Coach Hire 

Brit Coaches 

93 Dudley Rd, Halesowen 

B63 3NS 

Tel. 0121 769 2707 

www.britcoaches.co.uk 

Warley Cars 

Tel. 0121 555 7654 

Taxi & Bus Hire 

86, Digbeth Rd, Birmingham, B5 

6DY | Tel : Tel: 0121 643 1000 

209, Bordsley Green, B’ham, B95SP 

Tent Hire 

Amrit Tent Hire 

Mob; 07815 134 618 

amrittenthire@yahoo.co.uk 

Walsall DIY 

West Bromwich St. 

Walsall 01922 642 329 

CLASSIFIED 

Travel Agency 

101 Soho Rd, Birmingham, B21 

9SP | 

Travel Agencies 

Sky Way Travel 

232 Soho Rd, B’ham B21 9LR 

Tel. 0121 523 3050 

Balu Travel 

114 Soho Rd, B’ham B21 9DP 

Tel. 0121 554 4013 

Visa 

√Ó≈‹ ÚΔ’ÒΔ Á∂ Í≈·’ª Ò¬Δ «ÚÙ∂Ù √»⁄È≈ 

£@.E@p 

«√apple¯ Í≥‹≈‘ ÍÀ∫√ 

«Í¡≈apple∂ Í≈·’ ‹Δ˙, 

¡≈Í ‹Δ ÁΔ ‹≈È’≈appleΔ 

Ò¬Δ «¬‘ √»⁄È≈ «ÁÂΔ ‹ªÁΔ ˛ 

«’ “√Ó≈‹ ÚΔ’ÒΔ” ¡ıÏ≈apple ‘π‰ 

«√apple¯ Í≥‹≈‘ ÍÀ∫√ (£@.E@p) 

«Úæ⁄ «ÓÒ∂◊ΔÕ Âπ√ƒ «‹√ ÚΔ 

Áπ’≈È Â∂ ‘∂·≈ «Á÷≈«¬¡≈ «◊¡≈ 

√≈¬ΔÈ ÏØapple‚ «Ò«÷¡≈ ÍÛ∑Ø ¿π√ 

Áπ’≈È ÂØ∫ Âπ√ƒ “√Ó≈‹ ÚΔ’ÒΔ” 

¡ıÏ≈apple ıappleΔÁ √’Á∂ ‘Ø ËøÈÚ≈ÁÕ 

‘Øapple ‹≈‰’≈appleΔ Ò¬Δ √øÍapple’ ’appleØ 

ÎØÈ ÈøÏapple : @GHGH DEF DHD 

samajweekly@gmail.com 


Training & Development 

11 

Event Management & Wedding Planners 

Travel & Accommodations 

Enjoy Holidays in India & Across the Globe with ONTIME 

Inbound & Outbound Tailor Made Tours 

Ontime Luxurious Apartment 

Rent-a-car Service Across India 

Visa & Air Tickets | Travel Insurance 

ONTIME HOSPITALITY SERVICE (Mumbai, India) 

+91-22-26848985/66952866/26837175 

+91-9833120569 

info@ontimetravel.net, chetna@ontimetravel.net 

www.ontimetravel.net | www.ontimeapartments.com 

On kanshi TV 

channel 864. 

SATURDAY at 

6 :00 pm 

SUNDAY at 

6 :00 pm 

Ambedkarites News and Views 

by 

BUDDHIST INTERNATIONAL MEDIA 

Mob : 07411 251 804, 07847 307 059


BUSINESS 


HIGH EXPORTS spur TEA 

board’s plans for U.S. show 

KOLKATA : In a bid to sustain the 

high level of exports touched last year, 

the Tea Board is proposing a delegation 

to participate in a food show in 

the U.S. A delegation to further trade 

prospects with China is also on the 

anvil. It has already taken a delegation 

to Dubai in February. 

Indian tea exports had touched 

240.7 million kg in 2017. Five importing 

countries, including two of India’s 

rivals in the global arena, helped India 

reach this export level. “This level is 

sustainable, with a possibility of 

enhancement,” S. Soundararajan, 

Director Tea Development, Tea Board 

of India, said. 

Higher price : In several countries, 

including the U.S., Indian teas were 

sold at prices higher than the average 

export price of $3 per kg. This buoyancy 

now makes a 15% rise to 275 

million kg by 2020 seem attainable, 

said a source. The board is planning to 

participate in the 64th Summer Fancy 

Food Show, a major food and beverage 

exposition in New York, starting 

June 30. It had first participated in this 

event last year. While last year the 

biggest contributors to India’s exports 

were Egypt, (which increased imports 

by 166%), Sri Lanka (which increased 

imports by 84.8%) and China (where 

Indian tea exports increased 50%), 

exports to the U.S. too had risen. For 

India, the U.S. is beginning to emerge 

as an important market, following a 

Tea Board of India campaign to highlight 

the beverage as a health drink. 

Exports to the U.S. stood at 14.1 million 

kg in 2017. 

Sources said the U.S. was a 130- 

million kg market, mainly serviced by 

Argentina. India is now targeting a 

larger slice of this market with speciality 

teas such as orthodox, 

Darjeeling and green tea. In 2017, 

Indian tea was showcased at food 

shows and through delegations to the 

U.S., Russia, Australia, Germany and 

in Chile. 

Azam Monem Chairman, ITA, had 

said there was a preference for Indian 

teas in several markets and the delegations 

helped showcase the bouquet of 

teas available. In February, a delegation 

had visited Dubai, while those to 

the U.S. and China are in the pipeline. 

India’s Forex 

reserves rise 

by $1.21 bn 

Mumbai : India’s foreign exchange 

(Forex) reserves increased by $1.21 billion 

as on April 13, official data showed 

on Friday. According to the Reserve 

Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly statistical 

supplement, the overall Forex reserves 

rose to $426.08 billion from $424.86 

billion reported for the week ended 

April 6. India’s Forex reserves comprise 

of foreign currency assets (FCAs), 

gold reserves, special drawing rights 

(SDRs) and the RBI’s position with the 

International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Segment-wise, FCAs — the largest 

component of the Forex reserves — 

increased by $1.20 billion to $400.97 

billion during the week under review. 

Besides the US dollar, FCAs consist 

of nearly 20-30 per cent of major global 

currencies. It also includes investments 

in US Treasury bonds, bonds of 

other selected governments and 

deposits with foreign central and commercial 

banks. However, the country’s 

gold reserves value remained stagnant 

at $21.48 billion. The SDRs’ value 

inched up by $6.6 million to $1.54 billion, 

while the country’s reserve position 

with the IMF rose by $8.9 million 

to $2.07 billion. 

Petrol price in Delhi touches Rs 74.08, 

highest since September 2013 

New Delhi, Petrol prices 

in Delhi touched a fresh high 

were Rs 78.03 (Kolkata, 

August 2014), Rs 82.07 

prices due to the ongoing supply 

cut by the Organisation of 

of Rs 74.08 per litre on Friday, (Mumbai, March 2014) and the Petroleum Exporting 

the highest in nearly five 

years. In September 2013 the 

price had touched Rs 74.10 a 

litre. In Kolkata, Mumbai and 

Rs 76.93 (Chennai, July 

2014). Diesel prices also 

touched new record levels on 

Friday. Diesel prices in Delhi, 

Countries coupled with strong 

demand for crude oil.On 

Friday, Brent crude oil was 

priced around $73.56 per barrel, 

Chennai too, prices climbed to Kolkata, Mumbai and 

whereas in 2013 it was 

new multi-year highs at Rs 

76.78, Rs 81.93 and Rs 76.85 

per litre respectively, the 

Indian Oil website said. The 

previous highs in these cities 

Chennai were Rs 65.31, Rs 

68.01, Rs 69.54 and Rs 68.90 

per litre respectively. Petrol 

prices firmed up on Friday 

along with surge in crude oil 

priced at over $100 a barrel. 

Prices of transport fuels are 

now changed on a daily basis 

unlike the previous norm of 

fortnightly revision of prices. 

States allowed to set up crop insurance 

firms to execute PMFBY 

NEW DELHI : The Centre has allowed states to 

set up their own insurance companies for implementing 

the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana 

(PMFBY), a senior Agriculture Ministry official 

said on Monday. The move comes after several 

requests from states as well as observations made 

by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in 

its 2017 report that old crop insurances schemes 

which have now been merged with PMFBY, were 

poorly implemented during 2011-2016. Presently, 

five public sector insurers and 13 private insurance 

companies are empanelled for implementation of 

the scheme, the official said. The public insurers 

include Agriculture Insurance Company of India 

(AIC), United India Insurance Company (UICC), 

National Insurance Company (NIC), Oriental 

Insurance Company (OIC) and New India 

Assurance Company (NIAC). Launched in April 

2016 , PMFBY provides comprehensive crop insurance 

from pre-sowing to post harvest against nonpreventable 

natural risks at extremely low premium 

rate of 2% for kharif crops, 1.5% for rabi crops and 

5% for horticulture and commercial crops. 

Axis Bank commences process 

to appoint new MD & CEO 

Mumbai : 

Lending major Axis 

Bank on Friday said 

it has commenced 

the “succession 

process to appoint a 

new Managing 

Director and CEO”. 

According to a BSE filing, the 

company’ Board has appointed 

Egon Zehnder, a global leadership 

advisory firm, to conduct 

the succession process and 

evaluate candidates. 

“The Board will ensure that 

the said process will be completed 

before the end of 

(Shikha) Sharma’s tenure and 

thus facilitate smooth transition 

of leadership responsibilities at 

the bank,” it said in a BSE filing. 

On April 9, Axis Bank 

accepted the request of incumbent 

Managing Director and 

CEO Shikha Sharma to be reappointed 

for a shorter duration 

of time, subject to regulatory 

approval. Sharma had requested 

to be on a revised reappointed 

period from June 1, 

2018 up to December 31, 2018. 

The board had earlier decided 

to re-appoint Sharma for a 

period of 3 years from June 1, 

2018, subject to approvals. 

Sharma has served as the 

bank’s Managing Director and 

CEO for around 9 years. In this 

period, she has led the bank’s 

next stage of growth. 

However, the rise in the 

bank’s NPA levels has become 

a major cause of concern.


HEALTH 


13 

Strike a balance with calorie-restricted diet 

Opting for a calorie-restricted diet is being touted as a sustainable way to lead a fitter, healthier life. 

According to a recent study published 

in the journal Cell Metabolism, 

those following a calorie-restricted diet 

not only burned fat but also underwent 

reduced cell damage — a crucial part 

of minimising the ageing process. The 

study has also reignited interest in the 

term ‘calorie-restricted’ with many 

wanting to know how it can be adapted 

for health benefits. 

Researchers define caloric restriction 

(CR) as reducing food intake while 

avoiding malnutrition. This usually 

means consuming 30-40% fewer calories 

than the standard daily requirement. 

That’s the equivalent of limiting 

daily intake to around 1,200 calories 

for women and 1,400 calories for men. 

Calorie restriction vs fasting 

Calorie restriction is not the same as 

fasting. The process involves cutting 

off all sorts of food that can cause oxidation. 

It also includes adding to the 

diet, foods that are rich in antioxidants. 

This in turn helps in protecting the 

body from oxidative stress. “For example, 

eating too much sugar and 

processed carbohydrates (like pasta, 

bread, and baked goods) can damage 

your skin’s collagen, which keeps your 

skin supple and helps resist wrinkles. 

Moreover, these foods damage your 

overall health. They come with risk of 

heart diseases and diabetes. The bad 

boys are: alcohol, sugar, refined flour 

and its products, fatty meats, sugary 

pastries, etc,” says Delnaaz T 

Chanduwadia, chief dietician, Jaslok 

Hospital and Research Centre, Pedder 

Road. In a crux, the food should be 

nutrition-dense rather than being calorie-dense. 

Foods that are particularly 

high in antioxidants are the colourful 

fruits and vegetables. The pigments 

found in these colourful vegetables 

work as potent antioxidants.” 

Who is it recommended for? 

Losing sustainable amount of 

weight may improve weight-related 

medical conditions such as diabetes 

and high blood pressure. Therefore, 

those suffering from these illnesses can 

opt for this diet. 

Experts also recommend this diet 

for people with obesity. “Due to obesity, 

there is an increase in free radical 

via smoking, increase in fatty food, 

trans fat, difficulty in breathing, etc. 

The body is under constant stress 

because of which the free radicals 

attack the lipid layer of the cell and 

cause damage. This further alters the 

protein structure which hampers the 

function of enzyme and hormones 

later, altering the DNA and mitochondria 

of the cell leading to complete 

damage. It continues as a chain, which 

later leads a greater risk of cardiac 

arrest and makes one more vulnerable 

to stroke, arthritis, cancer and early 

ageing,” says Pooja Thacker, nutritionist, 

Bhatia Hospital, Tardeo. 

Drinking water may 

help exercising seniors 

stay mentally sharp 

Older people should drink more water to reap the full 

cognitive benefits of exercise, a study suggests. 

The study presented at the American Physiological 

Society (APS) annual meeting in San Diego, US explores 

the association between hydration status before exercising 

and exercise-enhanced cognition in older adults. 

Dehydration has been shown to impair exercise performance 

and brain function in young people, but less is 

known about its impact on older populations. "Middleage 

and older adults often display a blunted thirst perception, 

which places them at risk for dehydration and 

subsequently may reduce the cognitive health-related 

benefits of exercise," said Brandon Yates from Spaulding 

Rehabilitation Hospital in the US. The researchers 

recruited recreational cyclists (average age 55) who participated 

in a large cycling event on a warm day. The 

cyclists performed a "trail-making" executive function 

test - quickly and accurately connecting numbered dots 

using paper and pencil - before and after the event. 

170 potential lung cancer 

drug targets identified 

Scientists, who tested over 

200,000 chemical compounds, 

have identified 170 candidates that 

can be potentially used for developing 

new drug therapies for lung 

cancer. The five-year project set 

out to identify new therapeutic targets 

for non-small cell lung cancer 

as well as potential drugs for these 

targets - a significant step forward 

towards personalising cancer care, 

researchers said. 

For the large majority of compounds, 

we identified a predictive 

biomarker - a feature that allows 

the development of 'precision medicine,' 

or individualised treatment 

for each patient," said John Minna, 

from University of Texas in the US. 

For the study, published in the 

journal Cell, the researchers 

searched for compounds that would 

kill cancer cells but not harm normal 

lung cells. 

"We began an ambitious project 

with the goal of identifying 'therapeutic 

triads': chemicals that kill 

cancer cells, biomarkers that predict 

who would respond, and the 

therapeutic targets on which those 

active chemicals work," said 

Medication use increases in newlydiagnosed 

dementia patients 

Researchers have found an increase 

in medication use by the patients who 

have been newly-diagnosed with 

dementia and they may consume 

unnecessary or inappropriate medicines 

that increase the risk of side effects. 

"Our study found that following a diagnosis 

of dementia in older people, medication 

use increased by 11 per cent in a 

year and the use of potentially inappropriate 

medications increased by 17 per 

cent," said lead author Danijela 

Gnjidic, Senior Lecturer from the 

Faculty of Pharmacy and Charles 

Perkins Centre at University of Sydney. 

According to the researchers, potentially 

inappropriate or unnecessary 

medications included sleeping tablets, 

pain drugs, depression drugs and 

acid reflux drugs (proton pump 

inhibitors). "These medications are 

typically recommended for short 

term use but are commonly used 

long term by people with dementia," 

Gnjidic said. Around 50 million people 

live with dementia around the 

world—425,000 in Australia alone. 

Also, dementia is currently the second 

leading cause of death in 

Australia, the researchers said. The 

longitudinal study, published in the 

Journals of Gerontology: Medical 

Sciences, of nearly 2,500 people was 

conducted in collaboration with Yale 

University and University of 

Kentucky. 

Minna. 

Continuing to uncover the 

mechanism of action for the majority 

of the 170 chemicals will be a 

key focus of future research. 

Follow-up work will also include 

testing the chemicals on other types 

of cancer. Preliminary work shows 

some of the compounds are likely 

effective against certain breast and 

ovarian cancers as well. 

The researchers have carefully 

developed and curated a collection 

of lung cancer cell lines since the 

1970s that is now recognised as the 

world's largest. The team of scientists 

began by testing 200,000 

chemicals against 12 lung cancer 

cell lines. 

"The initial screen gave us 

15,000 chemical 'hits,' way too 

many to work with in detail, but 

with repeat testing we eventually 

narrowed the number down to 

170," said Bruce Posner, Professor 

of Biochemistry and Director of the 

High-Throughput Center at 

University of Texas. 

The set of 170 chemical compounds 

was then tested across 100 

lung cancer lines. 

Eat fatty fish to cut your heart disease risk 

Consuming fatty fish four times a 

week may help increase the amount of 

good cholesterol and prevent the risk of 

heart disease, 

finds a study. 

The findings 

showed that fatty 

fish increases the 

size and lipid 

composition of 

high-density 

lipoprotein 

(HDL) particles, 

also known as 

good cholesterol, 

in people with 

impaired glucose 

metabolism. 

Morever, using daily 30 ml of camelina 

oil -- rich in alpha-linolenic acid, which 

is an essential omega-3 fatty acid -- was 

also found to decrease the number of 

harmful Intermediate-density lipoprotein 

(IDL) particles. 

The IDL 

lipoprotein is 

the precursor of 

(low-density 

lipoprotein) 

LDL, which is 

also known as 

the bad cholesterol. 

Previous 

studies have 

shown that 

long-chain 

omega-3 fatty 

acids found in 

fish have a beneficial effect on lipoprotein 

size and composition.


HEALTH 


Commonwealth wants Modi’s 

commitment to beat malaria 

New Delhi, With one in seven Indians at risk of 

contracting malaria and an unfortunate break in the 

“dramatic success” of the last decade, Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment at the 

Commonwealth summit in London this week to 

beat the disease is eagerly awaited, say experts 

“India is central to this achievement (eradication 

of malaria from Commonwealth countries). 

We look forward to hear the strategy India is working 

on to achieve its commitment of eliminating 

malaria by 2030,” said James Whiting, Executive 

Director, Malaria No More (MNM), UK. 

Malaria is included as an issue in the 

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 

(CHOGM) in London on April 19-20, which will 

be attended by Modi. A day before CHOGM on 

Wednesday, a Malaria Summit is being held to get 

political and financial commitments from the head 

of nations. 

“We would also be looking forward to hear 

about the financing part of the Indian strategy to 

eradicate malaria,” Whiting told IANS. MNM is a 

global non-profit convening the campaign on 

behalf of the global malaria community and is registered 

as the Malaria Elimination Trust in India. 

According to government estimates, it will cost 

Rs 10,653 crore to eliminate malaria in India by 

2030. 

India has the third largest burden of malaria 

incidence in the world after Congo and Nigeria. In 

India, Odisha is the biggest victim of malaria constituting 

close to 41 per cent of India’s malaria 

incidence as of 2016, the NGO said in a statement. 

According to the World Malaria Report 2017, 

60 per cent of global malaria deaths in 2016 

occurred in eight Commonwealth countries and 90 

per cent of the Commonwealth population (2.4 billion 

or two-third of global population) lives in 

malaria affected countries. 

“The malaria campaign has seen a dramatic success 

in the last 10-15 years both in India and globally,” 

said Whiting, adding that there has been a 

fall of 60 per cent in global malaria deaths since 

2000 saving nearly seven million lives. 

In recent times, India has achieved remarkable 

progress in its fight against malaria as it has 

reduced its malaria burden by nearly half from two 

million cases in 2000 to one million cases in 2016, 

and malaria related deaths have gone down by twothirds 

during this period. 

However, for the first time in 15 years, progress 

towards ending the disease has stalled. The WHO’s 

malaria report confirmed cases and deaths are no 

longer falling. Malaria affected around 216 million 

people globally in 2016, an increase of five million 

cases over the previous year. 

The MNM statement said: “Due to the nature of 

malaria, this fight can only go two ways: forwards 

or backwards. There is no standing still. We are 

currently on a cliff edge – continue to battle the 

disease or risk an acute and deadly resurgence.” 

And, precisely for this the pressing decision the 

heads of Commonwealth nations, most importantly 

India, face is to either continue towards ending 

the disease with renewed financial and political 

commitments or put the hard fought progress in 

jeopardy. A total of 24 members of the 

Commonwealth are actively tackling the disease, 

20 have eliminated malaria and eight have never 

had malaria. Sri Lanka and Maldives have already 

eliminated malaria and Malaysia hopes to eliminate 

by 2020, the MNM said. 

“The Malaria Summit 2018 will discuss on the 

amount of money required to eliminate malaria and 

the smart new ways of spending that money 

including new ways of gathering the data. 

Tomorrow’s summit will be attended by 16 heads 

of state,” said Whiting. 

Beer belly bad 

for your heart 

Beer belly bad for your heart 

New York, If you have 

developed a spare tyre, it is 

time you saw a doctor to assess 

your cardiovascular health as 

researchers have found that 

belly fat, even in people who 

are not otherwise overweight, 

is bad for the heart. 

“People with a normal 

weight but a fat belly have more 

chance of heart 

problems than people 

without a fat 

belly, even if they 

are obese according 

to BMI (body mass 

index),” said study 

author Jose Medina- 

Inojosa from the 

Mayo Clinic in 

Minnesota, US. 

“This body shape indicates a 

sedentary lifestyle, low muscle 

mass, and eating too many 

refined carbohydrates,” Medina- 

Inojosa said. BMI, which is 

weight relative to height in 

kg/metre square, is used to categorise 

adults as underweight, 

normal weight, overweight or 

obese. However, BMI does not 

account for the amount and distribution 

of fat and muscle. 

Central obesity is a store of 

excess fat around the middle 

of the body and is a marker of 

abnormal fat distribution. This 

study tested the hypothesis 

that people with normal 

weight and central obesity 

would have more heart problems 

than people with normal 

weight and normal fat distribution.From 

1997 to 2000, the 

study enrolled nearly 1,700 

people aged 45 years or older 

in the US. 

Participants 

underwent a 

clinical examination 

and 

measurements 

were taken of 

weight, height, 

waist circumference 

and hip circumference. 

Patients were followed-up 

from 2000 to 2016 for the 

occurrence of major adverse 

cardiovascular events such as 

as heart attack, stroke, and 

death from cardiovascular 

causes. Participants with a 

normal BMI (18.5-24.9 

kg/metre square) and central 

obesity had an approximately 

two-fold higher long-term risk 

of heart problems compared to 

participants without central 

obesity, regardless of their 

BMI, the study said. 

Munjals, Burmans submit higher bid 

of Rs 1,500 cr for Fortis Healthcare 

New Delhi, Sunil Kant 

Munjal of Hero Enterprise as 

wells Anand Burman and Mohit 

Burman of Burman family have 

approached the Board of Fortis 

Healthcare with a binding offer 

to invest Rs 1,500 crore directly 

in the company, a company 

statement said here on Thursday. 

This offer would replace the 

original offer made to the Board 

on April 12, 2018. On April 12, 

2018 Hero Enterprise promoted 

by Sunil Munjal and the Burman 

family offered to invest Rs 1,250 

crore directly in Fortis 

Healthcare, to bail out the cashstrapped 

company. 

The improved binding offer, 

according to Munjal, is “even 

simpler, more attractive and 

faster to implement and without 

any due diligence.” This is a 

joint bid by Hero Enterprise and 

the Burman family, both of 

whom have a long-standing 

presence and interest in the 

healthcare sector. “We will 

invest Rs 500 crore through preferential 

issue of equity shares 

and Rs 1,000 crore through preferential 

issue of warrants,” said 

Wine, lox, cheese: there are a lot of things you give up when 

you become pregnant. But the one thing that pinches the most is 

kicking the caffeine habit. While there haven’t been any concrete 

studies conducted yet to explain the exclusions, this recent study 

answers some questions regarding caffeine. The study says that 

exposure to moderate to high levels of caffeine while in the 

womb is linked to excess weight gain in your child’s early years. 

How does caffeine affect the foetus : When a pregnant 

woman drinks coffee, or any caffeinated drink, the caffeine in it is 

readily absorbed by the bloodstream and distributed to the tissues. 

From here it crosses the placenta and reaches your tiny growing 

wonder in the womb. Excessive intake of coffee has been linked 

to an increased risk of miscarriage and restricted foetal growth. 

Munjal in the letter. “Our upfront 

investment into the company 

will be Rs 750 crore. This 

includes Rs 500 crore through 

preferential issue of equity 

shares and Rs 250 crore, being 

the amount equivalent to 25 per 

cent of the consideration for the 

warrants at the time of allotment,” 

he added. The additional 

Coffee in pregnancy can make children 

gain weight, swap caffeine with these 

Method for study : The researchers wanted 

to try and find out if caffeine 

intake during pregnancy might 

also be associated with excess 

weight gain in the child’s early 

years. They, therefore, drew on 

just under 51,000 mother and 

infant pairs. 

At 22 weeks of pregnancy, the 

mums-to-be were asked to quantify their 

food and drink intake from among 255 items, 

including caffeine, using a specially adapted Food 

Frequency Questionnaire. 

Rs 1,000 crore after the initial 

infusion of Rs 500 crore will 

come at a valuation of Rs 161.60 

per share. “We believe that our 

improved offer is even more 

compelling, and is significantly 

better than any other options 

being explored by the company. 

We would like to reiterate that 

we are long-term investors who 

have a keen interest and affinity 

towards the Indian healthcare 

sector and this improved offer is 

a testimony to this,” Burman 

said. They expressed the hope 

that the Board would consider 

this “very simple” offer and put 

it before shareholders to take a 

final decision. “In our view, this 

is the best offer on the table and 

deserves serious and urgent consideration,” 

Munjal said.


SPORTS 

2019 Cricket World Cup 

India to start vs South Africa on 

June 5, play Pakistan on June 16 


15 

Kolkata : India will open their 2019 

World Cup campaign against South 

Africa on June 5 and square off against 

arch-rivals Pakistan on June 16, a senior 

BCCI official told PTI today. 

The 2019 World Cup will be held in 

the UK from May 30 to July 14 and 

India will strat on June 5 as the BCCI 

will have to maintain a mandatory 15- 

day gap between the IPL final and 

international assignment as per the 

Lodha Committee recommendations. 

The matter was discussed during 

the ICC Chief Executives Meeting 

here today. “The 2019 IPL will be 

played between March 29 and May 19. 

But we need to maintain a 15-day gap 

and World Cup starts on May 30. 

Therefore as per a 15-day gap, we 

could have only played on June 5. 

“South Africa are our first opponents. 

The CEC agreed and the matter has 

been referred to the ICC board,” he 

said. The official had earlier stated that 

the match will be on June 4 but later corrected 

himself. The clash against Pakistan will take 

place on June 16 in Manchester. India have 

never lost to Pakistan in a World Cup. 

Interestingly, ICC, in their various marquee 

events, have started with an Indo-Pak fixture in 

the past which is almost always a sell-out. It 

happened in the 2015 World Cup in Australia (at 

Adelaide) and the 2017 Champions Trophy in 

UK (in Birmingham). “This is the first time an 

Indo-Pak match won’t be a starting affair. Since 

Virat 

Kohli’s Indian 

cricket team will 

open its 2019 

Cricket World Cup 

campaign against 

South Africa on June 

5 and their contest 

against Pakistan will 

take place on 

June 16. 

the format will be a round robin affair (all teams 

playing each other like 1992),” the official 

added. Other decisions that were formalised 

included the FTP for the next five-year cycle 

from 2019-23. 

“As we had decided, India will play a maximum 

309 days of international cricket in this 

cycle across formats, a reduction of 92 days 

from the earlier cycle. 

“However the number of home Test matches 

will increase from 15 to 19. All these Tests will 

Shahzar shoots silver to open 

India’s account in World Cup 

New Delhi- Growing up, 

Shahzar Rizvi was given a tough 

time by his cousins Rayyan and 

Shaual Rizvi. While the two 

were firing shotguns, young 

Shahzar couldn’t even lift one, 

let alone bear the recoil of the 

gun. 

The puny kid, Shahzar left the 

family obsession with the big 

guns and picked up a pistol in 

2009. Then too his cousins had a 

big laugh at his expense. “Ye kya 

utha liya (What have you picked 

up?)” they asked. 

After years of suffering at the 

hands of his cousins, Shahzar 

plans to get back at them when 

he returns from South Korea. 

“They have shot in the Nationals 

but now I have two World Cup 

medals. I’ll ask them how many 

they have won,” Shahzar told 

The Tribune from Changwon, 

South Korea, after winning a silver 

medal in the 10m Air Pistol 

event at the World Cup. 

“I joined Air Force in 2014 

and then things began to fall in 

place as far as my shooting was 

concerned. I had nothing to 

worry after that as everything 

including food and pellets were 

taken care of by the Fauj,” 

Shahzar said. 

Tuesday’s silver medal was 

his second successive medal in 

the ISSF World Cups. 

Previously, the 19-year-old had 

stamped his class as he won the 

10m Air Pistol event in the 

World Cup at Guadalajara 

(Mexico) with a world record 

score of 242.3 in the finals. 

‘Not happy’ 

Shahzar had a golden chance 

to win at Changwon too but 

came up short by 0.2 decimal 

points. At 19, others would have 

been out celebrating for winning 

another World Cup medal. But 

not Shahzar. He was back at the 

hotel moping over losing the 

gold medal. 

“I missed the gold medal. 

Gold looks far better than the silver. 

I had two very bad shots in 

the final and that had big impact 

on where I finished,” said 

Shahzar, who is from Bawana 

Kot, Meerut. The gold was won 

by Russia’s Artem Chernousov. 

Chernousov had a commanding 

lead of over four points over 

Rizvi. But a couple of bad scores 

by the Russian in his 19th and 

20th shots in the 24-shot final 

opened the door for Rizvi. The 

youngster duly obliged and 

closed the gap with 10.6 and a 

perfect 10.9. Shahzar needed to 

score 10.3 or over in his last shot 

to win the gold. Instead he 

logged 10.0 to finish second. 

be part of the World Test Championship,” he 

added. 

It was also confirmed that India will not play 

any Day/Night Test match for now as it’s not a 

part of the World Test Championship. 

“All matches in the ICC World Test 

Championship are day matches played with the 

red ball. If that’s the case, there is no point in 

playing pink ball Tests if it doesn’t help in 

preparation for World Test Championship,” he 

concluded. 

Barca thrash Sevilla 

to win King’s Cup 

MADRID- Unstoppable duo Andres Iniesta and 

Lionel Messi helped Barcelona thrash Sevilla 5-0 to 

win the King’s Cup final for the fourth consecutive 

season on Saturday as they close in on a likely domestic 

double. Luis Suarez struck twice in the first half for 

the Catalans as they won the competition for a record 

30th time. However, it was Iniesta and Messi who 

pulled all the strings as the La Liga leaders blew away 

Vincenzo Montella’s stunned side. Philippe Coutinho 

set up Suarez for the opening goal in the 14th minute 

and Barcelona dominated the rest of the game. The 

result goes some way to make up for their humiliating 

Champions League quarterfinal elimination by AS 

Roma earlier in April. 

Messi slammed home the second after good work 

from Jordi Alba with Suarez adding another, before 

Iniesta netted from a tight angle. Coutinho added a 

fifth from the penalty spot to complete the rout.“This 

doesn’t cover up what happened in Rome but it’s an 

important title,” said Suarez. “At the start of the season 

we would have taken this, there’s huge merit to it. It’s 

strange to be knocked out of the Champions League, 

we gave the impression that we could go far in it.” 

Both Barcelona and Sevilla fans sang Iniesta’s name 

when he was substituted in the final stages, with the 

chants echoing around the Wanda Metropolitano stadium 

until after the final whistle.


SPORTS 


‘ODIs, T20Is will help 

India prepare for Tests’ 

New Delhi : Playing limited-overs cricket ahead 

of their Test series in England will serve as the ideal 

platform for the Indian team to get used to conditions 

away from home, coach Ravi 

Shastri said. India begin their tour 

of England in July with three T20Is 

and three ODIs. They then take on 

the hosts in a five-Test series starting 

in August. “We will be there in 

England almost a month before the 

first Test. That gives us that much 

more time to prepare,” Shastri 

said. India will come into the contests 

against England high on confidence after beating 

hosts South Africa 5-1 in ODIs and 2-1 in T20 

competition earlier this year. India had earlier 

bounced back after losing the first two Tests against 

the Proteas to finish the series 1-2. “What our boys 

did in South Africa makes me proud as a coach 

because there were 21 days of cricket and on each 

one of those 21 days, India competed,” Shastri 

added. “The One-day series we won after 25 years. 

And so, from a coach’s point of view, you have to 

just stand up and say ‘well done, guys. Simply magnificent. 

You have raised the bar’.” 

Bayern vs Ronaldo 

Berlin- Jerome Boateng said only a defensive 

team effort could prevent Cristiano Ronaldo adding 

to his mind-blowing tally of nine goals in six games 

against Bayern Munich on Wednesday. Bayern host 

Real in a blockbuster Champions League semifinal, 

first-leg, at the Allianz Arena with Ronaldo in goalscoring 

form. The Portugal superstar has scored 15 

goals in the Champions League this season, hitting 

the net in each of Real’s 10 games in Europe. “We 

can only stop Cristiano Ronaldo as a team,” Bayern 

centre-back Boateng said. “In front of goal, he’s 

like a machine. You can’t shut him out completely, 

he always gets his chances in a game, because of 

the lines he runs and his excellent timing. Real base 

their game around him and it’s important we give 

him as little room as possible.” 

New Delhi-The Indian men’s hockey team’s medalless 

and rudder-less Commonwealth Games performance 

has brought chief coach Sjoerd Marijne under the 

scanner with Hockey India scheduling a performance 

review meeting later this week. It has been learnt that 

some senior players of the team, led by skipper 

Manpreet Singh, PR Sreejesh and Rupinder Pal Singh, 

met top HI officials here today and presented their 

explanation for the performance. 

It is for the first time in 12 years (since 2006) that 

India failed to win a single medal in hockey at the CWG 

and this hasn’t gone down well with the national federation, 

which said that it won’t shy away from taking 

tough decisions after the review meeting. 

According to a Hockey India official, not just the 

players, the coach’s performance will also be scrutinised 

and corrective measures will be taken, if needed, 

as three important tournaments -- Champions Trophy, 

Pandya, Karthik to be part of 

World XI against West Indies 

Indian hockey team coach Sjoerd Marijne 

under scanner after medal-less 

Commonwealth Games campaign 

Asian Games and the season-ending World Cup -- are 

lined up this year. “The performance in Gold Coast is 

definitely not acceptable. 

It is below-par to say the least. We have been providing 

all facilities to the team but they just fail to deliver 

in big events,” the HI official said. “We were one of 

the medal favourites but look how we performed 

against lower-ranked teams like Wales, Pakistan, New 

Zealand and England.”India were particularly poor in 

the 2-2 draw against Pakistan, conceding the equaliser 

with just seven seconds left on the clock. It has been 

earlier reported that some senior players were unhappy 

with chief coach Marijne’s decision to blood youngsters 

like Vivek Sagar Prasad, Dilpreet Singh, Sumit, 

Gurinder Singh in place of experienced pros such as 

Sardar Singh and Ramandeep Singh in the CWG-bound 

squad. And the HI official said all these issues will be 

examined during the review meeting. 

Salah takes 

centre stage 

Liverpool- When AS Roma agreed 

to sell Mohamed Salah to Liverpool 

last June they could well have anticipated 

that the 

Egyptian would 

go on to be a big 

success with the 

Premier League 

club. What they 

surely didn’t 

expect would be 

that Salah and 

Liverpool would 

stand between 

them and a place in the Champions 

League final. 

But on Tuesday at Anfield, Roma’s 

primary task will be to stop the prolific 

Salah from adding to his impressive 

41 goals in all competitions. 

The Italian side are a surprise 

arrival in the last-4 of Europe’s premier 

club competition after a stunning 

comeback against Barcelona in the last 

round. Liverpool pulled off their own 

surprise as Salah scored in both legs of 

his team’s 5-1 aggregate quarterfinal 

win over Premier League champions 

Manchester City. Juergen Klopp, the 

Liverpool manager, expects Roma’s 

defenders to give Salah an early 

reminder, if any were needed, that 

friendships end once the players are on 

the field. “I am pretty sure the Italian 

defenders are famous for not having 

friendly games, so I think Mo will feel 

early in the game that they are not his 

teammates any more and then he can 

strike back in a football way,” the 

German said. Liverpool skipper Jordan 

Henderson said that Salah fully 

deserved the PFA Award and hopes 

that his wonderful form can continue 

until the end of the season. 

Kolkata, India all-rounder Hardik Pandya 

and wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik will 

be part of the ICC World XI which will take on 

the West Indies in a charity T20 game at the 

Lord’s on May 31, BCCI acting secretary 

Amitabh Chaudhury said here on Wednesday. 

“Hardik and Dinesh will be part of the World 

XI team for the charity match,” Chaudhury told 

reporters on the sidelines of the ICC meeting. 

Top-ranked bowler Rashid Khan of 

Afghanistan along with Bangladesh stars Shakib 

Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal have also confirmed 

their participation. 

The match is being organised to raise funds 

for stadia in the Caribbean, which were damaged 

due to hurricanes last year. 

Other Asians who have already confirmed for 

the match are Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi and 

Shoaib Malik, and Thisara Perera of Sri Lanka. 

The proceeds from this match will be donated 

towards rebuilding and renovating five major 

venues as well as other community cricket facilities 

that were damaged by Hurricanes Irma and 

Maria. 

The venues that will benefit include the 

Ronald Webster Park in Anguilla, the Sir Viv 

Richards Stadium in Antigua, the Windsor Park 

Stadium in Dominica, the A.O. Shirley 

Recreation Ground in the British Virgin Islands 

and the Carib Lumber Ball Park in St. Maarten.


The teaser of Rajkumar Hirani’s upcoming film, 

Sanju, was released on Tuesday, and it immediately 

created a buzz on social media. 

The 85-second video shows Ranbir Kapoor, who is 

playing Sanjay Dutt in the film, in different avatars. 

He narrates the journey of his life and reveals some 

shocking truths. For example, he says that he had to 

beg for a bus ticket. It’s not clear when this happened. 

Ranbir also talks about the issue of drug abuse and 

possessing an AK-56 rifle. 

At one point in the teaser, Ranbir’s Dutt talks about 

being lost in substance abuse at the age of 22, and how 

he made a comeback with a muscular body. 

ENTERTAINMENT 

Here are Ranbir Kapoor’s 

8 avatars in Sanju teaser 

Katrina Kaif to endorse 

jewellery brand 

Mumbai, Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif will 

endorse jewellery brand Kalyan Jewellers. 

“Katrina personifies brand Kalyan’s attributes of style 

and elegance. She epitomises the quintessential woman 

of today – confident, progressive and with the courage of 

her convictions. Katrina has set her own path with sheer 

hard work, akin to Kalyan’s own growth trajectory,” 

Ramesh Kalyanaraman, Executive Director, Marketing 

and Operations of Kalyan Jewellers, said in a statement. 

The actress will endorse the brand’s collections and 

will also be part of its customer engagement programmes 

across the showrooms in India and West Asia. 

In India, she will predominantly feature in the company’s 

communication campaigns, especially in the 

northern and western markets. 

Katrina has joined other Kalyan brand ambassadors 

including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, politician Jaya 

Bachchan, Nagarjuna, Prabhu, Shivaraj Kumar and 

Manju Warrier. Kalyanaraman thanked Sonam for “augmenting 

the product propositions of brand Kalyan over 

the past two years and helping strengthening its status as 

one of India’s most trusted jewellery brand”. 

Sanjay Dutt was one of the superstars in the early 

‘90s when he got arrested in a case related to the 

Mumbai bomb blasts of 1993. Hirani hints that he 

might be talking about his arrest and underworld in 

the biopic. The teaser is probably not a part of the 

actual film as only last few seconds feature actual film 

footage. However, one thing is for sure that Ranbir 

Kapoor has aced Sanjay Dutt’s look in the film. 

The film will hit the screens on June 29, 2018. Here 

are eight of Ranbir Kapoor’s looks in the film: 

The film releases on June 29. It also stars Manisha 

Koirala, Anushka Sharma, Dia Mirza, Paresh Rawal, 

Karishma Tanna and Vicky Kaushal. 

April 2018 17 

Saroj Khan sparks fresh row 

on casting couch, apologises 

Mumbai, Veteran choreographer Saroj 

Khan’s brazen comment that the casting 

couch “provides livelihood at least” in 

showbiz received a divided response. For 

some, it’s the bitter truth and some found 

her comment derogatory. She later retracted 

and apologised 

Congress leader Renuka Chowdhary 

supported Khan’s view 

and said the Parliament 

too is not immune to 

the casting couch. 

At an event in 

Sangli, Khan said: 

“Can I tell you one 

thing? This has been 

happening since the 

beginning of time. It 

hasn’t started now. 

Someone or the other 

tries to take advantage 

of every other girl. The 

government’s people 

do it too. Then why are 

you after the film 

industry? 

“It provides livelihood 

at least. Does not rape and leave you. 

It depends on the girl, what she wants to 

do. If you don’t want to fall in the wrong 

hands, you won’t. If you have art, why 

would you sell yourself? Don’t take the 

film industry’s name.” A video of the comment 

was doing the rounds on social media 

on Tuesday. Her comment left Twitterati in 

shock as many took it as a clean chit to the 

prevalence of the casting couch in the 

Indian film industry, which has largely 

remained mum in naming and shaming 

offenders despite speaking up in favour of 

the global #MeToo movement. Khan, however, 

apologised for making the remark. 

“Whatever the question, you don’t 

know… You just know my answer. So it is 

sounding wrong. But anyhow, I am sorry. I 

I treat every song like a 

different character : Neha 

Mumbai, Singer Neha Kakkar, known for delivering hit party songs like “Sunny 

sunny” and “Manali trance”, says she treats every song in a different way to bring 

variety in her singing. “I treat every song like a different character. It is good 

that people recognise my voice instantly but as an artiste, I always try and 

bring some variety with each of them,” Neha told IANS. 

“In my song ‘Second hand jawaani’, I sound like a Punjabi ‘kudi’ (girl) 

whereas in ‘Kala chashma’ my voice is different. ‘Sunny sunny’ is different 

from ‘Cheez badi’ and ‘Manali trance’. Though 

these are item songs, each time I sound different,” 

she added. 

The singer started performing on stage since she 

turned 4. “I cannot really recall when I faced stage 

fear because I started so young. It’s my natural 

habit. But you know, I can see how I have changed, 

rather improved as a singer. I never had a formal 

training but regular practice of singing. “I have grown 

up now… with so much experience in life that I keep 

incorporating in my expression while performing,” 

said the 28-year-old singer. While handling success 

is a task that many youngsters failed to handle, 

Neha counts all her blessings. “I am fortunate to 

be successful. People’s love is precious to me. I 

can never take that for granted. 

I know how youngsters like us get into bad 

things, addictions that ruined their career. “No, I 

am mature on that ground,” said Neha who started 

her musical journey on the national platform by 

participating in the show “Indian Idol” in 2006. She 

went on to become a judge of many reality shows like 

“Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs 2017” and “The Voice 

India Kids”. 

apologise,” Khan told IANS. When probed 

as to what was the question, Khan disconnected 

the call. 

The comment comes in the wake of a 

debate which got intensified after southern 

actress Sri Reddy caused a stir by sitting 

semi-naked on a road in Hyderabad to 

protest against the casting couch menace in 

the film world. 

Chowdhury supported 

Khan, saying: 

“Yes, it is the bitter 

truth. The whole film 

industry may get up in 

arms against me. It’s 

just not in the film 

industry also, this happens 

everywhere in 

work spaces with 

women. It happens 

everywhere. So, don’t 

imagine that the 

Parliament is immune 

or some other work 

space is immune. It’s 

not. “This happens 

with women everywhere. 

If you look at the western world 

today, established top actresses have taken 

this long to come out and say ‘Me too’. It’s 

time India stood up and say ‘Me too’.” 

From the film fraternity, Bollywood star 

Ranbir Kapoor said he has never faced the 

casting couch, but it is “worse” if it exists. 

And Richa Chadha felt the media was 

blowing Khan’s statement out of proportion 

as what she meant was why was 

Bollywood being singled out when it happens 

everywhere. 

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit slammed 

Khan. “I didn’t expect such derogatory and 

uncalled for statements from a veteran like 

Saroj Khan and totally condemn it. Our 

entertaiment industry, like all other industries 

respects women. 

Govind Namdev 

reunites with 

Govinda in film 

Mumbai, Veteran actor Govind 

Namdev says 

he is happy to 

work with 

actor Govinda 

after 26 years, 

this time for 

“ R a j u 

Rangeela” 

directed by 

P a h l a j 

Nihalani. “I 

am happy to 

get different 

roles and characters in films. In this 

film, I play a very crucial role. He is 

the CEO of Govinda’s character’s 

company. Govinda has triple role in 

this film,” Govind said in a statement. 

“We are reuniting after ‘Shola 

Aur Shabnam’. It’s been 26 years. 

We revived our old memories on the 

set of ‘Raju Rangeela’,” added the 

actor, mostly known for playing negative 

roles on the big screen. 

On the reason for choosing the 

film, he shared: “This is a thrillercomedy 

film. I accepted this role 

because Pahlaj Nihalani has given 

me a very significant character.” 

Govind has featured in films like 

“Bandit Queen”, “Virasat”, “Satya”, 

“Sarfarosh” and “Wanted”.


ENTERTAINMENT 


Salman Khan meets CM 

Mufti in Kashmir, shoots 

for Race 3. See pics 

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan arrived in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday for 

a two-day shoot schedule of his upcoming film Race 3. He met the state’s chief minister 

Mehbooba Mufti and pictures from his visit are flooding the internet. The crew 

first reached Srinagar where they received a warm welcome from CM Mufti and spent 

an hour with her. Later, they travelled to Sonamarg and shot for the film. 

Directed by Remo D’Souza, the action packed thriller is being produced jointly by 

Ramesh S. Taurani and Salman. Taurani shared a picture on Twitter and wrote, “We 

thank the Chief Minister Madam Mehbooba Mufti for welcoming us in Kashmir for 

the Final Lap of #Race3 with @BeingSalmanKhan #Race3InKashmir 

#Race3ThisEid” 

More pictures from Salman’s visit to the valley are doing the rounds online. 

Check them out:? Race 3 also stars Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Jacqueline Fernandez, 

Daisy Shah and Saqib Saleem. Like most Salman hits, Race 3 is also scheduled to be 

released on Eid this year. This is the second time Salman is shooting in Sonamarg - he 

shot for Kabir Khan’s hit film Bajrangi Bhaijaan in the picturesque hill station and 

spent a fortnight here. Abbas-Mustan directed the first two iterations of Race and both 

films had Saif Ali Khan and Anil Kapoor in lead roles. 

Ranveer Singh sees off 

Alia Bhatt, asks paparazzi 

if they want a love bite 

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh is a darling 

of photographers. He never disappoints them, 

and something similar happened after the Gully 

Boy wrap party. The 

film, directed by 

Zoya Akhtar, finished 

its shooting 

schedule last week. 

Photographer 

Manav Mangalani 

has shared a video 

on his Instagram 

handle in which 

Ranveer Singh can 

be seen saying bye 

to Alia Bhatt. As the 

photographers asked 

the duo to pose, 

Ranveer probably 

mishears them. In 

the video, while 

being his usual self, he asks the photographers 

whether they want a ‘love bite’? As everyone 

starts laughing, Ranveer can be seen leaving 

Alia till her car and driving off himself. Ranveer 

and Alia have also been a part of a few TV commercials. 

Ranveer Singh is currently basking in 

the success of Padmaavat in which he played the 

character of Alauddin Khilji. Now, he is gearing 

up for three more films. Apart from Gully Boy, 

Ranveer will also be seen in Rohit Shetty’s 

Simmbaa and 

Kabir Khan’s 

film based on 

India’s unexpected 

win at 

The search 

for dream role 

continues 

Shamita Shetty to play a woman with 

a controversial past who moves into a 

middle class housing society 

Shilpa Shetty’s sister Shamita Shetty, who was a part of the hit movie 

Mohabbatein, has signed up an international project. To be helmed by LA 

based Indian film maker Sushrut Jain, the movie is titled The Tenant and is 

about a woman with a mysterious past who moves into a traditional 

housing society. Shamita will be seen playing the lead role of an 

alluring cosmopolitan woman whose arrival in a middle class 

housing society causes a stir. 

Set in India, The Tenant is written and directed by Sushrut 

Jain whose last film Beyond All Boundaries was an award-winning 

documentary feature, set during the 2011 Cricket World 

Cup, about the passion for the sport of cricket in India. An excited 

Shamita says, “I have started with the workshops and absolutely 

loving it! This is such a learning curve.” 

Inspired by Rooney Mara 

Model turned actress Amyra 

Dastur will next be seen as lead 

with Rishi Kapoor in Leena 

Yadav’s Rajma Chawal. The 

movie is a light hearted drama 

about a boy who falls in love 

with a girl who is more rebellious 

than religious. In the film, 

Amyra’s look is uncannily similar 

to Rooney Mara from The Girl With 

The Dragon Tattoo. 

Amyra even had the side of her head 

shaved for an edgier look. Besides Rajma 

Chawal, Amyra will also be seen in 

Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao 

starrer Mental Hai Kya. 

the Cricket 

World Cup of 

1983. He will 

be playing the 

team’s captain, 

Kapil Dev, in 

the film. 

On the other 

hand, Alia Bhatt 

is now preparing 

for the 

release of 

M e g h n a 

Gulzar’s Raazi, which is based on a novel titled, 

Calling Sehmat. Written by Harinder Sikka, the 

novel traces the life of a Kashmiri girl who is 

married to a high-ranked military officer in 

Pakistan. While Gully Boy will hit the screens 

in February, 2019, Raazi will be released on 

May 11, 2018. 

Real women have real 

bodies: POOJA BHATT 

Mumbai, Actress-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt 

says real women have real bodies and they 

must celebrate themselves as they are. Pooja 

re-tweeted a post by a nutritionist who wrote to 

the Union Minister of State for Health and 

Family Anupriya Patel, commenting on a campaign 

which was for promoting healthy, nutritious 

eating, which received 

a backlash on social media. 

The campaign’s image 

showed the outlines of two 

different women, with different 

body sizes. While one 

was visibly larger, curvier 

contained eggs, meat, bread, 

burgers, doughnuts, fries and 

fizzy drinks and beer, the 

other was lean and contained 

only fruits and vegetables. 

The accompanying message 

read: “What is your 

choice?” 

The nutritionist asked: 

“Did the government really 

make this body shaming ad? 

Women can eat healthy but have hormonal 

issues due to which they have excess weight as 

well. Highly insensitive campaign!” 

Pooja reacted saying: “I second that. Thin is 

not necessarily healthy or fit and someone who 

has a larger frame or is supposedly overweight 

by the standards of the world is not necessarily 

unhealthy. Real women have real bodies and 

must celebrate their bodies in whatever shape 

or size!” 

Football a sleeping sport in India, says 

Ranbir 

Actor Ranbir Kapoor says that football has 

been a sleeping sport in India 

but it is now gaining importance 

due to government support. 

“I have always enjoyed 

playing soccer (football) as a 

child. It is a sleeping sport in 

our country, but now with 

government’s support and 

leagues like Indian Super 

League, it is slowly gaining 

prominence. It is good if a 

country has different sports as 

it gives a platform to more 

talent,” Ranbir said in a statement. 

The actor was at the 

Global Indian International 

School (GIIS) East Coast 

Campus grounds for a practice session on 

April 22 before the Magic Bus Cup Celebrity 

Football Match. The match saw the All Stars 

Football Club, comprising Bollywood stars 

playing against Singapore’s Celebrities Sports 

Club for a charity cause.


TECH 

Wipro net declines 21% 

in Q4, 5.9% in 2017-18 

Bengaluru, Global software major 

Wipro on Wednesday reported that its 

consolidated net profit declined 21 per 

cent annually for the fourth quarter 

and 5.9 per cent yearly for fiscal 2017- 

18. “Consolidated net profit for the 

fourth quarter declined 21 per cent 

year-on-year to Rs 1,801 crore from 

Rs 2,267 crore in the same period year 

ago. “Net profit for the fiscal also 

declined 5.9 per cent to Rs 8,008 crore 

from Rs 8,514 crore in 2016-17,” said 

the company in a regulatory filing on 

the BSE. Sequentially too, net profit 

declined 7.2 per cent from Rs 1,940 

crore posted in the third quarter. 

Consolidated revenue for the quarter 

also declined, albeit marginally, by 

1.6 per cent to Rs 13,769 crore from 

Rs 13,988 crore in the same period last 

fiscal and remained flat sequentially as 

against Rs 13,670 crore last quarter. 

Consolidated revenue for the fiscal 

also remained flat at Rs 54,487 crore 

as against Rs 55,040 crore in 2016-17. 

Under the International Financial 

Reporting Standards (IFRS), net 

income was $277 million and gross 

revenue $2,115 million for the quarter. 

For the fiscal under IFRS, net income 

was $1.2 billion and gross revenue 

$8.4 billion, an annual decline of 1 per 

cent. IT services for the quarter contributed 

$2,062 million, posting 2.4 

per cent sequential and 5.5 per cent 

growth under IFRS and Rs 13,410 

crore in rupee terms, up 1.3 per cent 

sequentially from quarter ago. 

For the fiscal, IT services revenue 

remained flat at Rs 52,840 crore or 

$8.1 billion. The firm projected lower 

sequential revenue for the first quarter 

of 2018-19 from IT services business 

in dollar terms. “We expect revenue 

from our IT services to be in the range 

of $2,015-2,065 million for the first 

quarter ending June 30,” said the filing. 

The outlook is less than $2,033- 

2,073 million range it projected for the 

fourth quarter of fiscal 2017-18 on 

January 19 and $2,062 million it 

reported. Wipro Chief Executive 

Abidali Neemuchwala told reporters 

here later that investments in digital 

and efforts in client mining were paying 

off well. “Our strong order bookings 

in the last two quarters provide us 

the right foundation to grow as we 

progress through the year,” he said. 

Chief Financial Officer Jatin Dalal 

said that investments in Holmestm 

and automation software were resulting 

in productivity improvement. 

“We generated robust operating 

cash flows of Rs 8,400 crore at 105 

per cent of our net income for the fiscal 

2017-18,” he said. The company 

declared 50 per cent interim dividend 

of Rs 1 per share of Rs 2 face value for 

the fiscal. With the board recommending 

the interim dividend as the final 

dividend, the total dividend for the fiscal 

remains Rs 1 per share. 

Under the capital allocation policy, 

the company has completed a buyback 

of its shares valued at Rs 110,000 million 

in December 2017. The company 

made an annual provision of Rs 526 

crore ($81 million) for the insolvency 

of two customers and impairment loss 

in one of its acquisitions. The company 

added 58 new clients in Q4, taking 

the total to 233 for the fiscal, while the 

number of active customers to 1,248 

for the year. Though 1,274 techies 

were added for the quarter, the total 

headcount for the fiscal declined to 

1,63,827 from 1,65,481 year ago due 

to higher attrition (16.6 per cent) in 

Q4 as against 16.3 per cent year ago. 

The company’s blue-chip scrip of 

Rs 2 face value was sold at Rs 287.20 

per share at the end of Wednesday’s 

trading on the BSE as against 

Tuesday’s closing price of Rs 287.05 

and opening price of Rs 289. 


19 

Google most trusted 

Internet brand 

in India : Report 

New Delhi, Online search engine Google 

is the most trusted Internet brand in India, followed 

by Facebook, a report said on 

Wednesday. “With 1.2 trillion searches per 

year, it (Google) has become the first port of 

call for all things on the Internet,” the TRA 

Brand Trust Report 2018 said here. 

It further said: “Facebook, ranked second in 

the list, has been steadily climbing the trust 

ladder over the years (ranked seventh in 2015, 

fourth in 2016 and third in 2017 BTR 

reports).” The survey, however, was 

carried out during 

November 2017- 

January 2018 

and did not 

take into 

account the 

recent 

reports of 

data breach 

and privacy 

involving Facebook, said N. Chandramouli, 

CEO, TRA Advisory. 

He further said the impact of privacy concerns 

are likely to affect Facebook’s ranking in 

the next survey. According to the report, e- 

commerce major Amazon ranked third among 

the most trusted Internet brands in the country 

and e-Bay ranked fourth. 

The other major e-commerce brand Flipkart 

was positioned sixth in the brand trust report. 

Among the online taxi aggregators, Ola ranked 

seventh in the list, surpassing Uber which took 

the fifteenth position.


TECH 


Close to 40 million 

JioPhones sold so far: Report 

New Delhi, Highlighting the fact that 

JioPhone is already a meaningful contributor 

Reliance Jio’s growth, a recent survey 

estimates that total JioPhones sold so far 

could be close to around 40 million. 

A survey by Credit Suisse on the Indian 

Telecom Sector said as suggested by 

recent media reports, JioPhone had 36 

per cent share of the feature phone 

market for January-March quarter 

of 2018 on an expanded market 

base. 

“This implies JioPhone sales 

of around 21 million for the 

quarter or roughly 7 million 

per month,” the survey said. 

According to the report, the 

exit run-rate for March could 

be higher than this number 

since the Rs 49 plan got introduced 

in late January. “Now 

compare this with net adds 

reported by Jio running at 8-9 million 

for January and February 2018 

(March data is awaited — we will 

likely get to see a higher number when 

company reports on April 27),” it said. 

“Overall, we conclude that JioPhone is 

already a meaningful contributor to growth 

for Jio. We estimate the total Jiophones 

sold so far could be close to around 40 million,” 

the report added. 

The survey stated that it is difficult to 

gauge at this 

point 

whether 

Jio is eating 

into other’s share or adding to the pie with 

customers buying Jiophone as their secondary 

device. 

“Given the mood in the incumbent camp 

on this topic (that is, not much alarm), the 

latter could be the more likely situation 

currently. Exit of smaller players (most 

recently Aircel) could be cushioning the 

blow for incumbents — but that is a cushion 

that may not last for long,” it said. The 

survey suggested that these trends, however, 

do indicate that JioPhone is a 

product that has passed the early 

adopter stage and is getting well 

accepted, and that should be a reason 

for worry for the incumbents. 

“Sooner than later, it could start 

eating into installed subscriber base 

of incumbents. Going forward, 

potential release of KaiOS version of 

Whatsapp could be an added catalyst 

for sales of this device,” it noted. 

The report pointed out that it would 

be interesting to see Jio’s experience of 

data usage on these devices. 

It said Jio consistently saw around 10 

GB per month usage per sub in the smartphone 

segment. 

“We would be surprised if feature 

phoneusers match up to that level of consumption,” 

the survey added. 

Facebook stops third-party apps from stealing users’ data 

San Francisco, Facebook has finally begun 

its crackdown on third-party apps from stealing, 

sharing or spamming your data without permission 

from its platform as well as from Instagram. 

In a post on its developers’ page late on 

Tuesday, Facebook said the new apps “created 

from today onwards will not have access to publish 

posts to Facebook as the logged in user”. 

According to Facebook, the publish_actions 

permission will be deprecated. This permission 

granted apps access to publish posts to Facebook 

as the logged in user. “Apps created before today 

that have been previously approved to request 

publish_actions can continue to do so until 

August 1. No further apps will be approved to 

use publish_actions via app review,” the 

50 new ‘Moto 

Hubs’ opened 

in western UP 

New Delhi, Lenovo-owned Motorola on 

Monday opened 50 new “Moto Hubs” in 

western Uttar Pradesh, including in Noida, 

Ghaziabad, Agra and Meerut. 

Along with Moto x4 and Moto z2 Force 

smartphones, “Moto Hubs” provide access 

and availability to Motorola’s online exclusive 

devices like Moto e4 plus and Moto g5 

plus, the company said in a statement. 

“We have received encouraging response 

to the previously opened Moto Hubs in 

NOIDA and are confident of a promising 

response from the customers in other parts 

of west UP,” said Sanjay Bhattacharya, 

Regional Sales Lead, Motorola Mobility 

India. 50 new ‘Moto Hubs’ were inaugurated 

in Telangana last week. 

The company also has 100 “Moto Hubs” 

across Tamil Nadu, with 50 in Chennai, and 

100 in Karnataka. 

Facebook post noted. British political consultancy 

firm Cambridge Analytica was found misusing 

users’ data collected by a Facebook quiz app 

which used the “Login with Facebook” feature. 

“Developers currently utilising publish_actions 

are encouraged to switch to Facebook’s Share 

dialogs for web, iOS and Android,” Facebook 

said. “Effective today, name and bio from comments 

on your own media will be removed; you 

will continue to receive username and comment 

text. “On August 1, the Live application programming 

interface (API) Apublish_actions permission, 

which allows an app to publish on 

behalf of its Users, will be reserved for approved 

partners. “A new permission model that allows 

apps to publish Videos to their User’s Groups 

Huawei ‘P20 Pro’ smartphone with 

first triple rear camera in India 

New Delhi, Chinese electronics major Huawei, currently facing 

a disadvantage in the US as top intelligence officials have 

told people not to buy its devices, on Tuesday brought its flagship 

“P20 Pro” with world’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI)- 

powered triple rear camera system to India. 

Its earlier avatar, P10, never made it to India. The last ‘P’ 

series device that arrived in the country was “P9” in 2016. Since 

then, Huawei has vigorously promoted its sub-brand Honor 

which has created a distinct space in the crowded smartphone 

market. Priced at Rs 64,999, Huawei “P20 Pro” features the 

world’s first Leica triple rear camera system which received 

highest overall scores by “DxOMark” in the premium smartphone 

segment, defeating Apple as well as Samsung devices. 

“DxOMark Rankings” is a trusted industry standard for camera 

and lens image quality measurements and ratings. 

“Huawei brand mainly works on providing state-of-the-art 

technology and top-of-the-line innovation. P20 Pro is the first 

smartphone with three cameras at the rear. We saw a great 

momentum on social media when we launched the device in 

Paris. I am confident it will appeal to our consumers in India as 

well,” P. Sanjeev, Vice President, Sales, Huawei Consumer 

Business Group, told IANS. 

and Timeline will be created instead,” said 

Facebook. There is also an Instagram “Graph 

API” change which removes the ability to pull 

the profile of users who leave comments on your 

posts. Several third-party trackers are still abusing 

Facebook Login, exfiltrating users’ data 

including name, email address, age range, gender, 

locale and profile photo, claimed a new 

security research report from Freedom to Tinker 

— a digital initiative by Princeton University’s 

Centre for Information Technology Policy. The 

researchers found two types of vulnerabilities: 

Seven third parties abusing websites’ access to 

Facebook user data and one-third party using its 

own Facebook “application” to track users 

around the web. 

Painstaking investigation helped CBI 

arrest Kotkhai rape-murder accused 

New Delhi, Painstaking scientific 

investigations virtually starting 

from the scratch, including use of 

advanced DNA mapping and technical 

surveillance, and spread over 

nearly nine months in complete 

secrecy helped the CBI finally crack 

the sensational Kotkhai rape-murder 

case. Narcoanalysis and polygraphy 

and technical data also helped the 

agency come to the conclusion that 

those accused by Himachal Pradesh 

Police in the rape-murder case of the 

16-year-old girl in Shimla’s Kotkhai 

area in 2017 were not the culprits, an 

official told IANS on Wednesday. 

“When we took over the case, 

there were already six accused 

named by police,” he said, adding 

that one of the accused had died in 

police custody. The Class 10 student 

went missing on July 

4 last year while 

returning from school, 

five km from her 

home. Two days later, 

her body was found in 

the Halaila forest area. 

The Central Bureau of 

Investigation (CBI) 

took over the case on 

July 22, 2017, after 

the Himachal Pradesh 

High Court’s orders. 

“After taking over, 

we started collecting 

digital footprints of the accused 

named by Himachal Police,” the 

official said. 

The official said that the agency 

officials soon found that the accused 

had never visited the area where the 

crime occurred. 

“We matched their blood samples 

with DNA found on the girl and 

from blood samples collected from 

the spot and other material like 

liquor bottles and the victim’s 

clothes. All the results were again 

negative,” he said. “The CBI carried 

out four polygraphy and narcoanalysis 

tests on the accused which too 

were negative. Thus, we gave clean 

chit to them,” he said. 

The official said that the agency 

had to then start all over again from 

the scratch. “We started investigation 

afresh, thoroughly combing the 

area. The agency questioned over 

2,000 area people and recorded the 

statements of over 400 persons,” he 

said. The CBI official maintained 

that area residents didn’t cooperate 

as the case had gained wide publicity. 

The CBI also didn’t take police 

help as it had arrested nine police 

officers, including Inspector General 

of Police Zahur H. Zaidi, for the custodial 

death of one of the accused.


China plans to use 

AI, drones to 

protect Great Wall 

Beijing, China plans to use artificial 

intelligence (AI) and drones to 

protect the Great Wall.Under an 

agreement between the government 

and the US tech giant Intel, the 

world’s second largest manufacturer 

of semiconductors and microprocessors 

and the China Foundation For 

Cultural Heritage Conservation will 

explore ways to collaborate in the 

inspection, repair and preservation of 

the Great Wall, Xinhua news agency 

reported. To begin with, Intel drones 

will collect images from sections of 

the monument and use 3D modelling 

to identify damaged areas. 

“The use of the latest technologies, 

will provide a new perspective of the 

protection of the Great Wall, and show 

us the great potential of science and 

technology in cultural heritage protection,” 

said Li Xiaojie, director of the 

China Foundation For Cultural 

Heritage Conservation. The Great 

Wall, a symbol of China, is actually 

not just one wall, but many interconnected 

walls built between the third 

century B.C. and the Ming Dynasty 

(1384-1644). With a length of over 

8,000 km, the Great Wall — made up 

of numerous walls, connected to each 

other and built during different 

Chinese dynasties — is under threat 

from water and wind erosion as well 

as human activities in its vicinity, 

making its restoration difficult, owing 

to its enormous size. 

WORLD 

India, China ready to re-set ties 

as Modi meets Xi in Wuhan 


21 

Golden State Killer : DNA search for California 

serial killer led to wrong man in 2017 

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA : 

Investigators hunting down the socalled 

Golden State Killer used information 

from genetic websites last year 

that led to the wrong man, court 

records obtained on Friday by The 

Associated Press showed. 

An Oregon police officer working 

at the request of California investigators 

persuaded a judge in March 2017 

to order a 73-year-old man in a nursing 

home to provide a DNA sample. 

The Oregon City man is in declining 

health and was unable to answer 

questions on Friday about the case. 

The case of mistaken identity was 

discovered as authorities hailed a 

novel use of DNA technology that led 

this week to the arrest of former 

police officer Joseph DeAngelo at his 

house outside Sacramento on murder 

charges. Critics of the investigative 

approach, however, warned it could 

jeopardise privacy rights. 

Mr. DeAngelo is suspected of 

being the sadistic attacker who killed 

13 people and raped nearly 50 women 

during the 1970s and ‘80s. 

“We have the law to suggest that he 

is innocent until he’s proven guilty 

and that’s what I’m going to ask 

everyone to remember,” Mr. 

DeAngelo’s public defender Diane 

Howard said outside court. “I feel like 

he’s been tried in the press already.” 

Investigators were able to make the 

arrest this week after matching crimescene 

DNA with genetic material 

stored in an online database by a distant 

relative. They relied on a different 

website than they had in the Oregon 

search, and they did not seek a warrant 

for Mr. DeAngelo’s DNA. 

Instead, they waited for him to discard 

items and then swabbed the 

objects for DNA, which proved a conclusive 

match to evidence that had 

been preserved more than 30 years. 

Database tapped 

Also on Friday, the co-founder of 

the genealogy website used by authorities 

to help identify Mr. DeAngelo 

said he had no idea its database was 

tapped in pursuit of the suspect who 

eluded law enforcement for four 

decades. Authorities never 

approached Florida-based GEDmatch 

about the investigation that led to Mr. 

DeAngelo, and co-founder Curtis 

Rogers said law enforcement’s use of 

the site raised privacy concerns that 

were echoed by civil liberties groups. 

The free genealogy website, which 

pools DNA profiles that people 

upload and share publicly to find relatives, 

said it has always informed 

users its database can be used for 

other purposes. But Mr. Rogers said 

the company does not “hand out 

data.” Officials did not need a court 

order to access GEDmatch’s large 

database of genetic blueprints, Mr. 

Holes said. Major commercial DNA 

companies say they do not give law 

enforcement access to their genetic 

data without a court order. Civil libertarians 

said the practice raises legal 

and privacy concerns for the millions 

of people who submit their DNA to 

such sites to discover their heritage. 

Privacy laws aren’t strong enough 

to keep police from accessing ancestry 

sites, which have fewer protections 

than regulated databanks of convicts’ 

DNA, said Steve Mercer, chief 

attorney for the forensic division of 

the Maryland Office of the Public 

Defender. “People who submit DNA 

for ancestors testing are unwittingly 

becoming genetic informants on their 

innocent family,” Mr. Mercer said. 

While people may not realise police 

can use public genealogy websites to 

solve crimes, it is probably legal, said 

Erin Murphy, a DNA expert and professor 

at New York University School 

of Law. “It seems crazy to say a police 

officer investigating a very serious 

crime can’t do something your cousin 

can do,” Ms. Murphy said. “If an ordinary 

person can do this, why can’t a 

cop? On the other hand, if an ordinary 

person had done this, we might think 

they shouldn’t.” 

Wuhan (China) India and China will 

look to re-set their strained ties as Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi 

Jinping meet each other at a two-day informal 

summit in the central Chinese city of 

Wuhan starting on Friday. 

The Asian giants, who fought a brief war 

in 1962 and have a history of mutual distrust, 

nearly came to an armed conflict near 

their border in 2017, taking their ties to a 

new low. However, the “one of its kind” 

rendezvous between Modi and Xi at the 

heart of China is a sign enough that the two 

countries were willing for a new start in 

their tense relationship. The Xi-Modi meeting 

will be different from the past ones as 

the talks will not be choreographed but freewheeling 

with only one Mandarin-speaking 

Indian interpreter present. The meeting is an 

offshoot of Xi-Modi parleys just after the 

resolution of the Doklam crisis on the sidelines 

of BRICS Summit at Xiamen in China. 

“The idea germinated at the Xiamen summit,” 

said an official. The two leaders will 

meet not once or twice but “several” times 

during the two days and will have heart-toheart 

conversations, Chinese and Indian 

officials say. According to informed 

sources, Modi and Xi might amble down the 

East Lake in Wuhan or take a boat ride by 

the historic villa of Mao Zedong. 

Though there is no formal agenda of the 

meet and both will not issue any joint statement, 

thorny issues like border dispute will 

come up during their chat. “You can imagine 

the importance Xi provides to India as 

this is the first time he is having such a 

meeting with any foreign leader. They will 

chat on all outstanding issues,” a Chinese 

government official told IANS. India and 

China have a longstanding dispute over 

their 3,500-km long winding border, which 

ties them down. Of the 14 neighbours, 

China is yet to settle its boundary dispute 

only with India and Bhutan. New Delhi is 

against Beijing’s grand Belt and Road project 

whose artery cuts through Pakistancontrolled 

Kashmir. India’s stance on the 

Belt and Road matters to China as the 

opposition by New Delhi could well hamper 

the project. Another sticking point is 

Beijing’s opposition to New Delhi’s application 

to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group 

and its plea at the UN to declare the 

Pakistan-based Masood Azhar as an international 

terrorist. 

China’s foray into the India Ocean also 

worries India. India’s inclination to be the 

part of Quad — an emerging bloc of the 

US, Japan and Australia apparently to 

counter China in the Indo-Pacific — worries 

Beijing. As both sides have decided 

not make public the outcome of the twoday 

meet, a Chinese top official said both 

leaders may arrive at some important consensus 

to resolve their outstanding issues. 

The Chinese side has said both the leaders 

will also talk beyond the bilateral relations. 

US trade protectionist policy will figure in 

the talks. 

Kim steps onto S. 

Korean soil, talks begin 

Goyang, South Korea, Kim Jong-un became the first North 

Korean leader on Friday to set foot in South Korea by crossing the 

military line, ahead of the historical inter-Korean talks. 

The formal talks between Kim and South Korean President 

Moon Jae-in began here in the Panmunjom border village in the 

third-ever inter-Korean summit, media reported. 

In a moment rich with symbolism and pomp, Moon and Kim 

shook hands at the border, as both hoped for “frank” discussion 

that will cover nuclear weapons and a possible peace treaty. 

Much of what they will talk about is likely to have been agreed 

in advance, but many analysts remain sceptical about the North’s 

sincerity in offering to give up nuclear weapons, the BBC said. 

Kim was accorded a ceremonial welcome before launching the 

talks on peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula, Xinhua 

news agency reported. The talks are being held at a conference 

room on the second floor of the Peace House, a South Korean 

building in Panmunjom village that divides the two Koreas. 

Standing on the two sides of the military demarcation line 

(MDL), marked only by a low concrete slab, Moon and Kim shook 

hands with beaming smiles on their faces for their first meeting. 

The MDL came up post the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in an 

armistice. After walking across the MDL into the South Korean 

side, Kim invited Moon to briefly cross the border into the northern 

side. It was an apparently unscripted moment during a highly 

choreographed sequence of events, the BBC report added. 

They returned to the southern side of Panmunjom holding 

hands, marking a historic moment in more than a decade.


WORLD 


Sushma Swaraj lambasts Pakistan at SCO meet 

Beijing, Indian External 

Affairs Minister Sushma 

Swaraj on Tuesday slammed 

Pakistan for sheltering terrorists 

and urged the Shanghai 

Cooperation Organisation 

(SCO) to act against the countries 

that promote terrorism. 

Without a direct reference to 

Pakistan, Sushma Swaraj said 

the world community together 

must “wipe out this scourge 

from the face of the earth”. 

“There are a number of challenges 

that are being faced by 

the world today, foremost being 

the threat of global terrorism 

and the imminent need to build 

a strong security architecture to 

combat it, she said at the 

Foreign Ministers meet of the 

SCO here where her Pakistani 

counterpart Khawaja Asif was 

also present. “We strongly 

believe that our fight against 

terrorism should not only seek 

to eliminate terrorists but 

should also identify and take 

strong measures against states 

that encourage, support and 

finance terrorism and provide 

sanctuary to terrorists and terror 

groups,” she said. “The 

criminal terrorist militias are 

not impeded by borders as they 

seek to destroy the architecture 

of international stability and 

build walls of fear in societies 

that believe in pluralism. 

“Maiming and killing innocent 

lives indiscriminately constitutes 

the most blatant violation 

of human rights. We have to 

work together to wipe-out this 

scourge from the face of the 

earth. “In order to realise this 

objective, we must unite across 

our differences, strengthen our 

resolve and script an effective 

strategy against terror,” she 

said, welcoming the “clarity” 

shown by the SCO on terrorism 

from its inception. The SCO 

was set in 2001 in Shanghai by 

Kazakhstan, China, 

Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan 

and Uzbekistan. India, along 

with Pakistan, were granted full 

member status at the SCO summit 

in Astana, Kazakhstan, in 

June 2017. This is the first time 

that India is participating in the 

SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting. 

In her address, Sushma 

Swaraj said the SCO member 

states have been connected historically 

through shared commonalities 

and her country was 

committed to working with the 

group to strengthen economic 

and investment ties. Stressing 

India believed that economic 

globalisation should be more 

open, inclusive, equitable and 

balanced for mutual benefits, 

she said: “Protectionism in all 

its forms should be rejected and 

efforts should be made to discipline 

measures that constitute 

barriers to trade.” 

She also called for promotion 

of liberalisation and facilitation 

of trade and investment 

to inject greater impetus into 

the world economy. 

Sushma Swaraj said that the 

SCO “is a major platform for 

convergence in our world 

views on sustainable development, 

clean and healthy living, 

multilateral trading system, 

Doha Development Agenda, 

disarmament and non-proliferation”. 

She also stressed that connectivity 

with SCO countries is 

India’s priority, but for connectivity 

to ensure cooperation and 

trust, “respect for sovereignty 

is essential” and “inclusivity, 

transparency and sustainability 

are imperative”. Mentioning 

Indian participation in the 

International North-South 

Transport Corridor, the 

Chabahar port; the Ashgabat 

Agreement on multimodal 

transport between India, Iran, 

Kazakhstan, Oman, 

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan; 

the India-Myanmar-Thailand 

trilateral highway project; and 

the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India- 

Nepal (BBIN) initiative, she 

also said that that India has 

operationalised the air freight 

corridor between Kabul, 

Kandahar, New Delhi and 

Mumbai. 

She also said that reforms in 

the UN Security Council is an 

“urgent task” before the SCO. 

According to a statement 

issued by the Indian Embassy 

here following the conclusion 

of Sushma Swaraj’s visit that 

started on April 21, her meeting 

with Chinese State Councillor 

and Foreign Minister Wang Yi 

on Sunday reviewed various 

aspects of the India-China 

bilateral relationship and 

exchanged views on international 

and regional issues of 

common interest. In a joint 

media address afterwards, they 

announced that at Chinese 

President Xi Jinping’s invitation, 

Indian Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi will visit China 

on April 27-28 for an informal 

summit-level meeting. 

Saudi air strike kills 

over 50 Yemen rebels, 

including commanders 

An air strike on Yemen capital Sana’a by a 

Saudi-led military coalition has killed dozens of 

Huthi rebels, including at least two commanders, 

Saudi television reported on Saturday. 

Saudi Arabia’s official Al-Ekhbariya television 

said two high-ranking insurgents were among 

more than 50 Huthi militiamen killed in Sanaa on 

Friday evening, without giving further details. 

Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television said a total 

of 38 rebels were killed in the strike on a Huthi 

interior ministry building. 

The Huthis confirmed an air strike on Sana’a 

but gave no details. 

Ahead of Pompeo’s Saudi visit 

The raid came hours ahead of a public funeral 

of the Huthis’ political head Saleh al-Sammad, 

killed last week in a Saudi-led coalition strike. It 

also came as newly-appointed United States 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to 

land in Riyadh for meetings, including talks on the 

Yemen conflict. The Iran-backed rebels have been 

locked in a war with the Saudi-led military 

alliance, which since 2015 has fought to restore 

the internationally-recognised Yemeni government 

to power. The Yemen conflict is widely seen as a 

proxy war between regional titans Iran and Saudi 

Arabia. The Huthis control Sanaa, as well as much 

of the country’s north — which borders Saudi 

Arabia — and the key Hodeida port on Yemen’s 

Red Sea coast. 

Saudi strikes push Yemen to the brink of 

famine 

Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since the 

Saudi-led alliance joined the Yemen conflict, triggering 

what the United Nations has called the 

world’s worst humanitarian crisis. 

Yemen now stands at the brink of a famine. The 

Saudi-led coalition imposed a total blockade on 

Yemen’s ports in November in retaliation for 

cross-border Huthi missile attacks on Saudi 

Arabia. The blockade has since been partially lifted, 

but access to the impoverished country remains 

limited. 

US flies bombers 

over South 

CHINA SEA 

Washington, US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers flew over the 

South China Sea earlier this week on a training mission, according to the 

American military. The bombers took off on Tuesday from Andersen Air 

Force Base on the island of Guam, according to a statement from US Pacific 

Air Forces, which oversees air operations in the region. 

The flight also involved additional training with F-15 Strike Eagle jets in 

the vicinity of Okinawa, Japan. The training mission was part of the US Air 

Force’s routine “Continuous Bomber Presence” in the region. 

A US military official told CNN on Friday that the two bombers flew 

between two Chinese claimed features in the Spratly Islands, claims 

unrecognised by China’s neighbours and the US government. 

China has used these geographic features in the Spratlys to build manmade 

islands, some of which Beijing has equipped with military facilities. 

Officials told CNN that the Chinese military did not intercept the US aircraft 

during their mission. 

Asked about the purpose of these islands, the Trump administration’s 

nominee to head the US military’s Pacific Command, Adm. Phillip 

Davidson told Congress this month that China was using these islands to 

exercise control over the South China Sea. 

“China has long claimed the South China Sea as their own,” he said. 

“It is my belief that they intend to establish the military structure that will 

help them control the air and sea lanes through that region of the world.” 

IS trying to foment migration wave to Europe: UN 

Brussels, Islamic State (IS) commanders fleeing Syria are conspiring 

with extremist groups in Africa to foment and infiltrate a new 

migration wave destined for Europe, the head of the UN World Food 

Programme has said. David Beasley, a former Republican governor of 

South Carolina, said Europe needed to wake up to the extremists’ strategy 

in Africa’s Sahel region, the Guardian reported on Thursday. 

Those forced out of Syria were uniting with local terrorist groups to 

use a lack of food as both a recruitment tool and a vehicle to push millions 

of Africans towards Europe, he said. Beasley told the Guardian: 

“You are going to face a similar pattern of what took place years ago, 

except you are going to have more Isis and extremist groups infiltrating 

migration. 

Skip Hire 

No.1 Skip can provide a quick quote and supply skips 

across the UK. Our range of skips can accommodate 

all waste types depending on the size of skip. Get a 

quote and make an enquiry today.


WORLD 

Van mows down 10 on Toronto 

sidewalk, DRIVER ARRESTED 

Toronto : Ten persons have been 

killed and 15 injured after a man 

ploughed a rental van through pedestrians 

on a city sidewalk here. The 

driver was arrested after a tense 

standoff with police. 

The incident occurred around 1.30 

p.m. on Monday when the van driver 

mounted the sidewalk of city’s 

famous Yonge Street and ploughed 

over people enjoying the first sunny 

day of spring. He sped over a twokilometre 

stretch till his van hit a bus 

shelter. The entire stretch presented a 

ghastly scene as bodies, debris and 

items of clothing lay scattered on it. 

The van driver has been identified 

as 25-year-old Alek Minassian from 

the city outskirts’ Richmond Hill. 

Toronto Police chief Mark Saunders 

though said he was not ruling out 

anything at the stage. He said the 

killer was not known to the city 

police. “There’s nothing on our files. 

There’s nothing that we have on him 

right now. It (the accident) looks 

intentional and as a result 10 people 

are now not with us,” said Saunders. 

Police said that the incident appeared 

deliberate but no motive was clear. 

During the chase, when a lone 

police officer pointing a gun at the 

driver asked him to surrender, the 

suspect told him that he had a gun. 

As the police officer shouted: “Get 

down, get down or you will be shot,” 

the suspect said: “Kill me.” However, 

he soon surrendered. He was due in 

court. This is the worst incident of mass 

killing in the city’s history. In a press 

conference later, Canadian Public 

Safety Minister Ralph Goodale ruled 

out any terror links. The incident does 

“not appear to be connected to any 

national security concerns”, he said. 

Canadian broadcaster CBC cited 

government officials as saying 

Minassian was not associated with 

any known terror groups. Canadian 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called 

the incident a “senseless attack and a 

horrific tragedy”. Speaking at a news 

conference on Tuesday, Trudeau 

praised the police officers involved, 

who he said “faced danger without a 

moment of hesitation”. Minassian 

had previously attended a school for 

students with special needs in north 

Toronto, former classmates said. 

Jagmeet Singh of the New 

Democratic Party, the Leader of 

Opposition, said: “Tragic news coming 

out of Toronto – my thoughts are 

with all those affected by the horrific 

events…” European Commission 

President Jean-Claude Juncker 

mourned the victims, saying: “I send 

my deepest condolences to the families 

and loved ones of the victims, as 

well as to Prime Minister Trudeau 

and to all Canadians.” 

The incident took place about 29 

km from the city centre, where 

Foreign Ministers from the G7 countries 

were meeting to discuss world 

issues. After Europe and the US, this 

is the first such incident in Canada. 


23 

Rouhani warns Trump 

against walking away 

from n-deal 

Tehran, Iranian President Hassan 

Rouhani on Tuesday warned his US 

counterpart Donald Trump that abandoning 

a nuclear deal that the Tehran 

government signed with world powers 

in 2015 would lead to “serious 

consequences”. Speaking live on television, 

Rouhani said his government 

had kept its end of the deal and 

warned Trump not to tear up the 

agreement, which had also been 

signed by Russia, China, Germany, 

the UK and France. “I am telling 

those in the White House that if they 

do not live up to their commitments, 

the Iranian government will react 

firmly,” Rouhani said. 

“If anyone betrays the deal, they 

should know that they would face 

severe consequences,” he added. 

Trump has said that unless the US’ 

European allies put right what he has 

described as “terrible flaws” in the 

deal by May 12, his government 

would re-establish economic sanctions 

on Iran, dealing the pact a major 

blow, Xinhua news agency reported. 

Rouhani stressed that Iran was 

complying with the deal, as has been 

confirmed a dozen times by the 

International Atomic Energy Agency, 

whose Director General Yukiya 

Amano said in March that a possible 

failure of the agreement would be a 

great loss. French President 

Emmanuel Macron was in 

Washington in an attempt to try and 

persuade Trump not to walk away 

from the accord.


WORLD 


Trump admin ends special protections 

for 9,000 Nepalese immigrants 

WASHINGTON : The Trump 

administration has decided to terminate 

the temporary protection status 

for nearly 9,000 Nepalese immigrants 

with authorities asking them to leave 

or find another way to stay in the U.S. 

to allow for an orderly transition. 

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a 

designation afforded to nationals of 

countries experiencing humanitarian 

crisis such as violent conflict, environmental 

disasters, earthquake or epidemics 

that would prevent nationals 

from returning safely. This decision 

affects 8,950 people, 85 % of whom 

live in New York. All of these people 

from Nepal would have to go back to 

Nepal or face deportation. However, 

to allow for an orderly transition, 

Secretary of Homeland Security 

Kirstjen M Nielsen has determined to 

delay the termination for 12 months. 

The designation will now terminate 

on June 24, 2019, the Department of 

Homeland Security said. The decision 

to terminate TPS for Nepal was made 

after a review of the environmental 

disaster-related conditions upon which 

the country’s original designation was 

based and an assessment of whether 

those originating conditions continue 

to exist as required by statute. 

Singapore Airlines to launch 

world’s longest non-stop flight 

Singapore, Singapore Airlines is set 

to launch the world’s first non-stop 

flight with almost 20 hours in the air, by 

the end of this year, the media reported 

on Thursday. 

Singapore Airlines’ newest plane, the 

Airbus A350-900ULR — for Ultra 

Long-Range — will travel on a recordbreaking, 

globe-spanning flight that will 

connect Singapore to New York, Earlier, 

the airline used to fly the gas-guzzling, 

four-engine A340-500 on the 9,500-mile 

route, with just 100 business-class seats 

on board. The service proved to be inefficient, 

and Singapore Airlines 

cancelLed the flights in 2013. 

Singapore Airlines is now taking 

delivery of Airbus’ newest wide-body, 

the A350-900. It has 21 planes in its 

fleet, of an order for 67 aircraft. 

It has ordered seven of the Ultra 

Long-Range planes. 

On April 23, the plane had its first 

test flight, an almost five-hour roundtrip 

that launched from the airframer’s 

assembly plant in Toulouse, France. 

The Ultra Long-Range will be able to 

fly a remarkable 11,160 miles, an 

increase of more than 1,800 miles over 

the standard A350. It means that 

Singapore Airlines will reclaim the 

crown of running the world’s longest 

non-stop air route. Keeping passengers’ 

comfort in mind, the A350s share 

Airbus’ design philosophy that makes 

the aircraft cabin feel more like a room, 

rather than a long tube. The plane has 

high ceilings, sophisticated LED lighting, 

almost vertical sidewalls and a low 

noise level. The air circulation system 

on the A350 has also been designed to 

be quiet and draft-free. 

Indian-American Democrat loses 

Congressional by-election 

New York, A Democrat Indian-American doctor has narrowly lost a 

by-election to Congress in a heavily 

Republican constituency in Arizona but dramatically 

increased her party’s support in what 

was seen as a referendum on Donald Trump’s 

presidency. Hiral Tipirneni lost by only six per 

cent of the votes in Tuesday’s by-election from 

a constituency that was considered so heavily 

Republican that the Democratic Party did not 

even bother to run a candidate there in 2016 

considering it futile. 

The by-election in the constituency, which 

covers the suburbs of the state’s main city 

Phoenix, was caused by the resignation of Trent Franks, the sex scandaltainted 

long-time Republican member of the House of Representatives. 

Trump polled 21 per cent more votes in the constituency against Hillary 

Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. 

Had Tipirneni won, she would have joined the four Indian-Americans 

in the House of Representatives — Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, 

Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna. Kamala Harris is a senator of part 

Indian-American heritage. 

Despite Tipirneni’s defeat, her polling 47 per cent of the votes in a 

constituency that had previously been written off as unwinnable by the 

Democrats was seen as a boost for the party working hard to capture 

Congress in the November elections. 

“Win or lose, we’re taking this to November,” Tipirineni told her supporters 

after the election, according to a report.

April 2018

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?