August 2018

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August 2018 

BJP pursuing 

divisive politics in 

Assam: Mayawati 

Lucknow : BSP supremo Mayawati on 

Tuesday accused the BJP governments at the 

Centre and in states of playing a dangerous game 

of "narrow and divisive brand of politics" in the 

garb of implementing judiciary's directives. 

Referring to the "near 

elimination" of some 40 

lakh religious and linguistic 

minorities in 

Assam after the publication 

of the National 

Register of Citizens 

(NRC), the former Uttar 

Pradsh Chief Minister 

hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party. "Everyone 

knows how much respect you have for the courts 

since you blatantly violate many of its directives," 

she said, and warned of irreversible repercussions 

once the final draft of the NRC was published. 

"Because of the narrow-minded, casteist, 

communal and divisive politics, the entire country 

and its people, specially in Uttar Pradesh, are 

suffering," she said. 

The Dalit leader said it was very unfair to consider 

people who could not furnish proofs about 

their citizenship but were living in Assam for 

years to have their citizenship snatched away and 

chased out of the country. 

"Most of these affected people are Bengali 

Muslims and linguistic minorities speaking 

Bangla but non-Muslims," she said. All this is 

"the outcome of the divisive policies of the BJP 

and its parent organisation, the RSS. Once the 

NRC draft is finally published on December 31, 

2018, the consequences will be catastrophic and a 

big headache, meeting the challenge of which 

will be very difficult." She accused the BJP of 

"doing a drama" by putting the blame for everything 

on the apex court. 

The BSP leader also accused the BJP government 

in Uttar Pradesh of targeting her party 

cadres and leaders. She alleged that false cases 

were being filed against party leaders, specially 

in western Uttar Pradesh. 

Kejriwal alleges Modi government 

killing independent media 

New Delhi : Days after two 

eminent journalists of a TV 

channel quit their jobs, Delhi 

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal 

on Thursday alleged the Modi 

government was behind their 

resignation and that the Centre 

was killing independent media 

in the country. In a tweet, 

Kejriwal said: "Free media is 

life-line of democracy. But 

Modi government is hell-bent 

to kill independent media. The 

resignation of two eminent TV 

journalists from ABP News in 

two days is another proof. 

Media should rise now, otherwise 

it will be too late." Within 

two days, ABP's 

editorial head 

M i l i n d 

Khandekar and 

anchor Punya 

Prasun Bajpai 

have resigned 

from the channel 

and the ABP's 

flagship show, 

'Masterstroke' is 

taken off. In one 

Sunita Williams among 

9 astronauts to fly into 

SPACE from US SOIL 

Space Station (ISS) for 

Expeditions 14/15 and 

Expeditions 32/33, commanded 

the space station and performed 

seven spacewalks, the US space 

agency said in a statement. 

"The men and women we 

assign to these first flights are at 

Washington : Indian-origin 

astronaut Sunita Williams is 

among the nine astronauts named 

by NASA on Friday for its first 

human spaceflight programme 

from the US soil since the retirement 

of the space shuttle in 2011. 

The astronauts will fly on the 

spacecraft developed 

by Elon Musk-owned 

SpaceX's Crew Dragon 

and global aviation firm 

Boeing's CST-100 

Starliner, as part of the 

US space agency's 

Commercial Crew programme 

to send 

humans to the ISS on 

private US spacecraft. 

Williams has been 

named for the Boeing 

programme to the ISS -- the first 

test flight scheduled to take place 

in the middle of 2019. 

"For the first time since 2011, 

we are on the brink of launching 

American astronauts on 

American rockets from American 

soil," said NASA Administrator 

Jim Bridenstine. Born in Euclid 

(Ohio), Williams came to NASA 

from the Navy where she was a 

test pilot and rose to the rank of 

captain before retiring. 

Since her selection as an astronaut 

in 1998, she has spent 322 

days aboard the International 

of its shows, it had covered 

Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi's interaction with a 

Chhattisgarh 

woman who 

claimed her agricultural 

income 

had doubled after 

she switched from 

paddy to 'sitafal' 

farming. A report 

broadcast by 

Masterstroke later 

interviewed the 

same woman, who 

claimed that officials from 

Delhi had 'tutored' her before 

her interaction with the Prime 

Minister to falsely claim that 

her income had doubled. 

As the news spread widely 

on Twitter, Union Minister 

Rajyavardhan Rathore 

slammed the media organisation 

and questioned its journalistic 

ethics. Days later, viewers 

complained that they were facing 

difficulties in watching the 

programme because of 'disturbance 

and blackouts.' 

the forefront of this exciting new 

time for human spaceflight," said 

Mark Geyer, director of NASA's 

Johnson Space Center in 

Houston."It will be thrilling to 

see our astronauts lift off from 

American soil, and we can't wait 

to see them aboard the ISS," he 

added. In 2014, Boeing and 

SpaceX were awarded a combined 

$6.8 billion in contracts 

from NASA to develop spacecraft 

capable of flying crews to 

the space station. SpaceX is targeting 

November 2018 for Crew 

Dragon's first uncrewed demonstration 

mission (Demo-1), three 

months later than the previous 

schedule released by NASA early 

this year. The crewed demonstration 

flight, with two astronauts 

on board, will follow in April 

2019, four months later than previously 

announced. Boeing's 

CST-100 Starliner, on the 

other hand, will likely 

perform two crucial test 

flights next year, instead 

of this year as planned. 

Each test flight will 

provide data on the performance 

of the rockets, 

spacecraft, ground systems, 

and operations to 

ensure the systems are 

safe to fly astronauts. The 

crew for Boeing's Crew 

Flight Test and SpaceX's Demo-2 

flights will each include at least a 

flight commander and pilot 

aboard to test out the systems. 

After successful completion of 

the flight tests with crew, NASA 

will review flight data to verify 

that the systems meet the 

agency's safety and performance 

certification requirements and are 

ready to begin regular servicing 

missions to the space station, the 

US space agency said. 

Additional crew members will 

be assigned by NASA's international 

partners at a later date. 

Indian American 

Muslim body 

seeks suspension 

of Assam NRC 

Washington : An Indian 

American Muslim advocacy group 

has called for an immediate suspension 

of the National Registry of 

Citizens (NRC) in Assam until 

irregularities that have resulted in 

four million people being excluded 

from the list are resolved. 

The publication of the draft NRC 

in Assam has led to bitterness as 

people who had applied have not 

found a place in the Register which 

is touted to be a proof of Assamese 

identity. "The ethnic group that is 

the worst victim of this mass disenfranchisement 

is the Bengali-speaking 

Muslim community in Assam, 

accused of being 'infiltrators', 

although they are Indian citizens," 

said the Indian American Muslim 

Council (IAMC) in a press release 

on Thursday. Relatives of former 

Indian President Fakhruddin Ali 

Ahmed were among those at risk of 

becoming stateless. 

"The fact that this is an exercise 

in subversion of democracy and has 

a clearly bigoted, discriminatory 

agenda, is reflected in the exclusion 

of the relatives of the former 

President of India," said IAMC 

President Ahsan Khan. "The entire 

programme should be suspended 

until the criteria for exclusion are 

clearly defined," added Khan 

International bodies such as 

Amnesty International and Human 

Rights Watch have expressed concern 

about the process. 

"It is possible that the process 

will arbitrarily deprive people, who 

have lived in India for decades, of 

their nationality," Amnesty said in a 

statement. 

Government assures on quota for 

SCs, STs, OBCs in AMU, Jamia 

New Delhi : Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister 

Thaawar Chand Gehlot on Thursday said 

the Narendra Modi government will succeed 

in getting reservation for SCs, STs 

and OBCs in Jamia Millia Islamia and 

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) as 

these are central universities. Replying to 

a debate on the Constitution (One 

Hundred and Twenty-third Amendment) 

Bill, which seeks to give constitutional 

status to the OBC Commission, Gehlot 

said the Central government is presenting 

its viewpoint before the court. "We 

assure that these are central universities and we will succeed in 

getting reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes 

(STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs)," he said. He said the 

government has set up the National Commission for Denotified, 

Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNT) and sought comments 

from states on its report.

UNITED KINGDOM 

2 August 2018 

www.theasianindependent.co.uk 

Women are 

judged harsher 

than men for hate 

speech: Study 

London : Women who make 

hateful remarks on social media 

are likely to be judged more 

severely than men who make 

the same comments, a new 

study has found. The findings, 

published in the journal Sex 

Roles, also suggested that the 

reactions to hate speech made 

by women were less accepted 

than counter speech from men. 

"These findings support the 

idea that women are more concerned 

about fairness and 

avoiding harm to others than 

men," said co-author Claudia 

Wilhelm from the University of 

Erfurt in Germany. 

"In the specific case of comments 

directed against women 

and sexual minorities, hate 

comments by female authors 

are perceived as an act of double 

deviance and are therefore 

sanctioned more strictly than 

such hate comments by men," 

Wilhelm added. 

For the study, the research 

team conducted an online survey 

that involved 457 participants 

(51 per cent female) 

through political interest 

groups and a German news 

magazine site on Facebook. 

If a person using social 

media thinks that a comment 

made by somebody else is inappropriate 

or offensive, they 

may report or "flag" it to the 

platform provider. The participants 

read through online comments 

directed against women 

and sexual minorities, and indicated 

whether they would flag 

these comments as inappropriate. 

Another group of participants 

evaluated the reactions 

that followed hate comments. 

Some of the comments were 

presented as being made by 

men, while others were said to 

have been written by women. 

The researchers did not find 

a direct effect of gender on the 

flagging of hate comments but 

the results showed that women 

are morally more concerned 

about fairness than men. 

Team AI : 

Devinder Chander 

Editor-in-chief 

Columnists 

V.B. Rawat 

Rahul Kumar 

Farzana Suri 

Arun Kumar 

Head Office 

Samaj Media Enterprise Ltd 

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UK exports to non 

EU countries continue 

to outstrip EU 

UK exports of goods and 

services to the rest of the world 

were higher than UK exports to 

the EU for ninth year running, 

ONS figures published today 

(Tuesday 31 July) confirm. 

In figures released in the 

second calendar year after the 

EU referendum, exports to non- 

EU countries amounted to 

around £342 billion in 2017, 

showing the worldwide 

demand for British goods and 

services remains. Exports to 

EU countries were around £274 

billion in 2017. 

The fastest growing export 

market for the UK since 2010 

was Oman, with exports 

increasing by 354% to £3 billion. 

This was followed by 

British Government decision to repeal anti 

caste discrimination legislation condemned 

In its General Body meeting 

held on 29 July, 2018, the 

Federation of Ambedkarite and 

Buddhist Organisations UK 

(FABO UK) condemned the 

British Government's decision to 

drop anti caste discrimination legislation 

in favour of case law. . The 

Government has left the sufferers 

of caste discrimination at the 

mercy of emerging case law by the 

courts. 

As it is very expensive and time 

consuming to go to courts and 

with no guarantee of winning a 

case, sufferers would hesitate to 

go to courts and their misery will 

continue. It appears that the 

Government has listened more to 

the anti caste legislation lobby and 

the voice of sufferers has been 

ignored. To challenge the 

Government, a careful strategy 

would need to be adopted with all 

the organisations opposed to the 

Government decision coming 

together. Atrocities on Dalits and women 

in India are increasing day by day. 

Macedonia (FYROM) with UK 

trade growing by 318% to £1 

billion and then Kazakhstan 

which was up by 210% to £2 

billion. 

International Trade 

Secretary, Dr Liam Fox MP 

said: 

British goods remain in global 

demand as exports to non-EU 

countries continue to grow in 

markets such as Oman. It shows 

the confidence the world has in 

our goods and is important as 

90% of global trade will come 

from outside EU. 

As an international economic 

department, we have a 

dynamic and experienced team 

who will negotiate free trade 

deals and make a success of 

Review of the Schedules Castes and 

Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of 

Brexit. We’re also 

supporting UK 

businesses in 

exporting more 

and talking to 

international businesses 

on why we 

should be the top 

destination for 

investment 

through our 

GREAT campaign. 

Today’s figures 

also reveal in 

2017: 

overall exports 

of goods rose by 

13% to £339 billion 

overall exports of services 

rose by 7% to £277 billion 

the USA remains the UK’s 

top export market, buying over 

£112 billion worth of goods 

and services in 2017, an 

increase of 8% since 2016 

The news is promising as 

separate ONS figures show that 

UK exports overall rose by 5% 

in the year to end May 2018. 

Our world-leading services 

sector recorded a trade surplus 

of £111 billion in the same period, 

with services exports 

totalling £279 billion in the 

year to May 2018. 

The UK also attracted more 

than 2,000 foreign direct 

investment projects in financial 

year 2017 to 2018. 

London : Middle aged people 

who abused alcohol or 

abstain from it may be at a 

higher risk of developing 

dementia, according to a study. 

However, the researchers 

warned that the results do not 

encourage people who do not 

drink to start drinking. "The 

findings strengthen the evidence 

that excessive alcohol 

consumption is a risk factor for 

dementia" and "encourage use 

of lower thresholds of alcohol 

consumption in guidelines to 

promote cognitive health at 

older ages", said the 

researchers including Severine 

Sabia from the French National 

Institute of Health and Medical 

Research (INSERM) in Paris. 

"The study should not 

motivate people who do not 

drink to start drinking given 

the known detrimental effects 

of alcohol consumption for 

mortality, neuropsychiatric 

disorders, cirrhosis of the 

liver, and cancer," they added. 

As people live longer, the 

number living with dementia 

is expected to triple by 2050. 

So understanding the impact 

of alcohol consumption on 

ageing outcomes is important. 

Atrocities) Act is still lying in the 

Supreme Court. The Indian Government 

* 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. 

Heavy drinking, abstinence 

from alcohol 

may up dementia risk 

For the study, published in the 

journal THE BMJ, the team 

analysed data from 9,087 participants 

aged between 35 and 

55 years. They were assessed 

at regular intervals between 

1985 and 1993 on their alcohol 

consumption and alcohol 

dependence. 

The analysis showed that 

out of the 9,087 participants, 

397 cases of dementia were 

recorded over an average follow-up 

period of 23 years. 

The team found that abstinence 

in midlife or drinking 

more than 14 units a week was 

associated with a higher risk 

of dementia compared with 

drinking one to 14 units of 

alcohol a week. Among those 

drinking above 14 units a 

week of alcohol, every seven 

unit a week increase in consumption 

was associated with 

17 per cent increase in dementia 

risk. The authors acknowledged 

that this is an observational 

study, so no firm conclusions 

can be drawn about 

cause and effect, and the 

researchers cannot rule out the 

possibility that some of the 

risk may be due to unmeasured 

factors. 

needs to bring a fresh bill in Parliament or 

an ordinance to overturn the Court Order 

and restore the original version of the Act. 

Dalit and Adivasi communities under the 

banner of All India Ambedkar Mahasabha 

(AIAM) are planning a Bharat Bandh on 

August 9, 2018 on a much bigger scale 

than the one held on 2 April this year to 

press for their demands. Everybody was 

requested to support that protest. 

The meeting welcomed and supported 

the work the Anti Caste Discrimination 

Alliance was co-ordinating to ensure that 

the contribution of the Dalits to the World 

War 1 and World War 2 was recognised by 

this Government. Any proposed memorial 

in this country needs to include our community's 

contribution. An International 

Ambedkar Convention is being held in 

Japan in September 2018 organised jointly 

by the Burakumin Community of Japan 

and Ambedkar International Mission 

based in the USA. If anybody wishes to 

attend, please contact C. Gautam, Joint 

Secretary, FABO UK. 

Arun Kumar 

General Secretary, FABO UK


With an investment of up to 

US$5.3bn, the UK will become 

the largest foreign investor in 

Peru. The project will create 

thousands of jobs and greater 

prosperity. 

Anglo American this week 

announced the approval of its 

Quellaveco project, a worldclass 

copper project in Peru. 

This announcement represents 

the UK’s largest investment 

ever in Peru, highlighting 

the UK’s long-standing commitment 

to the country. The 

investment will reach up to US 

$5.3bn, making the UK the 

largest foreign direct investor 

in the country. Colin Gray, 

Chargé d’Affaires at the British 

Embassy, said: Anglo 

American’s announcement is 

excellent news for Peru and for 

our bilateral relationship. This 

is a moment of pride and the 

culmination of many years of 

hard work. This project will 

create thousands of jobs and 

bring greater prosperity across 

the country. I offer my warmest 

congratulations to all those 

who have worked so hard to 

make it a reality. 

The development phase of 

the project has an expected capital 

cost of US$5to US$5.3 billion 

and will be funded on an 

attributable basis: 60% by 

Anglo American and 40% by 

Mitsubishi. First production of 

copper is expected in 2022, 

ramping up to full production 

in 2023. Mark Cutifani, CEO of 

Anglo American, said: 

“Quellaveco is one of the 

world’s largest and most attractive 

undeveloped copper orebodies. 

After several years of 


Action to address recent fire door issues 

Fire doors from 5 suppliers 

have now been identified as failing 

to meet requisite fire performance 

standard following an 

on-going investigation by 

MHCLG. 

Fire doors from five suppliers 

have now been identified as failing 

to meet requisite fire performance 

standard following an 

on-going investigation by the 

Ministry of Housing, 

Communities and Local 

Government (MHCLG). 

This highlights broader potential 

failings within the industry 

and the Government is taking 

immediate action to address this. 

MHCLG began investigating 

the fire door industry after it was 

found that a glazed, composite 

fire door from Grenfell Tower 

manufactured by Manse Masterdor 

failed a 30 minute fire resistance test 

after approximately 15 minutes. 

Issues were subsequently identified 

with doors produced by Masterdor 

Limited (the successor business to 

Manse Masterdor). Investigations 

have continued and in the last few 

days doors from 3 additional manufacturers 

have failed fire resistance 

testing when tested on both sides. 

MHCLG is writing to all building 

control bodies highlighting the need 

to check that existing building regulations 

guidance on new fire door 

installations is followed. The guidance 

sets out the tests which should 

be performed – including testing 

doors on both sides – in order to 

meet building regulations requirements. 

The Secretary of State for 

Communities has instructed major 

fire door suppliers to meet this week 

and agree a clear plan of action to 

tackle the failings which have been 

identified, with weekly reports on 

progress. 

The government’s Independent 

Expert Panel and the National Fire 

Chiefs Council have advised that the 

additional risk to public safety is 

low, as even when not meeting full 

resistance standards fire doors will 

provide some protection from the 

spread of fire and are part of layered 

fire protection systems within buildings. 

Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP 

said: While the department’s investigations 

are on-going, I now have 

enough evidence to suggest that 

there is a broader issue across the 

fire door market. 

That is why I am calling on suppliers 

to meet this week and provide 

reassurance that they are gripping 

this issue properly. 

I want to see a clear plan of 

action to rectify existing problems 

Anglo American’s 

Quellaveco in Peru is the 

UK largest investment 

extensive preparatory work, we 

are very pleased to develop the 

project together with our partners 

Mitsubishi. We are grateful 

for the strong support we 

have gained from our host communities 

and at the national 

level. Quellaveco should bring 

very significant opportunities 

and sustainable benefits to the 

lives of those we employ, our 

business partners, the surrounding 

region and Peru as a whole, 

for decades to come.” 

The support of local communities 

is the result of an 

innovative 18-month consultation 

with local authorities and 

community representatives 

from the Moquegua region. 

Through this ‘dialogue table’, 

Anglo American agreed 26 

detailed and specific long-term 

commitments relating to water 

management, environmental 

protection and social investment. 

For example, by ensuring 

that the water required by the 

operation is drawn mainly from 

a river whose water is naturally 

unfit for human or agricultural 

use and additionally by collecting 

excess rainfall and sharing 

it with the communities, Anglo 

American is delivering on its 

promise of a positive water 

impact for local people and 

their livelihoods. 

and ensure such failures are not 

repeated in the future. Whilst 

our Expert Panel assures me the 

risk remains low I want to assure 

the public that the government is 

doing everything it can to ensure 

construction products are of the 

highest safety standards and 

accurately tested and marketed. 

The Secretary of State has 

also asked National Trading 

Standards to oversee local investigations 

which are taking place. 

MHCLG will also work with 

third party certification bodies to 

develop minimum standards of 

assurance to provide building 

owners with greater confidence 

in the fire doors they purchase. 

The products which have 

failed government tests to date 

were glazed and unglazed doors 

supplied by Manse Masterdor and 

Masterdor Limited and glazed composite 

doors supplied by Specialist 

Building Products Limited, trading 

as Permadoor; Solar Windows 

Limited; and Birtley Group Limited, 

trading as Bowater by Birtley. All 

doors that are known to have failed 

to meet the necessary standards 

have been withdrawn from the market 

and the department has informed 

local trading standards of its findings. 

Each manufacturer has cooperated 

fully with the government’s 

investigations, which are 

continuing. 


3 

Decoded: How ginger 

reduces bad breath 

London : Ever thought how ginger helps 

reduce bad breath? A pungent compound present 

in the spice may be an answer to it, a new 

study suggests. 

The study found that the pungent compound 

-- 6-gingerol -- stimulates enzymes contained 

in saliva that breaks down foul smelling substances 

in the mouth ensuring fresh breath and 

better aftertaste. The pungent principle of ginger 

makes the level of the enzyme sulfhydryl 

oxidase 1 in saliva increase 16-fold within a 

few seconds, the researcher said. 

The saliva and breath analyses carried out 

on human volunteers showed that the enzyme 

breaks down malodorous sulpher-containing 

compounds. "As a result, our breath also 

smells better," said lead author Thomas 

Hofmann from the Technical University of 

Munich in Germany. The researchers mentioned 

that many food components contribute 

directly to the characteristic taste of food and 

beverages by means of contributing their own 

particular taste, scent or spiciness. 

To find out more about food components, 

the research team investigated the effects of 

food components on the molecules dissolved 

in saliva. The study, published in the Journal of 

Agricultural and Food Chemistry, also suggested 

that citric acid increases the sodium ion 

content of saliva, making salty foods taste less 

salty. Citric acid influences our perception of 

taste through a completely different mechanism, 

the researchers said. 

As everyone knows from personal experience, 

sour foods such as lemon juice stimulate 

salivation. The amount of minerals dissolved 

in saliva also increases in proportion to the 

amount of saliva, they added.




Sunshine lights up 

A38 in East Midlands 

As England basks in a heatwave, 

the power of the sun is 

helping light the way for 

motorists in the East Midlands. 

Highways England has 

installed more than 4,500 innovative 

solar road studs that harness 

sunlight in the daytime 

and light up the road at night, 

helping drivers stay safe. The 

beauty of these road studs is 

that they are also effective in 

heavy rain, mist or fog and a 

four-hour charge from daylight 

can power the devices for over 

200 hours. 

The studs have been introduced 

as part of £8.5 million 

worth of improvements to journeys 

along the A38 between 

Ripley and junction 28 of the 

M1 near Mansfield – a stretch 

that is used by more than 

23,000 vehicles every day. 

The improvements also 

include high visibility lane 

markings that make it easier for 

drivers at night or in adverse 

weather conditions, and 

coloured high friction surface 

that reduces the risk of skidding. 

Highways England project 

manager, Matthew 

Carruthers, said: We’re always 

looking for new ways to further 

improve journeys and safety 

for drivers and this is a great 

example of that. 

This section of carriageway 

has no street lighting so the 

solar road studs and improved 

lane markings make a real difference. 

At the same time the 

new technology is more 

durable, meaning less disruption 

for motorists in the long 

term thanks to fewer roadworks. 

Standard road studs 

Highways England helps to 

solve cuddly conundrum 

Highways England traffic 

officers had a surprise when 

they rushed to respond to 

reports of pigs on the loose on 

A1(M) recently. 

A driver called 

Cambridgeshire Police to 

report 20 swines sauntering on 

the motorway between 

Huntingdon and Peterborough 

just before 7am on Friday 13 

July. However the traffic officers 

were in for a shock when 

they arrived as found the drivers’ 

description had been a bit 

of the sty. Officers Graeme 

Laws and Ian White could find 

no trace of the pigs at junction 

15, and then when searching a 

junction further south found 

out that the reported trotters 

were in fact a team of teddies as 

the “pigs” turned out to be cuddly 

cows which had been 

blown around by the wind. 

Highways England traffic 

officers are trained to quickly 

clear many types of motorway 

disruption, including animals 

loose on the network. 

Thankfully the fluffy Friesians 

were significantly easier to 

clear up than the real life pigs 

they were expecting to find. 

Some of the cuddly cow toys 

picked up by the Traffic 

Officers 

Ian, who was one of the traffic 

officers to respond to the 

call, said: We were looking for 

these pigs, worried about the 

disruption they could cause if 

there were live animals on the 

motorway, so were quite surprised 

to find the hoof of the 

matter was that they were actually 

teddy cows The wind had 

been causing them to moove 

around in the road, making 

drivers think they were live animals 

wandering through the 

traffic. There were a lot of 

them, and as we were gathering 

them we kept spotting anudder 

one which we needed to grab. 

Eventually we managed to 

manoeuvre them off the road so 

that drivers could continue 

their journeys uninterrupted. 

The officers milked the situation 

by bringing the cuddly 

cattle culprits back to their 

depot at Whittlesford so others 

could see what had caused the 

nuisance. 

They are now looking to 

reunite the cows with their 

owner, or they will look to 

donate them to a children’s 

charity. 

require car headlights to illuminate 

their reflective surface – 

typically this means that the 

headlights can be seen up to 90 

metres away, giving drivers 

travelling at 60mph around 

three seconds to react to conditions 

on the road. The new road 

studs are powered by solar 

energy, with a panel absorbing 

power during the day. 

Throughout the night they generate 

their own light through a 

battery powered LED and can 

be seen up to 900 metres away, 

giving drivers travelling at 

60mph more than 30 seconds to 

react. The new studs are also 

more durable, lasting up to five 

years longer than standard 

studs, require less maintenance 

during their lifetime and at only 

4mm in height means are they 

safer for motorcycles. 

Women's Hockey WC: 

India hold US, qualify for 

quarters playoffs 

London : India qualified for 

the playoffs of the quarterfinals 

in the Women's Hockey 

World Cup as they held higherranked 

United States 1-1 in 

their third and final Pool B 

match at the Lee Valley Hockey 

and Tennis Centre 

here on Sunday. 

The Indian team 

displayed great 

character and a 

solid defensive 

structure throughout 

the match to 

earn the draw as 

captain Rani 

Rampal (31st 

minute) cancelled 

out Margaux 

Paolino's 11thminute 

goal. With the firstplaced 

team in the pool, Ireland 

advancing directly to the quarter-finals, 

england and India are 

certain to finish second and 

third -- thereby both securing a 

spot in the playoffs. Though the 

US have two points -- same as 

India and England -- the former 

is behind on goal difference. 

Ireland take on England later in 

the day. India needed at least a 

draw against the US to keep 

their chances alive for the last 

eight stage after playing a draw 

against England before losing 

to Ireland. 

India started the match 

against the US on the front foot 

as they showed some quick 

passing, but had a scare in the 

fourth minute when their captain 

Rani was forced off with a 

twisted ankle. 

The World No. 10 team won 

their first penalty corner of the 

match in the seventh minute, 

but Gurjit Kaur's 

flick was saved by 

US goalkeeper 

Jackie Briggs. 

India dominated 

possession and 

pressed the 

Americans but the 

11th minute saw 

the US take the 

lead as Indian 

goalkeeper Savita 

was called into 

action when Erin 

Matson's shot was saved by the 

shotstopper. However the 

rebound was put into the back 

of the net through Savita's legs 

by Margaux Paolino. India 

looked for an equaliser and 

were threatening the US 

defence with some good buildup 

play; winning their two 

more penalty corners in the first 

quarter, but Gurjit Kaur's 

efforst were not enough. India 

continued to put pressure on the 

US in the second quarter which 

saw Rani's drive being intercepted 

by a defender while the 

captain's penalty corner strike 

was deflected away by Briggs 

in the first five minutes of this 

quarter.




5 

Caste in Great Britain and equality 

law: a PUBLIC CONSULTATION 

Government consultation response 

23rd July 2018, will be seen as a 

dark day when the British 

Government announced the result of 

the Caste Consultation. The 

Government will not be implementing 

the caste law as envisaged by 

Equality Act 2010 Section 9(5) but 

instead the government will now be 

taking steps to repeal the Caste provision. 

Government response states on 

Page 3 , ref (Caste in Great Britain and 

equality law: a public consultation 

Government consultation response), 

As the result of a 2013 amendment to 

section 9 (5) (a) of the Equality Act 

2010, a duty exists to introduce specific 

legal protection against discrimination 

because of caste, by making 

caste an aspect of race for the purposes 

of the Act. However, the subsequent 

judgment of an Employment 

Appeal Tribunal [EAT] in the Tirkey v 

Chandhok case in 2014 established 

that many of the facts relevant in considering 

caste in many of its forms 

might be equally capable of being 

considered as part of a person’s ethnic 

origins, which is already part of the 

existing race provisions within the 

Act. The consultation therefore invited 

views on whether suitable legal 

protection against caste discrimination 

is better ensured by exercising the 

duty or by relying on emerging caselaw 

under the Act as developed by 

courts and tribunals. The public consultation 

ran from 28 March 2017 to 

18 September 2017. ( Caste in Great 

Britain and equality law: a public consultation 

Government consultation 

response P3 ) 

CasteWatcuK’s 15 year active 

campaign has been nullified at a 

stroke of the pen by a government 

that caved into pressure from the 

opposing side who demanded the 

repeal of the Caste provision. 

Government says that a separate 

Caste provision is not required and 

suggest caste could be covered by an 

existing ethnic origins provision. 

This means reliance is placed on case 

law to develop. This clearly means 

the victims will not have any legal 

protection and have to go through 

expensive long drawn legal battle to 

get justice. This alone is a massive 

deterrent for victims to seek justice to 

the delight of offenders who can continue 

to abuse and harass people on 

File Photo 

the basis of caste with impunity. 

Government has not lived up to its 

bold commitment ‘that no one should 

suffer prejudice or discrimination on 

any grounds , including any perception 

of their caste’ and sold out to the 

opposing side, no doubt for political 

reasons with an eye on Hindu and 

Sikh votes , a section amongst them 

were the main antagonists. No doubt 

Government also had an eye on trade 

and commercial overseas interests. 

Of the 16,138 consultation 

responses, analysis indicated that: 

• 8,513 respondents were ‘in 

favour of relying on case-law’; 

• 2,885 respondents were ‘in 

favour of legislation’; 

• 3,588 respondents rejected both 

options; 

• 1,113 respondents were ‘not 

sure’ which was the better 

option; 

• 1 respondent was in favour of 

either option; and The views of 

38 respondents were sufficiently 

unclear as to not be able to determine 

which option they supported On a 

positive note, our campaign gave a 

running battle to the opposition. 

History will not be so forgiving when 

future generations will look back on 

this historic blunder by those who 

claim to abide by the principle of 

equality but in practise do everything 

to undermine it. By holding onto an 

archaic social system of caste which 

is so detrimental to the progress of 

humanity, the opposition together 

with the British government, demonstrably, 

lost its moral compass. 

Castewatchuk will continue its 

campaign to cause a dent in the vile 

system of Caste and shall be reviewing 

the details of the consultation 

response to formulate our response. 

-Sat Pal Muman 

Chair, Castewatch UK 

AUSTRALIA'S KING 

penguin population 

shrinks by 90%: Study 

Eat fibre-rich food to cut 

stress and anxiety 

London : The world's 

largest colony of King penguins 

in the southern Indian 

Ocean has shrunk by nearly 90 

per cent in the last three 

decades, yielding the territory 

to encroaching vegetation, an 

alarming research has found. 

The colony of King penguins 

-- Aptenodytes patagonicus 

Miller -- at Ile aux 

Cochons, Iles Crozet, in the 

southern Indian Ocean was 

known in the 1980s as the 

largest King penguin colony 

and the second largest penguin 

colony in the world. 

At the time, the colony 

included 500,000 breeding 

pairs and consisted of over two 

million penguins. Due to isolation 

and inaccessibility, aerial 

photographs, and satellite 

images were used to report on 

changes in the colony and population 

sizes over the past 50 

years. 

The photographs confirmed 

that the colony's penguin population 

has plummeted, said 

Henri Weimerskirch from the 

Centre d Etudes Biologiques 

Chize (CNRS) at the 

Universite de la Rochelle in 

France. The population of penguins 

has declined by 88 per 

cent over the past 35 years, 

from 500,000 pairs to 60,000 

pairs. 

The data, appearing in the 

journal Antarctic Science, 

showed that the decline began 

in the late 1990s, coinciding 

with a major climatic event in 

the Southern Ocean related to 

El Nino. The size of the 

colony may also subject it to 

density-dependent effects. 

That is, the larger the population, 

the fiercer the competition 

between individuals, 

slowing the growth of all 

members of the group, the 

researchers said. 

The repercussions of lack of 

food are thus amplified and can 

trigger an unprecedented rapid 

and drastic drop in numbers, 

especially following a climatic 

event like the one at the end of 

the 1990s. 

Diseases such as the Avian 

cholera which is currently ravaging 

populations of seabirds 

on other islands in the Indian 

Ocean, could also be one of the 

explanations. 

Still, none of these possibilities 

seems to offer a satisfactory 

explanation for a decline of 

the magnitude observed on Ile 

aux Cochons. 

London : If you want to reduce your stress 

then you should eat more pulses, wholegrain 

cereals, oats and vegetables as consumption of 

high-fibre foods may help reduce the effect of 

stress, says a study. The authors explained that 

stress can cause major changes in the gut and 

also in our brain which in turn affects our 

behaviour. Foods rich in fibre was found to 

reduce this adverse effects of stress in mice. 

The findings suggested that a gut bacteria 

produces short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), 

which are the main source of nutrition for cells 

in this region of the body and high levels of 

fibres stimulate the production of these SCFAs 

"There is a growing recognition of the role of 

gut bacteria and the chemicals they make in the 

regulation of physiology and behaviour. The 

role of short-chain fatty acids in this process is 

poorly understood up until now," said corresponding 

author John F. Cryan from University 

College Cork in Ireland. 

"It will be crucial that we look at whether 

short-chain fatty acids can ameliorate symptoms 

of stress-related disorders in humans," 

Cryan added. 

For the study, published in The Journal of 

Physiology, the team fed normally produced 

SCFAs to the mice and then subjected them to 

stress. They were assessed for anxiety and 

depressive like behaviour, stress responsiveness, 

cognition and sociability as well as how 

easily material passes through the gut. 

The results showed that increase levels of 

SCFAs reduced the levels of stress and anxietylike 

behaviour among the mice. 

The investigators also explained that stress 

experienced over a prolonged period of time 

can affect the bowel by making the barrier 

between the inside of the gut and the rest of the 

body less effective and "leaky". 

Treating the condition using the SCFAs can 

also reverse the "leaky" walls inside the gut, 

said the study. 

The research provides new insights into 

mechanisms related to the impact of the gut 

bacteria on the brain and behaviour as well as 

gut health. 

"Developing dietary treatments which target 

these bacteria will be important for treating 

stress-related disorders," said the researchers.


ASIA 


With Ambanis getting favor 

from the government, it is 

important for our academic fraternity 

to go into details of all 

this. This government has 

opened front against people particularly 

the marginalised at different 

fronts. Closing UGC is 

one thing but before closure, 

UGC send notice regarding ‘ 

Institute of Eminence’ where 

they said ‘merit and merit alone 

will be the criteria’. In India 

merit is absolutely brahmanical 

in nature and in certain way to 

deny the space to the SC-ST- 

OBCs in the institution. These 

institution will have their own 

‘autonomy’ and will be outside 

the domain of UGC. They can 

negotiate with foreign institution, 

collaborate with them. The 

aim is to bring them to ‘international’ 

standard. 

Fact is that the agenda is to 

target all other institutions. 

When the people were campaigning 

for equal education for 

all, we have a government which 

want to create this difference in 

the name of ‘excellence’ and 

‘merit’. So you can understand 

why Narendra Modi still enjoy 

support for the upper echelon of 

the savarna jaatis because 

through these ‘institutions of 

eminence’ you keep the status 

quo ante and state abdicate its 

duties towards people. Finish the 

PRIVATISATION 

OF EDUCATION 

education system of the country 

and bring the Dronacharays into 

these institutions of ‘merit’. 

But what to say. Political parties 

feel that their duties finish 

after sending a tweet with 

#bhakts of all varieties respond 

as per their leaders. 

The day we start responding 

as per our issues and not as per 

our leaders, the things will 

change. The day, we start going 

beyond individuals and seek 

wider consultations, listen to 

your critique things would be 

different. The day intellectuals, 

academics and those in public 

life speak without being a 

‘Bhakt’ things will change. This 

is the biggest war that the brahmanical 

system has now imposed 

on the Bahujan masses. With the 

help of crony capitalists, they 

want to deny opportunities to 

India’s indigenous people. They 

wont do things openly. They 

wont challenge the ‘constitution’. 

They would do it in a surreptitious 

way which means, kill 

the institutions and universities 

which were government added 

and provide huge opportunity to 

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat 

social and human rights activist 

India’s historically denied people. 

I wrote a few days back 

appealing to all the political parties 

that swear in the name of 

social justice, Baba Saheb 

Ambedkar, Ram Manohar Lohia, 

Periyar and others that there is a 

direct 

assault 

on people’s 

right to 

education. We have not fulfilled 

Will Ms Mayawati, Mr Rahul 

Gandhi, Mr Askhilesh Yadav 

and other political parties 

raise the issue in Parliament. 

We know the Ambanis give 

chanda to all. Please be 

responsible to people. It is 

time for all these parties to 

make their stand clear. Fight 

this battle as future generations 

will never forgive you 

for not speaking up for their 

rights. Stand up and speak. 

the earlier promises but rather 

than making things better we created 

a mess so that people cant 

make it to these institutions. This 

need a strong political response 

to the extent that all the member 

of Parliaments of SC-ST-OBCs- 

Minorities must seek explanation 

from the government on this. 

This matter will not be helped 

through court cases as we know 

who is using court but this matter 

must be resolved politically. 

Baba Saheb wanted education 

for all. He wanted quality education. 

How many Universities 

does this government offer a 

budget of Rs 1000 crore which it 

want to give to ‘institutions of 

eminence’ ? Why should this 

kind of budget not made available 

for our primary and secondary 

education with efficient 

teachers and better schooling 

facilities. Why can’t government 

improve the existing infrastructure 

in the Universities and colleges 

and make them better 

accountable if it feel they are not 

functioning well. Privatisation of 

education is a highly irresponsible 

act of the government. It is 

not that all these institutions will 

run on private money. Frankly, 

the Ambanis know it well that 

they will need a friendly government 

to support them establish 

with infrastructure and also with 

government grants. The freedom 

these institutions will have is to 

deny students admission in the 

name of merit and secondly, only 

those would be able to go there 

who have a certain amount of 

budget in their pocket. 

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social 

and human rights activist. He blogs 

at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com twitter 

@freetohumanity 

Email: vbrawat@gmail.com


Rs 12.68 crore allotted 

for Taj preservation 

New Delhi : An 

amount of Rs 12.68 

crore was set aside for 

conservation, preservation 

and environmental 

development 

works at the Taj 

Mahal in the last three 

years, Minister of 

State for Culture 

Mahesh Sharma told 

the Lok Sabha on 

Monday. The expenditure 

incurred by the 

government from 

2017-18 on the monument’s 

conservation, 

preservation and 

environmental development 

was around 

Rs 4.12 crore. In the 

previous two years, 

close to Rs 3.6 crore (2015-16) 

and Rs 4.6 crore (2016-17) have 

been spent by the government, 

Sharma said. 

“The essential conservation, 

preservation and environmental 

development work at Taj Mahal 

‘I suffered by joining hands 

with Modi-led BJP’ 

Jammu : Former Chief 

Minister Mehbooba Mufti said 

on Monday that Jammu and 

Kashmir prospered 

when Atal 

Bihari Vajpayee 

was the Prime 

Minister but she 

had suffered now 

despite joining 

hands with the 

BJP led by 

Narendra Modi. 

Addressing a public meeting 

here to commemorate the 19th 

foundation day of the Peoples 

Democratic Party (PDP), 

Mehbooba Mufti said: “Though 

the PDP (then) was in a ruling 

alliance with the Congress, the 

state prospered when Vajpayee 

is attended regularly to keep the 

monument in good condition,” a 

statement by the Ministry of 

Culture said. 

The information was given by 

Sharma in reply to an unstarred 

question in the Lok Sabha. The 

was the Prime Minister.” She, 

however, said that despite joining 

hands with the Bharatiya Janata 

Party (BJP), she 

had suffered during 

Narendra Modi’s 

Prime ministership. 

She justified her 

father the late Mufti 

Muhammad 

Sayeed’s decision 

to join hands with 

the BJP. “Mufti 

Sahab agreed to join hands with 

the BJP in 2015 because we had a 

good understanding during 

Vajpayee’s reign. “But this time, 

it was a difficult decision. 

Forming an alliance with the BJP 

was like drinking poison,” she 

added. 

Supreme Court on Thursday 

slammed both the Central and 

Uttar Pradesh governments for 

the neglect of Taj Mahal, wondering 

what will happen if 

Unesco withdrew the historic 

monument’s world heritage title. 

5 lakh saplings 

to be planted in 

Delhi this month 

New Delhi : To increase 

the green cover of the national 

capital, Environment 

Minister Imran Hussain on 

Wednesday announced that 

the Delhi government will 

plant five lakh trees and 

shrubs this month on a date to 

be announced soon. 

He also directed various 

greening agencies in the city 

to begin preparation for the 

massive drive which will be 

launched by Chief Minister 

Arvind Kejriwal. The Minister 

also directed the Department 

of Environment and Forest to 

undertake mass awareness 

campaign to make the plantation 

drive an unprecedented 

and successful drive. 

Pakistan SC seeks report on foreign 

employment of top generals 

Islamabad : Pakistan's 

Supreme Court on Wednesday 

sought a report from the 

Defence Ministry on the foreign 

employment of former 

Army Chief General (retd) 

Raheel Sharif and former 

Director-General Inter-Services 

Intelligence (ISI) Lt. Gen. 

(retd) Ahmed Shuja Pasha in 

violation of a law that 

restrained government officers 

from doing so for two years 

post-retirement. Hearing the 

suo motu case of dual nationalities 

of government employees, 

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar 

inquired whether the senior 

Army officials took permission 

from the federal government or 

not, according to Geo News. 

Gen. Sharif left for Riyadh 

in April 2017 to head a 41- 

nation military alliance led by 

Saudi Arabia. He retired in 

2016. On the other hand, the 

former ISI chief after his retirement 

in 2012, worked with a 

multinational firm in the UAE. 

He is now serving as a group 

chief adviser to a Lahore-based 

firm owned by a Pakistani 

politician, reports say. 

"According to the law, government 

officers cannot sign an 

employment contract abroad 

for two years after their retirement. 

Generals Pasha and 

Sharif, both, found employment 

abroad. Is the law not 

applicable to Army officers?" 

the Chief Justice asked. 

Defence Secretary Lt .Gen. 

(retd) Zamir-ul-Hassan Shah 

apprised the court that both 

retired officers had obtained a 

no-objection certificate (NOC) 

prior to leaving the country for 

employment. The government 

had permitted both generals to 

sign foreign employment contracts, 

Shah said. The threejudge 

bench directed the 

Defence Ministry to obtain 

more information in this 

regard, according to the 

Express Tribune. 

ASIA 

Sri Lanka bets on Indian 

visitors to boost tourism 

Kolkata : Sri Lanka is betting big on 

Indian visitors as the island nation is expecting 

a 20 per cent growth in arrival of travellers 

to 2.4 million in the current year, an 

official said on Tuesday. "Last year, about 

two million international visitors travelled to 

Sri Lanka and we expect it to reach 2.4 million 

this year. Of two million visitors, there 

were over three lakh Indians," Sri Lanka 

Convention Bureau's Chairman Kumar De 

Silva said on the sidelines of an interactive 

session organised by MCCI.According to 

him, India is the largest source market for 

tourists for Sri Lanka. Of the total visitors, 

about 90 per cent were tourists and the rest 

was for other purposes including business 

engagements, he said, adding that the country 

was also focusing at travellers for business 

meetings. 

There is growing cooperation between 

two neighbouring countries and the target 

markets for Meeting, Incentive, Conference 

and Exhibition (MICE) are cities close to Sri 

Lanka, said De Silva. 

Sri Lankan Airlines' Country Manager 

Lalit Peiris said the carrier operates 122 

direct flights per week from 14 Indian cities 

to Colombo though the airline has no plan, at 

present, to expand it in India. However, from 

Kolkata, during the festive season of Durga 

Puja, the carrier proposes to increase to four 

flights per week against three flights a week 

during the rest of the year. De Silva said 

tourism has been one of the top foreign 

exchange earners for the country and it could 

become the largest in years to come. 


7 

7 Indian firms in Fortune 500 

list, IOC tops, RIL up 55 ranks 

Mumbai : Seven Indian companies feature in the 

US magazine Fortune 500 list of the world's largest 

firms, with state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) remaining 

the top-ranked Indian company in the 2018 rankings 

and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) improving its 

position substantially. 

American retail giant Walmart tops the latest 

Fortune listing while Indian Oil jumped to 137th 

position, from 168th rank last year. 

"The world's 500 largest companies generated $30 

trillion in revenues and $1.9 trillion in profits in 

2017. Together, this year's Fortune Global 500 companies 

employ 67.7 million people worldwide and 

are represented by 33 countries," Fortune said. 

The Mukesh Ambani-led RIL, whose main oil and 

gas business has been supplemented with the addition 

of telecom player Jio, was the top private company 

from India as its ranking improved by 55 places 

to 148, from being the 203rd last year. 

State-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp 

(ONGC), which did not figure in the 2017 list, 

returned among the Forbes 500 with a ranking of 

197th. In the continuing good story for oil companies 

at a time of rising prices, two Chinese majors -- 

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) and 

the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) -- were 

at 3 and 4 respectively while Royal Dutch Shell 

secured the 5th position. State-run electric utility, 

State Grid Corp of China, is at second position in the 

Fortune 500 of 2018. State-run oil marketer Bharat 

Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) moved up to 314th position, 

from 360th last year, while government-owned 

State Bank of India (SBI) improved one place over 

last year to be at 216. Tata Motors improved its ranking 

to 232, from 247th last year.


ASIA 


SC to hear plea to declare 

Agra as heritage city 

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on 

Monday posted for August 28 the hearing 

of a plea related to 

declaring Agra, 

home to the Taj 

Mahal, as a heritage 

city. A bench of 

Justice Madan B. 

Lokur and Justice 

Deepak Gupta said 

it would hear the 

plea on August 28. Environmentalist M.C. 

Mehta, who filed the main petition for 

preservation and maintenance of the Taj 

Mahal in 1985, had filed an application 10 

years ago to declare Agra a heritage city. 

Mehta said the government has done 

nothing to prevent encroachment in and 

around the 17th century monument. On 

Monday, the Centre told the court that the 

Joint Secretary of the Union Ministry of 

Environment, Forest and Climate Change 

and the Commissioner of the Agra Division 

were responsible for maintenance of the Taj 

Trapezium Zone (TTZ). TTZ is an area of 

about 10,400 sq km spread over the districts 

of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and 

Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur district 

of Rajasthan. 

Student pass to be allowed in DTC 

AC buses from September 1 

New Delhi : After protests from university 

students, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind 

Kejriwal on Tuesday 

ordered that student 

passes would be valid in 

air-conditioned DTC 

buses too from 

September 1. Kejriwal 

tweeted that he had 

directed the Transport 

Minister to expedite the 

proposal. Transport Minister Kailash 

Gahlot acknowledged the order and tweeted 

in reply that he "will immediately take 

necessary steps". Scores of colleges students 

on Tuesday protested outside the 

Chief Minister's house demanding that the 

student pass be allowed in AC buses too. 

Yamuna continues to swell, 

more people shifted in Delhi 

New Delhi : The water level of the 

Yamuna river which has already crossed the 

danger mark in the capital is constantly rising 

and had reached 206.05 metre on 

Tuesday evening. The evacuation of people 

living on the riverbed, which started on 

Saturday, has resulted in the shifting of over 

10,000 people. "More people are being 

shifted as the water level is rising and the 

situation is severe. Some people are not 

willing to shift, but we are trying to persuade 

them," an official of the Flood 

Control Department said. "The flow of the 

river is steady, but more rainfall may 

impact the flow. We are keeping a close 

watch," the official added. Delhi witnessed 

its worst-ever floods in 1978 when the 

river's level touched 207.49 metres. 

Be Cautious about Ram Vilas 

Paswan and his son Chirag Paswan 

As is well known about Ram Vilas 

Paswan that he is an opportunistic 

politician with no moral character. He 

is also known as a “Mausam 

Vaigyanik ”( Weather Scientist) across 

the political spectrum. In the last four 

years, Ram Vilas Paswan and his son 

Chirag Paswan did not raise any issue 

concerning the welfare of the Dalits. 

Not only this Ram Vilas Paswan and 

his son Chirag Paswan did not organize 

even a single national level rally 

against the Modi government and 

Justice Ak Goel for rendering the 

SC/ST ACT ineffectual under the banner 

of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), 

All of a sudden, a love for the 

SCs/STs has awakened in the vile 

hearts and minds of both father and 

son. A question is: Why should only 

justice AK Goel be removed? There 

are a bunch of MPs and MLAs in the 

BJP who have caused damage to the 

SCs/ STs through evil deeds. Why not 

their resignation also? 

Paswan and his son know very well 

that justice AK Goel is already a 

retired person. He has been favored by 

the Modi government to head 

National Green Tribunal (NGT) after 

retirement. This move on behalf of 

both father and son is a calculated 

move. Both knew it very well that justice 

AK Goel`s removal would not 

strengthen the SC/ST ACT since the 

damage has already been done to the 

ACT. Their calculated move aims to 

win the hearts of the Dalits across 

India. Both father and son did not participate 

in Bharat Bandh call given by 

the Dalits on 2nd April. How can both 

be loyal to the Dalits? Now it is the 

Dalits who have to think twice before 

falling into the trap of father and son. 

Where were Paswan and his son when 

Bengaluru among 14 global 

cities to clean toxic air 

Bengaluru : India's tech hub Bengaluru on 

Tuesday joined 13 other cities, including London, to 

clean up toxic air and check pollution in urban areas 

the world over. Hosting the first meeting of the C40 

Air Quality Network, Bengaluru brought 

experts and policymakers from 13 other 

cities from the world over to find solutions 

to the threat of toxic air pollution. 

"Formed when London Mayor Sadiq 

Khan visited India in December last year, 

the Network enabled leaders to share 

information and work together to develop 

plans for how each city will clean up 

its toxic air," an official statement said. 

The C40 Cities is an organisation of 

96 global cities to fight climate change 

and work towards a sustainable future, while the 

C40 Air Quality Network, a body of upto 20 global 

cities formed in December last year, aims to develop 

solutions for air pollution, and is co-chaired by 

Khan and Bengaluru Mayor Sampath Raj. 

The 13 cities that were part of the meeting were 

Berlin, Chennai, Dar-es-Salaam, Delhi, 

Johannesburg, Kolkata, London, Los Angeles, 

Portland, Quito, Salvador, Tel Aviv and Warsaw. 

"The discussions and knowledge sharing on how 

other cities have dealt with air quality challenges is 

beneficial," Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. 

Kumaraswamy said on the occasion. As part of the 

Dalits were mercilessly flogged? 

Where was Paswan when Modi government 

issued several directives to 

dilute reservations in the government 

departments? Where were Paswan 

and his son when Rajiv Gandhi 

National Scholarship (RGNF) meant 

for the Scheduled Castes(SCs) students 

was delayed purposively by the 

Modi government because of 

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) 

episode? Must keep in mind they are 

the same Paswans who have been 

demanding reservation for the upper 

Rahul Bali 

Senior Correspondent, 

the Asian Independent, UK 

caste. A letter to Home Minister 

Rajnath Singh by father and son is 

nothing but a calculated move to bring 

back the Dalits to the BJP fold. Must 

be rejected without having given a 

second thought.The Dalits of India 

must not forget that it is the same 

Paswan family who shook hands with 

Network, the global cities sign the 'clean bus' and 

'fossil fuel-free streets' declarations, thereby relying 

on low-emission vehicles that run on electric power 

instead of traditional fuels like petrol and diesel, that 

contribute to high emissions. Even as 

Bengaluru is implementing projects promoting 

the use of electric vehicles and 

plans to have an all-electric bus fleet in 

the city by 2030, Deputy Chief Minister 

G. Parameshwara said the government is 

committed to implement an air quality 

management plan for the capital. "Based 

on the best practices we can learn from 

the forum, I commit my support in 

implementing a robust air quality management 

plan for Bengaluru by providing 

both financial and governance resources," said 

Parameshwara, who also holds the portfolio of 

Bengaluru Development Minister. 

An estimated seven million people die prematurely 

each year due to air pollution, according to the 

World Health Organisation. In 2016, there were over 

1.1 million early deaths in India and over 40,000 in 

Britain due to air pollution, statement from the 

Network said. London Deputy Mayor for 

Environment and Energy Shirley Rodrigues, 

Bengaluru civic body commissioner N. Manjunatha 

Prasad and air quality researchers and experts from 

the state were also present. 

the anti- Dalit and anti-reservation 

BJP to work against Mayawati. 

Paswan family doled out funds to 

those roadside Dalits to work day and 

night to organize public meetings 

against Mayawati. In 2014 Lok Sabha 

elections, roadside Dalit leaders from 

Delhi and other parts of India were 

invited to Uttar Pradesh (UP) to work 

against Mayawati. The negative propaganda 

of such roadside Dalit leaders 

succeeded amid Modi wave and 

Mayawati left without 

a single seat in 2014 

Lok Sabha elections. 

It is also a common 

knowledge in the 

political spectrum that 

Paswan family need 

BJP/RSS backing to 

stay in power, not the 

BJP/RSS. Today, When Rahul Gandhi 

wave is catching momentum day by 

day, Paswan and his son Chirag have 

come out of a muddy water like a frog 

who does nothing but grunt. 

It is also a common knowledge that 

Chirag Paswan as an actor was outrightly 

rejected by the Brahmin 

Bollywood lobby due to his caste 

background. After his first Hindi 

movie “Miley Naa Miley Hum” not a 

single Hindu actress accepted Chirag 

Paswan as a Co-Star. Chirag Paswan 

also went to Vaishno Devi to seek 

Hindu Goddess`s blessings before the 

release of the film. Everyone knows 

that Dr Ambedkar criticized Hindus 

Gods and Goddesses because Hindu 

Gods and Goddesses are the prime 

originators of the ‘varna’ system which 

later solidified as the caste system. 

Prof Kancha Ilaiah, a noted 

Dalitbahujan scholar and writer is of 

the opinion that Hinduism is a religion 

of violence, says even its gods are violent. 

“In fact, violence has been 

Hinduism’s principal mechanism of 

control(Bangalore Mirror). Let us 

recall the words of revered Kanshi 

Ram Ji who said: “If Thakurs of Bihar 

want Paswan should win he will win, if 

Thakurs want him to lose elections, 

Paswan will not win even a single 

seat.” From this one can understand 

that Paswan is nothing without 

Thakurs in Bihar. 

The Dalits of India must understand 

that a leader seeking the blessings of 

Hindu Gods or Goddesses can never be 

your friend. Yes, he or she can be a 

deadly enemy. Both father and son are 

not true followers of Baba Saheb Dr 

Ambedkar. The Dalits of India must 

also remember that Paswan family 

agenda is not to remove justice AK 

Goel but to gain the votes of the Dalits. 

Dear Dalit brothers and sisters, the 

time has come to identify who is your 

friend and who is your foe. 

If you fail to act at this time you 

and your children will suffer for the 

next five years. 

Imran Khan will take 

oath as PM on August 11 

Islamabad : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf 

(PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that he 

will take oath as Prime Minister on August 

11, the media reported on Monday. 

Talking to the newly-elected members 

from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 

Islamabad, he said a 

decision regarding 

nomination of the 

Chief Minister will be 

taken soon and in the 

best interest of the 

people, according to 

Radio Pakistan. 

Although PTI has 

emerged as the single 

largest party in the 

National Assembly in 

the July 25 polls, it is short of numbers to 

form its government independently. 

To meet the required number of votes, the 

PTI leadership has reportedly approached the 

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan 

(MQM-P), the Grand Democratic Alliance 

(GDA), PML-Quaid (PML-Q) and the 

Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), as well as 

Independents. Meanwhile, former Prime 

Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim 

League-Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto-led 

Pakistan Peoples Party agreed on formulation 

of a "coordinated joint strategy" in an attempt 

to give a tough time to PTI in Parliament.

www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA August 2018 9 

Second wave of floods hits 

Assam, 90,000 affected 

Guwahati : Close to 90,000 people have been hit in 

Assam as a second wave of floods ravaged the state, 

affecting 153 villages in six districts including 

Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Golaghat, Sivsagar and 

Charaideo. 

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority 

(ASDMA) said the floods that have hit the state since 

June 13 have affected 10.99 lakh people. The state has 

registered 41 deaths — 38 in flooding and 3 due to 

landslides. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on 

Friday reviewed the flood situation. 

He has asked the Revenue and Disaster 

Management department to come up with innovative 

steps like constructing high-rise structure to give succour 

to the people who suffer from perennial floods 

every year. From June 13 to August 3, Assam has had 

two waves of floods affecting 163 villages and 10.99 

lakh people. 

Altogether 388 relief camps have been set up and 

440 relief distribution centres have been opened to distribute 

relief items to the affected people. 

Backwardness of SCs/STs 

enough to grant them quotas in 

promotions, Centre tells SC 

New Delhi, The Centre on Friday told the Supreme 

Court that mere backwardness of the Scheduled Caste 

and Scheduled 

Tribes was 

enough to grant 

them reservations 

in promotions 

and that there 

was no need for 

the government 

to back their 

inadequate representation 

with 

quantifiable data. 

The contention 

came during a hearing by a five-judge bench 

headed by Chief Justice Deepak Misra on a government 

plea seeking a re-look by a seven-judge constitution 

bench at a 2006 judgment that barred reservations in 

promotions. The top court in 2006 had said, ” … State 

will have to show in each case the existence of the compelling 

reasons, namely, backwardness, inadequacy of 

representation and overall administrative efficiency 

before making provision for reservation” in promotions. 

The 2006 judgment is also known as Nagaraj judgment. 

Pointing to the social oppression that Scheduled 

Caste people suffer at the hands of dominant castes, 

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said: “They are not 

even allowed to ride horses” during their family functions. 

The court directed the listing of the matter on 

August 16. 

Sri Lankan medicines to be 

protected under international 

intellectual property system 

Colombo : Sri Lanka has announced that 

it is moving its centuries-old folk medicine 

system for protection under the international 

intellectual property system. On Saturday, 

Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishard 

Bathiudeen said the government was working 

with the World Intellectual Property 

Organisation (WIPO) for the last five years 

to introduce intellectual property support to 

Sri Lanka’s traditional, indigenous medicine 

Record 3,350 kg ganja 

haul in Tripura: Police 

Agartala, Security forces have 

seized a record 3,350 kg of dry 

cannabis (ganja) valued at over Rs 

2 crore and arrested two persons 

in Sepahijala district in west 

Tripura, police said on Friday. 

“A joint team of security personnel 

and other officials led by 

Deputy Superintendent of Police 

(Directorate of Intelligence 

Bureau) Alok Bhattacharjee seized 

3,350 kg of cannabis in the bordering 

village of Kamalnagar late 

Thursday,” Sepahijala district 

police chief Kulwant Singh told 

IANS on phone. “The contraband 

in 85 drums was buried in a betelleaf 

garden and was recovered after 

a 15-hour operation. The case was 

later handed over to the Directorate 

of Revenue Intelligence,” he added. 

The government led by Chief 

Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has 

announced that it will make Tripura 

a drug-free state and directed the 

security forces to have zero tolerance 

against drug trade. The 

Directorate Revenue Intelligence 

system, reports Xinhua news agency. 

Sri Lanka’s very own indigenous medical 

practice is centuries old and co-exists with 

the country’s Ayurveda practice. “Ayurveda 

practice is a long-standing tradition in Sri 

Lanka existing with our indigenous medicine 

system. Similar to our local medicine 

system, it supports our wellness and medical 

tourism development as well,” Bathiudeen 

said. 

(DRI), which was part of the joint 

operation, on Friday said that it was 

the seventh successive seizure of 

contraband sourced from Tripura. 

“As much as 8,900 kg of ganja 

originating from Tripura has been 

seized in the past few months,” a 

DRI statement said. “Organised cultivation 

and harvesting of cannabis 

for commercial purposes in Tripura 

is seen to be a new trend and the 

DRI is closely monitoring the situation 

in the eastern sector in tandem 

with other agencies. Large-scale 

cultivation of ganja is occurring in 

hilly tracts and jungles of Tripura 

under thick foliage of rubber plantations,” 

it added. In a separate operation 

along with Assam Police, BSF 

and CRPF on Thursday, DRI seized 

488 kg of cannabis from an abandoned 

house in Angla Bazar, 

Badarpur, in Karimganj district of 

Assam. A Northeast Frontier 

Railway press release said the 

Railway Protection Force had 

seized around 100 kg of ganja valued 

at Rs 6.27 lakh from Guwahati, 

Agartala and Dimapur railway stations 

over the past two weeks. 

Nepal begins 

reconstruction of 

damaged school 

with China’s aid 

Kathmandu : The reconstruction 

of Nepal’s oldest 

school, which was severely 

damaged by the massive 2015 

earthquake, has begun with 

Chinese assistance. Nepali 

Minister for Education, 

Science and Technology 

Giriraj Mani Pokhrel and 

Chinese Ambassador Yu 

Hong jointly launched reconstruction 

of the building at 

Ranipokhari in the capital on 

Friday, Xinhua news agency 

reported. The building of the 

school, widely known as 

Durbar High School, is one of 

the 25 quake-damaged projects 

that China agreed to help 

reconstruct. The school, 

established in 1853, was shifted 

to the current location in 

1891. After a 7.8-magnitude 

earthquake hit the Himalayan 

country in 2015, the Nepali 

government made an arrangement 

to teach the students at 

make-shift shelters within the 

school premises. 

The students have been 

taking their classes at a nearby 

public college over the 

past month after the school 

building was demolished for 

reconstruction. 

Before the devastating 

quake, the building was housing 

two schools — Durbar 

High School and Sanskrit 

Secondary School with 

around 500 students, according 

to the school administrations. 

China’s Shanghai 

Construction Group had been 

contracted to reconstruct the 

building within the next 20 

months. Chinese Ambassador 

Yu said Beijing will build a 

safe and attractive building 

blended with traditional features 

and expressed hope that 

it will remain as a symbol of 

friendly relations between the 

two countries. 

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 


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BUDDHIST INTERNATIONAL MEDIA 

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BUSINESS 


Amritsar's fan, carpet industry on brink of closure 

Amritsar : Amritsar's once 

famous fan manufacturers and 

carpet weavers are on the verge 

of extinction due to high input 

cost, shortage of skilled labourers, 

lack of innovation and 

flight of production units to 

other states. 

The number of fan manufacturers 

has shrunk to less than 70 

from over 2,500 units in early 

80s, industry experts said. 

Amritsar, which was a major 

hub for producing various 

types of fans - ceiling, table, 

exhaust and pedestal - is now 

struggling to survive. 

"Gradually, Amritsar industry 

has lost to other production 

centres such as Ghaziabad, 

Delhi and Varanasi. As these 

centres are closer to source of 

High input cost, shortage of 

skilled labourers to blame 

Bloomberg : India offered 

Uganda a $200-million credit 

line to fund energy and agriculture 

projects during Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi's visit 

to the East African nation. 

India, which already has 

raw materials, the Amritsar 

units lost on competitiveness," 

said Baladev Singh, a fan manufacturer 

of Amritsar. 

The manufacturers also 

complained that discontinuation 

of freight equalisation policy 

made the raw material costlier 

for the city-based manufacturers 

as compared to manufacturers 

of other states. 

Skilled workers also migrated 

for better future to other 

states with the growth of similar 

industrial clusters in different 

parts of North India, the 

manufacturers said. 

Former fan manufacturerturned-hotelier 

Satnam Singh 

recalls that once flourishing 

business has become a cottage 

industry where the proprietor is 

defense cooperation with 

Uganda, is ready to strengthen 

its collaboration with Uganda, 

Modi said in a televised speech 

in Entebbe. 

Uganda may use the funds to 

purchase Indian merchandise 

the worker and his residence is 

the workshop. He blames the 

government's apathy for the 

India to lend Uganda $200 

million for energy, farming 

India, which already has defense cooperation with Uganda, is ready to strengthen 

its collaboration with Uganda, Modi said in a televised speech in Entebbe. 

for the two industries, President 

Yoweri Museveni said. The two 

nations will cooperate on technology 

for solar power and irrigation, 

and the equipment may 

be assembled or manufactured 

in Uganda, he said. 

Indian exports to Uganda 

narrowed to $736 million at 

present from $1.2 billion in 

2015, while Ugandan shipments 

to the subcontinent 

increased to $44 million from 

$24 million during the same 

period, Museveni said. 

Modi, in Africa for a summit 

of the BRICS nations, also 

signed deals worth $200 million 

in Rwanda for irrigation 

projects and the development 

of special economic zones. 

Jerusalem : Israel's national 

carrier El Al has withdrawn its 

plea filed in the country's top 

court against the government's 

decision to allow Air India to 

fly over Saudi Arabia's airspace 

on the Delhi-Tel Aviv route, 

which it had claimed gave its 

competitor an unfair competitive 

edge. 

Israel's High Court of Justice 

had urged El Al to drop the petition 

it filed in March this year, 

days after Air India's inaugural 

flight landed in Tel Aviv on 

March 22. In a statement to the 

Tel Aviv stock exchange, the airlines 

said its decision was made 

following a hearing on the matter 

on July 18. No further details 

were provided, but it seems the 

airlines decided to pay heed to 

the court's request. El Al had 

filed an urgent petition to the 

court against the Israeli government, 

Transportation Ministry 

and the Civil Aviation Authority, 

claiming that granting the Indian 

airline permission to fly the 

route, which significantly 

reduces the cost and flight time, 

gave a foreign company an 

unfair competitive advantage 

and violated the state's commitment 

to Israel's national carrier. 

The Air India flight between 

Delhi and Tel Aviv flies over 

Saudi and Omani airspace, 

two countries with which Israel 

misery. "Leave aside any 

bailout package, no government 

ever bothered to even 

New Delhi : The government 

has moved the Delhi High Court 

to enforce a $3.8-billion recovery 

from Reliance Industries 

(RIL), Shell and ONGC following 

an English court ruling 

over its share from the Panna- 

Mukta and Tapti fields in 

western offshore, Oil Minister 

Dharmendra Pradhan said on 

Wednesday. In a written reply 

in the Rajya Sabha, Pradhan 

said based on the Final Partial 

Award (FPA) dated October 

12, 2016, the Directorate 

General of Hydrocarbons 

(DGH) had on May 25, 2017, 

raised demand for $3.8 billion 

on ONGC, RIL and Shell 

towards Government of India 

share of profit petroleum and 

royalty. 

RIL and Shell challenged the 

FPA before the High Court in 

London. ONGC was not party 

constitute a commission to take 

stock of the problems the 

industry is facing," he said. 

The government officials 

have been evasive on this matter. 

The department does not 

keep trade-specific numbers of 

industrial units. Besides, it is 

not mandatory for industries to 

register themselves with the 

department, Department of 

Industry and Commerce 

Deputy Director BS Brar said. 

He said no assessment was ever 

carried out to know the status 

of local industries. 

The carpet industry of the 

city has a similar story. It has 

been facing hard times because 

of acute shortage of trained 

manpower. 

The city, which was once 

known for hand-made Persianstyle 

carpets (Bukhara style), is 

witnessing its extinction. The 

city had seen the glorious days 

of carpet weaving as Amritsar's 

to the arbitration. 

"The High Court, London, 

rejected the petition filed by 

RIL and Shell on April 16, 

2018, except on one issue 

which was remanded to the 

Arbitral Tribunal," he said. "For 

enforcement of the FPA, 

Government has filed a petition 

before the Delhi High Court." 

In December 2010, BG 

Exploration & Production India 

Ltd, which was subsequently 

acquired by Shell, and RIL, initiated 

arbitration against the 

products used to be exported to 

Russia and European countries 

until 1995. 

Industrialists also link the 

attitudinal change to this 

decline. Weaving is mainly 

done by skilled women. 

Weaving required extremely 

focused attention and arduously 

long sitting hours. Besides, 

disenchantment due to low 

salaries, TV serials also distracted 

the women workforce. 

Increased awareness towards 

girls' education and attractive 

career options also led to the 

shortage of trained workforce. 

Carpet exporter Vikram 

Makhani said a steep reduction 

in GST rate was unlikely to 

revive the industry. Focal Point 

Industries Association chairman 

Kamal Dalmia said the 

government could revive these 

clusters by providing financial 

incentives and technical assistance. 

Govt moves court to recover 

$3.8 bn from RIL, Shell, ONGC 

doesn't have diplomatic relations. 

The permission by the two 

countries to allow Air India to 

fly through their airspace on the 

Government of India (GoI) 

after a dispute over the state's 

share of profit and royalty from 

Panna-Mukta and Mid and 

South Tapti contract areas off 

the west coast. The Arbitration 

Tribunal gave its FPA on 

October 12, 2016. RIL and 

Shell initiated proceedings 

under the English Arbitration 

Act, 1996 to challenge the 

arbitration award before the 

English Commercial Court in 

November 2016. On May 2, 

2018, the court delivered its 

final judgment, remitting a significant 

issue for redetermination 

by the Tribunal within 

three months while disposing of 

eight other issues, RIL had said 

on May 24. The Arbitration 

Tribunal has scheduled a hearing 

to determine the remitted 

issue and will thereafter deliver 

an award, it had said. 

Israeli airline drops plea against Air India flights via Saudi airspace 

The Air India flight between Delhi and 

Tel Aviv flies over Saudi and Omani 

airspace, two countries with which 

Israel doesn't have diplomatic relations. 

way to Tel Aviv was hailed as 

"historic" by Israeli Prime 

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 

and Transportation Minister 

Yisrael Katz. It was also projected 

in the Israeli media as a sign 

of warming ties between Israel 

and the Gulf countries, something 

that Netanyahu keeps hinting 

at when he talks about his 

country's growing acceptance 

worldwide under his leadership. 

El Al in its petition argued that 

allowing Air India to cross over 

airspace that is closed to Israeliowned 

airlines violated the 1944 

Convention on International 

Civil Aviation as well as various 

Israeli government decisions. 

The airline noted in its petition 

that in a December 1994 

decision to privatise El Al, the 

government said that Israeli 

civil aviation policy must 

ensure "equal opportunities 

between Israeli airlines and foreign 

airlines on a competitive 

basis" and ensure "sound and 

fair competition".


HEALTH 


13 

Public health dept data: Children form 10 

per cent of Maharashtra's leprosy pool 

Leprosy is an infectious 

disease caused 

by mycobacteria 

laprae that affects skin 

and can lead to 

physical deformity 

and disfigurement. 

Even as the Union Health Ministry's 

deadline to eliminate leprosy across the 

country by 2018 approaches, in 

Maharashtra alone, children account for 

10.11 per cent of the state's total leprosy 

burden, indicating that the bacterial 

infection is still spreading among children. 

Leprosy is an infectious disease 

caused by mycobacteria laprae that 

affects skin and can lead to physical 

deformity and disfigurement. 

Data from the state public health 

department shows that till March 2018, 

1,624 children were diagnosed with leprosy, 

of the total pool of 16,065 patients 

in the state. Of them, in 27 per cent of 

the infected children, the disease has 

progressed into multi-bacillary, a condition 

where there are more than five skin 

lesions on the body. 

While India declared itself leprosy 

free in 2005 - meaning leprosy cases 

were less than one per 10,000 people - 

in the past few years, the number of 

cases have risen across the country. The 

World Health Organisation has set a 

deadline for 2020 to completely eliminate 

deformities due to leprosy among 

children. But with newer cases coming 

up, experts believe the target may be 

hard to achieve for India. Dr Atul Shah, 

a plastic surgeon in Nanavati hospital 

who treats deformities arising out of 

leprosy, said it is necessary for the government 

to actively find the hidden leprosy 

population. "The disability proportion 

has gone up, which means diagnosis 

is happening much later," he said. 

Shah said he still gets children with leprosy 

at a stage when they develop deformity. 

"Patients also ignore the lesions 

until disability happens," he said. 

Dr VV Pai, director at Bombay 

Leprosy Project, said: "What we need is 

active case finding to prevent late diagnosis 

or deformity." In the initial stages, 

Midlife fitness may 

boost your heart health 

A new study states that people with high fitness during their middle 

age are less likely to develop or die from heart diseases later in 

their lives. The effect of low fitness is real on heart diseases as well 

as depression. People with high fitness during their middle ages are 

significantly less likely to die from heart diseases in later life even 

if they were diagnosed with depression, researchers including one 

of Indian-origin suggested.The study, published in the journal of the 

American Medical 

Association Psychiatry, found 

that participants with high fitness 

were 56 per cent less 

likely to die from heart diseases 

following a depression 

diagnosis. Depression has 

been linked to several other 

chronic medical conditions 

such as diabetes, obesity and chronic kidney disease, but taking 

anti-depressants are likely to help. But according to the researchers, 

for patients with these conditions, the more appropriate treatment 

may be exercise. The researchers said the reasons behind this may 

partly be connected to the general health effects of physical activity, 

including the fact that exercise decreases inflammation that may 

cause depression. By reducing inflammation, the risk for depression 

and heart diseases are lowered, the researchers mentioned. 

"The earlier you maintain fitness, the better chance of preventing 

depression, which in the long run will help lower the risk of 

heart diseases," said co-author Madhukar Trivedi from the 

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre in the US. For 

the study, the researchers examined database of nearly 18,000 participants 

who had their cardio-respiratory fitness measured at an 

average age of 50 years. 

The researchers used Medicare Administrative data to establish 

correlations between the participants' fitness at midlife to rates of 

depression and heart diseases in older age. "There is enough evidence 

to show that the effect of low fitness on depression and heart 

diseases is real. But further study is needed to establish the mechanism 

by which this effect happens," Trivedi noted. 

the disease is identified as paucibacillary, 

with less than five skin lesions on 

body. In Maharashtra, 1,182 children 

have been identified with paucibacillary 

leprosy, forming 16.2 per cent of total 

paucibacillary burden in Maharashtra 

and 442 children (five per cent) have 

more than five lesions termed as multibacillary. 

"In Mumbai, deformity cases 

are low. We found only six children with 

Eating food 

that heals from 

within JAMUN 

Research is underway to develop various 

sources for stem cells, as well as 

to apply stem-cell treatments for neurological 

disease and chronic diseases 

like heart disease and diabetes. 

The search for novel treatments 

for diseases, longevity 

and wellness is far more than 

ever before. Be it acupuncture, 

naturopathy, massage, 

homoeopathy, biofeedback, 

Ayurveda or even stem cell therapy 

and many others, they are 

not integrated into orthodox 

medicine. Most do not get 

approved by FDA. Rather they 

represent what is called alternative 

or complementary therapies. 

According to recent reports in 

the US, a more open view is 

being considered for stem cell 

therapy. Stem cell therapy is the 

use of stem cells to treat or prevent 

a disease or condition. Stem 

cells are a class of undifferentiated 

cells that are able to differentiate 

into specialised cell types. 

Commonly, stem cells come 

from two main sources: Stem 

cells from the bone marrow are 

the most widely used in stemcell 

therapy, but some therapies 

use stem cells from umbilical 

cord blood. 

Research is underway to 

develop various sources for stem 

cells, as well as to apply stemcell 

treatments for neurological 

disease and chronic diseases like 

heart disease and diabetes. Other 

potential areas of use include 

arthritis, stroke, lung disease, 

sports injuries, hair loss and skin 

problems with ageing like wrinkles. 

Stem-cell therapy has become 

controversial. This controversy 

is often related to abortion politics 

and to human cloning. While 

these issues will continue to be 

researched, the good news is that 

grade I, and three with grade II disability 

in the city at our centre. The deformity 

cases are much higher in tribal 

regions of Thane and Palghar," Pai said. 

His NGO has treated 866 leprosy 

patients between 2003 and 2017 and of 

them 55 were children. An 11-year-old 

from Dombivali, now undergoing a 

multi-drug therapy at the centre, was 

diagnosed after a year-long delay in 

2017 with clawed hands and skin 

lesions on her face, stomach, arms, 

thigh and hip. While her mother also 

had leprosy and was undergoing active 

treatment, she failed to identify her 

daughter's symptoms. 

"Her nerve damage was controlled 

but the lesions were huge on her body. 

Diagnosis was very late" Pai said. It 

takes six months to one year for a 

patient to develop deformities in the 

form of clawed hands and feet. 

Across Maharashtra, the Directorate 

of Health Services has recorded 1,181 

cases of disabilities among leprosy 

patients until March. 

A slight dip in the number of children 

getting diagnosed with disabilities is 

encouraging. But doctors claim that 

screening programs need to be regular. 

From 2016-17 to 2017-18, number of 

leprosy cases among children dipped 

from 11 to 10.11 per cent. In 2014-15, 

2,045 children, in 2015-16, 1,764 children 

and in 2017-18, 1,624 children 

have been diagnosed with leprosy in 

Maharashtra. Rati Mishra, who is 

attached to the National Centre for 

Promotion of Employment for Disabled 

People, said there are 119 provisions 

under various acts in the Constitution 

that are discriminatory against leprosy 

patients. "The funding for the program 

is low. We need more human resources 

to screen patients door-to-door as the 

social stigma demotivates patients from 

coming forward," she said. 

one can use one's own food to 

activate our body's own dormant 

stem cells. 

A viable alternative to stem 

cell transplantation is to design 

approaches that stimulate 

endogenous stem cells to promote 

healing and regenerative 

medicine. Many natural compounds 

have been shown to promote 

healing. A research published 

in 2006 demonstrates 

effects of several natural compounds; 

phytonutrients in green 

tea, berries and vitamin D in 

combination act to promote healing 

via an interaction with stem 

cell populations. These are commonly 

consumed foods like our 

very own jamun or black berry, 

spirulina and Japanese seaweed. 

Jamun fruit and seeds have a 

history of use as a hypoglycaemic 

agent in treating diabetes 

in traditional medicine in India 

which has been validated by several 

scientific studies. Not only 

diabetes, many studies are 

demonstrating its cancer-fighting 

qualities. It has phytonutrients, 

among them glycosides. 

Recent preliminary studies show 

they guide our stem cells to produce 

more red blood cells and 

thereby can potentially benefit 

people suffering from heart failure. 

These are new areas of 

research and offer potential in 

treating disease. However, till 

more information is available, 

including these simple foods in 

our diet can certainly help in 

repairing and healing our bodies 

from inside without any side 

effects.


HEALTH 


‘Processed food like 

bacon and hot dogs 

bad for mental health’ 

The study revealed that those who were 

hospitalised for mania were more than three 

times more likely to have had eaten beef jerky, 

ham or salami in the recent past. A recent 

study has suggested that consumption of 

processed meats like bacon and hot dogs can 

be linked to mental breakdowns. A Johns 

Hopkins Medicine study has revealed that 

those who were hospitalised for mania were 

more than three times more likely to have had 

eaten beef jerky, ham or salami in the recent 

past and scientists are of the opinion that this 

could be due to the presence of nitrates that 

chemicals used to process and cure meats. 

The same researchers conducted an experiment 

on rats where they were fed on diets with 

added nitrates. The rats showed mania-like 

hyperactivity just after a few weeks. 

Although genetic and other risk factors 

have been associated with manic episodes that 

characterise bipolar disorder, they were not 

able to explain the cause behind the mental illness. 

Researchers, hence, are looking at diet as 

a plausible causative factor among other 

things. Robert Yolken, professor at the Johns 

Hopkins University School of Medicine, said, 

"Future work on this association could lead to 

dietary interventions to help reduce the risk of 

manic episodes in those who have bipolar disorder 

or who are otherwise vulnerable to 

mania." For the study, dietary data of 1,101 

people aged 18 to 65 between 2007 and 2017 

were collected and analysed and consumption 

of cured meat was identified as an important 

contributing factor. "We looked at a number of 

different dietary exposures and cured meat 

really stood out," Yolken said. The survey did 

not take into account the time frame of cured 

meat consumption hence the researchers could 

not infer exactly how much cured meat triggers 

an individual's risk of mania. 

Multiple pregnancies might make 

women's cells age more quickly, 

according to a study that may explains 

why women with many children tend 

to show signs of accelerated ageing. 

The findings, published in the journal 

Scientific Reports, were reached 

by looking at two separate markers of 

cellular ageing - telomere length and 

epigenetic age - in hundreds of young 

women with different reproductive 

histories in the Philippines. 

"Telomere length and epigenetic 

age are cellular markers that independently 

predict mortality, and both 

appeared 'older' in women who had 

more pregnancies in their reproductive 

histories," said Calen Ryan, a doctoral 

student at University of Washington in 

the US. 

"Even after accounting for other 

factors that affect cellular ageing, the 

number of pregnancies still came out 

on top," said Ryan. 

Cellular ageing was accelerated by 

between 0.5 and 2 years for each additional 

pregnancy, a surprisingly large 

effect according to the researchers. 

Another finding they did not expect 

was the fact that women who were 

Is it safe for 

diabetics to 

eat mangoes? 

Let's find out 

A diabetic can eat half a mango daily. However, they should avoid having the juice. 

Also, they must keep a gap of an hour between having food and consuming a 

mango. Is it worth the risk? Totally, as it comes with innumerable health benefits. 

Mangoes are synonymous with summer and the only good 

thing offered in the scorching heat. The juicy yellow pulp is 

loaded with the goodness of fibre, antioxidants, vitamin A, vitamin 

B6, vitamin E, vitamin K, but the health benefits of mangoes 

have often been debatable because of its high calorie and 

sugar content. That's probably the reason why many people 

avoid binging on the king of fruits, especially diabetics. 

But what if these are just a bunch of myths and it's safe for 

diabetics to eat it? According to the book Healing Foods by 

Miriam Polunin, mangoes contain enzymes that aid breakdown 

and digestion of protein, and also fibre, which keeps the digestive 

functions working efficiently. But how much is advisable? 

Dr Anil Bhoraskar, senior diabetologist, SL Raheja Hospital 

says, "A diabetic patient can eat half a mango daily. However, 

they should avoid having the juice. Also, they must keep a gap 

of an hour between having food and consuming a mango". 

Bhoraskar also suggests checking blood sugar levels after eating 

a slice of mango. "If the blood sugar level is beyond 25% then 

you must not eat the rest of the mango. 

Each food item has a varying response to an individual's 

body, It is very important to know that all food items act differently 

on the same individual on different days and this is known 

as interpersonal variation. The consumption of other food items 

alongside the mango can also have a variable effect", he said. Is 

it worth the risk? "Mangoes are high in fibre content and contains 

lots of antioxidants like zeaxanthin, quercetin, astragalin 

and beta-carotene which help boost brain health and function 

along with Vitamin B6", says Dr Rinki Kumari, chief dietitian 

at Fortis Hospital. If diabetics need to relish the delicious fruit, 

a certain amount of fitness is also important. So is a decent balance 

between mango and other dietary intakes. 

currently pregnant had cells that 

looked younger - not older - than predicted. 

"Paradoxically, even though a 

woman's biological age was higher 

with each child that she had, if a 

woman was pregnant when the measurements 

were taken, her epigenetic 

age, and to a lesser extent her telomeres, 

looked 'younger' than predicted 

for her chronological age," said 

Christopher Kuzawa of Northwestern 

University in the US. 

"It's an interesting situation in 

which pregnancy makes someone look 

temporarily 'young,' but there appears 

Daily exercise may cut heart 

attack risk even in polluted areas 

Regular physical activity may 

reduce the risk of heart attack, even in 

areas with moderateto-high 

levels of traffic 

pollution, a study 

claims. 

"While exercise is 

known to reduce cardiovascular 

disease 

risk; pollution can 

increase the risk of 

cardiovascular disease, 

including heart 

attacks, asthma and chronic obstructive 

lung disease," said Nadine Kubesch 

from the University of Copenhagen in 

Denmark. "Currently there is little data 

on whether poor air quality cancels out 

the protective benefits of physical 

activity in preventing heart attacks," 

said Kubesch, lead author of the study 

published in the Journal of the 

American Heart Association. 

Researchers in Denmark, Germany and 

to be some lasting, cumulative relationship 

between the number of pregnancies 

and more accelerated biological 

age," said Kuzawa. 

Researchers have known from historical 

records and epidemiological 

studies that women who have many 

children tend to have slightly shorter 

lives and succumb to different diseases 

than those who do not. 

"What we didn't know was whether 

we could detect these kinds of effects 

using measures of cellular aging," 

Ryan said. 

Although there is good evidence 

that having more children, especially 

more than four or five, can increase 

the risk of certain diseases and shorten 

lifespan, researchers still do not really 

know why. 

"Our study points to cellular 

changes during pregnancy, possibly 

related to adaptive changes in the 

mother's immune system as a possible 

explanation," said Kuzawa. 

"There's still a lot we don't know. 

For instance, it's not clear whether 

these relationships will persist into 

later life as these women age. We also 

do not know whether these changes 

Spain evaluated outdoor physical activity 

levels (sports, cycling, walking and 

gardening) and nitrogen 

dioxide (NO2 pollutant 

generated by 

traffic) exposure in 

51,868 adults, aged 50- 

65. Over a 17.7-year 

period, there were 

2,936 first heart attacks 

and 324 recurrent heart 

attacks. Higher levels 

of pollution were associated 

with more heart attacks, however, 

the risk was lower among those who 

were physically active, the researchers 

found. Moderate cycling for four or 

more hours per week cut risk for recurrent 

heart attack by 31 per cent; and 

there was a 58 per cent reduction when 

all four types of physical activity 

(together totalling four hours per week 

or more) were combined, regardless of 

air quality. 

Multiple pregnancies make women's cells age faster 

"Paradoxically, even 

though a woman's biological 

age was higher with 

each child that she had, if 

a woman was pregnant 

when the measurements 

were taken, her epigenetic 

age, and to a lesser extent 

her telomeres, looked 

'younger' than predicted 

for her chronological 

age," said Christopher 

Kuzawa of Northwestern 

University in the US. 

will actually lead to less favourable 

long-term health outcomes," he said. 

To answer these questions, a follow-up 

study on the same women 13 

years after the first measurements, 

taken in 2005, is already underway.


Researchers at the Georgia 

Institute of Technology in the 

US analysed data from multiple 

research papers on dehydration 

and cognitive ability. The data 

pointed to functions like attention, 

coordination and complex 

problem solving suffering the 

most, and activities like reacting 

quickly when prompted not 

diminishing much. 

"The simplest reaction time 

tasks were least impacted, even 

as dehydration got worse, but 

tasks that require attention 

were quite impacted," said 

Mindy Millard-Stafford, a professor 

at Georgia Tech. 

As the bodies of test subjects 

in various studies lost water, the 

majority of participants increasingly 

made errors during attention-related 

tasks that were 

mostly repetitive and unexciting, 

such as punching a button 

in varying patterns for quite a 

few minutes. There are situations 

in life that challenge attentiveness 

in a similar manner, 

and when it lapses, snafus can 

happen. "Maintaining focus in a 

long meeting, driving a car, a 

monotonous job in a hot factory 

that requires you to stay alert 

are some of them," said Millard- 

Stafford, a principal investigator 

of the study published in the 

journal Medicine & Science in 

Sports & Exercise. "Higherorder 

functions like doing math 

or applying logic also dropped 

off," said Millard-Stafford. The 

researchers have been concerned 

that dehydration could 

raise the risk of an accident, particularly 

in scenarios that combine 

heavy sweating and dangerous 

machinery or military 

hardware. There's no hard and 

fast rule about when exactly 

such lapses can pop up, but the 

researchers examined studies 

with one to six per cent loss of 

body mass due to dehydration 

and found more severe impairments 

started at two per cent. 

That level has been a significant 

benchmark in related 

studies."There's already a lot of 

quantitative documentation that 

if you lose 2 percent in water it 

HEALTH 

Dehydration can lower 

cognitive abilities 

Just two hours of vigorous work in the summer sun without drinking fluids 

could be enough to blunt concentration, say scientists who found that 

cognitive functions often deteriorate as the body gets dehydrated. 

affects physical abilities like 

muscle endurance or sports 

tasks and your ability to regulate 

your body temperature," 

said Millard-Stafford. 

"We wanted to see if that 

was similar for cognitive function," 

she said. The researchers 

looked at 6,591 relevant studies 

for their comparison, then narrowed 

them down to 33 papers 

with scientific criteria and data 

comparable enough to do metadata 

analysis. They focused on 

acute dehydration, which anyone 

could experience during 

exertion, heat and/or not drinking 

as opposed to chronic dehydration, 

which can be caused 

by a disease or disorder. 

"If you weigh 200 pounds 

and you go work out for a few 

of hours, you drop four pounds, 

and that's 2 per cent body 

mass," Millard-Stafford said. 

"With an hour of moderately 

intense activity, with a temperature 

in the mid-80s, and moderate 

humidity, it's not uncommon 

to lose a little over 2 

pounds of water," she said. 

Turns out, there is a key connection 

between viruses and 

inflammatory bowel diseases 

like ulcerative colitis and 

Crohn's disease. A study led by 

a researcher at the University of 

Colorado Anschutz Medical 

Campus focused on viruses 

inhabiting bacteria in the intestine 

known as bacteriophages 

or simply phages. "Phage numbers 

are elevated at the intestinal 

mucosal surface and increase 

in abundance during inflammatory 

bowel disease (IBD), suggesting 

that phages play an 

unidentified role in IBD," said 

Duerkop, lead author of the 

study published Monday in the 

journal Nature Microbiology. 

IBD poses significant health 

burdens worldwide and has 

inspired intense investigation 

into the environmental factors 

causing persistent inflammation 

of the intestine. Microbial communities 

are critical in maintaining 

intestinal health but 

changes in the composition of 

these organisms may cause an 

inflammatory response by the 

body. According to the 

researchers, most studies looking 

at how these microbial communities 

might spark inflammation 

have focused chiefly on 

bacteria rather than the viruses 


15 

Inflammatory 

bowel diseases 

like Crohn's 

have been linked 

to this virus 

residing inside them. When 

inflammation occurs, 

researchers found that phage 

communities change randomly 

leading to a genetic signature 

indicative of the inflammatory 

environment. "We hypothesize 

that inflammation or other host 

defenses alter phage abundances 

during colitis," the study 

said. "Such stresses could produce 

ecological disturbances in 

the intestinal environment, driving 

alterations within the viral 

community," the study further 

pointed out Those disturbances 

could be the result of the viruses 

killing off beneficial bacteria 

in the intestine and allowing for 

`bad actor' bacteria to cause 

inflammation and bowel disease. 

Clinicians could target 

certain bacteria with viruses to 

eliminate bacteria that lead to 

inflammation. Bacteria could 

be manipulated to circumvent 

the development of disease. 

"We could promote the 

growth of good bacteria - a 

kind of phage therapy," 

Duerkop said. "We could perhaps 

use phages as markers to 

identify someone predisposed 

to developing these diseases. 

While there is clearly more 

research to do, the potential is 

very exciting," he added. 

White rice and diabetes 

are not NATURAL FITS 

Keep these diet tips in mind 

Calories in white rice: The 

better half of many delectable 

food combos like dal-chaawal, 

rajma-chaawal, biriyanis and 

more, white rice is also a good 

source of carbohydrates. But is 

it safe for diabetics? 

Though some might argue 

that brown rice is a more 

healthy alternative, white rice 

is a more popular and preferred 

foodgrain across India, especially 

its eastern regions. White 

rice is a good source of carbohydrates 

and the better half of 

many delectable food combos 

like dal-chaawal, rajma-chawal, 

biryaanis, pulao, and so on. 

However, experts say that the 

calories in white rice can spike 

blood sugar levels, and excessive 

consumption could 

increase the risk of developing 

type-2 diabetes. 

White rice vs brown 

Since it is an easily available, 

delicious food item, diabetics 

are often at a loss as to 

whether or not to avoid white 

rice. The solution, as with 

every other thing in life, is to 

exercise moderation.If you are 

diabetic, monitor your white 

rice intake and have a small 

portion once a week. 

Brown rice might be a better 

option if you are diabetic as it 

has a low glycemic index 

which helps in the stabilisation 

of blood glucose levels. It is 

also a good source of magnesium, 

vitamin B6, selenium, 

phosphorus, thiamine, niacin, 

manganese and is high in fibre. 

Here's a tip to keep in mind 

when preparing white rice. Do 

not have just plain white rice as 

it is devoid of nutrients such as 

fibre and magnesium. Add vegetables 

such as carrots, beans, 

peas, soy beans, onions, jeera 

to increase its nutrient value. 

Ideal diet for diabetics 

Naina Singhania of thefitnesity.in, 

says a diabetic person 

should eat at regular intervals 

and have a balanced diet. It 

should include "all proteins, 

complex carbs, vitamins, minerals 

and essential fats. So, lots 

of mushrooms, moong, dal, 

milk, tofu, chicken, fish and 

eggs." Also, get good fats from 

nuts like almond, walnuts and 

from seeds like pumpkin seeds, 

sunflower seeds and flaxseeds. 

Dr Rinki Kumari, chief 

dietician, Fortis Hospitals, 

Bangalore, advises diabetics 

should understand how different 

foods affect blood sugar. It 

is best to pick foods with low 

glycemic index. 

"Fill half plate with nonstarchy 

vegetables. Round out 

the meal with other healthy 

choices - whole grains, nuts 

and seeds, lean protein, fat-free 

or low-fat dairy, and small portions 

of fresh fruits and healthy 

fats."


ASIA/WORLD 


1.67 million ballots 

rejected in Pakistan 

polls: Report 

Islamabad : About 1.67 million 

votes were excluded from the count in 

Pakistan's July 25 general election, surpassing 

the number of ballots rejected in 

2013 polls, according to a report by an 

independent poll watchdog. 

Free and Fair Election Network 

(FAFEN) is a coalition of 30 domestic 

non-governmental organizations that 

observe general election and mobilize 

voters. According to the FAFEN report, 

the increase in the number of discarded 

ballots was a ubiquitous phenomenon 

observed in Pakistan's all four provinces 

and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). 

Overall, the increase was recorded at 

around 11.7 per cent. There were more 

than 100 million registered voters in 

Pakistan but out of them, only about 51 

per cent exercised their franchise, 

according to the Election Commission. 

Around 40 per cent increase in the number 

of rejected votes was observed in 

Balochistan, 30.6 per cent in Khyber 

Pakhtunkhwa including Federally 

Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), 7 

per cent in Sindh and 6.6 per cent in 

Punjab, said the report cited by Geo 

News. In ICT, the number of ballots 

excluded from the count was over double 

the discarded ballots in the region in 

2013 election. The report also said that 

the number of votes excluded from the 

count surpassed the margin of victory in 

120 (21 per cent) of the 570 provincial 

assembly constituencies where polls 

were conducted. These included 58 

constituencies in Punjab, 24 in Khyber 

Pakhtunkhwa, 22 in Sindh and 16 in 

Balochistan. The victory margin in 79 

national and 169 provincial assembly 

seats was less than 5 per cent of the total 

votes cast, FAFEN said. 

N.Korea still pursuing 

nuclear, missile 

programmes: UN report 

Washington, A confidential UN 

report has accused North Korea of continuing 

to 

d e v e l o p 

nuclear and 

missile programmes 

in 

violation of 

international 

sanctions. The 

report was prepared 

by independent experts who submit 

their findings every six months to the 

UN North Korea Sanctions Committee 

of the Security Council, CNN reported 

on Saturday. The report also says North 

Korea is defying sanctions through 

diplomats and others based overseas and 

continues to sell conventional weapons 

to fuel violence. The revelation comes as 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in 

Singapore for an Association of 

Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) ministerial 

meeting, told reporters that he was 

an advocate of keeping pressure on 

Pyongyang as the country has yet to take 

any concrete steps to dismantling its 

nuclear program. “I’ve also emphasized 

the importance of maintaining diplomatic 

and economic pressure on North 

Korea, to achieve the final, fully verified 

denuclearization of North Korea as 

agreed to by chairman Kim (Jong-un),” 

he said. Speaking to journalists on the 

sidelines of the gathering of southeast 

Asian diplomats, Pompeo said he had 

called for “the complete shutdown of 

illegal ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum 

destined for North Korea”. 

Boeing, SpaceX human 

spaceflight postponed 

to 2019 : NASA 

Washington, NASA has confirmed 

a delay in the first piloted flights of 

Boeing and SpaceX, part of NASA’s 

Commercial Crew programme to send 

humans to the International Space 

Station (ISS) on private US 

spacecraft. SpaceX is targeting 

November 2018 for Crew 

Dragon’s first uncrewed 

demonstration mission 

(Demo-1), three months later 

than the previous schedule 

released by NASA early this 

year. The crewed demonstration 

flight, with two astronauts 

on board, will follow in 

April 2019, four months later 

than previously announced. 

“We believe, the earliest 

time we can confidently do 

that will be in mid-2019 after 

flying an uncrewed flight test 

late this year or early next 

year,” said John Mulholland, vice president 

and programme manager for 

Man jailed for breaking into Buckingham Palace 

Boeing’s Commercial Crew effort, in a 

NASA blogpost. “I’m incredibly proud 

of the progress our team has made, and 

it has been inspiring to watch them 

work through challenges quickly, while 

developing a brand new human-rated 

spacecraft that Boeing, NASA and the 

Pompeo visits Malaysian PM 

ahead of Asean summit 

Kuala Lumpur, US Secretary of 

State Mike Pompeo on Friday met 

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir 

Mohamad on Friday before leaving 

for Singapore to attend a summit of 

foreign ministers of the Association of 

Southeast Asian Nations 

(Asean). Pompeo, who 

arrived in Malaysia on 

Thursday night, visited 

Mahathir Mohamad in 

Putrajaya and congratulated 

the 93-year-old leader 

for his surprise victory in 

the elections held in May, 

reports Efe news. 

Pompeo and Mahathir 

discussed a number of 

issues of mutual interest, according to a 

statement by the Malaysian government. 

The US and Malaysia established 

diplomatic ties in 1957, when the latter 

became independent from British rule 

and strengthened them in 2014 by signing 

a partnership agreement. After 

meeting Mahathir, Pompeo will leave 

for Singapore, the second stop of his 

Southeast Asia tour, where he will 

attend the Asean meeting, 

coinciding with the visit of 

a North Korean delegation, 

headed by his counterpart 

Ri Yong-ho. On Thursday, 

the Asean foreign ministers 

urged the two Koreas, the 

US and other parties to sustain 

efforts to denuclearize 

the Korean peninsula and 

establish lasting peace. 

Asean consists of Myanmar, 

Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines, 

Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, 

Thailand and Vietnam, which have a 

joint population of around 630 million. 

London : A homeless man 

who trespassed into the 

grounds of Buckingham Palace 

before damaging a glass display 

cabinet and falling asleep 

on it has been jailed. Steven 

Lawlor, 44, entered the protected 

royal site on July 16 and 

broke poster boards and glass 

cabinets fixed to metal railings 

to use as bedding, Westminster 

Magistrates' Court heard, the 

BBC reported. 

He stayed there for more 

than four hours before the security 

guards spotted him on CCTV cameras. 

Lawlor was jailed for 28 days 

for trespassing and 21 days for criminal 

damage, to be served concurrently. 

The Queen was not in the palace at 

that time. Lawlor appeared in court 

nation can be proud of,” Mulholland 

added. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, on 

the other hand, will likely perform two 

crucial test flights next year, instead of 

this year as planned. Each test flight 

will provide data on the performance 

of the rockets, 

spacecraft, ground systems, 

and operations to ensure the 

systems are safe to fly astronauts. 

The crew for Boeing’s 

Crew Flight Test and 

SpaceX’s Demo-2 flights will 

each include at least a flight 

commander and pilot aboard 

to test out the systems. After 

successful completion of the 

flight tests with crew, NASA 

will review flight data to verify 

the systems meet the 

agency’s safety and performance 

certification requirements 

and are ready to begin 

regular servicing missions to the space 

station, the US space agency said. 

CBI moves request 

for Choksi's extradition 

from Antigua 

New Delhi : The extradition request 

for fugitive diamond merchant Mehul 

Choksi, who has secured an Atiguan passport 

and is living there, will soon be sent 

to the Caribbean country, the CBI said on 

Friday. The Central Bureau of 

Investigation (CBI), which is probing the 

Rs 13,500-crore banking fraud allegedly 

committed by the jeweller and his nephew 

Nirav Modi, said that its letter to get 

Choksi deported has been forwarded to 

the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). 

The CBI sent on Monday the letter to 

the Union Home Ministry which in turn 

forwarded it to the MEA, an official said. 

In its request to the Home Ministry, the 

CBI said Choksi's extradition was being 

sought "on grounds of principle of reciprocity 

and dual criminality". A source 

revealed that the MEA has received the 

extradition request from the CBI and is 

currently in the process of conveying it to 

the authorities in Antigua and Barbuda. 

via video-link on Friday and pleaded 

guilty to criminal damage and trespassing 

on a protected site. He caused 

210 pound of damage but no order of 

We should have 

the right to 

criticise religion: 

Bangla writer 

New Delhi : Bangladeshi- 

American human rights 

activist and writer Rafida 

Bonya Ahmed, whose husband 

Avijit Roy was hacked 

to death by Islamic extremists 

in February 2015 while they 

were visiting Dhaka, has 

called for citizens right to critique 

the religion. 

She was participating at an 

international media forum 

here on Saturday. "Religion is 

a problem. It propagates hate 

and divisions. We should 

have the right to criticize religion. 

You don't pick up 

machetes, you pick up the 

pen. I see the hunger for 

change," Ahmed said at a session 

titled "Fighting 

Machetes with a Pen" during 

the closing day of The Media 

Rumble. 

Unnerved by the personal 

tragedy and attack that she 

and her late husband faced, 

she spoke in concern of issues 

related to free speech and 

highlighted the rise of religious 

extremism and censorship 

in Bangladesh. She said 

that religious fractiousness is 

injected very strategically in 

the country by those in power 

for purely self-driven ends. 

She also mentioned that extrajudicial 

killings have become 

common, and stated that religion, 

politics and class issues 

are all related. She said such 

issues have to be talked about 

in public space. Rafida Bonya 

Ahmed and her late husband, 

Avijit Roy, a writer, blogger 

and online activist, was 

attacked with machetes by 

Islamic extremists in Dhaka. 

Roy died and 

Ahmed was critically injured. 

She had received deep 

wounds in her head. 

The Media Rumble, organised 

by Newslaundry and 

Teamwork Arts, touched 

upon a wide range of issues 

facing the media industry and 

journalists in contemporary 

times. The two-day event was 

held across several venues at 

India Habitat Centre. 

compensation was made 

because of his limited 

means, the report said. 

The break-in prompted 

concerns over the security 

of the royal site. The Times 

newspaper reported that 

there were at leat two 

intruders at the palace last 

year. A 22-year-old man 

was arrested trying to climb 

a security fence last 

August, while in December 

a man was caught attempting 

to scale a wall within the perimetre 

fence. In 2016, a convicted murderer 

was jailed after climbing over 

the wall to get inside the palace.


ENTERTAINMENT 

When Kher turned into 

Freeman’s fanboy! 

Till date, he has won a number of 

prestigious awards besides getting 

nominated for global honours such as 

Screen Actors Guild Awards and 

BAFTA. In fact, this year itself, 

Anupam Kher was nominated 

for his outings in The Big Sick 

and The Boy With the Topknot 

(both from 2017). 

Interestingly, the senior actor 

readily admits that he still 

behaves like a fanboy when he 

meets or spots iconic actors. 

“When I go for global award 

functions, whichever direction 

I look at, I see best actors from 

across the world sitting around. 

And there is a fan inside each 

one of us, including me. When 

Morgan Freeman got the lifetime 

achievement award (at 

Screen Actors Guild) earlier 

this year, I ended up clicking a 

photo with him. 

In fact, I went up to him as 

a fan. When I approach 

someone like that, I don’t do 

it as an actor, who has done 

500 films and is a Padma 

Bhushan awardee; I go only as 

a fanboy,” he says. At international 

functions, Kher feels like 

he is “representing my country”. 

“So, for me, it is like, ‘India’s 

Anupam Kher’ or ‘Indian actor 

Anupam Kher’, and it’s a great feeling. 

In fact, that’s why when you see 

sportsmen/ athletes [winning medals 

at] Olympics or Commonwealth 

Games etc., it gives you a sense of 

Actors have 

well-researched 

scripts now: 

Shabana Azmi 

Veteran actor Shabana Azmi feels that the filmmaking process 

in India has come a long way in India. Talking about more 

acting workshops and the rising significance of the script, 

Azmi states, “What’s good about today’s movies is 

that there are acting workshops organised with 

intent to bring familiarity between the actors 

and characters, which is essential for any 

film.” “This also helps actors understand 

the director’s vision in a proper way. 

Today, actors have well-researched 

scripts in their hand which wasn’t the 

case with us, earlier,” Azmi further 

says, adding, “I always used to feel 

strange about it, especially working 

with child actors. The filmmaking 

process has developed, which I 

feel, is the best thing that has happened 

to Indian cinema.” 

However, when it comes to 

the quality of music being 

churned out of Bollywood, 

Azmi’s different views. 

“When I listen to today’s 

music, especially when it 

comes to their lyrics, I find it 

absurd. The quality has gone 

down, unfortunately.” 

vShabana Azmi has appeared 

in acclaimed films such as 

Sparsh (1980), Arth (1982), 

Godmother (1999), and more 

recently, the 2016 Sonam-K 

Ahuja starrer, Neerja. 

pride. After all, your nationality is 

mentioned right next to your name on 

the passport,” he says, adding that he 

still inds “awards to e fantastic.” 

“It makes you feel good ecause you 

are taught rom childhood that if you 

study well, you will get an award. So, 

it must be a great thing. I never got 

awards in studies or sports. In fact, I 

remember once my PT teacher, Sada 

Singh, saw me running and he said, 

‘stop running Anupam, because even if 

you run alone you will come second 

(laughs)’. So, it is always a great feeling 

to get awards,” says the actor. 


17 

Richa Chadha 

takes a cue from 

Jessica Alba 

Richa Chadha has been busy filming for the second season of the web series 

Inside Edge, and it seems she's going to sport a different look this time around. 

According to a source from the production house, the actor's new style has 

been inspired by Hollywood actor Jessica Alba. 

A source reveals, "Her look in the show - that of a femme fatale - has been 

inspired from Alba's character Max Guevera in the popular TV show, Dark Angel. 

The show was hit in the West, and Alba's uber cool look was the talk of the town. 

Following that, the makers zeroed in on a similar look for Richa that would match 

her character in the series." 

The makers of the show have apparently decided on an edgy look for Richa, 

who plays Zarina Malik, the owner of a T20 cricket team in the show. 

In season two, Richa is said to take the centre stage, and her character is bolder 

and more powerful than she was in the previous season. 

The source further explains, "The team wanted something that was chic and 

modern and something that made Richa look powerful. When they 

were looking for references, they chanced upon Jessica Alba's 

look from Dark Angel, and Richa was drawn to it immediately." 

The actor has also been 

shooting a biopic on south 

Indian adult star, Shakeela 

Khan. She is flying between 

Mumbai, and a remote 

village in Karnataka, 

where the 

biopic 

b e i n g 

filmed. eat 

lengths to 

get 

l o o k 

right. 

the 

is 

Go with 

the flow 

Modelling to acting to singing, Himanshi 

Khurana has many a talent. No wonder, 

she is the latest face of music videos 

Social media is akin to a university in current times; be it your 

business or career, all are hugely dependent on it... believes actress 

and model Himanshi Khurana. In the age of 'influencers', this 

Ludhiana girl is known for her act in music videos, something that 

she has been doing for about a decade. 

In Chandigarh, on Thursday, she spoke at length on how visibility 

online is an indicator of success in any profession. "Short on time, 

today everyone is looking for solutions on the web - courses, opportunities, 

shopping, selling - today everything has converged on one's 

phone and the competition is fierce," says this recently turned singer. 

Work ethics As for moving from modelling to acting to singing, 

this girl likes to go with the flow. "I started modelling in class 10 and 

took up each project as it came my way. I was young, I didn't really 

care. If work came my way, I did it or carried on with my life, but my 

parents instilled in me strong work ethics." 

She has quite a few Punjabi films to her credit as well, including 

Jeet Langey Jahaan, Sadda Haq, Sukhpreet, Leather Life, Siffat and 

Bol. "If I am offered a role that a film can do without, I am not going 

to bother doing it," says the actress, who is getting ample recognition 

being the face of many a music videos, including the hugely popular 

Mann Bharrya. "It sure feels great to have the name prominently in 

the cast of music videos," she beams. It's this recognition that has 

fetched her endorsements, something that she insists she takes up 

only if she genuinely likes and uses the product. She offers a tip for 

a shining mane, "Ensure that you eat well."


ENTERTAINMENT 


The adventurous streak 

Television star Anas Rashid says he chose to essay the 

negative role in Nankana as he was getting a golden 

chance to work with Gurdas Maan 

Kristen Stewart to join 

Charlie's Angels reboot cast 

Actress Kristen Stewart is all set to join the ensemble cast of 

the 'Charlie's Angels' reboot. 

Directed by Elizabeth Banks, 

the star cast of the upcoming 

project comprises Naomi Scott 

and Ella Balinska. 

The Hollywood Reporter 

quoted Banks as saying, 

"Charlie's Angels, for me, is one 

of the original brands to celebrate 

the empowered woman 

since its debut in the '70s", in a 

statement. The director will also 

be in front of the camera as 

Banks will be playing Bosley, 

the owner of the detective 

agency, Charlie Townsend. 

Elizabeth Banks directed the 

blockbuster 'Pitch Perfect 2'. 

The movie is slated to release 

on September 27, 2019. 

Television actor Anas Rashid did not have a 

bucket list, just two-three wishes and, luckily, 

each one has seen the light of the day! Chilling 

out and enjoying the rains in his hometown 

Malerkotla, Punjab, Anas wants to sit 

back and relax. 

He has driven all the way from 

Mumbai to Punjab in two days. Quiet an 

adventure freak! “Oh yes,” smiles the 

actor adjusting his baseball cap. “I think 

working on the show Prithvi Raj Chauhan 

has made me adventurous,” shares the 

actor who recently made his debut in a 

Punjabi film, Nankana, with a negative character. 

Nothing negative : For an actor who 

I JUST GO WITH MY 

INSTINCT: RADHIKA 

Actor Radhika Apte says how she has picked such varied roles so far 

Radhika Apte is all set for her 

fourth release of the year, Ghoul — 

that’s another web show — in which 

she plays a military interrogator. After 

a great run in the first half of 2018, the 

actor, who has carved a niche for herself 

with an array of starkly different 

roles, has an equally exciting line-up 

ahead for the next half of the year. 

On the film front, Radhika will be 

seen in Andhadhun, directed by Sriram 

Raghavan; and Bazaar, directed by 

Gauravv Chawla. Talking about the 

past year, she says that her choices 

have been purely instinctive. “When I 

sign a project, I don’t really think of 

how they’ll all be perceived. I just go 

ahead with my gut instinct because the 

concept excites me or because they’re 

relevant to my mindset at that point in 

time. I had so much fun doing the 

starkly different roles in each project I 

Legendary singer Lata 

Mangeshkar doesn’t see too 

many films any more. But she 

did catch glimpses of Anil 

Kapoor's homage to herself in 

"Fanney Khan", and Boney 

Kapoor and the late Sridevis 

daughter Janhvis debut film 

"Dhadak". 

Lata is all praise for the two. 

"Boney and Anil are both 

very close to us Mangeshkars. I 

had even attended Anil's engagement 

to Sunita, though I couldn't 

attend his wedding. I am so glad 

have been involved with this year,” 

says Radhika. Her year started on a 

high note with Pad Man, followed by 

her web series with Saif Ali Khan and 

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and then the 

fourfilm anthology Lust Stories. The 

actor says that it’s hard to choose 

between the two mediums. 

“Personally, I’m not like any of the 

characters I’ve played but still one can 

always relate to every story told and 

every character involved on some 

level or the other. I also love the [web] 

platform, which gives a complete 

sense of freedom to the characters, but 

cinema gets actors the fame and recognition 

they long for.” The 32-year-old 

actor is also doing two Hollywood 

projects — a World War II spy drama, 

in which she’s the spy; and Michael 

Winterbottom’s next feature, The 

Wedding Guest, opposite Dev Patel. 

played the lead in the most popular TV show 

Diya Aur Bati Hum, what made him say yes to 

a negative role? “This was one of my wishes 

— to work with Gurdas Maan. When Pooja 

Gujral, one of the producers of the film, 

approached me for a film starring Gurdas 

Maan, I simply didn’t ask any question.” Anas 

auditioned for the role. “Pooja asked me two 

things, whether I could speak Punjabi and if I 

already had stubble,” shares Anas. 

“This was my second wish-after playing the 

good, dutiful husband, son and brother in Diya 

Aur Batti Hum for almost seven years, I wanted 

to play a negative role, do something evil on 

screen and Nankana gave me the opportunity 

to do so.” 

his daughter Sonam is married 

and is doing some really good 

work too. There was a time when 

I don’t go looking 

for roles of strong 

women: Rebecca 

Rebecca Ferguson feels lucky that “men write 

incredible roles” for her. But 

the actor says she doesn’t go 

looking for “strong roles”. 

“It is funny because when I 

read a script, I don’t read it 

from that perspective. I don’t 

pick a role or go looking for 

strong women (that I can portray 

on-screen),” says Ferguson 

about the strong roles that she 

has done on the big screen. “I don’t think strength is 

only physical strength; it’s about being able to create 

a purpose for your character,” she says. 

Sonam can’t wait for 

dad’s Fanney Khan 

The much-anticipated musical comedy Fanney Khan 

has been creating a buzz ever since it was officially 

announced. And the latest one to fall for this buzz is none 

other than fashionista Sonam Kapoor. The Neerja actor 

‘can’t wait’ to watch her 

father, Bollywood star Anil 

Kapoor, in the awaited musical 

drama. The 33-year-old star 

took to her Instagram where 

she posted the movie’s 

poster, writing, “This 

movie is going to pull a 

lot of heartstrings! 

Can’t wait!?” ‘Fanney 

Khan’ is a one of its 

kind musical comedy, 

revolving around a 

father who wishes to 

fulfil his daughter’s 

dream of becoming 

a singer.” 

I'd love to sing for Janhvi 

Kapoor : Lata Mangeshkar 

actresses had to slow down after 

marriage. 

"Thankfully, those days are 

over. As a working woman — 

and I've been working since the 

age of 12 -- it would be completely 

unacceptable for me to 

give up my career after marriage." 

Boney too is a close family 

friend. 

"After he lost Srideviji so 

suddenly, his daughter's debut is 

a reason for him to smile. 

Janhvi is pretty. I'd love to 

sing for her." In the meanwhile, 

the songstress is all praise for 

Anil's unflagging enthusiasm in 

"Fanney Khan". 

"Anilji plays a fan of mine 

and Rafi saab. He wants his 

daughter in the film to be like 

me. It's very flattering to be still 

thought of as a hero and an icon. 

I've been lucky to be emulated 

for decades now. But I want 

to tell the singers of our country, 

'Do not be another Rafi, Kishore, 

Lata, Asha or Mukesh. Be yourself. 

Learn dedication to the craft 

from us. But do not imitate us'."


Apple first US 

company to hit $1 

trillion-mark 

New York : Apple on Thursday become 

America's first publicly-traded company to 

hit the $1-trillion milestone when its stock 

briefly hit the $207.05 per share -- the price 

required to achieve the feat. The stock, 

however, fell below $207 later during the 

mid-day trading. "Given the volatile nature 

of the market, however, it's possible Apple 

may not stay a $1-trillion company for very 

long, or it could bounce back and forth over 

the $1 trillion-mark in the coming days," 

The Verge reported. The Cupertino-based 

iPhone maker had updated its share count 

to 4.83 billion (as of July 20) which translated 

into nearly $973 billion in market cap 

on Wednesday. In 2017, China's PetroChina 

Co crossed the $1-trillion milestone but 

since then, the energy company has lost a 

massive $800 billion in its market cap. 

According to media reports, the stock 

nosedived after China announced key economic 

policy shifts in the last decade that 

did not go well with PetroChina. 

Apple, maker of the iPhone, iPad and 

other devices, said its fiscal 2018 third 

quarter revenue stood at $53.3 billion, up 

17 per cent from the same period last year. 

The company reportedly aims to introduce 

at least three new iPhone models soon 

which may include a considerably larger 

version of the iPhone X and a less expensive 

version. Apple was co-founded 

four decades ago by Steve Jobs which has 

completely changed the way people think 

about mobile communication and related 

services. 

TECH 

France bans 

smartphone 

use in schools 

Paris : In order to curb digital 

addiction among adolescents, 

the France government has voted 

in favour of a ban on the use of 

use during class. A recent study 

showed that almost nine out of 

10 students own a smartphone in 

France and a high number of 

smartphones during school 

complaints have been reported 

hours. The decision will come 

into effect next month when the 

new school session starts in 

France, an official statement 

by school teachers regarding the 

students who engage in messaging 

and chatting in the class. 

Once the rule is implemented 

said. The lawmakers from 

from the next academic year, 

French President Emmanuel 

Macron's centrist LREM party anymore. According to 

children upto the age of 14 to 15 

years studying in primary or secondary 

and its allies gave final approval 

to the bill, while lawmakers on 

the left and right abstained from 

the vote, calling the law a "publicity 

stunt" that would change 

nothing, reported Le Monde. 

Education Minister Jean- 

Michel Blanquer had previously 

said that the ban is a matter of 

public health because children 

are not playing during breaks 

Blanquer, the move may also 

encourage other countries to 

implement the same rule for the 

betterment of the young students. 

"It sends a message to 

French society as well as countries 

around the world," he said 

in a statement. France is not the 

first to introduce a ban as almost 

one third of schools in the 

Britain have stopped smartphone 

schools in France will 

have to keep their smartphones, 

tablets and other connected 

devices switched off or leave 

them at their home. The rule 

will, however, allow the schools 

to make exceptions for "pedagogical 

use" -- use of the devices 

for teaching purposes -- extracurricular 

activities, or for specially-abled 

students. 


19 

Kolkata bank fraud: 

Police identify one 

more bugged ATM 

Kolkata : The Kolkata Police on Thursday identified 

one more ATM in addition to two others where the 

machines were allegedly used to clone people's card 

details and fraudulently withdraw around Rs 18-20 

lakh from bank accounts here in the past one week, a 

senior officer said. Police said they have so far 

received 77 complaints of fraudulent withdrawals from 

the affected account holders, primarily of Canara Bank 

and Punjab National Bank (PNB). "We have identified 

an ATM outlet of Kotak Mahindra Bank in south 

Kolkata's Elgin Road where the scheming device was 

used to clone people's card details. This too was an 

unmanned ATM outlet. Our department has also 

received one more complaint of fraudulent withdrawal 

taking the tally of complaints to 77," Joint 

Commissioner of Kolkata Police Praveen Tripathi said. 

Two other unguarded city ATM outlets of Canara 

Bank and Punjab National Bank, where such fraud 

allegedly took place, were identified previously. 

The city police department had already formed a 

Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Wednesday to 

probe the large-scale bank fraud that created panic 

among a section of citizens and hinted that an interstate 

racket might be involved in the case as the unauthorised 

withdrawals were done from certain ATMs in 

Delhi. The officer also revealed that some high profile 

persons in the city including a former Calcutta 

University Professor and a renowned radio jockey at a 

private FM station have fallen prey to the act of fraud. 

The bank fraud came to light earlier this week after 

several people approached the city police with complaints 

that amounts ranging from Rs 4,000 to Rs 

40,000 have been debited from their bank accounts, 

fuelling suspicion that they had fallen victim to skimming 

devices planted on some ATM machines in the 

city.


TECH 


US State dept applauds Facebook 

for removing suspicious accounts 

Washington : The US State 

Department has applauded 

Facebook for removing several 

suspicious accounts “orchestrated 

from abroad” and were 

believed to be involved in 

spreading disinformation. 

The reaction came on 

Wednesday a day after the 

social media giant removed 32 

fake accounts and pages that, it 

says, were involved in “coordinated 

unauthentic behaviour” 

and political influence campaign 

to manipulate voters 

ahead of the November midterm 

elections in the United 

States. 

“We applaud Facebook’s 

decision to expunge accounts, 

orchestrated from abroad, that 

foment division and violence 

inside the United States,” State 

Department spokesperson 

Heather Nauert said. 

“These efforts are part of a 

broader external campaign 

aimed at weakening America 

and threatening our way of life 

by pitting citizens against each 

other and sowing discord in 

general,” she said, and urged all 

technology companies to take 

an aggressive approach to this 

insidious problem. 

Demanding Russia and all 

Microsoft testing 'drag and 

drop' feature from phone to PC 

San Francisco : Microsoft has released 

the test version of its "Your Phone" app for 

Windows 10 that is being designed to mirror 

a phone straight to desktop, with texts, 

photos and notifications. The test app has 

rolled out for "Insiders with Android" testing 

devices first. "Need to add a photo to 

your presentation? Want to spruce up that 

selfie with some Windows Ink action? Just 

'drag and drop,'" Dona Sarkar, Head of the 

Windows Insider Programme and Brandon 

LeBlanc, Senior Programme Manager at 

Microsoft, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. 

The "Your Phone" app will be compatible 

with Android 7.0 and above and Microsoft 

is also planning to extend this same feature 

to iPhone users in the future. "For iPhone 

users, surf the web on your phone, then 

send the webpage instantly to your computer 

to pick up where you left off to continue 

what you're doing - read, watch, or 

browse with all the benefits of a bigger 

screen," wrote Sarkar and LeBlanc. 

"You will receive an app from Microsoft 

which you must download to your mobile 

phone and follow the setup prompts," the 

post added. The app is being tested as part 

of Microsoft's next Windows 10 update, 

codenamed "Redstone 5" which is expected 

to be available by October. 

The software maker first unveiled the 

app back at the company's Build developer 

conference in May. Additionally, the tech 

giant is also working on narrator improvements, 

fixes for the PC, keyboard command 

changes and more. 

other “malign” actors immediately 

cease this reckless behaviour, 

Nauert asserted that the 

United States will not tolerate 

foreign, including Russian, 

attempts to subvert American 

democratic processes and institutions. 

Though Facebook has 

not yet attributed the accounts 

to any group, it said the campaign 

does bear some resemblance 

to the propaganda campaign 

allegedly run by Russia’s 

Internet Research Agency 

(IRA) in the run-up to the 2016 

US presidential election. 

During a Congressional 

hearing, Senator Richard Burr 

said 60 per cent of the US population 

uses Facebook. 

“A foreign power using the 

platform to influence how 

Americans see, think about one 

another is as much a public policy 

issue as it is a national security 

concern,” he said. 

Senator Mark Warner said 

social media companies have a 

lot of work to do in this regard. 

“All the evidence this committee 

has seen to date suggests 

that platform companies, namely, 

Facebook, Instagram, 

Twitter, Google and YouTube, 

still have a lot of work to do,” 

he said. 

Made 'mistakes' in smartphone business 

in India, will bounce back: Lenovo CEO 

Bengaluru : Admitting that 

Lenovo made some "mistakes" in 

the smartphone business in India, 

the company CEO Yang Yuanqing 

on Thursday vowed to bounce back 

and reclaim its past glory in the 

next couple of years by launching 

right products for the India market 

under both its Lenovo and 

Motorola brands. "India is a very 

important market for us. We have 

room for improvements in the 

smartphone business," Yuanqing 

said here while participating in a 

roundtable conference, along with 

other members of the Lenovo 

Executive Council -- the highest 

decision-making body of the company. 

"Overall, our target is to generate 

revenue of up to $6 billion in 

the next five years from India," 

Yuanqing said, adding that the 

company is focusing on scaling all 

verticals of its businesses including 

the personal computer (PC) and 

smart devices segment that 

includes tablets, and data centre 

business, besides the smartphones 

segment. 

While Lenovo's PC and tablet 

businesses have continued to post 

robust growth in India over the past 

few years, its market share in the 

smartphone business saw a decline 

in the 2017-2018 financial year, 

coming down to about six per cent, 

from nine per cent in the previous 

financial year, the company said, 

citing data from the International 

Data Corp (IDC). 

"In the PC segment, we grew by 

43 per cent while the market grew 

by just 5 per cent, and in tablets 

segment, we were No. 1," Rahul 

Agarwal, Managing Director and 

CEO, Lenovo India, said. 

"The dual brand strategy of 

rolling out smartphones under both 

Lenovo and Motorola brands has 

not affected us adversely. We will 

continue to revamp product portfolios 

under both brands. The two 

brands can be complimentary," 

Yuanqing said. He added that the 

company was planning to target the 

premium segment with the 

Motorola brand and the affordable 

and entry segments mostly through 

Lenovo. Where the company did 

not do too well in the past year was 

on its service strategies and in 

appealing consumers from more 

places within the country, he said. 

US judge blocks posting of 

blueprints for 3-D-printed guns 

Washington : A US federal judge 

has blocked the public availability of 

blueprints that provide instructions 

for making guns using 3-D printers, 

just hours before the documents were 

expected to be published online by a 

Texas group that had reached an 

agreement with the Donald Trump 

administration to do so. US District 

Court Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle 

granted a temporary restraining order 

on Tuesday night barring a trove of 

downloadable information about creating 

the do-it-yourself weapons, 

according to the Washington Post. 

The Defence Distributed group 

had reached a settlement with the 

Trump administration in June to 

allow it to legally publish the plans. 

But eight states and the District of 

Columbia sued the government earlier 

this week to block the deal, arguing 

the untraceable guns were a safety 

risk. 

New York Governor Andrew M. 

Cuomo on Tuesday also issued a 

cease-and-desist order against the 

man who was scheduled to post them 

online. The judge said that the publication 

of the manuals by Texas-based 

Defence Distributed creates "the 

probability of irreparable harm". He 

scheduled another hearing for August 

10. Although Defence Distributed 

had been expected to publish the 

blueprints on Wednesday, it uploaded 

files for nine types of gun to its website 

last week. Between Friday and 

Sunday, more than 1,000 people 

downloaded the files for building a 

gun apparently modelled on the AR- 

15 rifle -- the gun used in many of the 

mass shootings in the US. 

The lawsuit was filed in Seattle, 

Washington, by the state's Attorney 

General Bob Ferguson. New York, 

New Jersey, Massachusetts, 

Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Oregon, 

Maryland in addition to the District 

of Columbia were also involved. 

Earlier on Tuesday, President 

Donald Trump said that the 3D printing 

of plastic guns "doesn't seem to 

make much sense" after his administration 

reached the legal agreement 

with the group promoting the activity. 

"I am looking into 3-D Plastic guns 

being sold to the public. Already 

spoke to NRA, doesn't seem to make 

much sense!" said Trump in a Twitter 

post, referring to the National Rifle 

Association, the powerful US progun 

organization and lobbying group. 

The battle over the blueprints 

started in 2013, when Defence 

Distributed's founder Cody Wilson 

made the first fully 3-D-printed pistol 

and posted the design files online. 

The federal government alleged that 

violated federal law. Uploading the 

files, it argued, was tantamount to an 

illegal export of firearms. Wilson 

sued, and the federal government 

shocked all involved by reversing its 

position last month. It settled with 

Wilson, agreeing to pay $40,000 in 

legal fees and exempting the company 

from the regulations, allowing it to 

post the blueprints online. But Judge 

Lasnik found the government didn't 

follow procedure when agreeing to 

the settlement. 

Speaking outside the court, the 

Washington Attorney General called 

the judge's decision a "complete, total 

victory". "Everything we asked for 

we got from Judge Lasnik," he said, 

and called on Trump to make it 

"unlawful for anyone to make this 

information available for anyone".


Afghanistan to hold 

presidential elections 

on April 20 

Kabul : Afghanistan will hold its next 

presidential polls on April 20 next year, the 

Independent Election Commission (IEC) 

announced on Tuesday. The IEC said these 

elections will be 

held six months 

after the October 

parliamentary and 

district council 

elections, Tolo 

News reported. 

The announcement 

came after 

national unity government 

leaders 

called on the IEC a 

week ago to 

announce the date for the 2019 presidential 

election as "soon as possible". According to a 

statement issued by the President's Office, 

President Ashraf Ghani met IEC members, 

the UN Secretary-General's Special 

Representative for Afghanistan, head of the 

UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan 

Tadamichi Yamamoto and various ambassadors 

of countries supporting the poll process. 

"At the meeting the leadership asked the 

IEC to reassure the people about the (voter) 

registration process and provide facilities for 

political parties, civil society organizations 

and international observers to monitor the 

election process," the statement read. 

Naypyidaw : At 

least 10 people have 

been killed and more 

than 100,000 people 

forced to flee their 

homes after heavy 

rains pounded 

Myanmar and flooded 

villages, according 

to government 

officials. As of 

Tuesday, some 

119,000 people 

across five provinces 

had been displaced 

by rising waters, 

with Magway region 

particularly hard hit, 

with more than 

70,000 affected, 

CNN quoted Min 

Thein, Director of the 

D i s a s t e r 

Management Agency, as saying. Images released 

by the Ministry of Information show rescue boats 

evacuating people, while children and families 

cling to rooftops to escape rising water levels. 

However, attempts to reach many of those affected 

WORLD 

‘BAG RAGE’ prompts 

backdown on plastic 

bag levy in Australia 

Sydney : Australia’s 

second-largest supermarket, 

Coles, on 

Wednesday halted plans 

to charge shoppers for 

plastic bags, succumbing 

to customer fury 

about a shift away from 

single-use plastics. 

Coles, owned by 

Wesfarmers, and its 

larger rival Woolworths 

Group Ltd removed 

one-use plastic bags 

from stores late in June 

as part of a national 

push to reduce waste, 

selling reusable ones for 

a small fee instead. It 

drew a furious 

response, dubbed “bag 

rage,” as customers angry 

about having to bring their own 

sacks or pay 15 Australian 

cents (11 U.S. cents) for a 

reusable plastic bag abused 

checkout staff and vented on 

social media. 

The union representing store 

workers launched a public 

campaign on the issue and both 

grocers capitulated, temporarily 

waiving the fee. Coles, 

which had initially planned to 

reintroduce the fee on July 12, 

never levied it and has now 

extended the waiver indefinitely. 

“Some customers told us 

they needed more time to make 

the transition to reusable bags,” 

the company said in a statement. 

“Many customers bringing 

bags from home are still 

finding themselves short a bag 

or two so we are offering complimentary 

reusable (bags) to 

help them complete their shopping,” 

it said. 

The waiver was “still intended 

to be an interim measure,” 

Coles said, but gave no date for 

the resumption of the fee, saying 

only it will “assess when 

customers have become accustomed 

to bringing their own 

bags.” Woolworths has levied 

15c per bag since July 8. 

The backflip comes while 

Coles is under immense pressure 

to lure customers, as its 

sales growth lags 

Woolworths just as 

Wesfarmers prepares 

to spin it out and list it 

separately. 

“It’s all a part of 

lifting their customer 

satisfaction and getting 

more customers 

in the door,” said 

James Tao, a market 

analyst at stockbroker 

Commonwealth 

Securities in Sydney. 

The cost of the move 

would probably have a 

negligible financial 

impact, he added. “It’s 

more about the PR 

side.” However that 

also appeared to backfire 

as Coles was lampooned 

online. “Coles’ colossal plastic 

bag fail” and “Coles caves” ran 

headlines on Australia’s main 

news sites. Major retailers in all 

but two Australian states face 

fines if they supply single-use 

plastic bags. The UN wants to 

eliminate single-use plastic by 

2022 and says more than 60 

countries have so far taken 

steps to ban or reduce plastic 

consumption. 

10 killed, 100,000 

displaced in Myanmar floods 

have been hampered by heavy rains. Many of 

those displaced have been relocated to temporary 

shelters, with both monasteries and cyclone 

shelters opening their doors to families, according 

to the National Disaster Management 

Committee (NDMC). Additional shelters 

would be opened for pregnant women and women 

with young children, said the Committee. Parts of 

Myanmar flood annually during the monsoon. In 

2015, seasonal flooding killed around 100 and displaced 

more than 200,000 people. 


21 

23 bodies recovered after 

Myanmar landslide 

Yangon : Twenty three bodies have been recovered from a site 

where 27 people went missing last week after a landslide hit 

Myanmar's Kachin state, media reports said on Monday. Search continues 

for the remaining four in the Hpakant mining region, Xinhua 

news agency quoted regional news journal 7Day News as saying. A 

massive landslide occurred on July 24, after a 91.4-metre-high pit 

wall of an unused jade mining site collapsed in Seik Mu village. 

Iran to sue US for banning 

imports of Iranian rugs 

Tehran : Iran will file a lawsuit with international tribunals 

against US' fresh sanctions on importing handwoven Iranian 

rugs, media reports said. US President Donald Trump "has 

wrongly sanctioned the art industry, which is a symbol of culture 

and intellectual property of the Iranian people," Xinhua quoted 

Fereshteh Dastpak, head of Iran National Carpet Center, as saying. 

"According to international protocols, what belongs to a 

nation could not be sanctioned," Dastpak noted. The Office of 

Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department recently 

revoked the license for importing Iran's carpets and foods, 

including pistachios and caviar. 

Top US cardinal resigns after 

sex abuse claims 

Rome : Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the former 

Archbishop of Washington and prominent diplomat at the centre 

of a decades-old sexual abuse scandal, has resigned, the Vatican 

announced on Saturday. The Vatican said that Pope Francis 

accepted McCarrick's resignation from the College of Cardinals 

on Friday evening and ordered him to "a life of prayer and 

penance until the accusations made against him are examined in 

a regular canonical trial". McCarrick, 88, was found by the 

church in June to be credibly accused of sexually abusing a 

teenager nearly 50 years ago. Since then, additional reports of 

sexual abuse and harassment by the cardinal, over a span of 

decades, were reported, according to the Washington Post. 

The Pope also ordered McCarrick's suspension from public 

ministry and instructed him to "remain in a house yet to be indicated 

to him" until the trial. He is the highest ranked US Catholic 

clergy member to ever be removed from ministry due to sexual 

abuse allegations. The victims included one then-minor and three 

adults, who were young priests or seminarians when McCarrick 

allegedly abused them, the Post reported. The cardinal said in 

June that he was "shocked" by the initial allegation and had "no 

recollection of the reported abuse". 

US, PAKISTAN 

reiterate resolve to 

restore bilateral ties 

Washington : The US and Pakistan have reiterated 

their resolve to restore their bilateral relationship 

during a meeting between Pakistan's 

Ambassador to the US 

Ali Jahangir Siddiqui 

and US Defence 

Secretary James Mattis 

at the Pentagon here. 

Apart from bilateral ties, 

Jahangir and Mattis on 

Monday discussed 

Pakistan's relations with 

Afghanistan and the 

regional security situation. 

Pakistan's Defence 

Attaché Brigadier 

Kamal Anwar Chaudhry 

accompanied Siddiqui, Geo News reported. 

The meeting took place in the aftermath of the 

July 25 elections which saw Imran Khan's 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerge victorious. 

The US had, however, expressed its reservations 

about constraints on media freedom before 

the polls. Earlier, US Department of State 

spokesperson Heather Nauert stated that the election 

campaign in Pakistan was smeared by 

restrictions put in the way of free speech. 

Nauert also highlighted that the US will look 

for opportunities to work with the new government 

to advance the goals of security, stability, 

and prosperity in South Asia.


WORLD 


Trump urges US attorney 

general to end Russia probe 

Washington : US President 

Donald Trump on Wednesday 

urged Attorney General Jeff 

Sessions to end Special 

Counsel Robert Mueller’s 

Russia investigation immediately, 

escalating his attacks on 

the inquiry. “This is a terrible 

situation and Attorney General 

Jeff Sessions should stop this 

Rigged Witch Hunt right now, 

before it continues to stain our 

country any further,” 

Trump tweeted. 

“Bob Mueller is totally 

conflicted and his 17 

Angry Democrats that 

are doing his dirty work 

are a disgrace to USA!” 

The tweet came as 

Trump’s former campaign 

chief Paul 

Manafort, who was earlier 

indicted by the special 

counsel, faces trial for 

the second day in federal 

court in Virginia. 

Sessions, however, already 

recused himself last year — 

handing off oversight to 

Deputy Attorney General Rod 

Rosenstein. So he is unlikely to 

act, CNBC reported. 

The President has criticized 

Sessions for his recusal. In 

June, Trump said on Twitter 

that Mueller was continuing to 

investigate “all because Jeff 

Sessions didn’t tell me he was 

going to recuse himself”. “I 

would have quickly picked 

someone else. So much time 

and money wasted, so many 

lives ruined…and Sessions 

knew better than most that 

there was No Collusion.” 

The Justice Department and 

the office of the special counsel 

did not immediately respond to 

a request for comment. The 

White House did not immediately 

respond to a request for 

elaboration on the President’s 

comments. Mueller was investigating 

Trump’s tweets criticizing 

Sessions as part of a 

wider inquiry into whether the 

President has obstructed justice, 

the New York Times earlier 

reported. 

Trump’s attacks on Mueller 

have escalated in recent weeks. 

The President’s attorney, former 

New York City Mayor 

Rudy Giuliani, made headlines 

on Monday saying that “collusion 

is not a crime”. 

TRUMP THREATENS 

government shutdown 

over immigration policy 

Washington : US President Donald Trump has threatened to 

shut down the government if the Democratic Party does not 

cooperate on border security issues. 

"I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the 

Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which 

includes the Wall! "Must get rid of Lottery, Catch and Release 

etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! 

We need great people coming into our Country!" Trump tweeted 

on Sunday. The threat came on top of another fiery tweet posted 

earlier on the same day, which said: "Please understand, there are 

consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether 

they have children or not -- and many are just using children for 

their own sinister purposes. "Congress must act on fixing the 

DUMBEST and WORST immigration laws anywhere in the 

world! Vote 'R'," referring to Republicans, Xinhua news agency 

reported. The tweets were in response to attacks on the US government's 

family separation policy, which saw thousands of 

minors separated from their parents who entered the US illegally. 

The controversy that ensued the family separation policy 

caused many Republican lawmakers to distance themselves from 

Trump's tough immigration agenda. 

It also stalled legislative progress in Congress for comprehensive 

immigration reform, which had been a major promise for his 

supporters during his 2016 campaign. 

However, Trump's menacing tweets were rebuffed even by his 

own party members, who said "shutting down the government 

will not be helpful". Congressman Steve Stivers, a Republican 

from Ohio, downplayed the possibility of a shutdown in a TV 

interview on Sunday, saying: "I think we're going to make sure 

we keep the government open." The US federal government last 

shut down was over a spending bill when the Congress failed to 

reach consensus due to political fights. 

Soldiers patrol Zimbabwe 

capital after election violence 

Harare : Soldiers patrolled 

the streets of Harare on 

Thursday a day after three 

opposition protesters were 

killed in post-election clashes 

that dashed President 

Emmerson Mnangagwa’s 

hopes of ending Zimbabwe’s 

reputation for political repression. 

Troops backed by 

armoured vehicles opened fire 

on Wednesday to clear the capital’s 

streets of demonstrators 

who accused Mnangagwa’s ruling 

party of trying to rig 

Monday’s presidential election. 

Many shops were closed on 

Thursday morning and the 

pavements quiet. Several 

streets were still strewn with 

rocks and the charred remains 

of fires. Soldiers loitered at 

intersections. “Yesterday was a 

very sad day for Zimbabwe,” 

said minibus driver Gift, glancing 

over his shoulder as a soldier 

smoking a cigarette looked 

on. “We hope things remain 

quiet and we can all just forget 

about this election. We don’t 

know if it was fair. The government 

will do what they want.” 

The deployment of soldiers 

and their shooting and beating 

of unarmed protesters is likely 

to set back efforts to end 

Zimbabwe’s pariah status in the 

wake of the army’s removal of 

longtime leader Robert Mugabe 

in a coup last November. 

Mnangagwa blamed the violence 

on the opposition 

Movement for Democratic 

Change, led by Nelson 

Chamisa, who announced on 

Twitter on Wednesday that he 

had “won the popular vote”. 

Chamisa provided no details or 

concrete evidence of rigging. 

The website of the election 

commission, which is expected 

to start announcing presidential 

election results on Thursday, was 

offline after being taken out by 

unidentified hackers overnight. 

Amnesty International called on 

the government to launch a 

prompt investigation into the 

army’s actions. “It is unfortunate 

that this election has descended 

into bloodshed, which could 

have been avoided if security 

forces had exercised restraint 

against protesters,” the Londonbased 

human rights organisation 

said. 

China says foreigners 

should not interfere in 

Cambodia after election 

Beijing - Foreigners should 

not interfere in Cambodia’s 

internal affairs, the Chinese 

government’s top diplomat told 

his Cambodian counterpart, 

following an election in the 

Southeast Asian 

nation that critics 

said was neither free 

nor fair. China is 

Cambodia’s most 

important diplomatic 

and economic backer. 

Prime Minister 

Hun Sen’s ruling 

Cambodian People’s 

Party said on 

Monday it had won 

all 125 parliamentary 

seats up for grabs in a 

general election a day 

earlier, a vote heavily 

criticised by rights groups, the 

United States and other 

Western countries. 

Chinese State Councillor 

Wang Yi offered his congratulations 

for what he said was the 

“smooth” election, China’s 

Foreign Ministry said in a statement 

late on Wednesday after 

Wang met Cambodian Foreign 

Minister Prak Sokhon on the 

sidelines of a regional forum in 

Singapore. The election result 

showed the Cambodian people’s 

“affirmation and trust” in 

the administration of the 

Cambodian People’s Party, 

Wang said. “China has always 

resolutely supported 

Cambodia’s efforts to protect 

its sovereignty, independence 

and stability, and opposes any 

foreign country interfering 

in Cambodia’s 

internal affairs,” the 

statement cited Wang as 

saying. China would 

continue to provide 

help to Cambodia to 

maintain stability and 

develop, he said. 

The Chinese Foreign 

Ministry quoted Prak 

Sokhon as saying the 

election was orderly 

and transparent and that 

the Cambodian people 

had voted for peace, 

stability and development. 

“China is the Cambodian 

people’s closest, most reliable 

friend,” he said, according to 

the Chinese statement.


Women football 

players more 

vulnerable to injury 

from heading 

New York : Women's brains are 

much more vulnerable than men's to 

injury from repeated football heading, 

according to a new study. 

Regions of damaged brain tissue 

were five times more extensive in 

female football players than in males, 

suggesting that sex-specific guidelines 

may be warranted for preventing soccer-related 

head injuries, showed the 

findings published online in the journal 

Radiology. "Researchers and clinicians 

have long noticed that women fare 

worse following head injury than men, 

but some have said that's only because 

women are more willing to report 

symptoms," said study leader Michael 

Lipton, Professor at Albert Einstein 

College of Medicine in New York. 

"Based on our study, which measured 

objective changes in brain tissue 

rather than self-reported symptoms, 

women do seem more likely than men 

to suffer brain trauma from heading 

soccer balls," Lipton added. 

About 30 million women and girls 

play football worldwide, according to 

the International Federation of 

Association Football, known as FIFA, 

the international governing body of 

football. In the study, Lipton and his 

colleagues performed diffusion tensor 

imaging (DTI), a form of MRI, on 49 

male and 49 female amateur football 

players. Both groups ranged in age 

from 18-50 with a median age of 26, 

and both groups reported a similar 

number of headings over the previous 

year (an average of 487 headings for 

the men and 469 for the women). DTI 

detects subtle brain damage by measuring 

the direction of the diffusion of 

water in white matter (the deep brain 

tissue that coordinates communication 

between brain regions). 

11 killed in Afghanistan roadside 

blast; gunmen storm govt building 

Kabul-A roadside bombing 

hit a passenger bus in western 

Afghanistan on Tuesday, 

killing at least 11 people, as 

militants launched a coordinated 

attack on a city in the country’s 

east, setting off gunbattles 

with Afghan troops, officials 

said. 

The morning attack in western 

Farah province took place 

in the Bala Buluk district and 

also wounded 31 people, all 

civilians, according to Abdul 

Jabar Shahiq, the provincial 

health department chief. There 

were women and children 

among the casualties. 

The bus was on its way from 

Herat province toward the capital, 

Kabul, when it hit the roadside 

bomb, Shahiq said. Details 

were sketchy for the attack in 

eastern Afghanistan, where 

militants launched a coordinated 

assault Tuesday on 

Jalalabad, the provincial capital 

of Nangarhar, according to 

local officials. Zabihullah 

Zemarai, a member of the 

provincial council, said there 

was first a car bombing — likely 

an explosion set off by a suicide 

car bomber — near the 

city’s provincial hospital and 

health department, followed by 

gunfire. 

Attahullah Khogyani, 

spokesman for the provincial 

governor, said the target 

appeared to be the provincial 

refugee and repatriation department, 

which is also located in 

the same area of the city. 

He could not provide any 

detail on possible casualty figures 

as fighting was still underway 

at the department compound. 

No one immediately 

claimed responsibility for the 

attacks. In Nangarhar, both the 

Taliban insurgents and the 

Islamic State group have been 

active. The Taliban also have a 

strong presence in Farah, especially 

in Bala Buluk where they 

often plant roadside bombs to 

target government officials or 

Afghan security forces. Such 

attacks often end up inflicting 

significant casualties among 

civilians. Farah has seen heavy 

fighting in recent months, with 

local officials and tribal elders 

requesting additional government 

forces to support the overburdened 

army and police. In 

May, more than 300 Taliban 

launched a multi-pronged 

attack on the city of Farah, the 

provincial capital, before they 

were repelled. At least 25 government 

troops were killed in 

the fighting. 

WORLD 

Saudi vows to ensure 

epidemic-free Hajj season 

Riyadh : The Saudi health 

ministry said the current Hajj season 

is so far safe from epidemic 

diseases, the media reported on 

Tuesday. The Hajj rituals due in 

mid-August is being managed 

with tight security and health 

measures to ensure the safety of 

pilgrims, the ministry said, Al 

Arabiya reported. The ministry is 

also following the developments 

and changes in the global health 

situation in cooperation with the 

World Health Organization and 

other international health bodies. 


23 

NASA’s SLS rocket gets 

major hardware boost 

Washington, Engineers have now assembled 

the first major piece of core stage hardware 

for NASA’s Space Launch System 

(SLS) rocket which is designed to herald a 

new era of exploration beyond low-Earth 

orbit, launching crew and cargo on deep 

space exploration missions to the Moon, 

Mars and beyond. 

It now is ready to be joined with other 

hardware for Exploration Mission-1, the first 

integrated flight of SLS and the Orion spacecraft, 

NASA said in a statement on 

Wednesday. The 212-foot-tall core stage, 

referred to as the “backbone” of the rocket 

by NASA, will contain the SLS rocket’s four 

RS-25 rocket engines, propellant tanks, 

flight computers and much more. 

Though the smallest part of the core stage, 

the forward skirt will serve two critical roles. 

It will connect the upper part of the rocket to 

the core stage and house many of the flight 

computers, or avionics. 

“Completion of the core stage forward 

skirt is a major step in NASA’s progress to 

the launch pad,” said Deborah Bagdigian, 

lead manager for the forward skirt at the 

agency’s Marshall Space Flight 

Center in Huntsville, Alabama. 

“We’re putting into practice the 

steps and processes needed to 

assemble the largest rocket 

stage ever built. 

With the forward skirt, we 

are improving and refining how 

we’ll conduct final assembly of 

the rest of the rocket,” 

Bagdigian said. 

As part of forward skirt testing, 

the flight computers came 

to life for the first time as 

NASA engineers tested critical 

avionic systems that will control 

the rocket’s flight. Located 

throughout the core stage, the 

avionics are the rocket’s 

“brains,” controlling navigation 

and communication during 

launch and flight. 

It is critical that each of the 

avionics units is installed correctly, 

work as expected and 

communicate with each other 

and other components, including 

the Orion spacecraft and 

ground support systems. 

“It was amazing to see the 

computers come to life for the 

first time,” said Lisa Espy, lead 

test engineer for SLS core stage 

avionics. “These are the computers 

that will control the 

rocket as it soars off the pad for 

Exploration Mission-1,” Espy 

added.


WORLD 


Women defiant as Danish 

ban on full-face veil 

takes effect in Denmark 

Human rights campaigners have slammed the ban as a violation of women’s rights, while supporters 

argue it enables better integration of Muslim immigrants into Danish society. 

US tariff plan 

doomed to be 

futile: China 

Beijing : The US is playing hard and 

soft tactics with China on the trade issue, 

but such a two-faced approach is doomed 

to be futile and will disappoint countries 

and regions opposing the trade war, China's 

Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. 

The comments came after the US threatened 

to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth 

of Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25 

per cent and later spread the news that it 

wants to restart negotiations with China. 

The US act set aside the interests of its 

own farmers, business owners, consumers 

and the interests of the world, the ministry 

spokesperson was quoted as saying by 

Xinhua news agency. "Facing such an escalating 

trade war threat, China has made full 

preparations and will be forced to take 

countermeasures in order to defend national 

dignity, the interests of its people, free 

trade and the multilateral system, as well as 

the common interests of all countries," the 

spokesperson said. He said that China 

believes in solving differences through dialogue, 

but that should come with the prerequisite 

of equal treatment and honouring 

commitments. The ultimate purpose of the 

US' baseless accusations against China is to 

suppress the latter's peaceful development, 

according to the spokesperson. 

Stockholm-Denmark’s controversial 

ban on the Islamic 

full-face veil in public spaces 

came into force on Wednesday 

as women protested the new 

measure which fines anyone 

wearing the garment. Human 

rights campaigners have 

slammed the ban as a violation 

of women’s rights, while supporters 

argue it enables better 

integration of Muslim immigrants 

into Danish society. 

Protests against the ban were 

planned in the capital 

Copenhagen and the secondbiggest 

city Aarhus late 

Wednesday, with several hundred 

people expected to attend, 

some of them wearing the fullface 

veil. A spokesman for the 

Copenhagen police said they 

did not plan to fine the protesters 

who violated the ban. 

Wearing a burqa, which covers 

a person’s entire face, or the 

niqab, which only shows the 

eyes, in public will lead to a 

fine of 1,000 kroner ($156, 134 

euros). The ban also targets 

other accessories that hide the 

face such as balaclavas and 

false beards. Repeated violations 

will be fined up to 10,000 

kroner. A 30-year-old Muslim 

woman interviewed in daily 

Berlingske, identified only as 

Sarah, said she had “lost faith 

in the system”. 

Born and raised in Denmark 

by parents who emigrated from 

Turkey, she has worn the niqab 

since she was 18. 

“I’ve realised that democracy 

doesn’t work. Politicians 

boast of freedoms and rights 

when they are making fun of 

Muslims and when they are 

drawing caricatures of the 

prophet. But when it comes to 

me, they take away my right to 

choose how I want to dress,” 

she said. “I have come to the 

realisation that Muslims don’t 

have the same rights as others. 

So much of politics is hypocritical.” 

It is not known how 

many women wear the niqab 

and burqa across the country. “I 

don’t think there are many who 

wear the burqa here in 

Denmark. But if you do, you 

should be punished with a 

fine,” Justice Minister Soren 

Pape Poulsen was quoted as 

saying by Ritzau news agency 

in February when the government 

presented its proposal for 

the ban. 

It said at the time that the 

burqa and niqab were not 

“compatible with the values 

and sense of community in 

Danish society”. 

But Sarah said that instead 

of enabling Muslims to integrate 

Danish values, the ban 

risked having the opposite 

effect of increasing segregation. 

“When the mosque is one 

of the few places where we can 

(wear veils), then I think the 

law will mean that more people 

will go to the mosque.” 

China, Asean agree on draft South 

China Sea code of conduct 

Singapore : China and the 

Association of Southeast Asian 

Nations (Asean) have agreed on a 

draft code of conduct that will lay 

the foundation for talks over the 

disputed South China Sea, the 

Foreign Ministers of Singapore and 

China announced on Thursday. The 

agreement came at the annual ministerial 

meeting between China and 

Asean member states in Singapore, 

Channel News Asia reported. 

China has overlapping territorial 

and maritime claims in the South 

China Sea with several Asean 

members, including Brunei, 

Malaysia, the Philippines and 

Vietnam. 

The countries have long discussed 

a deal to defuse tensions but 

the talks have been hindered by 

sticking points such as the area the 

agreement should cover. Chinese 

State Councillor and Foreign 

Minister Wang Yi said the agreement 

on the draft was a new and 

important step for the code of conduct 

deliberations. "I believe that 

the negotiation on COC can be 

speeded up if we exclude external 

interference," he said. "Facts will 

prove that China and Asean member 

states are capable of maintaining 

peace and stability in the South 

China Sea and reaching regional 

rules adhered to by all through 

negotiations." 

Singaporean Foreign Affairs 

Minister Vivian Balakrishnan 

called the agreement a "milestone". 

He said the single draft negotiating 

text will be a "living document and 

the basis of future code of conduct 

Austrian man found with 

80 birds in hand luggage 

at Paris airport, arrested 

Paris : The French police have arrested an Austrian man at a 

Paris airport after he flew in from Mexico with 80 small birds 

stashed in his hand luggage, a judicial source said Wednesday. 

Although all but one of the birds were still alive when they were 

discovered at Roissy airport, a further 55 have since died, the 

source added. The birds were discovered on Friday in boxes hidden 

in three bags. The Austrian collector, who is already facing 

court action in Germany, claimed to be passionate about birds. 

The birds, many of which feed on nectar, likely died because of 

the “transport conditions and the stress of their capture,” the 

source said. Exceptional permission was given to allow the birds 

to leave the airport instead of facing quarantine conditions. 

The illicit avian cargo was placed in the care of vets before the 

surviving birds were taken to a permanent home on Wednesday. 

3 mountaineers killed 

in French Alps 

Paris : Three climbers were reported dead on Thursday in the 

Mont Blanc massif mountain range in the Alps, the media reported. 

The mountaineers were believed to have lost their lives after 

they fell from an altitude of about 3,600 metres in the Miage 

Domes area of the mountain, Xinhua news agency reported citing 

local media. 

negotiations". Both sides also 

agreed on the key modalities for 

future rounds of talks. 

He also said that the agreement 

on a single text didn't mean that 

negotiations were over or that all 

the competing claims over territory 

in the South China Sea were 

resolved as the code of conduct 

"was never meant to resolve territorial 

disputes", according to the 

report. Balakrishnan added that it 

would be premature to set a deadline 

for the negotiations on the 

code of conduct as it involved a 

"dynamic, evolving situation". 

Negotiations on the code of conduct 

began in March and both sides 

arrived at the first draft during talks 

held two months ago at China's 

Changsha city, said Balakrishnan. 

The Chinese Foreign Minister 

said that Beijing dispatched its 

most advanced rescue ship 

equipped with professional searchand-rescue 

teams to the Nansha 

Islands (in South China Sea) days 

ago, to carry out various missions. 

The ship will provide maritime 

assistance for ships from countries 

around the world when necessary, 

he said. 

US Secretary of State 

arrives in Malaysia 

Kuala Lumpur : US Secretary of 

States Mike Pompeo arrived on 

Thursday in Malaysia on his first visit 

to the region with an agenda that 

includes ministerial level meetings of 

the Association of Southeast Asian 

Nations (Asean) in Singapore on 

August 3 and 4. According to his official 

agenda, Pompeo will first make a 

short visit to Kuala Lumpur which will 

include a meeting with Malaysian 

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on 

Friday morning, Efe news reported. 

The same day he will go to 

Singapore, where he will participate in 

bilateral and multilateral meetings 

under the framework of the Asean. 

Asean is made up of Myanmar, Brunei, 

Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, 

Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand 

and Vietnam. Denuclearization of the 

Korean peninsula and the historic 

meeting between US President Donald 

Trump and North Korean leader Kim 

Jong-un in Singapore in June is expected 

to be feature in the discussions on 

Saturday at the Asean Regional Forum 

(ARF), which deals with matters related 

to security. North Korea is among 

the countries that take part in the ARF, 

along with South Korea, China, Japan, 

Russia and the EU, among others. 

Pompeo's trip will conclude with a 

meeting with Indonesian President 

Joko Widodo in Jakarta.

August 2018

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