September 2018

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September 2018 

PNB fraud : 

Interpol issues red 

corner notice 

against Nirav’s aide 

New Delhi, Interpol has 

issued a ‘red corner notice’ 

(RCN) against Mumbai-based 

fugitive Mihir Rashmi 

Bhansali, an accused in the 

multi-crore Punjab National 

Bank (PNB) loan fraud case 

involving 

his employer 

Nirav 

Modi and 

his uncle 

M e h u l 

Choksi. 

Bhansali, 

who was an 

executive 

of Nirav 

Modi’s Firestar International 

firm, is absconding since the 

probe started in the alleged $2 

billion PNB fraud case. 

The RCN, which is issued 

to seek the location and arrest 

of wanted person(s) with a 

view to extradition or similar 

lawful action, followed 

Enforcement Directorate’s 

(ED) request to the Interpol 

made earlier through the 

Central Bureau of 

Investigation. The ED wants 

to question Bhansali to 

unearth further details of the 

crime committed by Nirav 

Modi and his uncle to cheat 

the Mumbai-based PNB’s 

Brady House branch. The 

notice mentions that 

“Bhansali, 40, is wanted by 

judicial authorities of India 

under offences of money laundering”. 

Referring Bhansali’s forename 

as Mihir Rashmi, the 

notice said: “If you have any 

information please contact 

your national or local police 

General Secretariat of 

Interpol.” The Interpol, in its 

notice, requested its 192- 

member countries to arrest or 

detain Bhansali so that his 

extradition process could 

begin. The Interpol has issued 

similar notice against Nirav 

Modi, who as well as his family 

and uncle Choksi left the 

country in January, a month 

before the fraud came to light. 

The notice mentions 

Bhansali’s birth place Mumbai 

and describes his date of birth 

as November 15, 1977. 

Bhansali’s photo is also 

pasted on the notice in which 

he is seen clean shaven and 

wearing spectacles. 

China welcomes 2+2 dialogue, 

WANTS REGIONAL PEACE 

Beijing, China on Friday said it 

was “happy” to see the maiden “2+2” 

dialogue between India and the US and 

hoped the two countries would do more 

for regional peace and stability in the 

region. 

During the talks on Thursday, New 

Delhi and Washington inked a crucial 

defence pact and vowed to work for a 

free and open Indo-Pacific region. 

Reacting to the joint pledge by India 

and the US for inclusive Indo-Pacific, 

Beijing said it was well entitled to sail 

into the international waters. 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said 

Beijing hoped that “parties can do real 

things to ensure freedom of navigation 

in the Indo-Pacific region”. 

“As to the 2+2 consultation between 

India and the US, we have seen the 

report. We are happy to see the normal 

bilateral relations between them. We 

also hope that in this process they will 

do more to regional peace and regional 

Water crisis : Imran 

Khan seeks overseas 

Pakistanis’ help 

Islamabad, Prime Minister Imran Khan 

on Friday sought assistance from overseas 

Pakistanis to help overcome the “biggest 

issue” of water crisis in the country by 

donating to the dams fund set up by the 

Supreme Court. 

“The largest problem 

is the water issue in the 

country,” Khan said in a 

televised address to the 

nation, adding that it was 

crucial for Pakistan to 

build dams as failure to 

do so could be detrimental 

to its future generations. 

“Experts say if we do 

not make dams we will 

face a drought in seven 

years. We have to start making dams from 

today.” “I want to commend Chief Justice 

Mian Saqib Nisar (for starting the dams 

fund), but this was not his job,” Khan said. 

“This was the job of civilian leaders who 

knew this was going to swell into a crisis 

stability,” Ministry spokesperson Hua 

Chunying said replying to a question 

how China viewed the 

but did nothing to thwart it.” Khan urged 

overseas Pakistanis to contribute to the 

dams fund. “If every overseas Pakistani 

contributes to this we will be able to construct 

the dams and our reserves will also 

improve,” the Prime 

Minister said. 

He appealed to 

Pakistanis in Europe and 

the US to contribute at 

least $1,000. “Pakistanis 

working in the Middle 

East and other countries 

can also contribute 

according to their capacity,” 

Khan said, adding 

that the Prime Minister’s 

fund for dam would be 

now part of Chief 

Justice’s fund and both will be merged. 

This was Khan’s second address with the 

nation since assuming office. In his first 

address, he had outlined austerity measures 

and the need to tackle corruption to bring 

Pakistan on track. 

Communications, Compatibility and 

Security Agreement (Comcasa) between 

New Delhi and Washington. 

India and the US have strategically 

grown closer to each 

other in recent years, unsettling 

Beijing which thinks that 

Washington is using New Delhi 

to contain it. 

Alarmed by the growing presence 

of the Chinese Navy in the 

Indian and Pacific Oceans, the 

US, India, Japan and Australia 

have formed a regional grouping, 

dubbed as “Quad”. 

The Indo-Pacific featured in 

2+2 dialogue on Thursday and 

both New Delhi and Washington 

vowed to work for inclusive and 

open Indo-Pacific. 

“You also mentioned about 

the security issue of navigation in 

the sea. We uphold the legal 

rights entitled in the international 

law and we also that hope parties 

can do real things to ensure freedom of 

navigation,” Hua added. 

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2 September 2018 

UNITED KINGDOM 


Protest in London to Stop the Witch- 

Hunt of Human Rights Activists in India! 

and Resist the Modi Emergency ! 

31st August saw a powerful protest 

in London to Stop the Witch-Hunt of 

Rights Activists in India! and Resist 

the Modi Emergency! 

Why we were protesting 

The Modi government has 

unleashed a massive witch hunt 

against a whole range of dissenting 

voices targeting some of India’s most 

credible and respected human rights 

activists and public intellectuals, using 

trumped up charges and patently false 

allegations to try to silence all opposition 

and terrorise dissidents. 

In raids on 28 August across the 

country, a series of activists were 

arrested -noted Chhattishgarh-based 

trade union leader and tribal rights 

campaigner Sudha Bharadwaj (arrested 

from Faridabad), renowned writer 

Varavara Rao (arrested from 

Hyderabad),activists Arun Ferreira 

(who has incidentally written a book 

on his experience of being in prison 

for five years on false charges) and 

Vernon Gonsalves (picked up from 

Mumbai) and long-standing human 

rights campaigner Gautam Navlakha 

(who was arrested from his residence 

in Delhi but the High Court stayed his 

remand to Pune). 

Among those whose houses have 

been raided are Ranchi-based Father 

Stan Swamy (who has been opposing 

corporate landgrab and Hindutva violence 

in Jharkhand and has recently 

been charged with ‘sedition’), journalist 

Kranthi Tekula, lawyer Susan 

Abraham who is defending Surendra 

Gadling and others, Dalit writer and 

academic Anand Teltumbde, and 

Pavana and Prof. K. Satyanarayana 

(daughter and son-in-law of Varavara 

Rao). On 29 August, the Supreme 

Court responded to a petition filed on 

behalf of those arrested by ruling that 

they should not be kept in police custody 

but under house arrest until 

September 6, noting that ‘Dissent is 

the safety-valve of democracy’. 

The BJP-led Maharashtra 

Government and the Pune Police are 

using the Bhima Koregaon violence of 

January 1 2018 as the pretext for planning 

this witch hunt. The year 2018 

started with violence against Dalits in 

Bhima Koregaon when thousands of 

Dalits gathered there in a commemoration 

of a historic victory. Hindutva 

thugs with saffron flags in hand 

attacked the Dalits. The main masterminds 

behind the Bhima Korgaon 

anti-Dalit atrocity are Shambhaji 

Bhide and Milind Ekbote. Both of 

them are closely connected with the 

BJP. Shambhaji Bhide is the founder 

of the Shivpratisthan Sangstha, which 

has incited several communal riots in 

Maharashtra. Both of them are roaming 

free while human rights and Dalit 

rights activists are being targeted. 

The human rights movement which 

emerged out of the experience of 

resistance to the 1975-77 Emergency 

is today being branded as an ‘Urban 

Naxal’ project. An actual incident of 

anti-Dalit violence is being manipulated 

to persecute Dalit rights activists. 

While Hindutva terrorist organisations 

like Sanatan Sanstha are enjoying full 

impunity to openly threaten people 

and call for overturning the 

Constitution, lawyers, writers, poets 

and public intellectuals have been 

framed with outlandish charges of 

plotting an assassination of the Prime 

Minister, in a move with striking parallels 

with the history of Nazi 

Germany. 

The fact that as K. Pavana and Prof. 

K. Satyanarayanan have testified, the 

police raiders asked questions like 

‘Why do you read books by Mao and 

Marx?’ ‘Why do you have pictures of 

Ambedkar and Phule and not of 

gods and goddesses?’ and ‘Why do 

you not wear jewellery and sindoor as 

a wife?’ indicates what are now considered 

‘crimes’ in Modi’s India. 

These raids and arrests, the slapping 

of sedition charges and the invoking of 

draconian laws like UAPA are all 

aimed at reducing India to a republic of 

fear. The Indian state is doing this in 

partnership with the organized lynch 

mobs murdering Muslims and Dalits 

on a daily basis and the hired assassins 

being deployed to kill dissidents. The 

assassinations of Dabholkar, Pansare, 

Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh, the failed 

attempt on the life of Umar Khalid, 

repeated attacks on Swami Agnivesh 

and the continuing persecution of 

human rights campaigners are all part 

of the same strategy of silencing dissent 

and subordinating democracy to a 

fascist regime of fear and repression, 

hate and lies. 

But resistance is growing and in 

response to this new spate of attacks 

on activists, lawyers and writers who 

have always fought for the oppressed 

and marginalized, the people have 

come onto the streets to demand their 

unconditional release in protests in 

cities across India. 

This protest at the Indian High 

Commission in London by South Asia 

Solidarity Group and CasteWatchUK 

was been called in solidarity with this 

resistance. 

Mr Muman , Chair of Caste Watch 

UK compared the current state of vigilance 

and repression to the Gestapo 

unleashing reign of terror. He 

endorsed Arundhati Roy’s observation 

that the British were blamed for divide 

and rule but the BJP is guilty of divert 

and rule in the run up to the election 

2019. 

Our demands: 

Stop the Witchhunts! Release the 

human rights activists , lawyers and 

writers arrested on these fake charges! 

Stop Hindutva Terrorism! 

At the protest the names of those 

arrested were called out as we 

demanded that they were freed. 

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Editor-in-chief 

Fred Shakir 

Marketing & Creative Manager 

Columnists 

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FORMER BRITISH FOREIGN 

SECRETARY, WIFE TO DIVORCE 

London : Britain’s 

former Foreign Secretary 

Boris Johnson and his wife 

Marina Wheeler announced 

on Friday that they have separated 

and are in the process of 

a divorce. 

Johnson and the senior 

lawyer, both 54, have been 

married for 25 years. They 

made the announcement in a 

joint statement after a story 

appeared in the Sun newspaper 

detailing claims that 

Johnson was “unfaithful”, the 

Guardian reported. 

“Several months ago, after 

25 years of marriage, we 

decided it was in our best 

interests to separate,” the joint 

statement read. 

“We have subsequently 

agreed to divorce and that 

process is under way… As 

friends we will continue to 

support our four children in 

the years ahead. We will not 

be commenting further,” it 

said. 

Johnson, who has four children 

with Wheeler, resigned 

from the government in July 

over his opposition to Prime 

Minister Theresa May’s 

Chequers Brexit plan. 

He has since written a 

series of articles criticising the 

government, which have been 

viewed as attempts to position 

himself as an alternative 

Prime Minister. 

Wheeler is a human 

rights lawyer who became a 

Queen’s counsel in 2016. 

Johnson credited her as a key 

voice in his decision to 

support Brexit before the 

referendum. 

* 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.




BIRMINGHAM TOWN HALL PAINTED IN INDIAN 

TRI-COLOUR FOR 72nd INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS 

3 

Dr. Aman Puri, Consul 

General honoured Mr. Paul 

Sabapathy, Former Lord 

Lieutenant of West Midlands 

for his outstanding contribution 

towards cohesion of the 

Indian and British community 

in the United Kingdom. 

Consul General Dr. Aman Puri highlights India’s achievements, endeavours and future projects, at the India’s 72nd 

Independence day celebrations & (Right Side) From Left to right – Consul General Dr. Aman Puri, Lord Lieutenant of 

West Midlands Mr. John Crabtree, Lord Mayor of Birmingham Councillor Yvonne Mosquito. 

Over 800 guests attended the celebrations of the 71st Anniversary of India’s Independence 

at Town Hall Birmingham 

On August 15, 2018, billions of 

Indians across the world celebrated 

the 71st anniversary of India’s 

Independence with great zeal and 

enthusiasm. The Consulate General of 

India in Birmingham held a grand celebration 

to mark the day, and to pay 

respects to the architects of the nation. 

To begin the celebrations, Consul 

General Dr Aman Puri unfurled the 

national flag in the Consulate premises. 

It was an occasion to salute the 

heroic and brave patriots who contributed 

to the creation of an 

Independent India. The event was 

marked by the rendition of National 

Anthem and reading out of the 

Honourable President of India’s message 

on the eve of Independence Day. 

This was followed by a grand cultural 

event in the heart of the city at 

the iconic Birmingham Town Hall 

which was hosted by the Consulate 

General of India in the evening of 15th 

August. Around 800 people graced the 

occasion which included professionals 

of various sectors, Indian community 

leaders, business executives, media 

representatives, and other invited 

guests. Local British community representatives 

were also present. 

Prominent dignitaries such as Mr John 

Crabtree, OBE (Lord-Lieutenant of 

the West Midlands), Mr Mike Kapur 

(Lord-Lieutenant of Leicester), Dr 

Beverly Lindsay, OBE OD VLL (Vice 

Lord-Lieutenant of West Midlands), 

Councillor Yvonne Mosquito (Lord 

Mayor of Birmingham), Councillor 

Rajash Mehta (Mayor of Telford and 

Wrekin), and several other Mayors 

and Mayoresses attended the celebrations. 

Ms Neena Gill, CBE (Member 

of the European Parliament for the 

West Midlands), Professor Robin 

Mason [Pro-Vice-Chancellor 

(International) University of 

Birmingham], and Professor Asif 

Ahmed (Founder of Aston Medical 

School at Aston University and 

Founder & Chairman of MirZyme 

Therapeutics) were among the other 

dignitaries present at the occasion. 

Consul General, Dr Aman Puri in his 

welcome address shared his pride as an 

Indian belonging to the world’s largest 

democracy, and the oldest continuous 

living civilisation. He remembered the 

freedom fighters and martyrs for their 

contributions and also paid tribute to 

those Indians who are working consistently 

towards making a better India. He 

made special mention of the contribution 

of women whether in the work 

force or as homemakers, towards building 

the modern nation. He enumerated 

India’s contribution in the cultural, economic 

and scientific fields and informed 

the gathering of the ambitious project 

“Gagan Yaan” announced by the 

Honourable Prime Minister of India 

from the ramparts of Red fort. The project 

aims to take India’s first indigenous 

manned mission to space by 2022. The 

Consul General also informed the gathering 

that the world’s largest government 

funded healthcare scheme which 

was announced recently, will be rolled 

out in September 2018. Dr Puri appreciated 

the role of 31 million strong 

Overseas Indian community, the 

world’s largest diaspora, for being hugely 

successful and being a pillar of 

strength and resilience for the Indian 

economy. He quoted Honourable Prime 

Minister Modi that the Indian diaspora 

serves as a ‘living bridge’ between India 

and the world. He also informed that 

150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma 

Gandhi will be celebrated from 2nd 

October over a two year period. 

Lord Lieutenant of West Midlands, 

John Crabtree OBE, termed the 

evening as a moment for remembrance 

of the central historical event 

of the 20th century South Asia, and a 

time for reflection. He called the day 

as celebration of the birth of the 

world’s largest democracy, a democratic 

rule based on one person, one 

vote, with no bar for race, gender or 

religion. He informed that over 

2,00,000 people of Indian heritage, 

have made West Midlands their home 

and their contribution have been quite 

remarkable, with almost GBP one billion 

being traded between the West 

Midlands and India each year. 

Councillor Yvonne Mosquito, Lord 

Mayor of Birmingham, commented 

that Independence Day is a time for 

the celebration of the significant contribution 

of Indian community to UK. 

She remarked that India is the jewel in 

Commonwealth, despite the significant 

challenges it has faced. She also 

appreciated the collective contribution 

of Indians, and that the Indians had triumphed 

where others failed. 

Councillor Rajash Mehta, Mayor of 

Telford and Wrekin, emphasised on 

building bridges and bringing communities 

together. He stated that the communities 

here, though diverse are united 

and it is the key to building a better 

and brighter future for the next generation. 

He expressed hope that the links 

so created will help to establish a better 

working relationship between Indian 

and British cultures of the 21st century. 

Ms. Neena Gill CBE, Member of the 

European Parliament, emphasized on 

the need for young British Indians to 

learn about the history of the country of 

their origin, be connected with their 

roots and contribute to the socio economic 

development of India. She 

encouraged the second generation 

British Indians to travel to India and 

build linkages in the fields of education, 

culture, trade and commerce. She also 

mentioned that Indian community 

needs to play a bigger role in British 

politics as there was a dearth of young 

leaders. She also congratulated the 

Consulate General of India for celebrating 

the 350th birth anniversary of Guru 

Gobind Singh ji, and hoped that there 

would be similar celebrations to mark 

the 550th birth anniversary of Guru 

Nanak Dev ji during the year 2019. 

Professor Robin Mason, Pro-Vice- 

Chancellor (International) University 

of Birmingham, observed that that 

India has come a long way, and is 

implementing progressive policies 

such as GST and the National Health 

Protection Scheme. He however commented 

that the UK’s political leadership 

needs to put in more efforts 

towards improving the relationship 

with India. He informed that the bilateral 

research collaboration between 

UK and India has grown exponentially 

Prof. Robin Mason, Pro VC 

International, University of 

Birmingham, praised the 

Indian diaspora in UK for 

their hard work and contribution 

in the economic development 

of UK & also mentioned 

that both India & UK 

are research power-houses. 

and that UK ranks 3rd in R&D while 

India ranks 10th in the world. He called 

both the countries as research powerhouses. 

Prof Mason informed the gathering 

that India Institute’s inaugural 

distinguished lecture in collaboration 

with the Consulate General of India 

will be delivered by former Foreign 

Secretary of India, Ambassador Dr. S 

Jaishankar. Ambassador Jaishankar is 

currently the President Global Affairs 

of the TATA group. 

Professor Asif Ahmed, Founder of 

Aston Medical School at Aston 

University and Founder & Chairman 

of MirZyme Therapeutics, remarked 

that the Indian society has been multicultural, 

multi-religious, multi-ethnic 

and multi-linguistic from time immemorial. 

The spirit of multiculturalism 

without any bias to religion or sect, 

has kept India united in diversity, 

which is the soul of India. He encouraged 

the gathering to do their best and 

serve as a bridge between India and 

Britain in commerce, trade and higher 

education. 

The speeches were followed by an 

array of cultural programmes. 

Performers from Tanushree, Atreyee 

and Chitralekha dance group added 

colour and vigour to the evening by 

performing Indian traditional folk and 

classical dances. The message of patriotism 

was conveyed through poems by 

an Urdu poet and members of 

Geetanjali Multilingual Literary Circle. 

Singer and composer of music Jasbir 

Wouhra sang songs which inspired 

patriotism among those present. 

Thereafter, Consul General Dr. 

Aman Puri, honoured Mr. Paul 

Sabapathy, Former Lord Lieutenant of 

West Midlands for his outstanding 

contribution towards cohesion of the 

Indian and British communities in the 

United Kingdom. He also felicitated 

Ms. Piali Rai, Director, Sampad South 

Asian Arts and Mr. Jas Wouhra, 

Managing Director, East End Foods 

Plc. The event concluded with the 

singing of National Anthem. 

Indeed, it was a day of elation, a day 

of remembrance of the freedom fighters, 

a day to cherish and respect the very 

gift of freedom. The world is going 

through uncertain times in many parts, 

and the geo-politics is getting ever more 

complex. It is time for nations to again 

stand together, and respect every 

nation’s right to be sovereign, and to 

promote peace in the world.




Stateless children–Right to 

register as British citizens 

It has been confirmed by the recent 

decision of the High Court (MK (A 

CHILD BY HER LITIGATION 

FRIEND CAE) V SSHD [2017] 

EWHC 1365 THAT Stateless children 

born in the UK have a right to 

register as British citizens after living 

here for a continuous period of five 

years. 

The case involved a child (MK) 

born in the UK in November 2010. 

Her parents were both nationals of 

India. MK had made an application 

for registration as a British citizen 

under Schedule 2 of the British 

Nationality Act 1981. Under Schedule 

2 of the British Nationality Act 1981, 

a child or young person born in the 

UK can be registered as a British citizen 

if he or she: 

is and has always been stateless 

was under the age of 22 on the date 

of the application 

has lived in the UK 5 years prior to 

the making of the application. 

The Home Office refused the application 

and judicial review proceedings 

were commenced. There were some 

difficulties in relation to evidence, 

particularly relating to Indian law and 

the interpretation and practice of that 

law. However, the high court decided 

that MK was entitled to register 

as a British citizen as 

she was and is stateless as 

she does not have Indian 

nationality. 

This case will be important 

for those children who 

are born in the UK, are 

stateless and are making an 

application in the same or 

similar circumstances. It has 

reiterated by this case that 

stateless children born in the 

UK have a right to register 

as British citizens after living 

here for a continuous 

period of five years. 

To register under paragraph 3 of 

Schedule 2 to the British Nationality 

Act 1981 a stateless person must meet 

four conditions. She or he must be 

born in the UK; have always been 

stateless; be under the age of 22 and 

living in the UK at the time of applying 

to register; and at the date of application 

have spent the last five years 

living in the UK (with no more than 

450 days absence during this period 

unless ‘special circumstances’ are 

shown). 

An applicant will also need to show 

he or she is stateless. Home Office 

guidance indicates decision-makers 

will want to see letters from the 

national authorities of each parent 

confirming the child or young person 

is not and has never held their nationality. 

The Home Office also expects 

evidence that applicants have been 

living in the UK for the past five years 

and without excessive absences – 

even though their statelessness 

make it less 

likely someone could 

have left the country. 

The right to register 

under paragraph 3 of 

Schedule 2 is time limited. 

Once the child 

turns 22, if no application 

has been made this 

right is lost forever. 

There is generally no 

good reason to delay 

registration where a 

child has and wishes to 

exercise her or his right 

to do so if the conditions 

of paragraph 3 are met. 

Should a stateless person miss the 

opportunity to register by turning 22, 

section 1(4) of the 1981 Act may provide 

an alternative. It provides a right 

to register as British to those born in 

the UK, who live here for the first ten 

years of their lives. There is no age 

cut-off by when this right must be 

exercised. However, an applicant 

under section 1(4) must be of good 

character whereas an applicant under 

paragraph 3 need not. 

To apply for British Nationally is 

really expensive. Currently, the fee 

for a child to register as British is 

£973. The home office is making hundreds 

of pounds above cost each time 

a child or young person seeks to register 

their right. The Home Office offers 

no waiver or exemptions. The legal 

aid is not available for advice and 

assistance on these registration applications 

(unless exceptional case funding 

is granted). The applicants need 

specialist legal help to recognise their 

entitlement, identify the evidence 

required, instruct experts where necessary 

(an expert may be necessary to 

show a child does not have her or his 

parent’s nationality) and prepare an 

application. 

I will be more than happy to provide 

all necessary information and 

legal help if you need to apply for 

your child. 

Ajay Aggarwal, Solicitor 

Moblie; 07727 688 291




5 

Hindus, Sikhs and BJP in nexus to 

repeal British Caste Legislation 

Good Evening everyone. Greetings 

to you all on the occasion of Indian 

Independence Day. I am not anti Indian. 

I wish the Indian people every happiness, 

good health, prosperity and 

wealth. 

Its on occasions like this that we take 

a few moments to reflect on what is 

happening in India today. There is no 

doubt independence deserves to be celebrated 

but there is a darker side that 

Independent India has not lived up to 

the dreams of its founding fathers. 

Blame game 

It is argued that 71 years is not long 

enough for a young democracy to 

resolve all its problems. All the ills are 

blamed on the British, if not the British 

then the Muslims, if not the Muslims 

then religious minorities and then Dalits 

– the scheduled Castes and Scheduled 

Tribes who number over 250 million 

people. Not much is said about taking 

personal responsibility. It is always the 

other that is blamed. 

Ideological Shift 

There is a shift towards right wing 

politics the world over accentuated by 

the election of the US president Donald 

Trump. India had already led the charge, 

on a national scale, towards right wing 

politics since the election of the BJP 

government in 2014. This lurch towards 

the right is also seen in Britain when the 

country voted to leave the European 

union. Clever politicians play into the 

fears and prejudices of people and try to 

befool and beguile the masses into a 

false sense of security. This lurch 

towards right-wing politics must be 

resisted as it threatens progressive and 

liberal values built over centuries. 

Indian constitution burned 

A strange event occurred on 9th 

August 2018, in India at Jantar Mantar 

New Delhi when the Indian constitution 

was burned. I say strange because, firstly, 

the holding of the event was given 

clearance by the police and secondly, 

the Indian constitution was burned 

whilst the police were present at the 

scene. 

When burning the constitution, the 

Organisers were yelling slogans like : 

Savidhan jalao, desh bachao ! 

Ambedkar Murda Bad ! Manuvad 

Zindabad ! SC /ST Act murda bad 

Not until a FIR was filed against the 

mob, with video evidence, that the 

police took notice and swung into action 

resulting in the arrest of two people as 

reprted by the media. 

The video showed 20-30 people (perhaps 

more) directly engaged in sloganising 

and burning the Indian constitution. 

The entire mob should have been 

charged and arrested under the 

Prevention of National Honour Act 

1971 which states that whoever in any 

public place or in any other place within 

public view burns, mutilates, defaces, 

defiles, disfigures, destroys, tramples 

upon or otherwise shows disrespect to 

or brings into contempt the Indian 

National Flag or the constitution of 

India or any part thereof shall be punished 

with imprisonment for a term 

which may extend to 3 years or with 

fine or both. 

During their probe, police found that 

two organisations — Youth Equality 

Foundation (Azad Sena) and Arakshan 

Virodhi Party held the protest at 

Parliament Street. 

No senior ranking politician of the 

BJP led government has condemned the 

burning of the Indian constitution. 

Mainstream Television channels have 

not condemned the incident and have 

moslt stayed silent. The dilution of the 

SC/ST Act by Justices AK Goel and UU 

Lalit caused a nationwide protest which 

has now resulted in the restoration of 

the SC/ST act by a recent vote in the 

Indian Parliament 

The burning of the Indian constitution 

came in the wake of the Indian 

Parliament passing that Bill to restore 

the SC/ST act on Thursday 9th August. 

You will recall , way back in December 

28, 2017, Union Minister Anant Kumar 

Hegde reportedly said that “Today, we 

follow Ambedkar ‘smriti’… it will 

change in the future. We are here to 

change the Constitution.” He later withdrew 

his remarks accusing the media of 

‘twisting’ his comments! 

So what do we see in India today 

under the present BJP-led 

Government 

In India Mob lynching has been 

taken to a whole new dimension. The 

cow is sacred but not human life. In the 

name of Gau-Rakshak, mobs are free to 

roam around to kill with impunity. I 

wish to share with you that during the 

Vedic period, the cow was ceremoniously 

slaughtered and offered in a sacrifice 

to the gods. No god came down to 

earth to consume the slaughtered cow 

but humans assumed the role of god, 

namely Brahmins who called themselves 

bhudevas to consume the slaughtered 

cow. 

Today, emboldened by the BJP in 

power, the rise of Hindutva ideology is 

threatening the social fabric of India 

with its escalation of attacks on religious 

minorities and Dalits in particular. This 

emboldened ideology is antinational. 

? Hindutva forces continue to 

unleash violent reign of terror and 

repression on Dalits, Muslims and 

other minorities. 

The president of India , Shri Ram 

Nath Kovind in his Independence day 

speech said that Gandhiji’s most noble 

mantra was to point out that the power 

of ahinsa is far greater than the power of 

hinsa. 

Unfortunately this mantra clearly has 

had no effect on the masses and those in 

power , especially Dalits and religious 

minorities continue to suffer violence. 

? According to the NCRB data. A 

total of 40,801 cases of crime against 

scheduled castes were registered in the 

country in 2015 compared to 38,670 

cases in 2015. 

? In 2016, the rate of crime against 

scheduled castes of total cognisable 

crimes in Madhya Pradesh was 43.4 per 

cent followed by 42 per cent in 

Rajasthan, 36.7 per cent in Goa, 34.4 

per cent in Bihar and 32.5 per cent in 

Gujarat. The all-India crime rate against 

scheduled castes was 20.6 per cent last 

year. 

What is the main cause of poverty 

in India? 

High population growth rate is one of 

major reasons of poverty in India. This 

further leads to high level of illiteracy, 

poor health care facilities and lack of 

Sat Pal Muman , Chair of 

CasteWatchUK, delivered a 

speech at the School of Oriental 

and African Studies, London on 

Indian Independence day, 15th 

August 2018. 

access to financial resources. … Caste 

system and unequal distribution of 

income and resources is another reason 

of poverty in India as acknowledged by 

economists. 

Dr Ambedkar : Political and 

Communal Majorities 

Ambedkar said what’s the point in 

getting political freedom from the 

British only to continue in slavery under 

the caste Hindus. He demanded political 

safeguards for the Untouchables as he 

felt they would continue to be crushed 

by the Caste Hindus. 

During his early career, he tried to 

stir the conscious of the Caste Hindus to 

introspect about their religion. He wanted 

to transform Hindu Society. But to no 

avail. 

He then turned to the British as the 

sovereign authority to grant special protection 

for his people. His power of persuasion 

convinced the British that 

Untouchables are special case so 

deserve special protection in terms of 

political representation and social 

development. Congress Party under the 

leadership of Gandhi opposed the 

demands of the Untouchables. Gandhi 

went onto fast unto death on Sep 16, 

1932 resisting the political demands of 

the Untouchables. 

Gandhi conducted 17 fasts during his 

lifetime . None of them were fasts unto 

death apart from when Dr Ambedkar 

won over the British to grant separate 

electorates to the Untouchables. 

Despite universal suffrage granted as 

per the constitution, Dr Ambedkar continued 

to feel helpless for his people 

being able to exercise their vote effectively 

as they were too poor and illiterate. 

He started newspapers and established 

colleges to educate them. 

He demanded separate settlements for 

the Untouchables and also at one time 

out of desperation he recommended to 

the Untouchables they should migrate to 

foreign lands to escape the curse of Caste 

and Untouchability – subject I will return 

to later. 

On political and communal majority, 

Dr Ambedkar said, Majorities are of two 

sorts: 

(1) communal majority and 

(2) political majority. 

A political majority is changeable in 

its class composition. A political majority 

grows. A communal majority is born. 

The admission to a political majority is 

open. The door to a communal majority 

is closed. The politics of political majority 

are free to all to make and unmake. 

The politics of communal majority are 

made by its own members born in it. 

Today, Caste and Religion continue 

to dominate political discourse India. 

In August, 2016, the Gujarat 

Government withdrew a schoolbook on 

Ambedkar because it contained the 

oaths Dr Ambedkar which he had prescribed 

when he denounce Hinduism to 

embrace Buddhism in 1956. 

India’s darkest hour 

You will recall that 49 ex IAS officers 

wrote o the Prime Minister of India in 

the backdrop of Unnao and Kathua rape 

cases and called it India’s darkest hour. 

It was also reported that over 600 academics 

and institutions also wrote to the 

Indian PM expressing deep concern over 

the escalation of rapes and murders. 

Under the guise of developmental 

agenda the country is sliding towards 

dictatorship which is undermining and 

threatening the social fabric. This internal 

threat is far severe then any threat 

from external aggression. The very core 

of Indian polity is being torn to pieces 

by the policies of the BJP led government 

whether this be in the sphere of 

social welfare, education, human rights, 

law and order , judiciary. 

You will recall, there was an application 

filed for the impeachment of the 

Chief Justice of India . An event 

unprecedented. 

According to a recent NDTV survey, 

political hate speech has risen 500 %. 

Attacks on Dalits and religious minorities 

have escalated. 

After the Bhima Koregaon incident 

tens of thousands were falsely arrested. 

After the recent Bharat Bandh on 2nd 

April inflamed by the supreme court 

judgment that diluted the SC/ST 

Atrocities act , thousands were falsely 

arrested and charged and imprisoned. 

Today, Dalits are rising to assert their 

Social , Political and Human Rights as 

guaranteed by the Indian Constitution – 

values that are a direct challenge to 

BJP-RSS hegemony and the rise of 

Hindutva ideology who want to impose 

the manusmirti upon the people of 

India. 

In his book Pakistan or partition of 

India (1946 pages 354-355) , Dr 

Ambedkar writes that 

If a Hindu Raj does become a fact, it 

will, no doubt be the greatest calamity 

for this country … Hindu Raj must be 

prevented at any cost 

Ambedkar wrote in a memorandum 

on the Rights of States and Minorities 

dated March 24 1947 which he submitted 

to the sub-committee on 

Fundamental Rights, he wrote, 

Unfortunately for the minorities in 

India, Indian nationalism has developed 

a new doctrine which may be called the 

Divine Right of the majority to rule the 

minorities according to the wishes of 

the majority. Any claim for the sharing 

of power the minority is called communalism, 

while the monopolising of the 

whole power the majority is called 

nationalism. 

Later in the constituent assembly 

defending the special status of the 

minorities he forewarned 

To diehards who have developed a 

kind of fanaticism against minority protection, 

I would like to say two things. 

One is that minorities are an explosive 

force which if it erupts, can blow up the 

whole fabric of the state. The history of 

Europe bears ample and appalling testimony 

to this fact. The other is that 

minorities in India have agreed to place 

their existence in the hands of the 

majority… it is for the majority to 

realise its duty not to discriminate 

against minorities..’ 

Ambedkar warned that there is danger 

of democracy giving place to dictatorship 

in India. 

Caste Legislation 

I will now return briefly to my earlier 

comment citing Dr Ambedkar’s 

advise to the Untouchables to escape the 

curse of Caste and Untouchability they 

should migrate to foreign lands 

Most of you will be aware that 

CasteWatchUK began a campaign in 

2003 to outlaw caste based discrimination 

in Britain which the British 

acknowledged does exist. 

After a long fought campaign the 

British Government caved into pressure 

from Hindus and Sikhs and announced 

on 23rd July 2018, it 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. 

The government ran a public consultation 

from 28 March 2017 to 18 

September 2017. 

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 British 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 means the victims 

will 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 the basis of caste. 

In a press release , I said that : 

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. 

The National Council of Hindu 

Temples stated that it ‘ welcomes the 

Governments conclusion and the proposed 

course of action, regarding the 

issue of “Caste Discrimination” 

Legislation’ The NCHT stated that ‘ we 

established links with the Sikh and Jan 

communities and working very closely 

with the HFB, amongst other groups 

and together managed to encourage 

over 8,000 British Hindus to respond.’ 

See on Page 8th


ASIA 


Indian crew capsule 

star attraction at 

Bengaluru space expo 

Bengaluru : The Indian space agency’s crew The recovered capsule, made of heat protecting tiles, 

module, that was used and recovered in a 2014 

unmanned mission, has been a star attraction at the 

6th Bengaluru Space Expo being held here. 

“An unmanned crew capsule that can accommodate 

up to three astronauts 

that was tested in 2014 to 

orbit around the Earth has 

been exhibited at the space 

expo for visitors to view,” 

an Indian Space Research 

Organisation (ISRO) official 

was launched aboard a Geosynchronous Satellite 

Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk III to re-enter the planet 

— surviving temperatures as high as 1,500 

degrees Celsius. The exhibition has also featured 

pavilions dedicated to student-made 

satellites and 

launchers, space start-ups 

from across the country, 

and space agencies from 

countries including Russia, 

France and Taiwan. 

told IANS here. 

The French National 

A similar capsule, which 

Centre for Space Studies 

is a living space and control 

(CNES), Russian space 

centre for astronauts, will 

agency’s launch service 

carry Indians to space for 

provider Glavkosmos and 

the country’s maiden 

Taiwan’s National Space 

human space mission “Gaganyaan”. Showcased in 

the space agency’s pavilion, the capsule has been the 

cynosure of all eyes at the three-day space expo at the 

Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre. 

Hundreds of school students and other visitors, 

making a beeline to the venue, are thronging the 

pavilion for a glimpse of the crew module and a 

model of Indian-made spacesuit that will be donned 

by the country’s astronauts for their space mission. 

Organisation (NSPO) were among the space agencies 

that showcased the satellites and launchers. Space food 

packed for Russian cosmonauts put on display by the 

Glavkosmos also caught the visitors’ attention. The 

biennial space expo, touted to be the largest space conference 

in Asia, is being held from September 6-8, with 

the participation of over 100 exhibitors, space agency 

representatives and delegates from the US, the UK, 

France, Russia, and Taiwan, among other countries. 

Fuel prices register steepest 

daily hike, up 50 paise/litre 

New Delhi : Domestic fuel prices witnessed 

the steepest hike in the year so far with around 

50-paise raise on Friday across the four metro 

cities. Both petrol and diesel prices have been at 

their all-time high in the country for around a 

week now, due to increase in crude oil prices 

and depreciation in the rupee against the dollar. 

Weakening of the Indian rupee makes the import 

of crude oil expensive. In the national capital, 

petrol prices rose by 48 paise to Rs 79.99 per 

litre on Friday, from Rs 79.51 per litre on 

Thursday, according to data on the Indian Oil 

Corporation’s website. Similarly, in the other 

key cities of Kolkata, 

Mumbai and Chennai, 

cost of petrol rose by 

47 paise, 48 paise and 

51 paise to Rs 82.88, 

Rs 87.39 and Rs 83.13 

per litre on Friday, 

respectively. Among 

the domestic factors, 

high excise duty in the 

country is a major factor 

for high fuel 

prices, according to 

market observers. 

In tandem with 

petrol prices, cost of 

the other key transportation 

fuel, diesel, 

also increased on 

Friday. In fact, the rise in diesel prices was 

above 50 paise per litre across the four major 

cities. 

Both in Delhi and Kolkata, diesel prices rose 

by 52 paise to 72.07 and Rs 74.92 per litre 

respectively. In the other metropolitan cities of 

Mumbai and Chennai, it was up 55 paise and 56 

paise respectively, at Rs 76.51 and Rs 76.17 per 

litre on Friday. The rise in diesel prices attract 

concern as the fuel is used in the transportation 

of goods including agriculture products and high 

prices of the fuel may lead to higher inflation in 

the country.


What the Celebration of 

Asian Games Medalists Tells 

Us About Indian Society 

In the just concluded Asian 

Games at Jakarta-Palembang, 

India finished eighth with their 

best ever medals tally. This 

should be lauded. What is worrying, 

however, is the focus on 

some athletes who come from 

humble backgrounds and 

achieved what was considered 

impossible for their social 

class, because of the absence of 

training, equipment and other 

requirements necessary for 

achieving excellence in sports. 

The internet has been alight 

with stories of athletes like 

By 

Shah Alam Khan 

Swapna Barman, Dharun 

Ayyasamy, Hima Das, Vismaya 

Velluva Koroth and Dutee 

Chand, enumerating the hardships 

they faced, the poverty 

they fought and yet pursued 

their dream of making it big on 

the international sports scene. 

These star performers overcoming 

social stockades is 

nothing less than a miracle, 

more so in a country which 

thrives on inequality and biases 

of caste and class. We should 

all put our hands together and 

give them a standing ovation. 

Having said this, appreciation 

of overcoming social misfortune 

by some athletes – as is 

visible in conventional and 

social media – needs deeper 

evaluation. As a member of 

civil society, this applause for 

the disadvantaged makes me 

worried, if not derisive. In his 

book, Racism and White 

Denial in the Age of Obama, 

American thinker Tim Wise 

coined a term, “enlightened 

exceptionalism”. The book, 

written soon after Obama had 

just been elected as the first 

black president of the US, Wise 

says this ‘enlightened exceptionalism’ 

is in itself a kind of 

racism (Racism 2.0). This type 

of racism allows for and even 

celebrates individual persons of 

color, but only because those 

individuals generally are seen 

as different from a less appealing, 

or even pathological black 

or brown rule. He feels that 

“enlightened exceptionalism 

manages to accommodate individual 

people of color, even as 

it continues to look down upon 

the larger mass of black and 

brown America with suspicion, 

fear, and contempt, suggests 

the fluid and shape-shifting 

nature of racism.” 

Applying the same logic of 

enlightened exceptionalism and 

of shape-shifting racism to the 

Indian society, we can explain 

the appreciation of many 

stereotypes which are thrown 

upon us year after year. Every 

year, we are made to feel awed 

at stories of people from humble 

and disadvantaged backgrounds 

making it big on the 

national or the international 

Dharun Ayyasamy 

Swapna Barman 

scene. Remember the Dalit girl 

who topped the civil services 

exams? Or the daughter of that 

ragpicker who made it to IIM? 

The young Kashmiri girl who 

made it big in kickboxing? That 

blind boy who made it to the 

medical entrance exams? In the 

same vein, underprivileged athletes 

who made the country 

proud at the Asian Games 2018! 

The enlightened ‘exceptionalists’ 

of Wise are plenty in 

India, probably because the 

fault lines of the Indian society 

are far larger and deeper than in 

America. Our social chasms 

intersect at multiple points and 

each point needs a new icon 

from the amongst the poor, 

minorities, schedule tribes, 

Dalits and women to lessen our 

guilt of having failed them 

through the years. 

The privileges of caste, capital 

and religion in India outweigh 

an individual’s efforts and 

hence, when somebody can 

overcome these to shine, be it 

sports, education, profession, or 

politics, we are quick to applaud. 

This applause is not for the 

group to which the person 

belongs. That group still remains 

an unworthy entity. It is only for 

the individual who could fight 

his/her way up from the depths 

in which that group survives. 

Those appreciating the 

‘exceptionalists’ are indifferent 

towards the fate of Dalits, 

Hima Das 

minorities or disabled. So while 

appreciating the Dalit civil 

services topper, the privileged 

do not feel the need to contribute 

towards providing equal 

opportunities for Dalits. On the 

contrary, there is a constant bid 

to thwart efforts towards inclusiveness 

(remember that antireservation 

rhetoric we constantly 

hear?). Similarly, while 

appreciating the kickboxing 

champion from Kashmir, houses 

are denied to Kashmiris in 

Delhi. The fear and contempt 

for Kashmiri Muslims thrives 

unabated. Such is the case with 

all those bright stars of a dark 

sky, who are picked up from 

among the ruble of the 

wretched and are put in a glass 

showcase as a measure of civility. 

There can’t be a more hypocritical 

position than this. 

Appreciation of well-performing 

individuals, whichever 

strata of society they come 

from, is not unwarranted. 

Appreciation of those who have 

defeated biases of the society is 

also justified, but it fails us 

when we look down upon the 

very group this individual hails 

from. So should we stop 

applauding those who have 

overcome the hardships of their 

fate and excelled? Not at all. 

What is required is not picking 

up individuals as stars from a 

deprived group. The solution 

lies in ending the exception. 

ASIA 


7 

Isuzu rolls out 2 mini-trucks for south 

Indian market story for biz news 

Bengaluru : Leading transport 

solutions provider SML- 

Isuzu on Friday rolled out two 

models of mini-trucks for the 

south Indian market. 

“Our new twin light commercial 

vehicles (LCVs) offer 

fuel efficiency, more driver 

comfort, higher uptime, minimum 

maintenance cost and 

optimum loading capacity,” 

Isuzu Vice-President (marketing) 

Junji Tonoshima told 

reporters here. The Chandigarhbased 

35-year-old joint venture 

between Swaraj Vehicles Ltd 

and Mazda Motor Corporation 

of Japan makes a range of LCV 

and ICV (intermediate commercial 

vehicle) trucks and buses 

and special application vehicles 

for meeting the growing needs 

of the growing transportation 

sector across the country. “We 

have introduced the 7-tonne 

mini-trucks to meet the changing 

customer needs, with upgradation 

and automation,” said 

Tonoshima at a preview of the 

twin models. The super heavy 

duty trucks aSamrat-17 and 

aSamrat-19' are priced at Rs 14 

lakh and Rs 17 lakh respectively, 

with additional features and 

accessories. 

The company also unveiled 

advanced telematics solution to 

revolutionise transportation 

management and 24×7 on road 

service support to its customers 

in southern India. The cabins 

have USB port for mobile 

charging, more leg room for the 

drivers, lighter clutch for 

smooth gearshift and real-time 

tracking device for the owners. 

Mazda’s associate trading 

house Sumitomo Corporation 

joined the company subsequently, 

buying an unspecified 

equity into the joint 

venture./Eom/215 words.


ASIA 


Where is Baba Ramdev Ji? 

I know well in 

Mishra who emphasized, 

advance that the followers 

Hinduvta ideolo- 

of Baba Ramdev 

gy is anti-modern, 

would not like this piece 

of writing. I also know 

that there would be a 

strong criticism and disapproval 

authoritarian, far right 

and sometimes farleft,anti-globalist 

and 

anti-Enlightenment 

by the Baba`s 

trend haunting the 

loyalists. People will 

world two centuries. 

blame me as if I am writing 

Every flagship 

like a party man. I am 

scheme of Modi gov- 

a political man. Rather I 

ernment such as 

am a common man who 

is struggling to save the 

remaining years of life 

and future of the children. 

My heart bleeds 

for my country; for the 

unemployed youths; for 

the defenseless innocent 

Startup India, Standup 

India, Mudra, Skill 

India failed but Baba 

Ramdev is completely 

silent. Demonetization 

and GST have made 

the SMEs suffocated, 

Baba Ramdev is silent. 

girls and women who are 

Baba 

According to ET, ‘the 

raped every day; for the 

Ramdev `s silence 

leather industry in 

wealth of the nation that is being reality is that 

on all the issues raised in 

of December 2016. Bengal has collapsed, closure of 12 

usurped by the nexus of abominable Patanjali 

this article reflects that Baba 

Income Tax lakh power looms in Maharashtra 

politicians and fake Babas`. imports its 

Ramdev was/ is not a friend of 

department discovered 

undis- 

homes in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and 

had led to workers returning to their 

Through this article, I want the equipment’s 

the poor, marginalized. The people 

people of India should ponder and from the 

of this country should not get trapped 

closed income Telangana’. Thanks to the social 

seek an answer from Baba Ramdev West. It is 

by Baba Ramdev and his associates 

of Rs 17, 526 activists and genuine lover of India 

to the questions such as: Where is also getting 

who are bracing up for 2019 elections 

Crores between who protested against 

the black money? Where is 15 food manufacturing 

and 

with renewed fake promises to get 

November 2016 ‘Saffronisation of academic bodies, 

Lakh? Are the criminal politicians 

Modi re-elected. Baba Ramdev 

& end –May research councils, and textbooks. 

behind bars? Is Ganga cleaned? Are packaging 

will again come to your 

2017. On this The goons of RSS and other Hindu 

all the villages of India electrified? technology 

doorstep for asking the votes 

former RBI outfits left no stone unturned to 

The election funding? How many from Italy and 

for Modi. Be careful! 

G o v e r n o r impose Hindutva ideology on every 

socially and economically marginalized 

people are uplifted out of shows that Patanjali 

August 11, 2014, stated: Modi could not diagnose all the 

Switzerland. Data 

Raghuram Rajan on citizen of India. 

poverty by the Modi government? imports cosmetics body 

“The crooked politicians socio-economic ills of the country 

All these promises were made by cleaner from the UK, Cow Ghee need the businessman to provide the since he is more interested in foreign 

Modi government before 2014 elections 

and Baba Ramdev is a party to Handwash from the USA. Is this needs the crooked politicians to get could not diagnose all the socio-eco- 

from New Caledonia, Lotion and funds… The crooked businessman countries than his own country. Modi 

these fake promises. 

“Make in India” by Baba Ramdev? public resources and contracts nomic ills since he and his party leaders 

are busy in killing the Muslims 

Baba Ramdev, a maverick Yoga The NDA government under the cheaply”. 

Guru, a great supporter and admirer malignant, narcissistic Prime The socio-economic and caste and Dalits. Not a single promise 

of an elected despot Narendra Modi, Minister Modi is close to finishing 5 census revealed that 56% rural made by Modi and Baba Ramdev is 

Prime Minister of India got unparalleled 

social popularity among the Ramdev is silent on all the questions primarily on manual Labour to surtinues, 

unaccounted wealth flour- 

years term in office but Baba household own no land, and depend fulfilled in four years. Terrorism con- 

illiterate masses and political leaders raised. Baba Ramdev is silent over vive. A survey in 2014 across 42, ished, India is the most corrupt country 

(Transparency International 

that his a small pharmacy, Patanjali, when Muslims and Dalits are killed 000 households across India by the 

established in 2007 grown over 10 in the daylight by the shameless, National Council of Applied Report), Chinese and Indian soldiers 

times to $ 5,000 in 2015-16. envious, haughty and ignorant goons Economic Research and the stared eyeball to eyeball in Doklam. 

Patanjali, no doubt, shook the walls of RSS/Ram Sena/ VHP and other University of Maryland found that Modi displays no foreign policy 

of corporate Moguls such as Emami, Hindu militant outfits. Statistics one in four Indians 

except pleasing the world leaders and 

Dabur, and Marico. Baba Ramdev revealed that in the last past 100 Rahul Bali 

hugging them to show that he has 

with the help of the corrupt and despicable 

politicians and vile bureau- 

India while cleaning sewers. the Asian Independent, UK 

and RSS leaders are busy in foisting 

days, 39 people had died across Senior Correspondent, 

elevated the image of India. Modi 

crats of India succeeded in striking a Shameful Beef lynching by the 

sedition charges on the dissenters. 

nail in the business of Nestle India goons of Ram Sena and other Hindu admitted to practicing 

Dr. Ambedkar told the 

causing a whopping financial loss to outfits brought a bad name to the some form of untouchability. 

Baba Ramdev never spoke a religion may be a road to the salva- 

Constituent Assembly: “Bhakti in 

the company to the tune of Rs.450 country. Such shameful people are 

crore as it destroyed more than eroding democratic norms, principles 

& institutions. Their shameful untouchability. 

Bhakti or hero-worship, is a sure 

word against the practices of tion of the soul. But in politics 

30,000 tonnes of Maggi. As economics 

tells us that a business cannot 

flourish for a long time if it is the country on the international plat- 

schools, Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh dictatorship”. Similarly, an eminent 

acts every day brings a bad name to Hindu Jagran Manch warned road to degradation and to eventual 

motivated merely by the dirty politics. 

In his statement on dirty politics BJP ruled states, eat beef openly. Priest and seminarians are regularly that the cult of Narendra Modi must 

form. People of GOA, Nagaland, the (UP) against celebrating Christmas. historian Ramachandra Guha argued 

of Baba Ramdev, Kejriwal Amit Baba Ramdev is silent over the Beef thrashed by Bajrang Dal activists in be challenged (and checked) before 

Dhanuka, CEO of Kejriwal Bee eating issue. 

Madhya Pradesh. In his home state it goes much further. 

Care India said, “It is a gimmick”. Baba Ramdev is silent over when UP, dues of sugarcane farmers Readers must be surprised why I 

Baba Ramdev, no doubt, knows it the rupee depreciated past 70 against soared to Rs 12,000 Crores. The 24 have used the word ‘Silent’ repeatedly 

in this article. Some might 

very well how illiterate masses can the dollar. Baba Ramdev is silent cooperatives mills too owe Rs 

be befooled. First, he practiced his when hundreds of thousands of 1107.09 crore. Cooking gas was argue Baba Ramdev is not a Prime 

market strategy by crying foul Indian soldiers are killed across the increased from Rs 93 to Rs 742 per Minister; Baba Ramdev is not a 

against the foreign companies from border. Baba Ramdev is silent when cylinder. Food prices escalated Chief Minister; Baba Ramdev is not 

the rooftop that these foreign companies 

are looting the wealth of the the BJP in the valley of Kashmir Girls and women from the weak- 

is a party to the false promises made 

Mehbooba Mufti`s PDP was left by beyond the reach of a common man. an administrator. But Baba Ramdev 

country. Patanjali is Swadeshi (of leaving behind thousands of Hindus er sections of the society are raped in during 2014 elections; Baba 

manufactured goods) made in India unprotected and unsafe. Baba 19 states ruled by the BJP/RSS. Ramdev is a party to hoodwink the 

from materials that have also been Ramdev is silent when Vijay Mallya, According to a perception poll conducted 

by Thomson Reuters Dear countrymen and country- 

innocent people of India. 

produced in India. The irony is that a wilful defaulter, proclaimed 

illiterate masses of India misunderstood 

Swadeshi word and somehow run away from the country with dangerous country for women to live wisdom at this time, you will repent 

offender and a fugitive from justice Foundation, ‘India is now the most women, if you do not exercise your 

by mistake appropriated this word to more than Rs 9000 crore. The in’. Baba Ramdev is silent. Mosques for another 5 years; your children 

‘Swadeshi 

Movement’ Gangotri of black money is as flowing 

as it was in the era of UPA II. jected to various legal and adminis- 

and sons will roam without mar- 

and Madrassas across India are sub- 

will roam jobless; your daughters 

(Independence Movement), an independence 

movement once launched Today, over 17% of all bank loans trative hassles designed by Hindu riage; your elderly parents will suffer 

without medical care. I leave all 

by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi are estimated to be non-performing. militants and RSS protagonists. 

to boycott the British goods. The Gross NPAs stood at $6.06 trillion as Alfons Lopez Toma quoted Pankaj this to 'your thoughtful wisdom'. 

Continuous Page 5 

Hindus, Sikhs and BJP in 

nexus to repeal British 

Caste Legislation 

It further adds that ‘ Our thanks also go to 

Hon Bob Blackman MP, Chair of the APPG for 

British Hindus and the Hindu Parliamentarians 

and community leaders, who stepped forward 

to teach the community about Parliamentary 

processes and who guided and supported our 

forays into the arcane waters of statutory legislation. 

Finally on behalf of the Hindu Temples 

of the UK, we are grateful to PM Rt Hon 

Theresa May, her Government and Secretary 

of State Rt Hon Sajid Javid for arriving at an 

entirely just conclusion.’ 

Statement from Prakash Shah, Anti Caste 

Legislation Committee: 

The government’s decision came after it 

consulted whether the legislation’s duty should 

be enacted or whether only the intervening 

case law, through which the courts had already 

read ‘caste’ into the Act’s ‘ethnic group’ provision, 

should be retained. In so doing, it misleadingly 

presented the choice as being 

between the two options. The source of this 

choice probably lies in the suggestion by 

prominent Hindu lawyers that the coming 

online of recent case should allow the legislative 

duty to slide. Among these are Manoj 

Ladwa, informally Prime Minister Modi’s 

attaché for British affairs who campaigned for 

the London Mayor’s electoral contest, and 

Jayesh Jotangia, who leads the secretariat for 

the All Party Parliamentary Group for British 

Hindus. 

The signal was given at high levels that well 

positioned Hindus would be satisfied with the 

ending of the legislative duty, while the case 

law could be retained without attracting opposition. 

The Government latched on to the plan, 

buying time enough for the case law to be 

finalised. 

It is clear from Shah’s above quote that the 

British pronouncement to reach the repeal 

decision was connected to PM Narendra Modi. 

Statement from Equality and Human Rights 

Commission : 

Victims of caste discrimination will continue 

to have limited legal protection by the government 

ruling out a change in the law and 

restricting the scope of protection to what can 

be interpreted through case law. The government 

has missed a crucial opportunity to 

improve legal clarity and has taken a step back 

by looking to repeal the duty to include caste as 

an aspect of race in the Equality Act 2010. This 

is inconsistent with the UK’s international 

obligations to provide for separate and distinct 

protection for caste in our legislation. While 

we welcome the government’s commitment to 

produce guidance for employers, service 

providers and landlords on the sort of conduct 

that would be unlawful under the Equality Act, 

it does not replace the need for separate and 

distinct protection against caste discrimination 

in the law. 

I issued a further statement : 

The present Tory government not only lost 

its moral authority but holds parliament in contempt 

that you can see the way it manages 

Brexit. British parliament passed the caste law 

to protect victims of caste 

discrimination and empowered minister of 

the crown to implement that decision not to 

repeal that decision. The government sat on 

that legislation for 5 years and now rides 

roughshod over parliaments decision. 

The Tory governments in the past had 

expressed to abolish human rights and with it 

the EHRC . It lies in their natural instinct to 

stem the flow towards equality and human 

rights in general. 

The EHRC announcement did the honourable 

thing to uphold the principle of human 

rights and in particular Equality by declaring 

support for caste discrimination protection. 

Our campaign to outlaw caste discrimination 

remains unfinished business. 

Thank you for your time.

www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA September 2018 9 

Rohingya refugees demand justice on 

Myanmar crackdown anniversary 

Dhaka : Tens of thousands of 

Rohingya refugees held protests here on 

Saturday, demanding justice on the first 

anniversary of Myanmar's crackdown 

that forced them to flee to camps in 

neighbouring Bangladesh. 

Protesters in the world's largest 

Kutupalong refugee camp in 

Bangladesh rallied for justice and brandished 

a banner proclaiming: "Never 

Again". More than 700,000 of the 

minority community fled to Bangladesh 

after a crackdown by the Myanmar military 

in August 2017 that the UN has 

likened to "ethnic cleansing with signs 

of genocide through killings, rapes and 

the razing of houses that year". 

But the Myanmar government said it 

was fighting militants from the Arakan 

Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and 

was not targeting civilians. 

"The Myanmar military raped and 

killed our women, destroyed our properties," 

Rakib Hossain told BBC 

Bengali. "They have to be punished. We 

want justice." Ashiya Begum, whose 

husband was killed during the violence 

in Rakhine, called camp life "miserable". 

"We can't continue like this. Let 

us go home," she said. There were also 

religious services, with an imam reportedly 

asking God in his sermon to return 

Rohingyas to their homeland "to see our 

parents' graves". Meanwhile, the UN 

renewed its appeal for aid for 

Rohingyas and called for support for the 

stateless refugees. "Kutupalong settlement 

in Cox's Bazar today shelters more 

than 600,000 refugees, making it the 

largest and most densely populated 

refugee settlement in the world," said 

Hopeful PAKISTAN 

will win Jadhav case 

: Foreign Minister 

Islamabad : Pakistan Foreign 

Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi 

on Thursday said he is hopeful that 

the country will win the case 

against alleged Indian spy 

Kulbhushan Jadhav in the 

International Court of Justice 

(ICJ). "We have solid evidence 

against Jadhav and are hopeful we 

will win the case in the ICJ," 

Qureshi told the media in Multan 

city. "We will try our best to present 

our stance in an effective manner 

before the ICJ. Qureshi's comments 

came a day after the ICJ 

announced that it will hear 

Jadhav's case for a week in 

February 2019. "We will try to 

move forward under the leadership 

of Prime Minister Imran 

Khan. The nation should be ready 

as we will have to take some bitter 

decisions," he said. Jadhav was 

sentenced to death by a Pakistani 

military court for espionage in 

April 2017 following which India 

moved the ICJ. A 10-member ICJ 

bench restrained Pakistan from 

executing Jadhav till the case was 

adjudicated on. He was apprehended 

on March 3, 2016 after 

illegally crossing into Pakistan 

from Iran, according to Pakistani 

officials. Indian officials deny he 

was a spy and allege he was seized 

and taken forcibly to Pakistan. 

Sri Lankan man 

charged with 

terror document 

in Sydney 

Sydney : A Sri Lankan man 

was refused bail by a Sydney 

court on Friday, after being 

charged with a terrorism related 

offence. Authorities swooped 

on the 25-year-old at the 

University of New South Wales 

on Thursday after a fellow 

worker discovered a notebook 

that allegedly contained "potential 

targets", reports Xinhua 

news agency. The man was 

charged with collecting or making 

a document which is connected 

with preparation for the 

engagement of a person in or 

assistance in a terrorist act, 

Xinhua news agency reported. 

"They are symbolic locations 

within Sydney," acting 

Detective Superintendent Mick 

Sheehy explained. "We have 

both psychologists and investigators 

looking at that document 

to try to interpret the intent and 

capability, but that is in essence 

the offence that is before the 

court." 

Authorities seized a number 

of electric items on Friday 

morning when police raided a 

Sydney apartment. Currently in 

Australia on a student visa, 

counter-terrorism investigators 

believed the man is also affiliated 

with the Islamic State group 

but at this stage he has not been 

charged with being a member. 

the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR. 

"Over the past year, UNHCR teams 

have been working to support 

Bangladeshi authorities in areas including 

psycho-social counselling, prevention 

of sexual and gender-based violence, 

identification of and assistance to 

separated and unaccompanied children 

and other vulnerable refugees," the 

agency said. It also said the joint 

response plan launched in March 2018, 

appealing for $951 million for the period 

from March to December 2018, was 

only one-third funded. 

The World Health Organization said 

that the biggest challenge was "the need 

to further scale up services to meet the 

health needs of this highly vulnerable 

population". In a statement on the 

anniversary, ARSA affirmed its intention 

to continue with the fight to allow 

the Rohingyas to return to Rakhine, and 

accused the Myanmar authorities of 

looking to destroy their people. 

In a Rakhine village, the situation 

was calm on Saturday but there was a 

strong presence of border police and 

soldiers, a Muslim Rohingya man told 

Efe news. The man said he has no freedom 

of movement and was closely 

monitored along with the rest of the 

community. The Myanmar government 

has agreed a deal with Bangladesh to 

repatriate refugees but few have 

returned, with Rohingya leaders saying 

they would not go back unless they 

could guarantee their safety. 

Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi 

has faced international outrage for not 

condemning the Army's actions in 

Rakhine state. A predominantly 

Buddhist country, Myanmar denies 

Rohingyas citizenship. The government 

even excluded them from the 2014 census 

and refused to recognize them as a 

people. 

Modi meets Sri Lankan President 

New Delhi/Kathmandu : 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi on Thursday held talks 

with Sri Lankan President 

Maithripala Sirisena on the sidelines 

of the fourth BIMSTEC 

Summit here. 

“Good and positive exchange 

of views on strengthening 

development cooperation and 

other areas of bilateral relationship 

(between India and Sri 

Lanka),” External Affairs 

Ministry spokesperson Raveesh 

Kumar tweeted. Modi is also 

scheduled to meet other heads 

of state and government taking 

part in the summit. 

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Panasonic to move its 

European headquarters 

out of UK 

Tokyo : Japanese technology company 

Panasonic will move its European headquarters 

outside of the United Kingdom on October 1, 

before the country leaves the European Union, a 

move known as brexit, in 2019, a spokeswoman 

for the conglomerate said on Friday. Panasonic 

confirmed to Efe that it will move its European 

headquarters from Bracknell, in Berkshire 

County, about 45 km west of London, to 

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where the headquarters 

of Panasonic Holding Netherlands (parent 

of its subsidiaries located outside Japan) and 

Panasonic Finance (PFI), the group's financing 

company, are already located. The move "will 

allow a high level of cooperation and collaboration 

with PHN and PFI, whose main objective is 

to expand shared operations in Europe to 

achieve greater efficiency and cost competitiveness, 

while having easy access to the different 

European markets", spokeswoman said. 

The company also took into account the decision 

of the United Kingdom to leave the 

European Union in determining the relocation. 

"In the future, this may lead to changes in the 

transfer of labor, products, materials, services, 

data and potential tax obstacles through the 

application of different rules and regulations 

between the UK and the EU," she said. 

Panasonic would also like to avoid the problems 

that could arise if the Japanese government were 

to consider the United Kingdom as a tax haven 

if it opts to reduce corporate taxes in order to 

attract companies after the brexit, planned for 

March next year, to alleviate the flight of large 

conglomerates. 

The Japanese technology conglomerate said 

it hopes to "minimise the impact wherever possible 

for the small number of people involved in 

this change of our regional headquarters" and 

stated that "no business operations in the UK 

will be affected". 

Coca Cola to buy coffee 

chain Costa for $5.1 bn 

London : The Coca Cola Company on 

Friday said it will buy British coffee shop chain 

Costa for $5.1 billion, diversifying further from 

its soft drink roots, according to a Dow Jones 

report. Founded in London in 1971, Costa, a 

rival to Starbucks Corporation in the UK, has 

nearly 4,000 stores in 32 countries and also sells 

coffee in grocery shops and gas stations. Coke 

said the purchase would give it a strong position 

in coffee across parts of Europe, Asia and the 

Middle East. It already sells some coffee products 

and owns the Georgia brand in Japan, Efe 

news reported. Coffee has recently been a hot 

industry for M&A. Nestle SA earlier in 2018 

bought the rights to sell Starbucks in grocery 

and retail stores for more than $7 billion. The 

acquisition is also the latest sign of how soda 

makers are diversifying as they look to move 

beyond sugary pop. It marks the latest bet by a 

major consumer goods company on coffee. 

Coke is buying Costa from British leisure group 

Whitbread PLC, which also owns the Premier 

Inn hotel brand in the UK and Germany. 

Whitbread's shares soared 18 per cent in early 

trading on Friday. It said it expected the deal to 

be completed in the first half of 2019. 

Bimstec commits itself 

to seamless connectivity, 

FREE TRADE AREA 

Kathmandu : The Bimstec 

regional bloc on Friday reiterated 

its resolve to provide seamless 

transport connectivity within its 

seven member states and renewed 

its commitment to an early free 

trade deal. A joint declaration 

issued at the conclusion of the 

Fourth Bimstec Summit here stated 

that the member states resolved 

"to establish seamless multi-modal 

transportation linkages and 

smooth, synchronised and simplified 

transit facilities". This would 

be done "through the development, 

expansion and modernisation of 

highways, railways, waterways, 

sea routes, airways in the region". 

It said that the respective authorities 

would be directed to speed up 

their efforts to conclude the Bay of 

Bengal Initiative for Multi- 

Sectoral Technical and Economic 

Cooperation's Coastal Shipping 

Agreement and the Bimstec Motor 

Vehicle Agreement as early as possible. 

The bloc was also satisfied 

with the preparation of the draft 

Bimstec Master Plan on Transport 

Connectivity and called for its 

early adoption. 

It thanked the Asian 

Development Bank for providing 

support to prepare the Master Plan 

and tasked the Bimstec Transport 

Connectivity Working Group to 

work out the modalities for its 

implementation, giving due attention 

to the special circumstances 

and needs of the member states. 

"We agree that the Master Plan 

would serve as a strategic document 

that guides actions and promotes 

synergy among various 

connectivity frameworks, such as 

the Asean (Association of 

Southeast Asian Nations) Master 

Plan on Connectivity 2025 

(MPAC 2025), the Ayeyawady- 

Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic 

Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), 

to achieve enhanced connectivity 

and sustainable development in 

our region," it stated. 

The statement comes in the 

wake of Indian Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi's stress on connectivity 

within the region during his 

address at the inaugural session of 

the Summit on Thursday. 

Bimstec came into existence on 

June 6, 1997, through the 

Bangkok Declaration. 

It comprises seven countries 

lying in the littoral and adjacent 

Weak rupee depress 

equity INDICES 

Mumbai : The key Indian 

equity indices closed in the red 

on Friday owing to a weak 

rupee along with a declining 

trend in global indices. At 3.30 

p.m., the Nifty50 on the 

National Stock Exchange 

(NSE) provisionally closed at 

11,673.90 points, lower by just 

2.90 points or 0.02 per cent 

from its previous close of 

11,676.80 points. 

The benchmark 

S&P BSE Sensex, 

which had opened 

at 38,704.84 

points, provisionally 

closed at 

38,645.07 points, 

lower by 45.03 

points or 0.12 per 

cent from the previous 

close of 38,690.10 points. 

It touched an intra-day high of 

38,838.45 points and a low of 

38,562.21 points. The top gainers 

on the Sensex were Tata 

Motors, Tata Motors (DVR), 

Power Grid, Sun Pharma and 

Bajaj Auto; while Yes Bank, 

Reliance Industries, Mahindra 

and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki 

and Vedanta lost the most. 

New Delhi : India and Pakistan 

have discussed the implementation of 

various hydroelectric projects under 

the Indus Waters Treaty during the 

115th meeting of the India-Pakistan 

Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) in 

Lahore on August 29-30, the External 

Affairs Ministry said on Friday. 

"As per the provisions of the Indus 

Waters Treaty 1960, technical discussions 

were held on the implementation 

of various hydroelectric projects, 

including Pakal Dul (1,000 MW) and 

Lower Kalnai(48 MW) in Jammu and 

Kashmir," the Ministry said in a statement. 

"Both the countries agreed to undertake 

the Treaty-mandated tours of both 

the Indus Commissioners in the Indus 

basin on both sides," it said. 

areas of the Bay of Bengal -- 

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, 

Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and 

Thailand. The bloc brings together 

1.6 billion people, or 22 per cent 

of the world's population, and has 

a combined GDP of $2.8 trillion. 

In terms of trade cooperation, 

the bloc renewed its commitment 

to an early conclusion of Bimstec 

Free Trade Area (FTA) negotiations, 

and directed the Bimstec 

Trade and Economic Ministerial 

Meeting (TEMM) and its subsidiary 

bodies including the Trade 

Negotiating Committee (TNC) to 

expedite finalisation of all related 

Agreements of the Bimstec FTA 

as early as possible. 

The member states also agreed 

to enhance cooperation for development, 

access and sharing of 

affordable technologies, including 

for micro, small and medium 

enterprises for promoting sustainable 

development across sectors. 

The declaration reemphasised 

the need for cooperation in mountain 

ecosystems and the Blue 

Economy. In terms of people-topeople 

ties, the bloc resolved to 

build a deeper understanding and 

trust among member states and 

promote people-to-people contacts 

at various levels. 

The member states also agreed 

"to take concrete steps to promote 

intra-Bimstec tourism and task the 

relevant authorities to devise 

strategies considering the emerging 

opportunities and building on 

the past initiatives". 

India, Pakistan discuss 

implementation of Indus 

Waters Treaty projects 

"Deliberations were also held on 

further strengthening the role of the 

Permanent Indus Commission on matters 

falling under the Treaty purview." 

The treaty was signed in 1960 and 

involves the Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, 

Chenab and Jhelum rivers. 

Brokered by the World Bank, the 

treaty gave the right to use waters of 

the first three rivers to India and of the 

other three to Pakistan. 

India has said it has the right under 

the treaty to set up hydroelectric plants 

on the tributaries of the rivers flowing 

through its territory. Pakistan fears this 

might reduce the water flow into its territory. 

During the Lahore talks, the Indian 

side was led by P.K. Saxena, the Indian 

Commissioner for Indus Waters.


HEALTH 


13 

Intake of low-carb diet or 

high-carb diet can increase 

risk of an early death 

It was deduced that 

for a healthy lifespan, a 

moderate amount of 

carbohydrate is imperative. 

Less than 40 per 

cent or more than 70 

per cent of calories 

from carbohydrates 

increases the risk of 

mortality. 

Cutting down carb intake and eating 

it in moderation is what dieticians and 

nutritionists generally advise. A recent 

study has shown that the intake of both 

high-carb diet or a low one can increase 

the risk of an early death. 

The research published in the Lancet 

public health journal took into consideration 

results of eight studies. It was 

deduced that for a healthy lifespan, a 

moderate amount of carbohydrate is 

imperative. Less than 40 per cent or 

more than 70 per cent of calories from 

carbohydrates increases the risk of mortality. 

A report in The Guardian cautions 

that not all low-carb diets are similar. 

Those who eat more meat like chicken, 

lamb and less carbohydrates, their mortality 

risk tend to be higher than those 

who get their protein from foods such 

like avocados, nuts and legumes. 

"Low-carb diets that replace carbohydrates 

with protein or fat are gaining 

widespread popularity as a health and 

weight loss strategy," Dr Sara 

Seidelmann said as quoted in the report. 

"However, our data suggests that animal-based 

low-carbohydrate diets, 

which are prevalent in North America 

and Europe, might be associated with 

shorter overall life span and should be 

discouraged. Instead, if one chooses to 

follow a low-carbohydrate diet, then 

exchanging carbohydrates for more 

plant-based fats and proteins might 

actually promote healthy ageing in the 

long term." Seidelmann, who also led 

the research, added. She also said that 

instead pf presenting a single picture, 

her team has tried to "thoroughly 

answer a question". 

"Nutrition is high up on everybody's 

mind but there is such confusion about 

what we should eat. One day, a study is 

coming out telling us high carb is better, 

another day a study is telling us low 

carb is better." 

Eat strawberries, 

improve gut health 

Eating strawberries at a dose 

equivalent to as low as three 

quarters of a cup may reduce 

colonic inflammation and 

improve gut health, a study has 

found. 

Inflammatory bowel disease 

(IBD) is a set of painful conditions 

that can cause severe diarrhoea 

and fatigue and the treatment 

can include medications 

and surgery. 

The findings suggest that the 

dietary consumption of whole 

strawberries, significantly suppressed 

symptoms like weight 

loss and bloody diarrhoea in 

mice with inflammatory bowel 

disease (IBD). 

"The sedentary lifestyle and 

dietary habits of many people in 

this country-high-sugar, highanimal 

fat, but low-fibre dietsmay 

promote colonic inflammation 

and increase the risk of 

IBD," said lead author Hang 

Xiao from the University of 

Massachusetts Amherst in the 

US. 

The study, to be presented at 

the 256th National Meeting and 

Exposition of the American 

Chemical Society (ACS), also 

found that strawberry treatments 

diminished inflammatory 

responses in the mice colonic 

issue. 

To establish an effective and 

practical approach to decrease 

colonic inflammation in both 

IBD patients and the general 

population, the team focused on 

strawberries due to their wide 

consumption. 

For the study, the researchers 

used four groups of mice-a 

group of healthy mice consuming 

a regular diet, and three 

groups of mice with IBD consuming 

a regular diet which had 

2.5 per cent whole strawberry 

powder or a diet with five per 

cent whole strawberry powder. 

They tried to feed the mice 

doses of strawberries that would 

be in line with what a human 

could reasonably consume. 

The team found that along 

with decreased inflammation, a 

reversal of the unhealthy microbiota 

pathways in the IBD mice 

was also observed-which in turn 

could lead to the decreased 

colonic inflammation. 

Although drinking cold water 

is effective in increasing blood 

circulation levels, according to 

researchers, the number of calories 

that are burned by drinking 

cold water is too little to even 

make a difference. 

Contrary to popular belief, 

drinking cold water for weight 

loss is just a myth. Although it is 

effective in increasing blood circulation 

levels, according to 

researchers, the number of calories 

that are burned by drinking 

cold water is too little to even 

make a difference. A study conducted 

by ScienceDirect states 

how they asked participants to 

drink 5 ml, 10 ml, 15 ml and 20 

Does drinking cold water actually 

help in weight loss? Let's find out 

ml of water in the morning or 

before lunch to see if it helps in 

weight loss. But the researchers 

found that drinking even 20 ml 

of water reduced very less number 

of calories. 

The main aim should be to 

drink enough water, be it cold or 

If you have a higher body mass index 

(BMI) then there are chances that you may 

have increased blood pressure (BP) too, a 

new study has found. 

The findings, published in the journal 

JAMA Network Open, showed a strong correlation 

between the degree of obesity and 

high blood pressure. Uncontrolled high 

blood pressure can lead to several cardiovascular 

diseases such as heart attack, stroke 

and heart failure. For the study, the research 

team involved 1.7 million Chinese men and 

women aged between 35 and 80 years and 

recorded the participants' blood pressure 

from September 2014 to June 2017. They 

observed an increase of 0.8 to 1.7 mm Hg 

(kg/m2) in blood pressure per additional unit 

of BMI in individuals who were not taking 

warm, to keep yourself from 

getting dehydrated. Did you 

know that drinking cold water 

during exercise helps in reducing 

dehydration, in turn making 

you feel less tired? Also, intake 

of around two to four liters of 

water every day will increase 

metabolism and flush out toxins 

from the body. 

According to a study by the 

University of Washington, 

drinking 10 cups of ice water 

helps burn about 80 extra calories. 

But it can be "easily gained 

back by eating one stick of 

string cheese, one hard-boiled 

egg, or one medium chocolatechip 

cookie. Drinking cold 

water makes such a small dent 

in the calorie balance that it will 

not help you lose weight if your 

eating and exercise pattern stay 

the same." 

Higher BMI may increase your BP as well 

anti-hypertensive medication. Overall, the 

population had a mean BMI of 24.7 and a 

mean systolic blood pressure of 136.5, which 

qualifies as stage-I hypertension, according 

to American Heart Association guidelines. 

"If trends in overweight and obesity continue 

in China, the implication of our study is 

that hypertension, already a major risk factor, 

is likely to become even more important," 

said senior author Harlan Krumholz 

from Yale University in the US. 

"This paper is ringing the bell that the 

time is now to focus on these risk factors," 

he added. "The enormous size of the dataset 

-- the result of an unprecedented effort in 

China -- allows us to characterise this relationship 

between BMI and blood pressure 

across tens of thousands of subgroups, 

which simply would not be possible in a 

smaller study," said author George 

Linderman from the varsity. This research 

has been supported by grants from the 

Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences 

Innovation Fund for Medical Science, the 

Ministry of Finance of China and the 

National Health and Family Planning 

Commission of China to name a few.


HEALTH 


How diet can aid in healthy 

cellular ageing in women 

Having a diet that is rich in fruit, vegetable and whole grain and low in added sugar, sodium and 

processed meat could help promote healthy cellular ageing in women, a study has showed. 

Researchers from the University of 

Michigan (UM) used telomere length to 

measure cellular ageing -- the strongest 

predictor of telomere length, which 

shorten in length during each cell cycle, 

Xinhua news agency reported. 

The findings showed that women 

who followed a diet with plenty of fruit, 

vegetable, whole grain and plant-based 

protein and limited sugar, sodium and 

red and processed meat, had significantly 

with longer telomere length. 

In men, the findings were in the same 

direction, but not statistically significant. 

"We have seen some gender differences 

in previous nutrition and telomere 

studies. Men tended to have lower diet 

quality scores than women. Men also 

had higher intakes of sugary beverages 

and processed meats, both of which 

have been associated with shorter 

telomeres in prior studies," said lead 

author Cindy Leung, assistant professor 

at the UM School of Public Health. 

"Overall, the findings suggest that 

following these guidelines is associated 

with longer telomere length and reduces 

the risk of major chronic disease," 

Leung added. 

The benefit of these healthy diet patterns 

is due to the fact that they are 

antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. 

They create a biochemical environment 

favourable to telomeres, the 

researchers noted, in the paper published 

in the American Journal of 

Epidemiology. Nevertheless, recent 

studies have shown that telomeres can 

also be shortened due to behavioural, 

environmental and psychological factors. 

Shorter telomeres have been associated 

with an increased risk for heart 

disease, Type-2 diabetes and some cancers. 

"Emphasis should be placed on 

improving the overall quality of your 

diet rather than emphasising individual 

foods or nutrients," Leung said. 

The study, examined the diets of a 

nationally representative sample of 

nearly 5,000 healthy adults and how 

well they scored on four evidence-based 

diet quality indices, including the 

Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet. 

DIET IMPACTS 

emotional wellbeing 

in WOMEN 

Women may need a more nutrientrich 

diet than men to maintain positive 

emotional well-being, according 

to a study. Researchers from 

Binghamton University in the US 

conducted an anonymous survey of 

563 participants (48 per cent men and 

52 per cent women) through social 

media. They found that men are more 

likely to experience mental wellbeing 

until nutritional deficiencies 

arise. Women, however, are less likely 

to experience mental well-being 

unless a balanced diet and a healthy 

lifestyle are followed. The study, 

published in the journal Nutritional 

Neuroscience, may explain reports 

from previous studies that show 

women are at a greater risk for mental 

distress when compared to men. 

It emphasises the role of a nutrient-dense 

diet in mental wellbeing. 

"The biggest takeaway is that 

women may need a larger spectrum 

of nutrients to support mood, compared 

to men," said Lina Begdache, 

an assistant professor at Binghamton 

University. "These findings may 

explain the reason why women are 

twice more likely to be diagnosed 

with anxiety and depression and suffer 

from longer episodes, compared 

to men. "Today's diet is high in energy 

but poor in key nutrients that support 

brain anatomy and functionality," 

Begdache said. 

There is no safe 

level of drinking 

alcohol : Lancet 

Contrary to claims that one or two 

glasses of wine a day keep you healthy, a 

study published in the prestigious journal 

The Lancet has warned that there is no 

safe level of drinking alcohol as it is 

associated with nearly one in 10 deaths 

among middle-aged people. 

The findings showed that any health 

benefits of alcohol against heart disease 

lems each year. "Policies focussing on 

reducing alcohol consumption to the 

lowest levels will be important to 

improve health. "The widely held view 

of the health benefits of alcohol needs 

revising, particularly as improved methods 

and analyses continue to shed light 

on how much alcohol contributes to 

global death and disability," said lead 

University of Washington in the US. The 

Global Burden of Disease study estimated 

the level of alcohol use and health 

effects in 28 million people across 195 

countries between 1990 and 2016. For 

people aged 50 and older, cancers were a 

leading cause of alcohol related death, 

constituting 27.1 per cent of deaths in 

women and 18.9 per cent deaths in men. 

and diabetes are outweighed by its author Max Griswold, from the "Worldwide we need to revisit alcohol 

adverse effects on other aspects of 

control policies and 

health, particularly cancers. 

"The conclusions of the study are 

clear and unambiguous: alcohol is a 

colossal global health issue and 

small reductions in health-related 

harms at low levels of alcohol intake 

are outweighed by the increased risk 

health programmes, and 

to consider recommendations 

for abstaining 

from alcohol. "These 

include excise taxes on 

alcohol, controlling the 

physical availability of 

of other health-related harms, 

alcohol and the hours of 

including cancer," said Robyn 

Burton, from the King's College 

London. Globally, one in three people 

sale, and controlling 

alcohol advertising. Any 

of these policy actions 

(32.5 per cent) drink alcohol -- 

would contribute to 

equivalent to 2.4 billion people -- 

including 25 per cent of women (0.9 

billion women) and 39 per cent of 

men (1.5 billion men). 

reductions in population-level 

consumption, 

a vital step toward 

decreasing the health 

Consequently, 2.2 per cent of 

loss associated with 

women and 6.8 per cent of men died 

alcohol use," the 

from alcohol-related health prob- 

researchers said.


HEALTH 


15 

New way to attack 

herpes virus discovered 

by scientists 

into a human cell. Instead, it carries 

its viral DNA into the cell virus. To confirm their find- 

and continue creating a new 

along with proteins called PP71. ings, the team created a synthetic 

version of the virus that 

After entering the cell, it releases 

these PP71 proteins, which allowed them to adjust the levels 

of the IE1 proteins using 

enables the viral DNA to replicate 

and the infection to spread. small molecules. With this 

Normally, when a virus 

enters your cell, that cell 

blocks the virus's DNA and 

prevents it from performing 

any actions. A team of scientists 

have uncovered the mechanism 

that allows the herpes 

virus to replicate. Their study 

could open new therapeutic 

avenues to treat not only 

cytomegalovirus but other 

viruses as well. 

Human cytomegalovirus is a 

leading cause of birth defects 

and transplant failures. As it's 

evolved over time, this virus 

from the herpes family has 

found a way to bypass the 

body's defense mechanisms that 

usually guard against viral 

infections. Until now, scientists 

couldn't understand how it manages 

to do so. Normally, when a 

virus enters your cell, that cell 

blocks the virus's DNA and prevents 

it from performing any 

actions. The virus must overcome 

this barrier to effectively 

multiply. To get around this 

obstacle, cytomegalovirus doesn't 

simply inject its own DNA 

The researchers found that, 

while PP71 is still present in 

the cell, it activates another 

protein known as IE1. This 

happens within the first few 

hours of the virus entering the 

cell, allowing the IE1 protein 

to take over after PP71 dies 

technique, they could let the 

virus infect the cell while controlling 

how quickly the IE1 

protein would break down in 

the cell. The first author of the 

new study Noam Vardi said, 

"We noticed that when the IE1 

protein degrades slowly, as it 

normally does, the virus can 

replicate very efficiently. But if 

the protein breaks down faster, 

the virus can't multiply as well. 

So, we confirmed that the virus 

needs the IE1 protein to successfully 

replicate." 

This study could have broad 

implications for the scientific 

community, which has been 

struggling to determine how 

cells maintain their identity 

over time. During development, 

for instance, stem cells choose a 

path based on the proteins that 

surround them. But even after 

these initial proteins disappear, 

the specialized cells don't 

change. So, stem cells that turn 

into neurons during development 

continue to be neurons 

long after those proteins are 

gone. The new study could lead 

to a new therapeutic target to 

attack cytomegalovirus and 

other herpesviruses, such as 

Epstein-Barr virus that causes 

mononucleosis and herpes 

simplex virus 1 and 2 that produce 

most cold sores and genital 

herpes. 

'New drugs may help 

smokers kick the butt' 

Scientists say they have 

developed over a dozen drugs 

which may help smokers reduce 

their consumption of tobacco, if 

not quit altogether. The 

researchers from the 

Washington State University in 

the US created the substances 

with the potential to curb smokers' 

desire for nicotine by slowing 

how it is broken down in the 

body. The finding, published in 

the Journal of Medicinal 

Chemistry, targets a liver 

enzyme, called CYP2A6, which 

metabolises nicotine. Nicotine 

triggers the release of dopamine 

and serotonin, two pleasure 

causing chemicals produced by 

the body. However, as it gets 

metabolised, users can experience 

withdrawal symptoms like 

tingling in the hands and feet, 

sweating, anxiety and irritability. 

This is the feeling that the 

researchers are targeting, said 

Travis Denton, an assistant professor 

at the Washington State 

University. Denton and Philip 

Lazarus, a professor of pharmaceutical 

sciences, designed 

dozens of molecules that bind 

to CYP2A6 and inhibit its ability 

to metabolise nicotine. 

"If you inhibit CYP2A6, it 

should not bother your overall 

health," said Lazarus. "If we 

could specifically target this 

enzyme, people should be fine, 

and it will possibly help them 

stop smoking or at least 

decrease their amount of smoking," 

he said. The researchers 

have tested their candidate 

drugs to make sure they do not 

disrupt other major enzymes 

that help the body metabolise 

other substances. 

This helped narrow the number 

of potential drugs down to 

18. Once the US Food and 

Drug Administration (FDA) 

verifies a drug's safety, 

clinical trials would begin to 

see how it works in a human, 

researchers said. 

Brain tumours may occur 

in children with common 

genetic SYNDROME 

Parents, please take note. The frequency of 

brain tumours has been underestimated in children 

with the common genetic syndrome-neurofibromatosis 

type 1 (NF1), a new study has 

found. According to the researchers, this disorder 

is characterised by birthmarks on the skin and 

benign nerve tumours that develop in or on the 

skin. Brain tumours are 

also known to occur in 

children and adults 

with NF1. They estimated 

that only 15-20 

per cent of kids with 

NF1 develop brain 

tumours. But the 

study, published in the 

journal Neurology: 

Clinical Practice, 

found that the frequency 

of brain tumours in 

this population was 

more than three times 

higher. 

"I'm not delivering 

the message anymore 

that brain tumours are rare in NF1. This study 

has changed how I decide which children need 

more surveillance and when to let the neurooncologists 

know that we may have a problem," 

said senior author David H. Gutmann from the 

Washington University School of Medicine. 

Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans 

of children with NF1 characteristically show 

bright spots that are absent in the scans of unaffected 

children. Unlike tumours, they are generally 

thought to disappear in teenage years, the 

researchers said. Since brain tumours can be confused 

with harmless bright spots, it has never 

been clear whether finding these abnormalities 

via MRI should be a 

cause for concern, they 

added. For the study, the 

team developed a set of 

criteria to distinguish 

tumours from other 

bright spots. The 

researchers then 

analysed scans from 68 

NF1 patients and 46 

children without NF1 

for comparison. 

All but four (94 per 

cent) of the children 

with NF1 had bright 

spots, and none of the 

children without NF1 

did. Further, in 57 per 

cent of the children with bright spots, at least one 

of the spots was deemed likely to be a tumour, 

the research team found. Applying the new criteria 

to MRI scans will help physicians identify 

probable tumours, but that does not mean that all 

children with NF1 should be scanned regularly, 

the researchers cautioned.


WORLD 


Dutch anti- 

Islam lawmaker 

cancels Prophet 

Muhammad 

cartoon contest 

Amsterdam : Dutch anti- 

Islam lawmaker Geert 

Wilders has cancelled a 

scheduled Prophet 

Muhammad cartoon contest 

in the capital here in 

November following widespread 

protest in Pakistan that 

raised concerns over security 

to the participants. 

The far-right opposition 

Dutch lawmaker, who for 

years has lived under roundthe-clock 

protection because 

of death threats sparked by his 

fierce anti-Islam rhetoric, 

cancelled the event following 

concerns of extreme threat 

after a 26-year-old Pakistani 

man was arrested who 

allegedly planned an attack on 

Wilders. “To avoid the risk of 

victims of Islamic violence, I 

have decided not to let the 

cartoon contest go ahead,” 

Geert Wilders said in a written 

statement, noting he did 

not want others endangered 

by the contest he had planned 

for November. 

The contest was to have 

been held at the tightly guarded 

offices of his Party for 

Freedom in the Dutch parliament 

building. 

“It’s not just about me,” 

Wilders, who has a history of 

inflammatory statements 

about Islam, said in the statement. 

Strong opponents of the 

event “see not only me, but 

the entire Netherlands as a 

target”. He followed up the 

statement later on Thursday 

with a tweet saying: “Islam 

showed its true face once 

again with death threats, fatwas 

and violence. However, 

the safety and security of my 

fellow countrymen comes 

first.” The Dutch government 

had been at pains to distance 

itself from the contest. Prime 

Minister Mark Rutte last 

week questioned Wilders’ 

motive for organising the contest. 

“His aim is not to have a 

debate about Islam. His aim is 

to be provocative,” Rutte said. 

The planned contest 

sparked a death threat this 

week from a 26-year-old man, 

reportedly a Pakistani, who 

was arrested Tuesday in The 

Hague. On Wednesday, thousands 

of Islamists set off on a 

protest march to Pakistan’s 

capital Islamabad demanding 

Imran Khan’s new government 

sever diplomatic ties 

with the Netherlands over the 

“blasphemous” competition. 

Myanmar rejects UN accusations of genocide 

Naypyidaw : Myanmar on 

Wednesday rejected a UN report that 

said there was evidence of genocide in 

the military operation carried out by the 

Myanmar government against the 

Muslim Rohingya minority. 

"We didn't allow the FFM (Fact 

Finding Mission) to enter into 

Myanmar, that's why we don't agree and 

accept any resolutions made by the 

Human Rights Council," Myanmar's 

newspaper Global New Light quoted 

government spokesperson Zaw Htay as 

saying. 

On Monday, UN experts reported 

that there is evidence of intentional 

genocide and crimes against humanity 

perpetrated on a large scale. 

The mission condemned the government 

of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San 

Suu Kyi for failing to stop the violence 

and recommended the establishment of 

an international court to investigate and prosecute the alleged perpetrators belonging to the armed forces. Htay said 

Trump accuses China 

of stalling progress 

with N.Korea 

Washington : US President Donald 

Trump has lashed out at China for undermining 

its work with North Korea, as criticism 

over progress on denuclearisation on 

the Korean peninsula mounts. In a series of 

tweets Trump said he saw no reason to 

resume the joint war 

games with South Korea 

that have angered North 

Korea, BBC reported. 

Days ago Trump's 

Defence Secretary Jim 

Mattis said that military 

exercises might continue 

with South Korea. In his 

tweets Trump accused 

Beijing of providing 

North Korea with "considerable 

aid", suggesting 

China was softening the 

blow of sanctions. "This is not helpful!" 

Trump said. China has accused Trump of 

"shifting blame" on its relations with North 

Korea. A summit between Trump and 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June 

concluded with a pledge from North Korea 

to work towards "the complete denuclearisation 

of the Korean peninsula". But since 

then many observers say North Korea is 

not moving fast enough to dismantle its 

nuclear sites. 

Days ago, Washington called off a trip 

to North Korea by US Secretary of State 

Mike Pompeo with the President arguing 

that insufficient progress had been made in 

dismantling the North's 

nuclear programme. 

Since the June summit, 

North Korea has 

halted its missile tests, 

claimed to have dismantled 

a nuclear testing 

site and returned the 

remains of US soldiers 

killed in the Korean 

War. A report by Vox 

suggests that 

Pyongyang is reluctant 

to proceed with denuclearisation 

because Trump failed to live 

up to his alleged promise to Kim that he 

would sign an official declaration to end 

the Korean War. After a UN report found 

that North Korea was continuing to work 

on its nuclear programme, the US urged the 

international community to maintain sanctions 

and economic pressure on 

Pyongyang. 

Washington, Actress Anne 

Hathaway will be honoured with the 

Human Rights Campaign (HRC) 

National Equality Award here on 

September 15. 

The “Bride Wars” actress will receive 

the award for her humanitarian work 

that she has done for the society, especially 

with with women and the LGBTQ 

Samsung launches 

'Android Go' budget 

smartphone in India 

New Delhi : Samsung India on Tuesday launched 

its first "Android Go" budget smartphone named 

"Galaxy J2 Core" in the country for Rs 6,190. 

Android Oreo (Go) is essentially made for entrylevel 

Android smartphones with less than 1GB RAM 

and hence uses less storage space, less memory and 

still functions smoothly. "We are pleased to integrate 

industry-first smart memory management solutions 

that allow apps or content on the memory card. We 

are also partnering with Google in bringing the latest 

Android experience for entry-level smartphones 

with Android Oreo (Go Edition) on Galaxy 'J2 

Core'," Sumit Walia, Director, Mobile business, 

Samsung India, said in a statement. 

The smartphone features 8MP rear camera and 

5MP front camera and comes with a 5-inch display. 

The device is powered by Samsung's proprietary 

Exynos processor that is especially tuned for 

Android Oreo (Go Edition), the company claimed. 

The device comes with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal 

memory which can be expanded up to 256GB via 

an external memory card. "J2 COre" Android Go 

smartphone is available in gold, blue and black 

colours across all retail stores and Samsung's e-shop 

website. Originally announced at Google I/O 2017 

annual developer conference, this OS is a toned 

down version of the latest Android Oreo OS which is 

currently present in high-end devices. 

community, reports variety.com. 

Acknowleging Hathaway’s contribution 

for the society, HRC President 

Chad Griffin said: “Through her incredible 

talent and bold activism, Anne 

Hathaway uses her global platform to 

stand up for the LGBTQ community. 

“From speaking out against discriminatory 

legislation targeting the LGBTQ 

that the government has already formed 

an independent commission to "respond 

to false allegations made by the UN 

agencies and other international communities". 

Myanmar does not recognize 

the Rohingyas as one of the nation's ethnic 

groups but considers them to be illegal 

Bangladeshi immigrants, subjecting 

them to various kinds of discrimination. 

Both the army and the Myanmar government 

have rejected all accusations of 

human rights violations. 

Humanitarian NGO, Doctors Without 

Borders, estimated that at least 6,700 

Rohingyas, including 730 children 

under the age of five, died as a result of 

the violence unleashed by the military 

offensive. 

Soldiers have been accused of committing 

murders, mass rapes and burning 

the homes of the Rohingyas in 

Myanmar's Rakhine state, the home of 

this ethnic minority community. 

17 killed 

in 

Ethiopian 

military 

helicopter 

crash 

Addis Ababa : 

All the 17 persons 

on-board were killed 

when an Ethiopian 

military helicopter 

crashed in Oromia 

regional state on 

Thursday, Ethiopia 

News Agency 

(ENA) reported. The 

Ethiopian Air Force 

helicopter had taken 

off early on 

Thursday from the 

city of Dire Dawa 

and was scheduled 

to arrive at the country's 

main Air Force 

base in Debre Zeit 

when it crashed 

about 50 km from its 

destination, Xinhua 

news agency reported. 

Among the 17 

dead were two children 

and two 

women. An investigation 

is underway 

to determine the 

cause of the crash, 

ENA reported. 

ANNE HATHAWAY TO GET 

HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD 

community to her leadership on workplace 

equality for women, Anne is making 

a real difference in the lives of 

countless people around the globe.” 

Earlier this year, Hathaway was also 

appointed as UN Women’s Global 

Ambassador, where her work involves 

supporting women’s equality in the 

workplace.


ENTERTAINMENT 

Knew 'Yamla Pagla Deewana 2' 

turned out to be bad : Dharmendra 

Veteran actor Dharmendra says 

"Yamla Pagla Deewana" was born out 

of a desire to make a comedy but while 

shooting for the sequel of the film, he 

realised that it was not turning out to be 

as expected. 

The Deols- Dharmendra and two 

sons, Sunny and Bobby-came together 

on screen for the first time in 2006 with 

the family drama "Apne". 

They followed it up with the comedy 

"Yamla Pagla Deewana" in 2011, which 

was a huge hit but its sequel did not do 

well at the box office. "'Apne' had made 

people cry so I told someone that next 

time I'll make you laugh. We didn't even have a 

script or anything ready then. We made 'Yamla 

Pagla Deewana' one. But there's this 'beemari' of 

franchise and sequel. We don't understand business," 

Dharmendra told. 

"We had to make a sequel but it was taking 

time, things were not falling into place and then 

Eva Longoria 

joins 'Dora 

the Explorer' 

Hollywood star Eva Longoria has joined the 

voice cast of Paramount's live-action feature 

"Dora the Explorer". Longoria will portray the 

mother of the title character. According to the 

Hollywood Reporter, the movie is currently in 

production in Australia with James Bobin 

attached to direct. Isabela Moner is playing 

Dora in the movie version of the hit cartoon 

series. Kristin Burr is producing the project, 

which has been in the works since 2015. The 

animated "Dora the Explorer" television 

series ran on Nickelodeon from 2000-2014 

for eight seasons. It followed a young 

Latina girl who went on adventures around the world. The movie will 

centre on Dora as a teenager moving to the city and dealing with high 

school. She finds herself leading Boots (her best friend, a monkey), 

and a rag tag group of teens on an adventure to save her parents and 

solve the impossible mystery behind a lost Inca civilization. 

Physical appearance 

is an illusion: 

Sonakshi Sinha 

Actress Sonakshi Sinha, who has been often body-shamed on social 

media, says there is so much more to a person than their looks and that 

physical appearance is just an illusion. In a conversation with BIG FM, 

Sonakshi said: “There is so much more to a person than their looks. 

I am someone who has been on the other side and thus seen both 

sides of the coin. I have grown up as an over-weight teenager. 

It was not ever a problem for me. It didn’t used to matter that 

how fat I am and how much kilos I need to shed which actually 

people were pointing out to me.” 

The “Dabangg” actress says her weight and looks was 

such a small thing in comparison to the skills she is 

blessed with. “I used to focus on other things which I am 

good at. That way I never felt pressurised to get slim,” 

she added. Sonakshi, 31, says even after shedding 

enough weight and becoming an actor, she has made 

sure to project a healthy body image. “And come 

across as a good impression for people especially girls 

who get easily influenced at a very young age. I understand 

this considering, that I too wished to look like 

these slim models which would appear on these fashion 

magazines in my younger days. Physical appearance is an 

illusion. It is unrealistic. 

Singer and actor Suchitra 

Krishnamoorthi, younger sister of 

actor Sujata Kumar, has spoken 

about her bond with her sister, saying 

that the latter raised her and 

was her best friend. Speaking to 

Mumbai Mirror, Suchitra gave us a 

peek into the woman Sujata was. 

Suchitra mentions how she was a 

compassionate soul who was 

always there for those who needed 

her and how she “touched many 

lives with her vivacity and generosity”. 

In one of her tweets from the hospital 

while Sujata was still fighting for her life, 

Suchitra mentioned how Sujata was like a 

mother and best friend to her. In her Mumbai 

Mirror interview, she explained further on 

the bond their shared. 

“My sister practically raised me and was 

my best friend. She loved unconditionally 

even the screenplay wasn't good. I knew while 

doing the film that it's rubbish and had told the 

crew that I'm not enjoying shooting it. One 

knows whether it's going right or not," he added. 

The trio are set to reunite for "Yamla Pagla 

Deewana: Phir Se" and Dharmendra hopes the 

audience enjoys the third part. "I heard this story 

several times and I liked it. I really enjoyed listening 

to the script and we all have tried 

to make it as nice as possible. Hope the 

audience enjoys it now." The 82-yearold 

actor is excited to return to a fullfledged 

film after a gap of five years. 

"I've worked in two shifts, three shifts 

for 25 years now. I am enjoying this 

phase currently. I am fulfilling my 

hobby. Acting is my 'mehbooba' (lover) 

and I can't stay away from it for too 

long. I'm very fortunate to be in films. 

You get love, admiration and what not 

from all over the world. It's a great 

blessing of God," he said. The actor is 

also excited to see how audience reacts 

to some of the cameos in the film, including 

Salman Khan, Rekha, Shatrughan Sinha and 

Sonakshi in third instalment ot "Yamla Pagla 

Deewana: Phir Se." "Shatru and I have a good 

chemistry. We were in 'Dost' and several other 

films. Timing is the key in comedy. I am hopeful 

people will enjoy it," he added. 

and gave so much to everyone in her orbit 

that she would often run out of energy herself. 

But I never imagined that she would one 

day no longer be a part of my life; its unbearable 

to even think about.” Suchitra said in all 

these years she had taken her sister’s goodness 

for granted. Sujata would often tell her, 

“Be bindaas” and that’s the motto she would 


17 

WONDER, 

once AGAIN 

Gal said in a statement that her character (Shank) has 

a bad-girl vibe from the outside but is fun, wise, and 

warm within. She also posted a teaser of the animated 

film. The plot revolves around Ralph's, played by John 

C. Reilly, adventures in the online racing game Slaughter 

Race. Director Rich Moore, talking about Shank's character, 

said she is a combination of cool and kind. 

The voice cast also includes Sarah Silverman. The 

film is a sequel to 2012 Oscar-nominated ‘Wreck-It 

Ralph'. The movie is scheduled to release on November 

21, 2018. — The Wonder Woman actress confirmed the 

news with an Instagram post, captioned, “I'm so excited 

to finally announce that I am playing a character named 

Shank in Disney's #RalphBreaksTheInternet hitting theatres 

this November! Such an amazing experience to be 

a part of this project with such great creators and cast! 

Welcome to Slaughter Race!” Opening up about the 

project, Gal said in a statement that her character (Shank) 

has a bad-girl vibe from the outside but is fun, wise, and 

warm within. She also posted a teaser of the animated 

film. The plot revolves around Ralph's, played by John 

C. Reilly, adventures in the online racing game Slaughter 

Race. Director Rich Moore, talking about Shank's character, 

said she is a combination of cool and kind. 

RUDD TO STAR IN 

NETFLIX COMEDY 

American actor Paul Rudd will soon be seen in a Netflix 

comedy series titled ‘Living With Yourself’. He will be 

working with critically acclaimed feature film ‘Little Miss 

Sunshine’ directors’ Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. 

The series ‘Living With Yourself’ revolves around a man, 

who undergoes a treatment to become a better person. The 

series will have eight episodes where Rudd will play a dual 

role. ‘Living With Yourself’ series will also have Timothy 

Greenberg, who will also serve as executive producer and 

showrunner. Rudd was last seen in Marvel’s Ant-Man and 

the Wasp which he co-wrote. Also, his most recent TV stint 

came on Netflix when he played as Andy in ‘Wet Hot 

American Summer’ reboot. 

Suchitra Krishnamoorthi on sister Sujata Kumar’s 

death : Never imagined life without her 

like to follow. However, she would 

miss Sujata’s “quiet wisdom as 

much as her raucous laughter.” 

She spoke in glowing terms 

about her sister’s quite courage; of 

how she spirituality and her “tenacity 

of an unrelenting warrior”. She 

also said mentioned how Sujata was 

an emancipated woman even before 

people understood the meaning of 

the terms women’s liberation. 

Sujata died on August 19 after 

battling cancer for many years. In 

one of her last speeches that has surfaced 

now, she can be seen speaking on emotional 

abuse, her divorce and of course, battling 

cancer. Her honesty and her courage 

shines through as she speaks. Sujata had 

been an actor for quite some time, however, 

it was after Gauri Shinde cast her as Sridevi’s 

caring elder sister in English Vinglish that 

she became a well known face.


ENTERTAINMENT 


Ali is all kicked up 

Ali Fazal is a sports enthusiast and has been associated 

with basketball and football since his school and 

college days. There was a 

time when he hoped to represent 

India as a basketball 

player but destiny brought 

him to tinsel town and the 

rest is history. 

Lucknow being Ali's 

hometown, it holds an 

important place in his heart 

and the actor considers it 

his responsibility to give 

back in some way or 

another. What better way 

than to mentor some local 

young football players who 

work really hard to get the 

basic facilities to play the game they love. Ali, like a 

good Samaritan, took the onus to represent the young 

lads as their mentor while shooting for his film in 

Lucknow. Even after the completion of his film, Ali 

will continue mentoring these talented kids till the 

time their potential is recognised by professional football 

clubs of India. 

KJo tells Ayushmann 

how to keep extra 

marital affairs at bay 

This happened as part of the second season of ISHQ 104.8 

FM's popular show "Calling 

Karan". Ayushmann, worried about Actor 

how women approach him for extra 

Ayushmann 

marital affair, asked Karan: "How 

should I say no to women who call Khurrana turned 

me for extra marital affairs? Politely to Karan Johar on 

turning them down that you know I 

advice on how to 

am a married man... How should I 

do this?" Karan had a quick solution keep extra-marital 

to Ayushmann's problem, read a affairs, and the 

statement. 

filmmaker was 

"For the girls in the world to 

know that there are men like you quick to give suggestions. 

too that actually want to give an 

alarm sound to those who are hitting 

on you, do so by saying that 

'Listen I am married'. Well it's very simple, it's the oldest trick in 

the world, Ayushmann. "Just laugh at something she says. Like 

'Oh God, you are so funny! My wife would love you'. Or something 

similar, like 'Oh! You look so pretty, where did you get it? 

I want to gift something like this to my wife'. There are a hundred 

ways of telling her that you have a wife." 

Actor Pooja Hegde said 

filmmaker Imtiaz Ali 

writes amazing characters 

and she would love to 

work with the Jab We 

Met and Rockstar director. 

The other thing on 

her to-do wish list is 

to make Children's 

films. Also, Pooja, 

who originally 

hails from the 

coastal town of 

'Why can't a Maharashtrian 

actor play a North Indian?' 

Actor Radhika Apte has now become a name to be reckoned 

with in the film industry, thanks to her films such as Badlapur 

(2012), Pad Man, and the much talkedabout web series, Sacred 

Games. But in 2010, when she was starting out, the 32-yearold 

actor was stereotyped, which, according to her, was "hypocritical" 

of the industry. "Initially, when I started, I had a few issues. Like 

[people] constantly would tell me that you can't play a North 

Indian, because you are a Maharashtrian. And now, a North Indian 

is playing Rani Laxmibai," she says, referring to Kangana 

Ranaut playing the role of Jhansi ki Rani in her upcoming 

film, Manikarnika. "So, why is it that you have a problem, 

when it is the other way round?" asks Radhika. 

The actor, who was born in Vellore (Tamil Nadu) but 

brought up in Pune (Maharashtra), feels that one shouldn't 

restrict artists. "We've had North Indian actors play 

South Indian characters. And that's good. That's how it 

should be. Actors shouldn't be restricted on the basis of 

where they come from, and [be] cast on that basis," 

says Radhika. "Of course, there's a lot of hard work 

that goes into preparing for such characters. For 

example, if I'm playing a Punjabi character, wouldn't 

I work for two months to learn the language, and 

other little details of [being] a Punjabi?" she adds. 

However, she says that after years in the industry, she 

has moved on from all that. 

'Imtiaz brings out the 

best in every actor' 

Mangaluru in 

Karnataka, 

hopes she gets 

offers to do 

Kannada and 

Malayalam films. 

"I would love to work with Imtiaz Ali, 

and I would like to make children's 

films, that's on my list", Pooja, who 

made her Bollywood debut with 

Mohenjo Daro (2016), co-starring 

Hrithik Roshan, said. "I think he (Ali) 

writes amazing characters, whether it's 

the character of Geet (Kareena Kapoor) 

in Jab We Met, Alia Bhatt's in Highway 

and Ranbir Kapoor in Rockstar," she 

said. "I just think he somehow brings out 

the best performance in every actor, and 

I would love to see how he does that 

with me." 

Pooja says without a 'godfather', it's 

not easy to come up in the film industry 

and success is slower but she isn't complaining. 

"When you get success, it is 

sweeter. I know that whatever I have 

done, I have done on my own, because 

of my own capability and not because of 

anything else than that. Success is slow 

but sweeter", she said. Pooja said it was 

"absolute laugh and fun" working on the 

sets of Housefull 4, produced by Sajid 

Nadiadwala and directed by Sajid Khan, 

during the recent shooting in London, 

with "silly jokes and pranks" of Akshay 

Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Sajid 

Khan in full flow. 

On key takeaways from her film 

career so far, she said, "Success and failure 

are both short-lived, and success 

brings in more success, and at the end of 

the day it's all about talent." 

Aniston’s trainer 

says ‘she’s a 

natural athlete’ 

Actress Jennifer Aniston is a 

very good natural athlete, says 

her trainer Leyon Azubuike. The 

actress had previously opened 

up about her love for boxing. 

Azubuike co-owns the boxing 

studio and athletic performance 

facility Gloveworx here. 

Azubuike said working with 

Aniston has been a “great experience”, 

reports people.com. 

“She’s very diligent. She is 

ready to work out hard, every 

single time she hits the gym,” Azubuike said. “Whether it be a 45-minute session, 

whether it be a 2-hour session, she is always ready to go. Incredibly consistent 

and hardworking, and that makes my job a little bit easier. She’s a very 

good, natural athlete,” he added. 

Shweta Tiwari set to return 

to theatre after a hiatus 

Actress Shweta Tiwari is returning 

day couples whose lives are woven in 

to the stage after a long time, with “Jab 

the fragile thread of mistrust. 

We Separated”, a production penned 

It’s a reflection of a contemporary 

and directed by veteran Rakesh Bedi. 

society that when confronted with infidelity 

or regular nagging, today’s 

She is excited about performing for a 

live audience. Shweta said in a statement: 

“Many years ago, I did a play at 

cut available — divorce. 

young couples resort to the only short- 

Prithvi Theatre and there a director 

It will be staged in New Delhi on 

spotted me and offered me ‘Rishtey’. 

September 8 and September 9. 

That’s how my TV career started and 

Talking about the play’s subject, 

after ‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay’, there 

Rakesh said: “Divorce today is one of 

has been been no looking back.” 

the most burning social issues in our 

A major draw for her theatre comeback 

was Rakesh. “After a long hiatus, 

matrimony and how young couples 

society. The play explores discord in 

I am returning to theatre with ‘Jab We 

today have lost faith in the concept of 

Separated’ and it is especially since it 

love, compassion and forgiveness. 

was Rakeshji who offered me this him brings out the best in an actor. “The court gives the warring couples 

six months to reconcile. But do 

challenging role. Every actor has their However, impressing him is a task.” 

limitations and weaknesses, but not Presented by Felicity Theatre, “Jab We they really work on it? In this play we 

every actor is capable of rectifying Separated” also features Rakesh himself 

apart from Rahul Bhuchar. The He says it was an enriching experi- 

try to find answers to such questions.” 

their mistakes, and that’s exactly what 

Rakeshji taught me. “Working with play depicts the mindset of modern ence to work with Shweta and Rahul.


TECH 


19 

No file on 

CCTVs 

pending with 

us: Delhi L-G 

New Delhi : Delhi Lt 

Governor Anil Baijal's office 

on Monday said that no file 

related to installation of 

CCTVs across the national 

capital is pending with it. 

"A misleading impression is 

being created through certain 

media posts and releases that 

the file for the installation of 

closed-circuit televisions in 

Delhi is pending with the office 

of the Lt Governor. "It is clarified 

that this is incorrect. No 

file pertaining to CCTVs is 

pending with the L-G's office," 

the Raj Niwas said in a statement 

here. The women MLAs 

of the Aam Aadmi Party posted 

videos on the social media on 

Raksha Bandhan on Sunday to 

demand that the L-G should 

not hamper the CCTV installation 

project. 

PUNJAB rolls out module for 

online property transactions 

Chandigarh : The Punjab government 

on Thursday launched a facility for online 

property transactions in the state to bring 

efficiency and transparency in the system. 

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder 

Singh launched the 'PUDA 360', an e- 

properties module to facilitate online 

property transactions, here. 

The facility is being provided by the 

Punjab Urban Planning and Development 

Authority (PUDA). The Chief Minister 

said that the application would go a long 

way in providing seamless services to the 

San Francisco : Facebook 

has restored the cross-posted 

tweets of its users that temporarily 

disappeared following the 

removal of the Twitter app from 

Facebook, the media reported. 

Twitter requested the deletion 

of its app from Facebook as it 

became useless there earlier this 

month following Facebook's 

move to give effect to an earlier 

decision to remove a feature that 

allowed people to cross-post 

updates from Twitter, Axios 

reported on Wednesday. But little 

did it know that the removal 

people related to property 

matters. 

"The online process 

would also make the e- 

auction more convenient 

and give a common platform 

to the 

promoters/builders/individuals 

for advertising 

their projects and properties 

online," Amarinder 

said on the occasion. 

Besides improving the 

of the app would delete any old 

posts of its users from 

Facebook. 

The users who found out on 

Tuesday that some of their old 

cross-posted tweets went missing 

from Facebook were surprised 

too, the report said. "A 

Twitter admin requested their 

delivery of PUDA 

services, it would help 

check delays in sanction 

of building plans, 

issuance of No 

Objection Certificate, 

issuance of 

Conveyance Deed 

and Transfer of 

Property etc. All these 

services are currently 

offered offline, a 

Punjab government 

Facebook restores cross-posted 

tweets that disappeared 

spokesperson said here. The Chief Minister 

said the applicants would now get the 

option of submitting applications through 

online or offline systems. "The facility 

would save precious time and money for 

the allottees," he added. "Complete details 

like the nature of the property i.e. residential 

or commercial, plots or flats, area and 

location, name of the builder or owner, status 

of RERA registration would be 

uploaded on the module," Housing and 

Urban Development Minister Tript 

Rajinder Singh Bajwa said. 

app be deleted, which resulted in 

content that people had crossposted 

from Twitter to Facebook 

also being temporarily removed 

from people's profiles," 

Facebook said in a statement to 

Axios. "However, we have 

since restored the past content 

and it's now live on people's profiles," 

Facebook said. 

The deletions were temporary, 

but this episode served as a 

reminder that users are not 

always in control of the content 

that they create on giant social 

media platforms.


TECH 


Water spotted at 

JUPITER'S GREAT 

Red Spot : NASA 

Washington : Looking at the depths 

of the Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a storm 

that has been raging on the planet for 

over 350 years, NASA scientists have 

found water above the planet's deepest 

clouds. The team led by Gordon l. 

Bjoraker, Astrophysicist at NASA's 

Goddard Space flight center in 

Maryland, US, were looking from 

ground-based telescopes at wavelengths 

sensitive to thermal radiation 

leaking from the depths of Jupiter's 

persistent storm, when they detected 

the chemical signatures of water 

above the planet's deepest clouds. 

The pressure of the water, combined 

with the measurements of 

another oxygen-bearing gas, carbon 

monoxide, imply that Jupiter has 

two to nine times more oxygen than 

the sun. This finding supports theoretical 

and computer-simulation 

models that have predicted abundant 

water (H2O) on Jupiter, the scientists 

said. "The moons that orbit 

Jupiter are mostly water ice, so the 

whole neighborhood has plenty of 

water. Why wouldn't the planet -- which 

is this huge gravity well, where everything 

falls into it -- be water rich, too?" 

Bjoraker said in a statement. The location 

of the water cloud, plus the amount 

of carbon monoxide that the researchers 

identified on Jupiter, confirms that 

Jupiter is rich in oxygen and, thus, 

water, Bjoraker explained. 

"Jupiter's water abundance will tell us 

a lot about how the giant planet formed, 

but only if we can figure out how much 

water there is in the entire planet," said 

Steven M. Levin, from NASA's Jet 

Propulsion Laboratory in California. 

The revelation was stirring given that 

the team's experiment could have 

easily failed. The Great Red Spot is 

full of dense clouds, which makes it 

hard for electromagnetic energy to 

escape and teach astronomers anything 

about the chemistry within. 

"It turns out they're not so thick that 

they block our ability to see deeply," 

Bjoraker noted. The data collected will 

supplement the information NASA's 

Juno spacecraft is gathering as it circles 

the planet from north to south once 

every 53 days. If Juno returns similar 

water findings, thereby backing 

Bjoraker's ground-based technique, it 

could open a new window into solving 

the water problem, said Goddard's Amy 

Simon, a planetary atmospheres expert. 

"If it works, then maybe we can apply 

it elsewhere, like Saturn, Uranus or 

Neptune, where we don't have a Juno," 

she said. 

Trump accuses Google of 

suppressing positive news 

about his presidency 

Washington : US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused 

Alphabet Inc.'s Google search platform of elevating critical news stories 

about his presidency 

at the expense of 

friendly conservative 

voices, declaring that 

it is a "very serious 

situation" that will be 

addressed. Trump, in 

a pair of tweets early 

morning, said that a 

search in Google for 

"Trump News" yielded 

only "the viewing/reporting 

of Fake 

(News) Media". "In 

other words, they 

have it rigged, for me and others, so that almost all stories and news is 

bad," he wrote. 

"Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative and Fair Media is 

shut out," he wrote. "Google and others are suppressing voices of 

Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are 

controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation - 

will be addressed!" Google did not immediately respond to a request for 

comment, Efe news reported. Asked to elaborate later on the administration's 

views on potential regulation of the search giant, Lawrence 

Kudlow, the Director of Trump's National Economic Council, said: 

"We'll let you know, we're taking a look at it." 

Republicans have criticized social media sites such as Facebook and 

Twitter over their treatment of conservatives on their platforms. Last 

week, the President accused social media platforms of "silencing millions 

of people". Earlier in the month, Trump also claimed that tech 

companies were "totally discriminating against Republican/ 

Conservative voices", pledging that his administration "won't let that 

happen". Accusations that Google tampers with search results are not 

new or uncommon. Those accusations took on a new life during the 

2016 presidential election when some Conservatives claimed that the 

technology giant was censoring controversial subjects as part of an effort 

to purge the Internet of fake news reports. 

Vodafone-Idea merger complete, 

becomes operational 

New Delhi : The merger of Vodafone India 

and Idea Cellular is complete after the National 

Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the 

merger, creating India's largest telecom operator 

with over 400 million subscribers, a joint statement 

by the two companies said on Friday. 

The clearance from the tribunal was the last 

leg of official approvals after the Department of 

Telecommunications (DoT) cleared the merger 

last month. "Idea Cellular (renamed as 'Vodafone 

Idea Limited') -- an Aditya Birla Group and 

Vodafone Group partnership -- becomes operational 

as India's leading telecom service provider 

with a subscriber base of over 408 million," the 

statement said on Friday. 

The new Board of Directors constituted for 

Vodafone Idea comprises 12 Directors, including 

six "independent Directors", with Kumar 

Mangalam Birla as the Chairman. The Board has 

appointed Balesh Sharma as the CEO, it said. 

The new company will have a market share of 

32.2 per cent, as per the statement. 

"The merger is expected to generate Rs 140 

billion annual synergy, including opex synergies 

of Rs 84 billion, equivalent to a net present value 

of approximately Rs 700 billion," it said. 

Vodafone Group owns a 45.2 per cent stake 

and Aditya Birla Group owns a 26 per cent stake, 

both on fully diluted basis. 

WhatsApp to train users 

on dangers of fake news 

New Delhi : After being asked by the central 

government to take steps to stop the spread of 

disinformation on its platform, WhatsApp on 

Wednesday roped in New Delhi-based non-profit 

Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) to 

create awareness among its users about the need 

to verify information. 

"Our goal is to help keep people safe by creating 

greater awareness 

about fake news and empowering 

users to help limit its 

spread," Ben Supple, Public 

Policy Manager at 

WhatsApp, said in a statement. 

In a meeting with 

WhatsApp CEO Chris 

Daniels on August 21, Union 

IT Minister Ravi Shankar 

Prasad instructed the 

Facebook-owned platform to 

comply with the law of the 

land and take "suitable" 

steps to prevent its misuse. 

The meeting took place after several lynching 

incidents were linked to the spread of misinformation 

on the instant messaging platform which 

has over 200 million monthly active users in 

India. As part of the new partnership with 

WhatsApp, DEF has committed to holding 40 

training sessions for community leaders in 10 

states across the country where there have been 

worrisome cases of violence and where there 

will be state polls before the end of the year. 

DEF said it would help educate government 

officials, administration representatives, civil 

society organisations and students to spread the 

word about this challenge. 

The training is expected to enable WhatsApp 

users to differentiate between opinions and facts, 

and to inculcate a habit of verifying information 

through simple checks before forwarding it to 

their friends and family. 

In addition, DEF said it 

would incorporate this new 

training as part of their network 

of over 30,000 grassroots 

community members 

in seven states. 

"We at WhatsApp and 

DEF hope these training 

workshops will help build an 

empathetic and conscious 

community of WhatsApp 

users who learn to respond 

rather than react to every 

message they receive," said 

Osama Manzar, Founder- 

Director of DEF. 

WhatsApp has already taken several technological 

measures to curb the problem of disinformation, 

including the introduction of the "forwarded" 

tag and limiting forwarding to five 

chats at once. "In addition to the steps we are 

taking within WhatsApp, we believe impacting 

lives through the power of education is critical to 

helping achieve the vision of a 'Digital India'," 

Supple added. 

ASUS launches new 

ZenBook series 

San Francisco : Taiwanese electronics 

major ASUS on Friday launched 

"ZenBook 13" (UX333), "ZenBook 14" 

(UX433) and "ZenBook 15" (UX533). 

The new redesigned series of thin and 

light laptops also mark the debut of a 

frame-less "NanoEdge" display with 

ultraslim bezels on all four sides and up to 

95 per cent screen-to-body ratio. All 

devices are torture-tested to militarygrade 

reliability standards, with demanding 

tests that include environmental 

extremes of altitude, temperature and 

humidity, in addition to extensive drop, 

shock and vibration testing, the company 

said in a statement. The 13-inch and 14- 

inch models also include the new 

"NumberPad", an innovative productivity 

enhancement that provides a full-size 

LED-illuminated numeric keypad built 

into the touchpad. All models feature a 

special 3D IR camera that allows fast face 

login using Windows Hello, even in lowlight 

environments, the company added. 

The new models come with 8th 

Generation Intel Core i7 quad-core CPU, 

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q 

graphics, 16GB RAM, ultra-fast PCIe 

SSDs and gigabit-class Wi-Fi.


WORLD 


21 

India, Nepal sign railway 

line survey agreement 

Kathmandu : In what can be seen 

as a major boost to regional connectivity, 

India and Nepal on Friday signed a 

memorandum of understanding 

(MoU) here on preliminary engineering-cum-traffic 

survey of the proposed 

Raxaul-Kathmandu railway line as 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 

and his Nepal counterpart K.P. Sharma 

Oli agreed to foster bilateral ties. 

The MoU is the first step forward in 

the ambitious rail connectivity initiative 

between the two countries 

announced in April this year. 

Besides this, India is also considering 

five other cross-border railway 

lines with Nepal to ease connectivity 

and boost bilateral trade. During the 

state visit of Oli to India in April, both 

sides had agreed to expand railway 

connection from Indian border town 

of Raxaul in Bihar to Kathmandu in a 

period of five years. The MoU, coming 

a week after Nepal and China 

agreed to prepare a detailed project 

report of the Kerung(Tibet)- 

Kathmandu railway line, is a clear 

manifestation of geopolitical competition 

to woo the Himalayan nation by 

the two Asian giants. The MoU was 

signed on the margins of the Fourth 

Bay of Bengal Initiative of Multi- 

Sectoral Technical and Economic 

Cooperation (Bimstec) Summit, 

which concluded earlier in the day in 

Kathmandu. Modi and Oli witnessed 

the exchange of the MoU between the 

two governments. On April 7 this 

year, the two governments had issued 

a joint statement on expanding rail 

linkages, agreeing to construct a new 

electrified rail line, with India's financial 

support, connecting Raxaul and 

Kathmandu. According to an Indian 

Embassy statement, as a first step, it 

was agreed that the Indian government, 

in consultation with the Nepal 

government, would carry out preparatory 

survey work within one year, and 

the two sides would finalise the implementation 

and funding modalities of 

the project based on the detailed project 

report. India's Konkan Railway has 

been asked to conduct a preliminary 

engineering-cum-traffic survey of the 

new rail line in consultation with the 

Nepalese government, the embassy 

stated. Indian Ambassador to Nepal 

Manjeev Singh Puri and Secretary at 

Nepal Ministry of Physical 

Infrastructure and Transportation 

Madhusudan Adhikari signed the 

MoU on behalf of the respective governments. 

"The Raxaul-Kathmandu 

rail line is expected to expand connectivity 

by enhancing people-to-people 

linkages between the two countries 

and promoting economic growth and 

development," the embassy statement 

said. 

Before signing the MoU, two Prime 

Ministers held delegation-level talks 

where various bilateral issues figured. 

In a tweet after the meeting, Modi 

said that the deliberations were wideranging, 

covering multiple aspects of 

India-Nepal relations. "We discussed 

ways to further deepen our economic, 

trade and cultural ties. Enhancing connectivity 

between our nations was discussed 

as well," he said. 

Later in the day, Modi and Oli 

jointly inaugurated the 400-bed 

Nepal-Bharat Maitri Pashupati 

Dharmashala in Kathmandu built with 

Indian aid. Speaking on the occasion, 

Modi assured India's continued support 

for the development of the 

Himalayan kingdom. 

"Every Indian is happy to see that 

there is political stability in Nepal. As 

a result, the country is developing fast. 

India's good wishes and support will 

always be with Nepal," said Modi 

after the inauguration ceremony. 

He said the Indian economy was 

touching new heights. 

"And I must tell you that our Nepali 

brothers and sisters have equal stakes 

in it. When we talk about development, 

it is part of our traditions to 

think about neighbours' prosperity as 

well." The Indian Prime Minister said 

the newly inaugurated dharmashala 

Mourinho is special, he has 

won a lot: Brazil's Ronaldo 

Rome : Brazilian football legend 

Ronaldo has put his weight behind 

under-fire Manchester United head 

coach Jose Mourinho and said he 

believes the Portuguese can turn things 

around. Mourinho is under pressure 

after United started the English Premier 

League season with one win and two 

defeats. They lost 0-3 at home to 

They've reached the final twice recently 

and (Cristiano) Ronaldo is going to 

strengthen them, but the Champions 

League is not easy. Signing (Cristiano) 

Ronaldo 

doesn't 

automatically 

mean 

you win it. 

how the balance will change. I wish him 

all the best. He will see what a beautiful 

country he's arrived in, and I love Italy. 

He's going to enjoy a great adventure." 

Former 

Brazil star 

Ronaldo, 

who turned 

out for Inter 

although picking Real to win a fourth 

straight title. 

"They are always in my heart, even if 

I've followed them little recently and not 

spoken any more with (former owner 

Massimo) Moratti," said the 41-yearold. 

"They're back in the Champions 

League and that's a great result, and they 

Tottenham Hotspur on Monday which "What 

Milan 68 are back among the best, which is where 

made matters worse. 

you cannot 

times and they belong. 

"I don't know what's happening in deny is that 

scored 49 "I'm very attached to Real, more so 

Manchester, but wait before criticising 

Mou -- he's special and he's won a lot," 

he told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport. 

it's a huge 

signing -- 

unthinkable 

goals, added 

that he is 

delighted to 

than Barcelona. Real were strong even 

before (Cristiano) Ronaldo came and 

they will remain so after. They are still 

Asked about United's chances in the 

-- but 

see them the favourites to win the Champions 

Champions League where United have 

been drawn against Juventus, Valencia 

nobody can 

predict 

back in the 

Champions 

League. They've won four of the last 

five, although it's going to be a whole 

and Young Boys, Ronaldo said what will 

League this different challenge without (Cristiano) 

"(Juventus) are a really strong side. happen and 

season, Ronaldo." 

would be a symbol of strengthening 

people-to-people power of both countries.Pashupatinath, 

Muktinath and 

Janakidham not only unite Nepal but 

they also give strength to the ties with 

India, he said. "There is a distance of 

thousands of kilometres between 

Kanyakumari and Kathmandu but the 

ballads of Pashupatinath have been 

echoing there (Kanyakumari) for the 

past 1,500 years," he said. 

Constructed within the framework 

of an MoU between the Indian government 

and the Pashupati Area 

Development Trust (PADT), the project 

has been constructed on 10,625 

square metres of land owned by 

PADT, under Indian grant assistance 

of about Nepali Rs 220 million 

(around Indian Rs 14 crore). 

The dharmashala has three storeys 

and is equipped with modern amenities 

for pilgrims visiting the 

Pashupatinath Temple area. The building 

has a total floor area of approximately 

6,100 square metres, and consists 

of single, twin-bedded, four-bedded 

and ten-bedded rooms, a dining 

hall, kitchen, library, multi-purpose 

hall, water treatment plant, solar 

heater and generator house. 

Construction of the project commenced 

in September 2016 and was 

handed over on Friday by the Indian 

government to PADT, which will be 

responsible for managing the facility 

for pilgrims visiting the Pashupatinath 

Temple area. 

"The completion of Nepal-Bharat 

Maitri Pashupati Dharmashala is 

another milestone in strengthening 

cultural ties and people-to-people contacts 

between the two countries," the 

Indian government said. 

7 militants 

killed, 5 injured 

in Afghan gun 

BATTLE 

Kabul : At least seven 

Taliban militants were killed 

and five injured in a clash with 

security forces in Afghanistan’s 

Maiwand district, police said 

on Thursday. 

The clash, which took place 

late on Wednesday, flared-up 

after the militants stormed 

some security checkpoints and 

in a counter-offensive the government 

forces began targeting 

the militants from the ground 

and air, Xinhua news agency 

quoted Deputy to Provincial 

Police Chief Abdul Bashir 

Khaksar as saying. 

He added that the government 

forces would continue to 

target the militants elsewhere 

in Kandahar province. 

The Taliban are yet to comment 

on the report.


WORLD 


The morning news of raids and 

arrest of five activists from different 

parts of the country by the Pune police 

is a chilling reminder that talks of political 

dissent and human rights are a 

crime and those who are lynching people 

in public, threatening people to send 

to Pakistan or openly threatening writers 

and journalists are roaming free and 

being awarded by the political leadership 

of the ruling party, even following 

them on the social media. 

In democracy people have right to 

differ and have their opinion on various 

issues. Most of those arrested are well 

known writers and activists. Many of 

them are known through their work 

with the marginalised communities 

while some are known as ideologues of 

the left, some of them are as old as to be 

termed as senior citizens. Father Stan 

Swamy would be around 80 and so is 

Mr Varvara Rao. One is a human rights 

defender who has devoted his life to 

empower the adivasis of Jharkhand 

leaving all the comforts of his home 

state in Tamilnadu for the last three 

decades while the other is a literary figure 

based in Hyderabad and known as 

an ideologue of the left. 

Political thinker and public intellectual 

Anand Teltumde's home too was 

raided. He is a vocal critique of current 

economic policies and has been articulating 

bringing and merging the classcaste 

issues to fight the bigger battle. 

He is a prolific writer and his detailed 

analysis are available on Economic and 

Political Weekly. Gautam Navlakha 

belong to PUDR and has been fighting 

for the human rights of the marginalised 

for long. 

All of them are ideologues and 

believe in countering an argument 

through an argument. All believe in rule 

of law and constitution of India. It is 

therefore surprising what kind of 

'clinching' evidence the Pune police has 

got to arrest them. Good that the Delhi 

High Court has stayed the arrest of 

Gautam Navlakha till tomorrow when it 

hear the petition on an urgency basis. 

Ms Sudha Bharadwaj is a well known 

activist dedicated her life for the rights 

DEMOCRACY 

under ASSAULT 

of trade unions and fighting their cases 

free of cost. She has been active also for 

the rights of the adivasis. That a lawyer 

who is fighting cases of the marginalised 

and poor can be arrested by the police 

send us the message that they can reach 

to any one and criminalise them. It is a 

direct assault on our democracy. 

There are serious issues emerging 

from these arrests which is why is the 

Pune Police not able to finish the case. 

Rather than arresting the goons who 

resorted to violence in the aftermath of 

the rally at Bhimakoregaon, it arrested 

the Ambedkarite activists on a very 

large scale in the entire Maharastra 

state while completely leaving the 

goons of Elgar Parishad to roam around 

and threaten. So 

many cases were 

filed against the 

Dalit activists that 

they are fighting it now. Unfortunately, 

it did not stop with that. Several 

activists who might have participated in 

the event at Bhimakoregaon were 

arrested earlier and perhaps based on 

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat 

social and human rights activist 

extraction of statement from them, 

there were raids on these five people. 

This is difficult time for all who 

believe in human rights and political 

dissent. It is time to be together. As 

elections draw nearer, such stories 

would be cooked. You will get intimidated 

by the goons in the street, threatened 

with dire consequences and on 

social media there will be character 

assassination. More than that, on the 

North Korean Channels and newspapers 

you will get the 'break news' 

through 'selective' leakages of stories 

about the people 

who are arrested. 

The dalals 

will shout loud 

and bring out 

stories while the 

police will 

intimidate, assault and silently leak the 

stories to the obliging 'patrakars'. 

The modus operandi of the power is 

clear to get the activists physically 

assaulted like what they did to Umar 

Khalid or Swami Agnivesh then file 

cases against the victims and allow the 

goons and accused to go scot free, 

lynch the victim on the TV trials 

through their 'spokespersons' on the 

channels, plant stories in the media, 

drag the case as long as possible and 

build up the narrative of threat to the 

supreme leader. 

And this is not alone. One side the 

Maoist narrative, the other side the 

Muslim, Pakistan, terrorism narrative. 

With the most helping hand coming 

from the Bania media, completely 

exposing itself now, we can only fight 

the battle through legal means and joining 

hands together. The most unfortunate 

part is the silence of political people 

and parties who are unable to speak and 

condemn such assault on our freedom. 

This is the dark hour. During emergency, 

the work of political parties, 

activists, media and judiciary was complimentary. 

When Jai Prakash Narain 

gave a call, Ramnath Goenka and other 

joined hand, though a majority of papers 

surrendered but what is most threatening 

and intimidating today is that state apparatus 

is providing ammunition to 

spokespersons in the North Korean 

channels and cooking up new stories. 

We blame social media but it is the electronic 

media and print media whose 

integrity and credibility is now under the 

threat and a majority of who are openly 

criminals and supporting them. 

Democracy is under the stress today. 

Our human liberties and values are 

assaulted. Political freedom is endangered. 

The message is clear for all of us 

that you will be targeted for your views. 

Dont speak of people's right over 

resources. Dont talk about land rights. 

Seal your lips and stay silence because 

the greedy corporate want to make an 

entry into your region to suck your 

resources. 

Will the political leadership of different 

parties stand up together and 

speak up against this intimidation. Will 

our Courts speak up and send an unambiguous 

message to those in power not 

to cross the line and not to intimidate 

activists. Will the international rights 

bodies speak up. The space for civil 

society is shrinking in this country. It is 

these forces which can create an atmosphere 

for peace and harmony. It is these 

people who talk of democracy and constitution 

to get people their rights and 

not those who burn the constitution and 

yet roam free. 

We sincerely hope that the courts 

will take cognizance the matter and 

restore the confidence of the people in 

our judiciary and political system. 

There is a credibility crisis now and 

only courts can save them by their 

quick intervention. Let us wait for the 

verdict of Delhi High court tomorrow 

for one of the cases ? 

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social 

and human rights activist. He 

blogs at 

www.manukhsi.blogspot.com twitter 

@freetohumanity 

Email: vbrawat@gmail.com 

AIR POLLUTION may 

affect cognitive skills 

Beijing : Besides harming physical 

health, long-term exposure to air pollution 

can also affect cognitive skills, 

especially in elderly men, claims a 

study. 

The study, published in the journal 

Proceedings of the National Academy 

of Sciences, provided evidence that 

verbal and math scores "decreased 

with increasing cumulative air pollution 

exposure". 

This decline -- a potential risk factor 

in developing Alzheimer's disease 

or other forms of dementia -- becomes 

more pronounced as people age, especially 

for men and the less educated. 

"The damage on the ageing brain by 

air pollution likely imposes substantial 

health and economic costs, considering 

that cognitive functioning is critical for 

the elderly for both running daily 

errands and making high-stake decisions," 

said researchers including Xin 

Zhang from Beijing Normal 

University. 

The team examined cognitive test 

scores of nearly 32,000 people 

between 2010 and 2014 against their 

exposure to short and long-term air 

pollution. 

While the study adds to the already 

numerous health concerns regarding 

air pollution including damage to the 

heart and kidneys, it will be of particular 

concern to developing nations 

whose smoggy cities could be hampering 

national economic development, 

CNN reported. "The damage on cognitive 

ability by air pollution also likely 

impedes the development of human 

capital. Therefore, a narrow focus on 

the negative effect on health may 

underestimate the total cost of air pollution," 

Zhang said. 

"Our findings on the damaging 

effect of air pollution on cognition 

imply that the indirect effect of pollution 

on social welfare could be much 

larger than previously thought." 

According to the World Health 

Organization (WHO), nine out of 

every 10 people on the planet breathe 

air containing a high level of pollutants, 

with the worst affected regions 

being Africa and Asia. 

A recent study, published in the 

journal Environmental Science and 

Technology Letters, showed that if air 

pollution were removed as a risk for 

death, people in the world could live at 

least a year longer and in India, which 

is battling severe air pollution, the benefit 

would be even more -- about 1.5 

years. 

NASA working for 

better cancer treatments 

in space: Report 

Washington : Astronauts aboard the 

International Space Station (ISS) are conducting 

a blood cell experiment which 

may improve treatments for cancer, the 

media reported. 

In a new video published by the US 

space agency as part of the AngieX 

Cancer Therapy study, the team led by 

NASA astronaut Serena Aunon- 

Chancellor were shown examining 

endothelial cells that come 

from blood vessels, 

space.com reported on 

Tuesday. 

Several cartridge-shaped 

containers on board the 

ISS currently host the cells 

as they undergo varying 

amounts of chemotherapy 

exposure. 

The team is conducting blood experiments 

in space because sometimes, cells 

act differently in the weightless environment 

of orbiting spacecraft, called microgravity. 

Because these orbiting cells perform 

more like they normally do inside 

the body, cancer researchers can more 

accurately test the cells for chemotherapy 

responses, the report said. 

In the video, Aunon-Chancellor said 

the flat endothelial containers feel "all 

nice and warm and comfortable," because 

they are kept at body temperature aboard 

the space lab. 

"We've had them for almost two 

months now up here in 

ISS. We feed them. We 

give them nutrients … 

they are like miniature 

crewmembers living with 

us." According to NASA, 

endothelial cells housed 

within culture dishes (in 

vitro) in microgravity seem 

to perform as if they were in 

blood vessels within a living 

organism (in vivo) on Earth. 

"The study may facilitate a cost-effective 

method that does not require animal 

testing, which may help develop safer 

and more-effective vascular-targeted 

drugs," the project page on NASA stated.


WORLD 


23 

India shortlisted among 5 

countries for Uber flying cabs 

Tokyo : Fasten your seatbelt 

to board a flying cab soon as 

Uber on Thursday selected 

India as one of the first five 

shortlisted finalist countries 

that could be home to the first 

international Uber Air City 

within the next five years. 

After evaluating countries 

across the globe, Uber Elevate - 

- the ride-hailing platform's 

aerial taxi arm -- announced 

Japan, India, Australia, Brazil 

and France as shortlisted countries 

at the first "Uber Elevate 

Asia Pacific Expo" in Tokyo 

here. Uber will choose one of 

the cities from these 5 shortlisted 

countries as its third launch 

city for flying taxis -- after 

Dallas and Los Angeles in the 

US. "Mumbai, Delhi, and 

Bengaluru are some of the most 

congested cities in the world, 

where travelling even a few 

kilometers can take over an 

hour. Uber Air offers tremendous 

potential to help create a 

transportation option that goes 

over congestion, instead of 

adding to it," the company said 

in a statement. 

Uber Elevate also 

announced plans to experiment 

with drone delivery for Uber 

Eats, and demonstrated how 

potential Uber Air routes in 

Asia Pacific cities could benefit 

local transportation systems. 

"We are proud to host the 

first ever Uber Elevate Asia 

Pacific Expo. We are announcing 

a shortlist of five countries 

where Uber Air can immediately 

transform transportation and 

take our technology to new 

heights," said Eric Allison, 

23 cities to avoid disposal of 87 

mn tonnes of waste by 2030 

New York : Twenty-three pioneering cities 

and regions have committed to significantly 

cut the amount of waste they generate, accelerating 

them on the path toward zero waste. 

By signing C40's Advancing Towards Zero 

Waste Declaration on Tuesday, these cities 

and regions have pledged to cut the amount of 

waste generated by each citizen 15 per cent by 

2030, reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills 

and incineration by 50 per cent and 

increase the diversion rate to 70 per cent by 

2030. This bold commitment announced in the 

run-up to the Global Climate Action Summit 

going to be held in San Francisco from 

September 12-14. 

The signatory cities and regions to the zero 

waste declaration include Auckland, 

Catalonia, Copenhagen, Dubai, London, 

Milan, Montreal, Navarra, New York City, 

Newburyport, Paris, Philadelphia, Portland, 

Rotterdam, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa 

Monica, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Toronto, 

Vancouver and Washington D.C. 

The 150 million citizens that live in the 23 

cities and regions are accelerating the transition 

to a zero-waste future and will avoid the 

disposal of at least 87 million tons of waste by 

2030. Such bold commitments are essential 

steps in delivering on the highest goals of the 

Paris Agreement and keeping global temperature 

rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

Worldwide waste generation is increasing 

faster than any other environmental pollutant, 

and action in this sector can have a much 

faster and greater impact in combating climate 

change. For instance, the 1.3 billion tonnes of 

annual worldwide food scraps sent to landfills 

each year decomposes into methane, which is 

a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 

and already accounts for 25 per cent of current 

global warming. Transforming solid waste and 

material management systems globally could 

reduce global emissions by 20 per cent. 

That is why mayors of the world's urban 

centres are accelerating the transition towards 

a zero-waste future. Mayors have committed 

to taking ambitious, measurable and inclusive 

actions to reduce municipal solid waste 

generation and improve materials management 

in their cities, both key to making the 

urban centres cleaner, healthier, more 

resilient and inclusive. Better waste management 

can also create jobs and economic 

opportunities for social entrepreneurs and 

vulnerable communities. Specifically, signatory 

cities will implement bold actions, 

including reduce food losses and wasting of 

food at the retail and consumer levels by 

decreasing losses along production and supply 

chains, minimizing the production of surplus 

food, and facilitating safe food donation 

and by-products for feed production. 

Implement source separated collection for 

food scraps and other organics and treatment 

infrastructure that recovers nutrients, energy 

and contributes to the restoration of carbon 

storage capacity in soils. 

Leading up to the Global Climate Action 

Summit, C40 urged cities to step up their climate 

action and ambition. 

Head of Uber Aviation 

Programmes. 

In the next five years, Uber 

customers in launch cities will 

be able to push a button and get 

a flight on demand. To enable 

this, Uber has assembled a network 

of partners that includes 

vehicle manufacturers, real 

estate developers, technology 

developers and more. Dallas 

and Los Angeles were previously 

announced as the first 

two US launch cities and at the 

second annual Uber Elevate 

Summit in May, Uber 

announced it was seeking an 

international city as a third 

partner. 

"We see much potential in 

flying cars, and we anticipate 

that flying cars can be used not 

only to help solve traffic congestion 

in urban areas, but it 

will also help with increase 

mobility between city centres 

and remote islands and mountainous 

areas, promote tourism 

in Japan as well as enhance disaster 

relief operations," said 

Daisaku Hiraki, Parliamentary 

Vice-Minister of the Ministry 

of Economy, Trade and 

Industry, Japan. "The Uber 

Elevate team is now inviting 

conversations with stakeholders 

across major cities in these 

countries, and will announce 

the chosen Uber Air international 

city within the next six 

months," said the company. 

Uber Elevate has established a 

criteria framework to select the 

third city, anchored around 

three priority principles: sizable 

market, local commitment 

and enabling conditions.


WORLD 


AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL INDIA GLOBAL CALL 

Release Chandrashekhar Azad 

‘Ravan’! - A Leader of Bhim Army 

Dear all, 

It’s now been more 

than a year since Bhim 

Army 

leader, 

Chandrashekhar Azad 

Ravan has been detained 

in Saharanpur Jail. He is 

being kept in jail under 

the draconian National 

Security Act (NSA) which 

allows for the state to 

detain people without 

charge or trial for up to a 

year. Chandrashekhar 

Azad Ravan and Bhim 

Army has been fighting 

against caste-based discrimination 

through the 

use of education in North 

India. Their 300 plus educational 

centres are 

empowering children to 

face their future with confidence 

and strength. 

But as you know, challenging the 

existing caste-based norms is very difficult. 

Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan is 

now bearing the brunt of a state that 

doesn’t want to engage with Dalit 

leaders. 

Instead of listening to what 

Bhim Army has to say, their members 

have been arrested and beaten up in 

jails. Unsubstantiated charges have 

been filed against their leaders. So 

much so that the Allahabad High 

Court in November 2017 said the 

charges against Chandrashekhar 

Azad Ravan looks to be politically 

motivated. Although the High Court 

granted him bail in November 2017 

state arrested him immediately after, 

under NSA. Since then he continues 

to lead the struggle for the emancipation 

of dalit people, from the 

Saharanpur jail. 

I write this mail asking you to 

support Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan, 

Bhim Army and all the Dalit leaders 

and protestors who have been jailed 

for protesting peacefully. 

Your support will remind the 

government that the world is watching 

how India treats its marginalised 

communities. 

For this We urge you to join our 

campaign and take action, by organising 

solidarity events on September 28, 

2018 in your cities. To ensure that 

your voices are heard by the Indian 

government, you can arrange solidarity 

gatherings outside the Indian 

embassy in your country. If you are 

able to organise events, we will be 

grateful if you could participate in this 

campaign and encourage others to 

show their support. Since 

Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan’s NSA 

detention ends in November, it is crucial 

to build pressure both from within 

India and around the world on the 

Uttar Pradesh government to not 

detain, intimidate and harass the Bhim 

Army leader, and release Dalit protestors 

who have been arrested for 

protesting peacefully. 

Arun Khote from PMARC and 

Sanjeev Mathur from Bhim Army 

have been a pillar of strength to shape 

this campaign. We will be sending a 

detailed campaign activity sheet 

which will help you to organise the 

solidarity events on September 28. 

Looking forward to your support. 

Jai Bheem! 

Note : To register your support and participate in 

the global solidarity event, please contact: 

Abhirr VP, Amnesty International India 

Email: abhirr.vpalat@amnesty.org.in 

Arun Khote, PMARC 

Email: arun.khote@gmail.com, Mob: 8318843391 

Sanjeev Mathur, Bhim Army 

Email: and.sanjeev@gmail.com, Mob : 971111459 

Microsoft directs its 

suppliers to provide 

paid parental leave 

San Francisco : Microsoft 

has announced it would direct 

its US suppliers and business 

partners to offer workers 12 

weeks of paid parental leave. 

"Over the next 12 months 

we will work with our US suppliers 

to implement this new 

paid parental leave policy. It 

will require that suppliers 

offer their employees 

a minimum of 12 

weeks paid parental 

leave, up to $1,000 per 

week," said Dev 

Stahlkopf - Corporate Vice 

President and General Counsel, 

Microsoft, in a blog post on 

Thursday. 

The announcement comes 

amid an ongoing national dialogue 

about the importance of 

paid parental leave. 

The company will require 

that suppliers offer their 

employees a minimum of 12 

weeks' paid parental leave, up 

to $1,000 per week. 

"The new policy applies to 

all parents employed by our 

suppliers who take time off for 

the birth or adoption of a child. 

It also applies to suppliers with 

more than 50 employees and 

covers supplier employees who 

perform substantial work for 

Microsoft. 

"We have long recognised 

that the health, well-being and 

diversity of our employees 

helps Microsoft succeed. That's 

why we provide industry-leading 

benefits for our employees, 

including comprehensive 

health and wellness programmes 

for families, paid 

vacation, paid sick leave and 

paid time off for new parents," 

Stahlkopf said. 

Microsoft, had in 2015, first 

announced that it will make 

changes to ensure that a wide 

variety of suppliers that do 

business with the tech giant in 

the US provide their employees 

who handle our 

work with at least 15 

days of paid leave 

each year. The tech 

giant said it will 

work with the suppliers 

to understand the impact 

of this change, in a thoughtful 

way. "We appreciate that this 

may ultimately result in 

increased costs for Microsoft, 

and we'll put a process in place 

for addressing these issues with 

our suppliers. Our first step will 

be reaching out to our suppliers 

to discuss the impact of this 

policy change," Stahlkopf said.

September 2018

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