The Asian Independent 16 Oct to 31 Oct 2019

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Vol : 03 : #29 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019

Indian-origin prof

wins Economics Nobel

for poverty research

Stockholm : Indian-origin MIT

professor Abhijit Banerjee, his wife

and one-time Ph.D student Esther

Duflo, and Harvard professor

Michael Kremer have been awarded

the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics

for their work which has "dramatically

improved our ability to fight poverty

in practice," it was announced on

Monday. The Royal Swedish

Academy of Sciences, which decides

the award technically known as the

Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic

Sciences, said the winners had introduced

"a new approach to obtaining

reliable answers about the best ways

to fight global poverty," reported the

BBC.

It said they had broken the complex

issue into "smaller, more manageable

questions," making it easier

to tackle.

"As a direct result of one of their

studies, more than five million Indian

children have benefited from effective

programmes of remedial tutoring

in school," the Academy said.

"Another example is the heavy

subsidies for preventive healthcare

that have been introduced in many

Telangana HC suggests

talks to end RTC deadlock

Hyderabad : The indefinite

strike by the employees

of the Telangana State

Road Transport

Corporation (TSRTC) continued

on 11th day on

Tuesday even as the

Telangana High Court suggested

to the state government

and the employee

unions to end the deadlock

through talks.

The High Court

expressed its unhappiness

with the attitude of both the

government and the

employee unions and asked

them to take the initiative

to resolve the problem.

After hearing the arguments

from both sides on Public

Interest Litigations (PILs), a

division bench of Chief Justice

R. S. Chauhan and Justice A.

Abhishek Reddy posted further

hearing to October 18. It asked

both the parties to inform the

court at the next hearing on the

steps taken to resolve the crisis.

The court suggested to the

government to invite the striking

employees for talks and

also advised the employees to

call off the strike and hold talks

with the government.

The court asked the government

to first appoint a

Managing Director for the

TSRTC to take the employees

into confidence. It wanted the

government to take steps on a

war-footing to solve the problem.

Meanwhile, the Joint Action

Committee (JAC) of TSRTC

employee unions said for now

the strike was continuing but if

the government or the TSRTC

invite them for talks, they were

ready to participate in the same.

During the arguments, the

government submitted to the

court that it can't merge the

TSRTC with the government as

being demanded by the

employees. The government's

contention was that if the

TSRTC was merged, other corporations

would also demand

the same.

The government informed

the court that it has made alternate

arrangements to ensure

that the public was not inconvenienced.

Additional Advocate

General J. Ramchander Rao

said 75 per cent of the buses

were being operated and the

remaining would also be operated

in few days.

At this, the bench wondered

as to why the government,

which claims to be making

alternate arrangements, extended

holidays for educational

institutions.

The bench also observed

that no matter how justified

were their demands, the

employees should not have

caused inconvenience to people

by going on strike during the

festival season. It also asked

why Essential Services

Maintenance Act (ESMA) can't

be invoked against them.

The counsel from the

employee unions told the court

that the government is not sincere

to address their problems.

They said instead of taking

steps to look into their

demands, the government said

48,000 employees dismissed

themselves by not resuming

duties. Meanwhile, Telangana

Rashtra Samithi (TRS) parliamentary

party leader K. Keshav

Rao said if Chief Minister K.

Chandrashekhar Rao asks him

to hold talks with the TSRTC

unions, he was ready for it.

The TRS leader said he

issued the statement on

Monday as he was pained by

the suicide of two employees.

Striking employees continued

their protest across the

state. They staged sit-in at bus

depots and formed human

chains.

Activists of various trade

unions and opposition parties

joined the protests to show solidarity

with the striking

employees.

Bengaluru : Headwinds

from the US-China trade war

sting business deals of Indian

software major Wipro, its

Chief Executive Abidali

Neemuchwala said on

Tuesday. "Some of our customers

and their supply chains

are impacted in certain sectors

by the overhang of macrouncertainty

arising out of the

trade war between the US and

China," he told reporters here.

Noting that the demand

environment, however,

remained unchanged for IT

spends, Neemuchwala said the

company's business in the US

market grew 9.4 per cent yearon-year

while Europe was

weak.

"We see a robust pipeline

and the momentum

of order

book in the second

quarter was

better than in

the first quarter,"

he said. On

the outlook over

the next two

quarters,

Neemuchwala

said in the banking, financial

services and insurance (BFSI)

vertical, the company had a set

of offerings and a robust

pipeline of digital deals. "The

growth in the BFSI segment,

however, decelerated due to

softness in the spending by the

banking and capital market

clients in some pockets," he

said. The restructuring of the

company's business operations

countries," it added. Born in 1961 in

Mumbai, Bannerjee is a Ph.D. from

Harvard University and a Professor of

Economics at the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology (MIT).

Born in 1972, Duflo is the second

woman and the youngest person to be

awarded the Prize in Economic

Sciences, which was not among the

five original Nobels and was instituted

by the Swedish central bank

"in memory of Alfred Nobel" in

1969. Also a professor at the

MIT, Duflo said she is "humbled"

by her success in winning

the Nobel prize for economics

and hopes it will "inspire many,

many other women", the BBC

reported.

"I hope showing that it is

possible for a woman to succeed

and be recognised for success

is going to inspire many,

many other women to continue

working and many other men to give

them the respect they deserve like

every single human being," she said.

The trio's work has focused on the

poor communities in India and Africa,

and their research show which investments

in key areas like education and

healthcare are worth making and have

the biggest impact on the lives of the

poorest people.

US-China trade war 'stings'

Wipro business : CEO

in India and the Gulf region

was on track, as evident from

some of the deals it won, like

ICICI Bank. "We see early

signs of recovery in manufacturing

and health verticals. We

also see an uptick in demand

in health outside of HPS

(Health Plan Services,"

Neemuchwala said.

On hiring, Chief Human

Resource Officer Saurabh

Govil said the vendor as a

company has given up 'just in

time' hiring strategy. "Instead,

we have been building a cadre,

with a strong bench strength

over the last eight quarters," he

said.

In the first two quarters of

2019-20, the firm hired 9,000

techies. "Our focus is to hire

people from

campuses and

train a new

cadre. It is not

about just in

time hiring,"

said Govil.

Chief Operating

Officer Bhanu

Murthy said the

focus was on

hiring more locals to build the

cadre across its development

and delivery centres. "We are

investing in our delivery centres

in the US, Britain and

places where we operate," he

said.

Neemuchwala said the

company achieved 68 per cent

employee localization in the

US, which generates about 60

of its business.

---

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16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 ASIA

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

It was a massive gathering

that had jolted many hearts but

brought a new hope in the lives

of millions who thronged the

venue which today is called as

‘Deekshabhumi’, in Nagpur.

The impact is so much that no

other political or spiritual

leader in the history of postindependence

India has that

much of following as of Dr

Baba Saheb Ambedkar today.

You have to just visit Nagpur

during the Dhammachakra

Pravartan Diwas and watch the

massive gathering of people

from different parts of the

country, as a mark of their deep

respect to the man who

changed their lives. While

Indian celebrate the life of

Gandhi ji as the saint who

talked about Ahimsa or nonviolence

as he was the only person

or the first person to speak

about it which is completely

untrue. The day, I am referring

is October 14th, 1956, and incidently,

Ashoka Vijayadhasmi

day, when Baba Saheb

Ambedkar officially embraced

Buddhism and then gave deeksha

to millions of his followers.

The fact is that over two

thousand four hundred years

before Gandhi, Buddha spoke

of non-violence and his ‘ahimsa’

was not status-quoist but a

change maker and Buddha’s

ideological revolution was

completed in India in the form

of Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s

call to make India a ‘prabuddha

bharat’ i.e. enlightened India. It

is strange that Dr Ambedkar’s

revolution of bringing India’s

120 million untouchables to

follow or look towards the path

of Buaddha was not considered

worthy by the brahmanical

intellectuals who continue to

celebrate Gandhi’s ahimsa as

‘landmark’ and promote it

unashamedly.

If we look at Gandhi’s work

and ahimsa which is no doubt a

great political weapon, it is also

important to see that at the end

of the day Gandhi ji non-violence

was status quoists. It did

want to defuse the Dalit anger

against brahmanical oppression.

Gandhi was preaching

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Celebrate Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar

as hero of India’s greatest nonviolent

revolution after BUDDHA

them the ‘greatness’ of

varnashram dharma

which was the biggest

cultural violence on

India’s indigenous people.

The Congress Party

was originally a party of

the landed Zamindars,

Brahmins and other

upper castes and Gandhi

brought the moneyed

Marwaris too into it. The

ahimsa weapon was not

much used against the

British but more to foil

the local movements. We

have seen Champaran,

Chauri Chaura and

Avadh Kisan Andolan

and any honest reading of

these movements will

reflect that Gandhi

demolished the local

leadership and anger of

the people against the

oppressive Zamindars

mostly the twice born

communities. In most of

these places the leadership

of the marginalized

was ultimately handed over to

the oppressive caste forces.

I have heard Gandhian

speaking of ‘Ahimsa’. In a rally

where massive gathering had

happened, poor Adivasis and

Dalits who never got their land

and other rights in this socalled

freedom, that we must

not resist, not do anything even

if beaten up. We must resist

non-violently. I am amused at

this non violence. If this is

‘ahimsa’ then, it is time the

Gandhians start their campaign

in the houses of the twice born

Sawarnas who are filled with

hatred towards the Dalits and

Adivasis. It is time, we teach

them the good values of

Ahimsa and stop hitting and

killing the Dalits and I would

say, it would be the great work

that a Gandhian can do. Hence,

ideologically, even when I

acknowledge and appreciate

Gandhi’s faith in Ahimsa, I

would still call it not changemakers.

Gandhi could not

change the heart of the

Sawarnas, nor could he win the

heart of Dalits and Adivasis.

Contrary to this, Dr

Ambedkar who faced humiliation

and isolation from caste

Hindus just because he was

speaking for the rights of

‘depressed classes’ and all

those communities who were

treated as untouchables by the

caste Hindus, still talked about

‘fraternity’. Despite all poison

that still exists in the minds of

the Savarna Hindus for the

Dalits and Adivasis, Ambedkar

wanted to change their heart.

He did not call for a violent

revolution against the Hindu

hegemony. He always used the

term Hindus for the brahmanical

caste Hindus and therefore

Ambedkar’s belief in Buddha

and his five-fold path including

Ahimsa have much bigger

meaning for India than

Gandhi’s status-quoist Ahimsa

which failed to give any justice

to the victim of our caste

apartheid. Shouldn’t India be

celebrating Ambedkar’s path of

Buddhism and his call for a

‘prabuddh Bharat’ as it was not

meant for the Dalits alone but

for all of us? India cannot be

enlightened if the Savarnas

continue to live in their hatred

and it is not possible without

freternity as Ambedkar prescribed.

Social justice was a

key for peace building.

Gandhians are speaking of love

and ahimsa but is it possible

without undoing historical

wrongs. Gandhi and Ambedkar

both spoke of non-violence but

why is that Ambedkar’s path

has much solid ideological

ground than Gandhi’s. It has to

be scrutinized and analysed.

Gandhi’s ahimsa came from

‘Gita’ and his

deep ‘faith’ in

Varnashram

dharma. In fact

Dr Ambedkar’s path-breaking

work: Riddles of Hinduism

exposes the ‘best’ ‘book’ theory

of the brahmanical intellectuals.

How can Gita be claimed

as ‘non-violent’ or how can it

inspire us to be non- violent

when it actually preached violence.

When Arjuna refuses to

fight against his own brothers

and elders, Krishna preach him:

“Nainam chhidanti shastrani,

nainam dahati pawakah,

nachainam cladiyanti aaph, na

shoshiyati marutah). Oh Arjun,

go and kill as you will only be

killing body and not soul as

soul is immortal. So even if you

are killing your near dear ones

physically, you are not killing

them in real as soul is immortal

and it transmigrate. None can

burn it or wet it”. Now, any

sensible person should have

laughed at it as Ambedkar says,

but it has been made the

‘biggest’ philosophy. Gita

actually suggest you that violence

is not violence. What an

idea?

So in both the fronts, his

‘ideal book’ and ‘ideal religion’,

Gandhi failed to inspire

the Dalits and Adivasis. His

‘Ahimsa’ has the highest ‘following’

in the castes who don’t

believe in at all. If Gandhi’s

call for Ahimsa had any impact

on his upper caste followers,

then, I can bet, violence against

Dalits in India would have

stopped by now.

Look at Dr Ambedkar. He

did not proclaim to be nonviolent

but all his action

categorically indicate that

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

social and human rights activist

he believed in it and more

than that the philosophy

which bring equality, liberty

and fraternity. So Gandhi’s

Ahimsa may be even at the cost

of equality but for Dr

Ambedkar, Ahimsa is acceptable

only when it bring

Equality, Liberty and

Fraternity. While Gandhi

believed in his ‘village’

‘republics’ who actually were

never so, Dr Ambedkar felt that

without a philosophy that talks

of equality, liberty and fraternity,

it is not possible to democratize

the villages and bring

ahimsa. Ambedkar continuously

emphasized on

social democracy and

warned on November

26th, 1949, in his address

at the Constituent

Assembly, that if there is

no social democracy,

then the constitutional

democracy would fail

and then the same people

who had built this structure

so laboriously, will

demolish it. So,

Ambedkar’s warning was

clear that in the absence

of an equitable social

order, our political system

is bound to fail and

will ultimately compel

the marginalized communities

denied their fundamental

rights historically

might pick up arm and

destroy it.

Over seven decades

have passed and the caste

hatred against the Dalits

and Adivasis continues

unabated. Not merely that, the

hidden apartheid in the form of

untouchability is practiced

rampantly despite a great constitution

and the reason is the

inability and ill-will of those

who have the responsibility to

implement the constitutional

provisions. And yet, despite

that, Dalits have deep faith in

Constitution. They have rejected

all paths towards violence as

Buddha’s way is showing them

enlightenment and the results

are worth research. That is why,

I mentioned, if any one wish to

see what Ambedkar means to

more than Twenty Crore Dalits

of India, then visit

Deekshabhumi in Nagpur during

Dhammachakra Pravartan

Diwas,

Mumbai’s

Chaityabhumi on December

5th and 6th and rest of India on

April 14th. The crowed that

come and celebrate Ambedkar

Jayanti in the villages, in hamlets

are not state

sponsored but

spontaneous.

Ambedkarite literature

is sold in

huge number

during these

events all over

the country.

Ambedkar’s path to the

Dalit was emphatically clear

that they have to leave the religion

and values which degrade

them and believe in birth based

inequality and he found that

only Buddha’s way can create

an enlightened society based in

Equality Liberty and Fraternity

and interestingly not only the

Dalits, but OBCs are also

attracted towards Buddhist

movement as espoused by

Baba Saheb Ambedkar. It is

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growing and it will reach the

nook and corners of India.

Now, Dalits do not seek justice

from Savarnas who have

oppressed them from centuries

but wish that this constitution is

impartially implemented and it

is not possible without their fair

representation in all structures

of power. Yes, for making our

politics function, it is also

essential for them to delink

themselves from brahmanical

habits which divinely sanctified

inequality and glorified

certain communities. Such a

philosophy would only create

sick society which cannot make

a strong India and that is why

Dr Ambedkar wanted people to

follow ‘Navayana’, new path.

This new path is leaving the

dirty old world of castes ghettoes

and live a life on your

own, in the world of Buddha

and its enlightenment.

Dr Ambedkar’s call was

whole heartedly accepted by a

majority of Dalits who realized

that being ‘Harijan’ under the

Brahmanical patrons would

never give them dignity and

self-respect. So all the talks of

Gandhian Ahimsa would be

just a fluke for them as long as

they continue to do age old traditional

work and face caste

based discrimination. On

October 14th, 1956, when Baba

Saheb gave Deeksha to people

at Nagpur, the people were celebrating

and huge sea of

humanity visible everywhere. It

was not merely in Nagpur,

Baba Saheb gave Deeksha at

Chandrapur too and the ceremony

happened for several

days. Mr Sadanand Fulzale,

who was the deputy Mayor of

Nagpur and a follower of Baba

Saheb says :

“It was a huge celebration he

says. Photographs of the functions

are well placed decorating

his drawing room in Nagpur

and each event reverberate his

mind in passion. ‘’First Baba

Saheb took Deeksha through

Chandramani ji. He was so

overwhelmed that he did not

raise his head. Then

Chandramani ji gave him

panchsheel. Then he got up and

said now I have become

Buddhist. All those who want

to have deeksha should stand

up. Then baba sahib gave them

trisharan and panchasheel.. and

later gave them 22 bows. The

people were there for two days.

Baba Saheb spoke for nearly

two hours. Later in the night

Baba Saheb departed for

Chandrapur.’’

It is not merely

Ambedkarites in India and

abroad, but even the African

Americans have now started

understanding Dr Ambedkar

and his historical struggle. Prof

Kevin Brown, from Indiana

University in the United States

is so much impressed with

Baba Saheb’s work that he

bring number of African

American and other religious

and racial minorities to India to

learn from Dr Ambedkar’s

work. He tells me in an interview

:

See Page 22

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ASIA

16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019

3

Visit Deekshabhumi to feel the revolution

brought by BABA SAHEB AMBEDKAR

Nagpur is the head quarter of Sangh

Parivar. On Dusshara day when entire

Nagpur is Buddhaymay, the brahmanical

channels throng at this head quarter

of the Sangh Parivar to oblige, an

unelected patron to listen to his ‘important

speech’. If you go to Nagpur during

the Dushhara period, you will find,

millions of visitors who throng at

Deeksha Bhumi but that news will

never be covered by the corrupt, docile

and spineless brahmanical media.

These people who come to

Deekshabhumi to pay their respect to

Baba Saheb and celebrate the

Dhammachakra Pravartan Diwas

which mark the celebration of remembering

the day when Baba Saheb

Ambedkar brought millions of the

Dalits to follow the path of Buddha,

which he called Navyana, new way of

life. It was neither following any Dalai

Lama nor any other traditional buddhist

methods but an entirely new tradition,

which can be hailed as liberation

Buddhism for those victims of India’s

hidden apartheid which the sangh

Parivar could never attack or condemn.

Just around 5 kilometer away, the

Sangh Swayamsevaks gather with

their traditional attire, at the ground to

listen to their Sar Sanghchalak. Their

‘worship’ arm which was the aim of

the Sangh to militirise Hindus so they

have started training youngsters into

arm training. This is nothing but to

create new militias like Ranvir Sena,

Sunlight Sena and other senas which

kill people in the names of castes.

Perhaps, Sangh Parivar can not do

anything in the name of castes.. what

can a tiny maharashtrian brahmins

who dominate the discourse of the

Parivar, do in the name of castes. They

cant make fool of the Bahujan Samaj.

So, their entire focus is on ‘religion’. It

is easier to mobilise people in the

name of religion so that all the Dalit

Bahujans too get swept away in the

narrative with friendly media ready to

lie on behalf of their master.

So this year speech by RSS chief

Mohan Bhagwat actually blame the

‘western’ to defame India.

‘Lynching’ is not an Indian concept,

he said. It is western. I have not

heard people being lynched in any

Western cities like what happened in

India in the past six years. May be

Mohan Bhagwat can give this task to

his ‘overseas’ branches as how is

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

social and human rights activist

lynching a ‘western’ concept. May be

we will have to find an ‘indigenous’

name for it. We can call it : ‘bheed ke

dwara Barbartapoorn aur kayartapurn

hatyaye’. These are purely Indian or

Hindi terms. All those who have been

brutally and cowardly killed by the

crowd are basically lynching. Let us

forget lynching. I am sure, some people

will ‘discover’ a word for it. Like, the

western world does not understand

caste and caste discrimination as they

dont have it. It is purely Indian and

brahmanical in nature.

It is interesting that Nagpur’s

Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh which

was nothing but purely brahmanical in

nature is today the ‘guide’ of the current

government. It talks about Hindus but

never ever fought against caste discrimination

or gender discrimination. The

Shishu mandir’s that it opened actually

only glorified everything that India is

but never felt it necessary to educate

students to demolish the caste boundaries

and that caste discrimination is the

biggest block in India becoming a big

nation. You can not become big by concealed

hatred in your heart.

The media should have thronged to

Deekshabhumi and then just make a

comparison. Nobody bring these millions

of people to Deekhsabhumi. It is

just one thing which is their liberation.

Baba Saheb gave a clarion call to all

those who were victimised by the

Hindu caste order, which RSS so much

glorify, that he led India’s biggest

social revolution in Nagpur in 1956.

Millions of people have now found

their solace, their liberation in the path

shown by Baba

Saheb Ambedkar.

T o d a y ,

Ambedkarite dont

need to the brahmanical

narrative.

They have woken

up. They can develop

their own so the

Bania media which is campaigning for

the Sangh Parivar can do so by keeping

their own jaati-waalas in darkness and

deep superstition which they ‘sweetly’

term as ‘culture’. If the dirty superstitions,

which kills the women, consider

the dalits as inferior, ask people not to

go to the doctors, are culture then I dont

have to say anything except that those

who promote these kinds of ideas must

lead it from their own selves. Unlike

the fraud Ramdev who promote his

own ‘medicines’ for diabetes and other

diseases, launched a campaign against

modern science and medicine, should

not go to All India Institute of Medical

Sciences or any other modern hospital

for his treatment. They should also not

use big cars and helicopters and search

for a ‘bailgadi’ which was discovered

in India.

Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s non violent

revolution has overshadowed the brahmanical

festivities at least in Nagpur. It

has to be felt once you are there. Go

Deekshabhumi and feel it. crooked

media can enjoy the ‘pravachans’ of its

masters but masses celebrate the

Dhammchakra Pravaratan Diwas.

Greetings to all the friends on this historic

day.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social

and human rights activist. He blogs

at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com

twitter @freetohumanity

Email: vbrawat@gmail.com

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16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 ASIA

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

US lunar orbiter to look out for

India's moon lander Vikram

Chennai : Has the Indian

moon lander Vikram been

found or not is a question that

the US space agency National

Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) will

soon be able to answer.

A NASA official had earlier

told IANS in New York that on

October 14, its Lunar

Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)

would fly over the site, where

Vikram might have landed.

The US space agency had

earlier said its LRO had

passed over the landing site of

Vikram on September 17 and

acquired a set of high resolution

images of the area.

New Delhi : The Congress

on Tuesday questioned the

BJP's demand for the Bharat

Ratna to be awarded to Hindu

Mahasabha founder Vinayak

Damodar Savarkar, ahead of the

Maharashtra Assembly election.

Congress spokesperson Manish

Tiwari said: "I am shocked that

on one hand the BJP is praising

Mahatma Gandhi and on the

other is demanding Bharat

Ratna for Savarkar. In a country

where Mahatma Gandhi is made

to commit sucide in textbooks,

Hike tariffs on Pak products:

Afghan businessmen

President to visit Philippines, Japan

New Delhi : President Ram Nath Kovind

will pay a four-day state visit to the

Philippines from October 17, and

then visit Japan to attend the

Enthronement Ceremony of the

Japanese Emperor Naruhito.

The President's visit to the

Philippines is at the invitation of its

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. The

state visit is taking place on the

occasion of 70 years of establishment of diplomatic

relations between the two countries. The

President will hold restricted and delegation

level talks with President Duterte in Manila

and will also participate in business and community

events, a MEA statement said.

However, the Lunar

Reconnaissance Orbiter

Camera (LROC) team was not

able to locate or image the lander,

NASA had said. "It was

then anything can

be possible. On a

more serious note,

though Savarkar

was chargesheeted

for Mahatma's murder,

it is correct that

he was acquitted."

The BJP poll manifesto

released jointly

by Working President J.P.

Nadda and Maharashtra Chief

Minister Devendra Fadnavis

demanded that the BJP-led

NDA government confer the

Kabul : A number of

Afghan businessmen have

called on the government to

increase tariffs on Pakistan's

seasonal exports, a media

report said on Tuesday.

The businessmen added

that the government should

impose tariffs not only on

Pakistan, but Iran as well, for

fruits and vegetables, TOLO

News said in the report.

They said that domestic

markets were currently full of

Iranian and Pakistani fruits and

vegetables -- which are also

produced in Afghanistan, and

the government is doing nothing

to support domestic products.

"When our fruit season

arrives, Pakistan imposes a

high tariff and we have to sell

our products for less," said

Ashraf, a businessman. "Import

tariffs on products from Iran

and Pakistan should be raised,

which is in the favour of the

government itself. If there are

dusk when the landing area

was imaged and thus large

shadows covered much of the

terrain; it is possible that the

Vikram lander is hiding in a

Bharat Ratna -

the nation's

highest civilian

honour -

on Veer

Savarkar. The

BJP has tried

to evoke

Maratha and

Dalit sentiments

as the Bharat Ratna has

also been demanded for social

reformers Jyotiba Phule and

Savitri Bai Phule. The BJP has

also promised to create 1 crore

no high tariffs, the domestic

agricultural market will suffer,"

said Qodratullah, another businessman.

Potato farmers, for

which harvest season has

arrived, face the challenge of

not having a market. Each kilogram

is sold for up to 12

Afghanis ($0.15 dollar).

During his visit to Japan, from Oct 21-23,

the President will attend various ceremonies

related to the Emperor's enthronement

and also a banquet hosted by

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Along

with participating in a community

event, the President will visit a

Buddhist temple and plant a sapling

from the sacred Bodhi Tree in Gaya

to highlight India and Japan's historical

and cultural linkages based on Buddhism.

The President's visit to the two countries reaffirms

India's commitment to strengthen its

bilateral ties based on traditional bonds of

friendship and mutual understanding, the

statement said.

shadow. The lighting will be

favourable when LRO passes

over the site in October and

once again attempts to locate

and image the lander," NASA

had said. According to NASA,

Vikram, attempted a landing

on a small patch of lunar highland

smooth plains between

Simpelius N and Manzinus C

craters. This event was India's

first attempt at a soft landing

on the Moon. The US agency

said Vikram's targeted landing

site was located about 600

kilometers (370 miles) from

the south pole in a relatively

ancient terrain (70.8AoS latitude,

23.5AoE longitude).

Congress slams BJP's demand for Bharat Ratna to Savarkar

jobs in the next five years and

make Maharashtra a 1 trilliondollar

economy. However, criticising

the manifesto, Tiwari

questioned the PMC Bank scam

and death of one of its depositors,

saying "The public has

come to the conclusion that

their money is not safe in the

banks."

The 288-member

Maharashtra Assembly goes to

polls on October 21 and counting

of votes will take place on

October 24.

Delhi urges Centre to share

SAFAR's data to check pollution

New Delhi : As the air quality

in the national capital started

deteriorating, Delhi

Environment Minister Kailash

Gehlot on Tuesday wrote to

Union Minister of Earth

Sciences Harsh Vardhan

requesting for sharing data and

technology of the ministry's

System of Air Quality and

Weather Forecasting And

Research

(SAFAR) to

ascertain the

causes of pollution

in the

city during

winter. In the

letter, Gehlot

said that the

stubble burning

in the

neighbouring

states in

November has always contributed

significantly to higher

PM2.5 levels in Delhi.

He said that SAFAR had

stated that farm fires contributed

just 2 per cent to

Delhi's overall PM2.5 concentration

and it has been indicated

that it is likely to increase to 6

per cent by October 15.

"I understand that your ministry

is equally concerned with

the pollution levels in Delhi

and both the governments

(Delhi and Centre) can work

together to reduce pollution

levels in Delhi," he said.

Saying that the air quality monitoring

stations under the Delhi

Pollution Control Committee

are able to furnish data with

regard to PM 2.5 concentration,

he added that media reports

have claimed that the SAFAR

has the technology to indicate

contribution in terms of percentage

of stubble burning

towards PM2.5 levels in Delhi

on a particular day.

" T h i s

means that

SAFAR also

has the technology

and

equipment to

do some allocation

of pollution

on realtime

basis,"

he said,

requesting

Vardhan to

grant access to data on sources

of pollution on each day in the

last one week. He said this will

help "us take correct decisions

immediately". "I would request

you to share the technical

expertise developed by SAFAR

in this regard so that the Delhi

government can benefit from

the same," he concluded the letter.

SAFAR envisages a

research-based management

system where strategies of air

pollution mitigation go hand in

hand with the nation's economic

development to target a winwin

scenario, according to its

official website.

---

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

ASIA

16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019

5

NATIONAL SHAME: HOW DID

GANDHIJI COMMIT SUICIDE?

A question: How did

shameful than this for the

Gandhiji commit suicide? was

asked in Gujarat (India) to class

9th students during an internal

assessment exam of schools

run under the banner of

‘Sufalam Shala Vikas Sankul.

This is a new agenda of RSS

whole nation.

There is no denying the fact

that India`s education system

has gone to the worst hands

since the BJP took the reign of

the government. Such premediated

abhorrent effort on

in India. Prime Minister

behalf of the BJP/RSS will lead

Narendra Modi has been

to disaster in the education system.

singing a song of Mahatma

Gandhi from early morning to

People of India must

understand that BJP/RSS has

midnight. Prime Minister

nothing to do with Gandhi or

Narendra Modi proudly use the

Gandhism. Gandhi and

name of the father of the nation

at the United Nations forum to

win the hearts of the world

leaders. This agenda of RSS

Gandhism are used egregiously

to establish a good rapport with

the world leaders who believe

that non-violence is the only

aims to wash out the sins of the nation in the daylight on 30 of BJP/RSS is to confuse the method through which justice

Nathuram Godse, RSS affiliate January 1948 at Birla House minds of the students from the can be achieved permanently.

who assassinated the father of (now Gandhi Smriti). The idea beginning. Nothing can be – Dr. Rahul Kumar, Ph.D.

BSNL hopeful on paying salaries

before DIWALI, says CMD

New Delhi : State-run

BSNL, facing hard times financially,

is hopeful of giving

salary for September to its 1.76

lakh employees before Diwali,

its Chairman and Managing

Director P.K. Purwar said on

Tuesday.

"We will give salary to the

employees before Diwali from

our own resources on accruals.

We generate Rs 1,600 crore a

month revenues from services,"

Purwar told IANS.

Due to a fund crunch, the

BSNL has been paying salaries

with a delay.

Even though BSNL is generating

about Rs 1,600 crore per

month, this is not adequate to

cover the wages, since a major

portion of the proceeds is

Slowing economy: India's exports dip third time this year

New Delhi : India's merchandise

exports in September

declined for the third time in

the current financial year, while

imports dropped for the fourth

consecutive month, signaling

that rising protectionism and

continuing trade tensions

between the US and China

along with the spectre of a

global slowdown are impacting

India's trade prospects as well.

Data released by the

Commerce Ministry showed

India's merchandise exports

declined 6.57 per cent to $26.03

billion in September 2019 from

$27.87 billion in September

2018 while imports in the

month dropped 13.85 per cent

to $36.89 billion from $42.82

billion in September 2018.

Despite the overall sluggish

export performance, sectors

such as electronic goods,

spices, minerals and ores,

required for operational

expenses and statutory payments,

sources said adding the

PSU has been trying to raise

funds from bank through government

guarantees which it is

yet to get. Purwar said the

response he has got from the

ceramic products, drug and

pharmaceuticals recorded positive

growth in September.

Shipments of gems and jewellery,

engineering goods,

petroleum products, handloom

and leather goods, cereals,

meat and dairy products

recorded negative growth,

according to the data.

"Declining trend in exports

does not augur well for the

overall growth of the economy.

Escalating trade tensions that

have unsettled the slowing

world economy have also led

WTO to sharply cut their trade

forecasts for both 2019 and

2020 to 1.2 and 2.7 respectively.

The downside risks still

remain high in the global economy

and the projection for

2020 depends on a return to

more normal trade relations,"

said FIEO President Sharad

Kumar Saraf. The problem for

government is that the PSU's

revival package in terms on 4G

spectrum and VRS are on priority

list.

But in the overall structure

of government which has many

responsibilities, things do take

time. BSNL's per month salary

India's exports has assumed

serious proportions as only

eight out of 30 major product

groups showed positive growth

in September 2019. All major

sectors including almost all

labour-intensive sector of

exports besides petroleum were

in the negative, showing such a

pay-out is Rs 850 crore. The

PSU has to also clear vendors

dues from its internal accruals.

The BSNL posted a net loss

of provisional loss of Rs 13,804

crore in FY19. The induction of

4G spectrum and VRS to cut its

huge workforce can lessen its

financial woes, it says.

The Finance Ministry, which

is currently looking into the

Department of Telecom's Rs

50,000 crore revival package

for BSNL and MTNL, is

reserved on capital infusion in

the ailing PSUs due to their

continuing losses over the last

10 years.

A panel headed by Home

Minister Amit Shah is however

in favour of capital infusion

and so is the PMO.

decelerating trend. "Exports

continue to remain amongst the

weakest links of the economy.

The situation is aggravated by

worsening global trade, making

it essential for the government

to intervene effectively to make

Indian exports competitive.

Rising raw material prices and

'89% workers in India

would trust robot

more than manager'

San Francisco : Workers in

India are the most excited about

Artificial Intelligence (AI) with

89 per cent of them appearing

to be more trusting of robots

over their managers, says a new

study.

AI is becoming more prominent

with 50 per cent of workers

currently using some form

of AI at work compared to only

32 per cent last year, according

to the study conducted by leading

Cloud service provider

Oracle and research firm Future

Workplace.

Workers in India (89 per

cent) and China (88 per cent)

are more trusting of robots over

their managers, followed by

Singapore (83 per cent), Brazil

(78 per cent), Japan (76 per

cent), UAE (74 per cent),

Australia/New Zealand (58 per

cent), France (56 per cent), the

US (57 per cent) and the UK

(54 per cent), said the "AI at

Work" study. "With technology

adding great value to all organisational

functions, people are

lack of low cost credit need to

be tackled," said EEPC India

Chairman Ravi Sehgal.

As per the Commerce

Ministry data, amidst the sluggish

trade performance in the

month of September, the country's

trade deficit shrunk during

the month under review to

$10.86 billion dollars from

$14.95 billion in the year ago

period. The drop has largely

been on account of sharp fall in

imports relative to exports.

Imports during September

showed negative growth in

almost all major sectors including

coal, petroleum products,

crude precious and semi-precious

stones, chemicals and

electronic goods. Oil imports in

September were $8.98 billion,

which was 18.33 per cent lower,

compared to $10.99 bn in corresponding

period last year.

The third monthly fall in

excited about increasingly

leveraging technologies like AI

in HR," Shaakun Khanna, Head

of Human Capital Management

(HCM) Applications, Asia

Pacific, Oracle, said in a statement.

"The study also highlights

another aspect that with technology

taking care of transactional

activities, leaders and

managers need to bring more

strategic value to management

and use more of their soft skills

with people," Khanna said.

The study of 8,370 employees,

managers and HR leaders

across 10 countries, found that

AI has changed the relationship

between people and technology

at work and is reshaping the

role HR teams and managers

need to play in attracting,

retaining and developing talent.

Workers in China (77 per

cent) and India (78 per cent)

have adopted AI over 2X more

than those in France (32 per

cent) and Japan (29 per cent),

the results showed.

exports this year (FY20) has

meant that cumulative value of

exports for the period April-

September 2019-20 also fell by

2.39 per cent to $159.57 billion

as against $163.48 billion during

April-September 2018-19.

The fall in exports for India

has come at a time when Indian

economy has slowed to 5 per

cent level in the first quarter of

FY20 and indications are that it

will fall further despite government

efforts to pump prime the

economy through a series of

stimulus measures. All major

global institutions have brought

down India's growth projections.

What is more worrisome

that even the world economy is

slowing down. The latest IMF

projections put world to grow

at 3 per cent in 2019 lower

from its earlier projection of

3.2 per cent and a lot lower that

2018 growth of 3.6 per cent.

---

6 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 ASIA

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

From must-haves to family favourites,

Asda has everything you need this Diwali

With the festive season around the

corner, it’s time again for families

across the UK to get together for delicious

feasts, fun-filled parties and traditional

ceremonies.

This way, the next generation gets a

better understanding of the festivities,

customs and rituals. Year after year,

the Diwali offers at Asda keep getting

better! Taking away the stress of planning,

there is an exciting range of

brands and products available, all

under one roof with amazing deals and

discounts.

Since Diwali is celebrated with

equal fervour by all, what makes it so

special is how it brings different people

together.

From all over the Indian sub-continent,

people from various culinary

backgrounds unite to put their best

‘food’ forward. This year, Asda is

celebrating this richness of food cultures

by doing something very special.

ASDA has teamed up with three food

influencers from diverse backgrounds

who celebrate their Diwali rituals in

their own traditional way, to inspire

and motivate the food lover inside

each one of us!

Anjali Bhanot

anjali.bhanot@hereandnow365.co.uk

Madhurima – @Kitchenmai

Having lived in Mumbai and London, Madhurima

has adapted her style of

cooking for global living

but her true love for

Indian food is still profound

and deep. For the

festive season,

Madhurima has shared

two dishes, without

which her Diwali menu is

incomplete. In Bengali

culture, festivities begin

much before Diwali and

this gives ample time to

make sweet and savoury

delicacies for the family. “Semolina, a versatile

ingredient which I usually add to savouries for

crunchiness – be it the cutlets, the fritters or croquettes

and it is also the base of many sweet meats,

my favourite being the Rava Laddoos. I can’t resist a

Diwali without Rava Laddoos, I have already started

making for all my friends and family. Stocking up

semolina has become a must for every occasion as

there’s so much I can do with it. “

Another ingredient which Madhurima loves to

include in her Diwali cooking is dals, her favourite

being the humble Chana Dal which goes into Chana

Dal Puris, Chana Dal fritters and the Bengali Cholar

Dal. In Bengali cooking, Chana Dal is cooked with

coconut and spices and it’s a staple for all Bengali

festivals.

Nitisha Patel – @Chef_nitisha

A champion of Indian cuisine, Nitisha strongly believes in innovative cooking

but when it comes to festivities, she

chooses to keep it traditional. A young

Gujarati, living with her parents in

Wolverhampton, Nitisha has already published

her first book – My Modern Indian

Kitchen.

For Nitisha, Diwali is about her childhood

rituals and all those dishes that bring

back those memories. In her list for Diwali

must-haves, you will find a range of ingredients

like nuts, spices, Basmati rice and

potatoes.

Her absolute favourites are cans of

chickpeas, kala chana and kidney beans.

She believes that with these three in her

kitchen, she can create her family’s

favourite Diwali meals effortlessly. “With

so much going on during Diwali, I prefer

using the canned beans and peas as it

makes the cooking process quicker and it’s

so convenient to dish up a fancy meal

without spending hours in the kitchen.

Kala chana masala with rotis are loved by

the whole family and I can remember

feasting on it as my fondest childhood

memory.”

Take inspiration from Nitisha and try

great recipes at home with KTC Red kidney

beans (3 for £1) at Asda.

Nisha Parmar – @nishascookingagain

From investment banking to

Masterchef, Nisha’s culinary journey is not

just interesting but full of flavours from

across the globe. During Diwali, her cooking

inspiration usually is driven by the

yearning to share the opulence of the festival

with her kids. Diwali is never a quiet

affair in her household. Every year, they

have a special feast where a large spread of

food is laid out, comprising of party food

and not the regular curry and roti. Amidst

all the festivities, Nisha ensures she cooks

up a feast for the whole family. Her family

favourites are the Indian street food

flavours. Her kitchen is full of ingredients

for this delicious street food as she enjoys serving a variety of chaats and

tikkis to family and friends. Chick-peas feature on top of her shopping

list every time she pops over to her local ASDA. Perfect for salads,

chaats, stews and curries, there is so much you can easily make with a

can of chickpeas. Her family favourites are Aloo tikki chaat drizzled

with tons of chutney and topped with sev.

Tickle your taste buds with street food

flavours with KTC canned Chickpea (3 for

£1) and KTC Sunflower Oil (5L for £3.80

only) at Asda So, this Diwali, go ahead and

create food memories with your family. Be

it your family favourites, your childhood

delights or traditional recipes, find all the

ingredients at ASDA. With a range of

brands and products available in select

stores and online, make this Diwali truly

special with ASDA!

Indian doctor to

head oncology dept

in cleveland clinic

New Delhi : Jame Abraham on

Tuesday was inducted as the head of the

Hematology/Medical Oncology

Department at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio,

US. Abraham -- M.D., F.A.C.P, who

holds a medical degree from Calicut

Medical College in Kerala, is well

known in his country of birth and

received an award from former

President Pratibha Patil in

2010 for his contribution to

cancer care.

He currently serves as the

Director of the Breast

Oncology Programme at

Taussig Cancer Institute and

co-director of the Cleveland

Clinic Comprehensive Breast

Cancer Programme and also a

professor of medicine at

Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of

Medicine. "I look forward to building

upon Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer

Institute's position as a leader in hematology

and medical oncology, delivering

outstanding, compassionate patient care

and innovative research," said Abraham.

As the national principal investigator of

multiple breast cancer clinical trials, Dr.

Abraham has published and presented

more than 200 papers.

He is also the founding editor of the

Bethesda Handbook of Oncology

(Wolter Kluwer), one of the best-selling

oncology textbooks in the world.

"Successfully leading our

Hematology/Medical

Oncology Department requires

a leader who excels at empathy,

fosters a culture of teamwork,

demonstrates emotional

intelligence and believes in the

vision of our institute," said

Brian Bolwell, M.D., chairman

of Taussig Cancer Institute.

"Dr. Abraham represents

these qualities and has exhibited

a passion for department and caregiver

development, and elevating our

national reputation," Bolwell added.

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit multispecialty

academic medical center that

integrates clinical and hospital care with

research and education.

Indian nurses in UAE

may lose jobs over

new requirement

another crisis -- their requests for

equivalency certificate for their diploma

certificates were getting rejected.

The MoE is issuing equivalency certificate

for diploma certificates

Dubai : Hundreds of Indian nurses

diploma certificates in the United Arab

Emirates (UAE) were at risk of losing

their jobs due to a new educational

requirement, a media report said.

More than 200 nurses have

already lost their jobs, while several

others have been demoted after

the UAE made a bachelor's degree

in nursing as the minimum educational

qualification for registered

nurses, the Gulf News said in the

report on Monday. According to

some of the affected, nurses with

diploma certificates, who continue

to be retained, were required to do

a Post Basic BSc Nursing

Programme from universities in

the UAE accredited by the

Ministry of Education (MoE) by

2020. However, several nurses, who

have enrolled for the programmes in

different universities, were now facing

obtained from the state of Kerala, the

nursing council of which is the only

Indian nursing body recognised by the

ministry, the affected nurses said.

Kerala sends the highest number of

nurses to the country. "Majority of us

are hailing from Kerala itself. But we

studied outside Kerala for our nursing

diploma courses. A few

nurses from other Indian

states are also facing the

same issue," said one of the

affected nurses. "Many of

us have already lost our

jobs and now we are unable

to continue our studies and

apply for another job, leaving

us in a 'do or die' situation,"

said another.

The nurses said they

would approach India's

Minister of State for

External Affairs V.

Muraleedharan, who is scheduled to

visit the UAE this week, seeking his

urgent intervention to solve the issue.

---

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

ASIA

16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019

7

Man-eating tiger in Karnataka

forest tracked, captured

Bengaluru : The man-eating tiger,

which was at large for five days, was

tracked down and safely captured in

Karnataka's Bandipur reserve forest on

Sunday after tranquilising it, an official

said. "The tiger was captured late in the

afternoon (around 2:30 p.m.) with the help

of Soliga tribals, who spotted it hiding in a

bush," state Chief Wildlife Warden Sanjay

Mohan, who was supervising operations

from outside the forest, told IANS over

phone. The tiger, aged 4 to 6 years, had

killed two men since last month and a

search was on for the animal since October

9 in the 872km Bandipur forest in the

state's Chamarajanagar district, about 220

Pakistani ulemas

meet Qureshi over

Qadiani issue

Islamabad : Amid growing resentment,

a delegation of ulemas, led by

Maulana Muhammad Hanif Jalandhari,

met Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood

Qureshi, here on Saturday, and expressed

concern over the United Nations Human

Rights Council's (UNHRC) move to discuss

the Qadiani (Ahmadi Muslims)

issue. The delegation, comprising members

of all schools of thought, demanded

that Qadianis' efforts to defame Pakistan

in the UN must be countered at the government

level, according to Pakistani

media report.

"Qadianis were declared non-Muslims

in 1974 in Pakistan after differences over

some fundamental issues related to Islam.

But since then the issues of human rights

have been making headlines", the delegation

told Qureshi.

The International Human Rights

Organisation had again put up the case of

Qadianis at the UNHRC and that it had

accepted that for discussion, it added.

Maulana Jalandhari told Qureshi the

people of Pakistan were worried about

the issue and warned the government of

grave consequences if the case was not

properly handled. He said Qadianis were

continuously lobbying against Pakistan at

the international fora.

Lucknow, The All India Muslim

Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has said

that under the Shariat law, the status of any

land dedicated to a mosque cannot be

altered, changed or transferred in any manner.

The AIMPLB Working Committee

meeting held at the Darul Uloom

Naadwatul Ulema

under the chairmanship

of its President

Maulana Syed

Mohammad Rabey

Hasan Nadvi on

Saturday reiterated

what it described as

the “basic stand of

the Muslim

Community that no

Muslim can surrender

or transfer or

trespass such Waqf

land”. The meeting

was in response to

the October 10 meeting of eminent

Muslims under the banner of Indian

Muslims for Peace where they had

expressed the desire to hand over the 2.77

acre land with the Sunni Central Waqf

Board to apex to the Centre as a solution to

the Ayodhya Ram Janambhoomi issue.

The AIMPLB in a statement said that

handing over the Ayodhya land was not

possible as it was “based on historical facts

and evidence that the Babri Masjid was

constructed without demolishing any temple

or any other place of worship”.

The statement maintained that the Board

had fully participated in several earlier proposals

for mediation with the hope that a

solution based on justice could be found.

“But after several efforts, it is now clear

km southwest of Bengaluru.

Soligas, who are experts in hunting the

wild animals in the forests, found the tiger

hiding in a thick bush and guided the

guards and the vets to the spot. "The tiger

was hit by a tranquiliser dart by forest

guards atop on an elephant based on the

Soligas' cues, but that attempt failed as it

recovered quickly from the impact of the

dart and crossed over a stream into another

thicket. As a result, the Soligas had to again

track it down," said Mohan.

The Soligas, however, managed to spot

it again and enable the big cat be hit with

another dart, which succeeded in immobilising

it, he said. "As the tiger lay unconscious

after it was tranquilised, the forest

guards brought it out in a net with the help

of the Soligas," Mohan said, adding that as

the elephant could not be taken to the spot

where the tiger lay unconscious, the guards

threw a net over it to drag it out of the

thicket. The veterinary doctor administered

an antidote to the tiger after it was brought

out of the forest to revive it.

"The tiger will be shifted to Mysore

rehabilitation centre on Monday after conducting

routine tests and a check-up,"

Mohan added. The search for the elusive

tiger was intensified earlier in the day, on

foot and on elephants, by about 60 forest

guards, 5 Soligas and 3 veterinary doctors

after the partial remains of a just-born elephant

calf it killed and ate was found in the

jungle. Mohan had earlier told IANS that

the tiger killed the calf near the safari in a

10km radius of Melkamanahalli village in

the jungle, and termed it a "good sign for

knowing its whereabouts and helps us to

search in the target area to capture it".

Shivappa, a farmer, was the second victim

of the big cat, which is said to have

turned man-eater over a month ago after

killing Shivamadaiah in its territory when

he was returning to his village with two

bullocks from another nearby village.

The tiger has devoured 14 cattle during

the last two months. The state Forest

Department obtained a camera trap picture

of the tiger early on Saturday.

Muslim board reiterates

BABRI STAND

that there is no possibility of mediation/reconciliation

and the legal proceedings are in

the final stages,” it said.

Expressing satisfaction at the Supreme

Court proceedings, the AIMPLB were optimistic

of a favourable judgment “in favour

of the Muslim cause which will based on

right, fair play and justice”.

Then AIMPLB

further said that the

Babri Masjid issue was

being watched not just

nationally but internationally.

“The AIM-

PLB stated that it was a

test case for the basic

value of secularism

enshrined in the Indian

Constitution and hoped

that the judgement

would be in consonance

of the rule of

law,” the statement

added. The AIMPLB has also decided to

challenge the constitutionality of the

Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on

Marriage) Act, 2019 on grounds that far

from protecting the rights of Muslim

women and children in marriage, it will

completely destroy the marriage and leave

Muslim women as destitute.

The Board also opposed any attempt to

enact the Uniform Civil Code in a multicultural,

multi-religious society like India.

m“It will not only affect the Muslims but

will also adversely affect the cultural and

social rights of tribals and other religious

minorities. Therefore the Board demands

that the Courts of the day whether central or

provincial should abstain from this anti

national activity,” the statement said.

UP Bullock cart race:

FIR registered

Muzaffarnagar : An FIR has been lodged against several

persons for organising and participating in a bullock cart race in

Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district.

The race was held on Sunday. The FIR at the Bhopa police

station named 11 persons and included several unnamed persons

also. The FIR has been lodged under IPC Sections 307 (attempt

to murder) and 279 (rash driving on public way).

The district administration had imposed a ban on the bullock

cart race. Muzaffarnagar Senior superintendent of police (SSP) ,

Abhishek Yadav, said that strict action would be taken against

those who had violated the ban orders. According to reports, the

matter came to light when someone uploaded the video on the

social media. In the video, hundreds of bikers doing stunts can

also be seen as bullock carts compete with each other on the

road. Traditionally, bullock cart race is a popular sport among

locals in the district, but the local administration had banned it,

citing threat to life and cruelty to animals as the reason.

New UP Congress chief Lallu

meets Sonia, Priyanka

New Delhi, A day after assuming charge as the new Uttar

Pradesh Congress chief, Ajay Kumar Lallu met party General

Secretary Priyanka Gandhi here on Saturday. Lallu later met

Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi

also. Sonia Gandhi advised Lallu to work

with zeal and involve everybody to

strengthen the party at the grassroots

level, a source said. She also asked him to

give a chance to new people.

Sources say Priyanka Gandhi also had

a feedback meeting with all the six secretaries

of the state. They gave their inputs

on the upcoming bypolls. The Congress is

contesting all the bypolls in the state.

Many leaders have been assigned to work

for the party. The leaders apprised

Priyanka about the Chinmayanand case in Shahjahanpur. The

General Secretary in-charge wanted to know about the agitation

in Shahjahanpur, where the administration did not give permission

for a procession earlier this month.

The Congress has appointed Lallu as state president, but during

his oath taking ceremony on Friday many senior leaders were

conspicuous by their absence. The dissent is out in the open.

Former Varanasi MP Rajesh Mishra said that he will not be able

to advise Priyanka Gandhi any more. Another leader Siraj

Mehndi resigned from the party after Lallu’s appointment.

Sources say many senior leaders are upset about not being

included in the new team. The Congress party has organised a

three-day workshop in Rae Bareli to train its workers and leaders.

Those present in the meeting were Dheeraj Gurjar, Zubair

Ahmed, Rohit Chowdhary, Sachin Naik, all secretaries attached

to Priyanka Gandhi. The party’s main challenge is to contain dissent,

said a leader. In sharp contrast, leaders who had joined the

Congress on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections have been given

organisational responsibilities. These include Naseemuddin

Siddiqui, Raj Kishore Singh, Kaiser Jahan Ansari, Rakesh

Sachan — all of whom are recent entrants to the Congress.

“They joined the Congress because they fell out with the leadership

of their parent parties and not because they subscribed to

the Congress ideology. They will move to greener pastures at the

appropriate time again,” said another leader.

The Congress committee has given around 45 per cent representation

to OBCs which, party leaders claim, is ‘another political

blunder’. “The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is focusing on

OBCs and so are the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj

Party (BSP). The upper castes and Muslims are feeling completely

alienated. The Congress should have reached out to the

Brahmins and Thakurs in order to fill the vacuum, but by going

all out to woo OBCs, the party has committed a political blunder,”

said a former president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress

Committee. Murmurs are also being heard in Congress circles

about associates of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi being

sidelined in the new set up. “We never imagined that there would

be strife within the family too. Those who have worked under

Rahul Gandhi have been ignored and this does not augur well for

the future of the Congress.

---

8 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 ASIA

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

International diplomacy, corporate

diplomacy, and economic diplomacy,

public diplomacy need special experts

who can envision a strong & stable

future for a country in the forthcoming

centuries. International relationship

largely rests on trade & commerce.

Cross (2007) argues that diplomacy

is a process that individuals

engage in. It is a known fact that

International diplomacy is quid pro

quo, not a carte blanche. In a globalized

world, developing or developed

nations have to engage in trade &

commerce. The diplomacy is not submissive

as pursued so far by Modi. A

leader has to watch & protect the

interest of the country despite economic

& political turmoil, turbulences

in the world.

The general populace of India

understand international diplomacy

only through the prism of Indo-Pak

relationship but there is a need to

evaluate the current situation of India

under Modi`s international diplomacy.

Some of the disturbing facts &

data show a dismal picture.

India has strong consumer market

of 130 million people. During UPA II

government, the developed countries

like the US, UK, China, Russia &

Japan were focusing on Indian huge

market for selling their wide-ranging

products As per India – China trade

relationship 2018 published by PHD

chamber, Delhi Chapter which shows

Chinese products in the India market

has entered profoundly from 2001 to

2016. But under Modi`s diplomacy,

multi-national companies are exploring

options in other emerging

economies. The reason behind shifting

is well known in the political circle.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat urged

Indian citizens to abandon the tendency

of buying Chinese goods. The

Swadeshi Jagran Manch(SJM), the

economic wing of the Sangh Parivar

went one step further to stop an ‘invasion

of merchandise from overseas’.

This political stand by the RSS and its

affiliated Hindu organizations have

undermined the trust of the multinational

companies & hurt the Indian

economy to a larger extent.

There is no doubt that Prime

Minister of India, Narendra Modi has

enormous state-level administrative &

political experience. But Modi has no

experience in international diplomacy.

He lacks a vision of ‘Value Creation’

in the pursuit of mutual benefits.

Integrative negotiations should be the

mantra of diplomacy. Bargaining

leverage misses the bus in several of

the Modi`s diplomatic attempts. Modi

is unable to understand the national

interest of the country. Modi is unable

to understand who can be a better

strategic partner in bilateral & multilateral

relationships.

His speech at the United Nation

exudes no enthusiasm & earnestness

from world global leaders expect the

President of America, Donald Trump.

Experts in the field of international

diplomacy wittily sneer at Modi`s

international diplomacy. Had Donald

Trump has been sanguine about

India`s huge consumer market his

commerce secretary Wilbur Ross,

would not have put up many ‘ifs &

buts’ to India for a trade agreement.

Hugs & red carpet welcome in the

USA during Howdy Modi stand no

chance of getting sustainable business

from US President Donald Trump.

Modi`s diplomacy failed when Trump

has succeeded in selling US oil to

India. The statics shows that Indian

India`s leadership

failed in international

DIPLOMACY

imported expensive US oil 48 million

barrels in 2018. Here, Modi hugely

comprised of the national interest and

stooped to the pressure of the US.

Modi looks like a complete follower

of Donald Trump.

A few years back, India was

importing oil from Iran with less price

and without shipping charges &

extending credit period. The prices of

essential commodities rose with the

import of US expensive oil. Another

bad news for India is that Trump is

planning to scuttle the Indian economy

through Countering America`s

Adversaries through Sanctions Act

(CAATSA). Donald Trump`s attention

is to suppress India under US sanctions

and heavy Tariffs. It is unfortunate

that Modi is unable to understand

the vile tricks of Donald Trump.

After abrogation of 370 & 35A,

Modi and Shah are not tired to tell the

world that the valley of Kashmir will

develop and economic opportunities

will come in the future. Although

Modi has been telling at the world

forum that his step in abrogating 370

& 35A is welcomed by the international

community. The inordinate

delay in restoring normalcy in the valley

has attracted the attention of the

world leaders to oppose India`s stand

in the valley. Malaysian Prime

Minister Mahathir Mohamad said,

‘India invaded and occupied Kashmir’

at the UN General Assembly.

Similarly, President of Turkey Recep

Tayyip Erdogan, said, ‘residents of

Jammu & Kashmir are ‘virtually

under blockade with 8 million people’.

The tone of language by both world

leaders at the UN General Assembly is

definitely obnoxious. Malaysia &

Turkey are Islamic countries and

Muslims in these two countries &

respective Prime Ministers feel that

their Muslim brothers & sisters in

India are mercilessly killed under the

nose of the Modi government. Human

Rights Report 2019 illustrates that 36

Muslims are killed between 2015-

2018. Mob violence by extremist

Hindu groups affiliated with the ruling

BJP against minority community especially

Muslims continued. Such

heinous acts against the members of

the religious communities certainly

engender hate & anger in the hearts of

Muslims. The British government has

always sided with Pakistan. From all

these intrigues on behalf of the

Pakistan government, old and new

allies are joining hands with Pakistan

against India. The platform of the

United Nations Security Council

(UNSC) is aggressively used by world

leaders against India.

Modi`s diplomacy

failed in bilateral relations

with Nepal. Pakistan &

Nepal international borders

are very sensitive in

terms of infiltration of terrorists

into India. India`s

influence is declining in

Nepal since the day the

Chinese government has

pumped $ 8 billion in

investment in Nepal. No

doubt, China is aggressively trying to

establish economic connectivity with

Nepal & Pakistan in the region.

India`s huge investment in

Afghanistan did not yield the desired

results. A recent quadrilateral talk

held between US, Russia, Pakistan &

China and no invitation to India has

certainly raised eyebrows in the

Indian establishment. In this scenario,

Pakistan is getting closer to the US,

China, Russia than India. The efforts

by anti-India world leaders to circumvent

India seems to gain ground to a

– Dr. Rahul Kumar, Ph.D.

larger extent.

India still lags behind the technologically

advanced nations of the

world. Wobbly progress under ‘Make

in India’ initiative & marginal hike in

2019 budget allocation for Science &

Technology further added woes to

making indigenous arms & defense

products locally. ‘Make in India’ initiative

aim is to invite the private sector

to boost up manufacturing of

indigenous defense products. But this

is not happening. In IDSA occasional

Paper No. 48, Captain Vinay Kaushal,

a defense expert, tells a depressing

story of ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Kaushal explains, ‘Ministry of

Defense(MoD) accorded acceptance

of necessity (AoN) for 145 proposals

worth Rs 3,99,800 crore approximately,

out of which 103 proposals worth

Rs 2,46,400 crore approximately

have been approved

under “Buy (Indian-

Indigenously Designed,

Developed

and

Manufactured [IDDM])”,

“Buy (Indian)”, “Buy and

Make (Indian)” The policy

intent was followed up by the

MoD with the requisite

action. For example, in the

period 2014-15 to 2016-17,

23 “Make” categories of capital

acquisition.17 However, the momentum

built up appears to be dissipating

because the MoD has not been in a

position to sign any major contract

with the private sector as the meager

budget allocations available are just

about enough for paying for the

“committed liabilities”.

In the same vein, S.

Chandrasekhar states that ‘an analysis

of R& D expenditure in India shows

that funding for technology in specific

sectors is not in consonance with

the size of domestic & global market’.

Slow-release of funds for the purpose

of scientific projects has further circumscribed

the speedy output of the

scientists in India. India cannot match

the technology superiority unless

reforms to promote the scientists are

made.

India has been of the world`s top

import importers spending billions of

dollars annually. India is also facing

tremendous price escalation in

procuring submarines due to red tapism,

bureaucratic lethargy & indecisiveness.

The Scorpene submarines

programme called Project -75(P-75I)

earlier at the cost of Rs. 50,000 crores

are running late over five years behind

schedule. This delay has escalated

additional cost to the tune of Rs 25,

700 crores.

36 Rafale aircraft delivery to India

is getting delayed day by day. Rafale is

a highly sophisticated & costly aircraft

and needs a proper hanger. Contractors

Builder Association of India (BAI)

told that the construction of hangers to

house the two squadrons of Rafale aircraft

comes to a standstill due to a

shortage of funds. Group Captain

Vinay Kaushal(Retd) a distinguished

fellow at the Institute of Defense

Studies, New Delhi raises a question,

‘Are these 36 aircraft enough to sustain

two squadrons over 40 years?

For arms & defense equipments

producing countries like the US,

Russia, Britain & China, India

remains a milch cow. A huge budget is

earmarked for procurement of foreign

arms and defense products.

Inducement is as big in the procurement

as not a single government could

save skin without blemish. Modi

speaking at the Aero show in February

2015, he said that defense manufacturing

was ‘at the heart of the ‘Make

in India’ in Indian programme” and

that the country should aim to manufacture

70 percent of military equipment

domestically in the next five

years. Four years have already passed

by talking loudly but no visible

progress in indigenous defense manufacturing

is seen. Today, the armed

forces in India have all imported aircrafts,

tanks & odd combat vessels.

Modi`s philosophical theories are

nothing but a vain chimera.

After analyzing the worst condition

of the economy and missteps taken by

the Modi government one can safely

conclude that Modi`s leadership in

international diplomacy has failed

miserably. Modi has the right to dream

of making India a $5 trillion economy

in 2024. But before MOON is offered,

Modi must focus on three strategies to

save further stultification of the country

(1) focus on the domestic market

(2) reduce maximum import (3) dominate

in technology. The sooner it is

followed the better will be for the economic

health of the country.

– Dr. Rahul Kumar, Ph.D.

Dr. Rahul Kumar, Ph.D. Jawaharlal

Nehru University, Delhi. India. He is an

independent researcher and senior

media columnist. He is working currently

with the “The Asian Independent

UK” newspaper as a Bureau Chief.

His book on “Elderly Punjabis in

Indian Diaspora” traces trajectories of

Elderly Punjabi migration to U.K. He is

a member of the Editorial Committee of

Global Research Forum for Diaspora

and Transnationalism (GRFDT) New

Delhi. India. The views expressed by

the author in this article are personal

and does not necessarily reflect the official

policy of the paper.

---

www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 9

Lynching: Christian body fumes

over RSS chief's remark

New Delhi : A full blown war of words is

raging between Rashtriya Swayamsewak

Sangh (RSS) supremo Mohan Bhagwat and a

top Catholic body over guess what -- who

invented the word "lynching".

Taking umbrage to Bhagwat's remarks

dissociating the Hindu community with rising

incidents of mob lynching in the country

and instead linking the term to Christianity,

the All India Catholic Union (AICU) has

issued a detailed statement lashing out at

both the RSS and the country's ruling BJP

and questioned Bhagwat's "political intentions"

behind the remark.

At the foundation day function of the RSS

on October 8, Bhagwat had spoken at length

about the phenomenon of mob lynching. "No

one from the Sangh gets into such troubles.

If some such thing is about to happen, they in

fact try to stop it. Calling any association

between Hinduism and lynching "a conspiracy",

Bhagwat said the word comes from an

incident in the Bible. According to him, once

Jesus Christ asked people to hit a woman

with stones, but only if they had never committed

any sin themselves. The influential

Christian body hit back saying the purported

association between the Bible and lynching

made by Bhagwat, was to "denigrate

Christianity and shift the focus from the rash

of lynching of Dalits and religious minorities

by gangs, who claim to be protectors of the

cow". Suggesting that the RSS supremo didn't

have a correct reading of the Bible, the

AICU explained the event that Bhagwat

referred to in order to hyphenate lynchings

Mayawati pledges to fulfil

Kanshi Ram's dreams

Lucknow : National

President of the Bahujan Samaj

Party (BSP) Mayawati on

Wednesday paid tributes to

Kanshi Ram on his 13th death

anniversary. She also pledged to

fulfil all his dreams.

Mayawati wrote while paying

homage to Kanshi Ram on

Twitter, "BSP paid tributes on

Wednesday to the founder of

BAMCEF, DS4 and BSP movement,

Sri Kanshi Ram Ji on his

death anniversary through various

functions in the state. He

always fought for the neglected

section." "Floral tributes to the

Bahujan hero, Shri Kanshi Ram

Ji, at the Prerna Kendra located

on the Gurudwara Rakabganj

Road in Delhi. The promise

should be kept to fulfil his dream

for the party.

"Dedicated to the movement

of self-respect of Baba Saheb

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar,

Kanshi Ram Ji already knew that

the casteist and narrow forces

would continue to challenge the

movement of Saam, Daam,

Dand, Bhed. It should be tackled

with prudence and UP has

always stood as the best example

in this respect," she added.

Kanshi Ram gave the backwards,

Dalits and tribals an

important place in politics. He

died on October 9, 2006 of a

severe heart attack at the age of

72.

from Hinduism. "The episode of the woman

whom Jesus stops from being lynched by a

mob in Israel of those times is a crucial one

in the New Testament. She would have been

lynched by the self-righteous mob, which in

a kangaroo court justice, wanted to punish

her. She would be dead had Jesus not intervened.

He rebuked the mob saying only a

person who had never committed a sin could

judge her, and cast the first stone. The mob

melted away," elaborated the organisation.

Not just Bhagwat, the AICB also accused

the BJP and Home Minister Amit Shah of

"targeting religious minorities". "The targeting

of religious minorities has become the

stock in trade of the BJP chief, now also the

country's Home Minister, whose snide and

scurrilous terms for them have been 'termites'

and 'enemies'," it said.

Suggesting that the Prime Minister was

willfully not taking any action against

Bhagwat or Shah for their comments, it said,

"Mr Modi is beholden both to the RSS and to

Mr Amit Shah for his electoral successes". It

also asked the PM to "show" that he can

"punish the highest in the land".

Lucknow : Eleven people

were killed on Monday due to a

gas cylinder explosion in Uttar

Pradesh's Mau district.

According to the state's

Home Department sources, the

impact of the blast was so

strong that the two-storey house

in Walidpur village where it

took place was blown to

smithereens. People in the area

said that they heard a loud

explosion and flames erupted

from the damaged building

soon after.

Chief Minister Yogi

Adityanath has expressed grief

over the incident and has directed

the district officials to provide

proper treatment to the

Colombo's Lotus Tower to

remain closed for public

Colombo : Colombo's Lotus Tower, which was inaugurated last

month by President Maithripala Sirisena, would remain closed for

public viewing until next year as

it has not yet been fully completed,

Project Director Shantha

Gunananda said.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror,

Gunananda said that the construction

company, CEIEC, has

refused to hand over the project

till next year it was incomplete.

He said that TV and radio

broadcasting and transmission

from the tower could commence

from mid next year.

He said the Chinese construction

company has not yet

informed about the estimated cost

for the future expenses to complete the tower. In early September,

a Cabinet approval was given to set up a new state-owned enterprise

(SOE) to commercialise the Lotus Tower and handle its financial

operations. Gunananda said the delay in the opening of the

tower was an obstacle to invest in it and set up an SOE to manage

it. A total of $104 million was spent for construction of the tower

and 80 per cent of the cost has been funded by the EXIM Bank of

China. The tower comprises a telecommunication museum, restaurant,

supermarkets, food courts, conference halls with a seating

capacity for 400 people, a 1,000-seat auditorium, luxury hotel

rooms, ballrooms and an observation gallery.

11 killed in UP gas

cylinder blast

injured. He said that all necessary

help should be provided to

the survivors.

Reports said that many more

could be buried under the debris

which was now being removed.

The exact number of injured

persons was not immediately

known. Senior police officials

have reached the spot and the

local residents are helping in the

rescue operations.

2 BJP leaders on SIT radar in Chinmayanand case

Shahjahanpur : Two BJP leaders

from Uttar Pradesh's Shajahanpur were

now on the radar of a Special

Investigation Team (SIT) which is probing

sexual assault charges against former

Union Minister Chinmayanand.

The two leaders are believed to have

been in close contact with Sanjay Singh,

one of the three main accused in the

extortion case.

According to SIT sources, these leaders

learnt of the video recordings

through Vikram, another accused in the

case.

They reportedly tried to obtain the

video recordings from Sanjay and, perhaps,

use it to further their political

interest. They were even willing to pay

money to obtain the videos.

"These leaders were in constant

touch with the accused men and we are

probing their role in detail. We have

summoned them twice already," said an

SIT official.

The two leaders were also present in

the same hotel near Balaji temple in

Dausa, Rajasthan, on August 30 - where

the missing law student was found, a

week after she levelled charges against

Chinmayanand.

Two employees of the college where

the alleged victim was studying are also

being questioned by the SIT.

The law student had mentioned about

the principal, secretary and warden of

the college in her statement recorded

under 164 CrPC and the SIT is probing

their role in the sexual harassment case.

The special bench of the Allahabad

High Court monitoring the case had

expressed their satisfaction with the status

report submitted by the SIT. The

second status report would be submitted

on October 22.

The SIT is probing two cases and had

arrested Chinmayanand on September

20 under sections 376C (sexual intercourse

by person in authority), 342

(wrongful confinement), 354D (stalking)

and 506 (criminal intimidation) of

the IPC on the basis of the complaint

filed by victim who studies at the college

run by his ashram.

The victim had submitted over 40

videos as evidence to the SIT. In the second

case related to extortion charges,

the SIT has also arrested the victim and

her friends Sanjay, Vikram and Sachin

for their alleged involvement.

The bail applications of all the five

accused were cancelled by a lower court

and they have moved to the high court

for relief.

---

10 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 ASIA

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

Springfield, Ohio Culture Fest 2019

~ Sikhs Tied Colorful Turbans

Hundreds sat down at Sikhs in America booth to experience

turban, learn more about Sikhs & Identity

New Delhi : One person was

arrested on Sunday for robbing

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's

niece Damyanti Ben Modi, the

police said.

The Civil Lines police managed

to nab Gaurav alias Nonu

from Haryana's Sonepat on

Sunday, who along with another

Dayton, Ohio USA: Thousands gathered

to explore offerings of numerous diverse cultures

in the 23th Annual Culture Fest of

Springfield, Ohio held at the Springfield City

Hall Plaza. It was once again time to celebrate,

discover the tastes of many different

cultures from all over the World and enjoy

interactive activities for all ages, wonderful

entertainment and strolling musicians on the

plaza, buying merchandize from ethnic vendors,

and learn about the world at information

booths. Sikhs are living in many countries all

over the World. They have been achieving

big successes while maintaining their unique

identity. In the US, this identity is also sometimes

becoming the reason for racial attacks.

Despite this, Sikhs all over the country are

organizing and participating in various events

to improve awareness about them.

One such effort is made every year by

Sikhs from Springfield and neighboring

areas of Dayton, Cincinnati by participating

in the annual program held at the City Hall

Plaza. A resident of Springfield and organizer

for event participation by Sikhs Avtar

Singh and his wife Sarabjit Kaur informed

that we have been participating in the event

for almost 18 years, with the aim of spreading

awareness among Americans, and other

nationalities about the Sikhs, especially the

turban, which has been mistaken and

misidentified as being associated with terrorism

particularly after the 9/11 attacks.

Hundreds of visitors sat down all day at the

Sikh booth to experience the turban on their

head. “Culture Festivals are organized all

over the USA in many cities to create an association

among people living in the US from

different parts of the World. This offers an

opportunity for us to create awareness about

Sikhs in the USA. It is important for our community

to participate in such events to meet

other people, learn about their culture and

also tell them about our culture, Sikhs and its

identity, especially about the Turban”, said

Sameep Singh Gumtala, a resident of Dayton.

Springfield police chief Lee Graf also visited

the Sikh booth. Gumtala informed that in an

interaction with him, the chief paid tribute to

the Sikh police officer Deputy Sheriff

Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal killed in Houston,

Texas. Police chief invited the Sikhs to join

the Springfield police and said, “City of

Springfield police will be happy to have a first

Sikh police officer with turban and beard”.

Deputy Dhaliwal was the first Sikh in Texas

to get accommodation to serve in police with

turban and beard. There are only few cities in

the USA that allows Sikhs to serve in police

with turban and beard.

An exhibition was also organized at the

Sikh booth with posters about “Significance

of Uncut Hair”, “Tying of the Hair and

Turban”, “Sikh Turbans”, “Sikhs in US

One arrested for robbing PM's niece in Delhi

accused robbed Damyanti Ben

Modi when she arrived here

from Amritsar on Saturday

morning.

"We have arrested Nonu from

Sonepat and recovered cash,

ATM card and other documents

belonging to Damyanti Ben," the

police said. Police also recovered

the scooty which was used

to target the victim. According to

the police, the second accused in

from Delhi's Sultanpuri area. He

is yet to be arrested.

Police said that they got clues

from the CCTV footage of nearby

areas about the two accused

persons. According to reports,

Damyanti Ben arrived here from

Amritsar on Saturday morning.

She took an auto-rickshaw to the

Civil Lines in North Delhi. At

around 7 a.m. she reached the

Gujarati Samaj Bhawan. While

she was getting off from the

three-wheeler, two miscreants

riding a scooty snatched away

her purse, which contained Rs

50,000 in cash, two mobile

phones and some documents,

she had told IANS.

Army”. Books such as “The Sikhs”,

“Harmandir Sahib”, “Warrior Saints”, “Sikh

Wedding” and others were also displayed.

Bhangra and Giddha performance by the

youth and adults also made a colorful presence

at the festival. Many onlookers were

seen trying to dance at the rhythm of the

Punjabi beats.

Sameep Singh Gumtala

Dayton, Ohio USA

Email: sameep.singh@gmail.com

Ph.: +1-937-654-8873

Kathmandu : Nepal

is looking forward to a

boost in export of piggery

products to China,

during the two-day state

visit of Chinese

President Xi Jinping to

Kathmandu from

Saturday. The Pig

Industrial Park, set up in

Pokhara, targets to

export pork meat to

neighbouring China.

The park was established

with 70 per cent

investment from the government

and 30 per cent

from the farmers, for

exporting pork. Currently, the

industrial park has more than

10,000 pigs and also a modern

slaughter house to produce quality

pork meat, according to Pig

Breeder

Agriculture

Cooperatives Ltd Chairman

Krishna Bahadur Gurung, who is

also a former Member of

Parliament. China has already

announced support for expansion

of research and technology

in the agriculture sector of

Nepal. An agreement has been

reached to run potato, green fodder,

poultry, mushroom, vegetables

and trout fish production

plants in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and

Sindhupalchok districts, the

Himalayan Times reported.

The park that was launched

on December 19, 2018, will run

until December 18, 2021. The

government of China has

UAE-based Indian expat's

visa case goes viral online

NEPAL looks to

BOOST PORK

products to China

Dubai : A Dubai-based

Indian expat's plea regarding

his passport taken away from

him and being kept as a collateral

against a bank loan has

gone viral on Twitter

According to Jahir

Sarkar's tweets to the

Dubai Police, he said

that he had been

brought to Dubai by

an Egyptian and got his visa

stamped for a period of two

years. It was after getting the

visa stamped that the man took

a loan for Jahir, but took all of

the money instead, the Khaleej

Times reported on Saturday.

The Egyptian placed Jahir's

passport as a collateral/guarantee

against the bank loan. Jahir

also told Dubai Police that his

United Arab Emiares (UAE)

visa had expired more than a

year ago and that he was grave

trouble because of the

situation that he was

caught in. Dubai Police

responded to man's plea

by reaching out to the

UAE's Ministry of

Human Resources and

Emiratisation. The Ministry has

asked Sarkar to give them an

elaborate explanation about his

problem and confirm the fact as

to whether his passport has

been held by his employer, and

that he can raise a complaint in

such a case.

announced the support of RNB

27 million for the project. As

part of the project, 60 farmers

and technicians will be taken to

China for training while another

240 farmers will be trained in

Nepal itself, according to

Minister for Agriculture and

Livestock Development

Chakrapani Khanal.

The support has been heartily

welcomed by the 13,000 pig

farmers in Nepal, who believe

that skilled technical human

resource would help produce

quality pork meat and open the

door for export, said Pig

Entrepreneurs' Association Chair

Umesh Kumar Rai.

"China is both the largest producer

and consumer of pork,

hence comes the possibility for

exporting from Nepal," he said,

as per the daily.

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www.theasianindependent.co.uk

ASIA

16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019

11

Mehul Choksi cheated Punjab & Sind Bank of Rs 441 mn

Mumbai, The public sector Punjab

& Sind Bank (PSB) has revealed around

Rs 441 million loan exposure to the

absconding diamantaire Mehul

Chinubhai Choksi, here on Saturday.

This is the first time the 111-year-old

bank has come clean on the default perpetrated

by Choksi, who has now settled

as a citizen of Antigua & Barbados, the

West Indies.

The New Delhi-based PSB has

issued notices proclaiming him as a

“willful defaulter” who owes the bank

the amount for which it has initiated

recovery proceedings against him.

According to PSB, Choksi’s company,

Gitanjali Gems Ltd., including its

merged entity Gitanjali Exports Ltd.,

had availed the loan from the bank.

Choksi is a director plus a guarantor

in the company and legal heir to

Guniyal Choksi in the loan account.

However, since they failed to clear

the loan amount, the PSB declared it as

a ‘non-performing asset’ on March 31,

2018, days after it dawned that Choksi

and his family had already fled the

country in February that year. The bank

has now demanded that Choksi cough

out the loan amount plus interest and

other costs with effect from October 23,

2018 onwards.

As he failed to comply, the PSB on

September 17, 2019 declared him as a

‘wilful defaulter’. With this, Choksi

joins the bank’s band of 27 other

defaulters from different fields, based

mainly in New Delhi, Punjab and

Chandigarh, one in Lucknow, Uttar

Pradesh and two in Chennai, Tamil

Nadu, against whom it has filed recovery

suits. The latest development makes

PSB the third prominent governmentowned

bank to reveal its exposure after

Oriental Bank of Commerce came clean

of loan defaults by Choksi and his

nephew Nirav Modi totaling to around

Rs 289 crore. (IANS story, September 6,

2019). The ‘mama-bhanja’ diamantaire

duo shot into limelight in February 2018

after the Punjab National Bank revealed

a massive fraud perpetrated by them

running into over Rs 13,500 crore, sending

shudders in the country’s banking

industry. “Besides PSB, which has been

a perpetually loss-making entity, several

other banks have exposure to Choksi-

Modi and their group companies. Why

can’t all the government banks come

clean and jointly take legal action to

recover their dues,” former and Trade

Unions Joint Action Committee

(TUJAC), Maharashtra Convenor

Vishwas Utagi told IANS.

Utagi said the other bigger questions

are: what action has been taken against

the departments and officers dealing in

foreign exchange in Reserve Bank of

India and other affected banks, how

much of the outstandings from (Nirav

Modi-Choksi and others) accused have

been recovered so far and whether the

details emerging now are under pressure’

before the upcoming merger of

banks. He has demanded a ‘forensic

audit’ into all the accounts in all Indian

banks held by the realty, gems & jewellery

sectors on priority to reveal the

extent of defaults and the collateral

damage to society in the public interest.

Earlier this year, the State Bank of India

(SBI) had first bared its chest on a Rs

405 crore outstanding loan from Choksi

and his family members.

The SBI’s disclosure had come barely

two days after it became public that

Choksi had surrendered his Indian citizenship

and taken the nationality of

Antigua & Barbados Islands. In March

this year, millions in India were stunned

to see a relaxed and well-dressed Nirav

Modi sauntering down a street in

London, and the subseqeunt furore led

to his arrest by the United Kingdom

authorities. Currently, India is making

all-out efforts to get the uncle-nephew

extradited from Antigua & Barbados,

and UK to face the laws here.

Wearing BJP T-shirt, Maharashtra

farmer hangs himself

Buldhana (Maharashtra) : In a huge

embarrassment for Maharashtra's ruling

BJP, a distressed farmer sporting a

a party poll campaign T-shirt hanged

himself on a tree in the state's

Buldhana district early on Sunday.

The body of the farmer, identified

as 38-year old Raju Talware, was

found hanging from a tree branch at

his Khatkhed village in the district,

around 8.30 a.m.

He was sporting a Bharatiya Janata

Party colourful T-shirt with a symbol

of the 'Lotus' and the campaign slogan

"Punha Aanuya Aaple Sarkar" (Let's

Re-elect Our Government) distributed

by the party to activists ahead of the

October 21 assembly elections.

The development came on a critical

day when Prime Minister

Narendra Modi addressed a poll rally

in the Vidarbha, BJP President Amit

Shah was on a poll tour of Western

Maharashtra, and the Opposition

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in

Marathwada and Mumbai.

Incidentally, Chief Minister Devendra

Fadnavis hails from Nagpur in the

Vidarbha region.

Shiv Sena farmers' leader Kishore

Tiwari warned that the development

was "extremely grave" and urged all

parties to take serious note of the

stress plaguing the state's farmlands.

"Such symbolic suicides point to a

very deep-rooted catastrophe confronting

the peasantry. Unless concrete

measures are taken by the next

government that comes to power, it

will go out of hand," Tiwari told

IANS.

According to police, Talware had

run into huge farm debts which he

could not clear, which may have

prompted him to take the extreme

step.

On Saturday, Fadnavis had targeted

the Nationalist Congress Party

President Sharad Pawar, blaming the

agrarian crises and farmers' suicides

on "the sins of the erstwhile Congress-

NCP government".

75-year-old

woman

delivers baby

girl in Kota

Jaipur : A 75-year-old woman has delivered

a baby girl in Kota via IVF late on

Saturday night, doctors confirmed on Sunday.

The underweight child, weighing 600 gm,

has been shifted to the newborn intensive care

unit (NICU) of another hospital while the

woman was in Kinkar Hospital in Kota. A

team of pediatricians is monitoring the child.

The woman, who had earlier adopted a

kid, wanted to have her own child and hence

had consulted the doctors about the possibilities

of her becoming a mother. She wanted to

try IVF, said Abhilasha Kinkar, a doctor at a

private hospital.

The baby had to be delivered prematurely

via C-section after 6.5 months of pregnancy

given the age of the mother, who was medically

and physically weak. Moreover, the

woman had only one lung, which was a challenge

for the medical team. The woman, who

belongs to a farmer's family with a rural background,

had insisted to have her own baby

which left the medicos surprised, said Kinkar.

On kanshi TV

channel 772.

SATURDAY at

6 :00 pm

SUNDAY at

6 :00 pm

Ambedkarites News and Views

by

BUDDHIST INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

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12 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 BUSINESS

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

BJP chief to take up RCEP

with govt, PM to make a call

New Delhi, Amid opposition to the

free-trade agreement (FTA) between 16

countries, including India, by the Swadeshi

Jagran Manch (SJM), the Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP) has sent a report to the party

president, to be taken up with the Prime

Minister.

The report has been prepared on the

basis of talks with the organisations associated

with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak

Sangh (RSS), leaders of workers’ unions

and think-tanks. Gopal Krishna Agrawal,

BJP spokesman for economic matters, told

IANS, “We have garnered across the board

views on the Regional Comprehensive

Economic Partnership (RCEP)” — both for

and against it”.The report has been sent to

the BJP president, who would be taking it

up with the government, he said and added,

the Prime Minister would take the final

decision.

Given the central government’s

approach to the FTA, the SJM threatened to

hold protests between October 10 and

October 20 across the country. It prompted

the top BJP leadership to attempt a ‘damage

control’ and it asked General Secretary

B.L. Santosh and Gopal to find a way out.

On October 7, they had meetings with representatives

of various industry organisations

and the SJM.

An attempt is being made to reach FTA

with the RCEP partner countries — India,

China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and

New Zealand — and 10 Association of

Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.

Union Minister for Commerce and

Industry Piyush Goyal is in Bangkok to

attend the ninth minister-level meeting of

the RCEP, scheduled on October 11-12. It’s

the last minister-level meeting before the

third Summit on November 4.

The SJM believes the country is reeling

under economic crisis and after this agreement

countries, like China, will start dumping

products in India, which will ruin the

Indian industries and widen the job crisis.

Ashwini Mahajan, SJM National Cocoordinator,

on October 10 tweeted:

“China is selling 17 crore bicycles, while

India is able to sell only 1.70 crore bicycles.

In this situation, if India allows

China a free trade through the RCEP than

the bicycle industry of Punjab will be

ruined”.

Safal to provide tomato puree

at Rs 25 per pack in Delhi

New Delhi, To alleviate the problem of shortfall of tomatoes

in the city, Safal will provide from Friday tomato puree from all

its outlets here at Rs 25 per 200 gram pack. This pack is equivalent

to about 800 grams of tomatoes. Another larger pack of 825

grams priced at Rs 85 will also be made available which is equivalent

to about 2.5 kgs. The stocks have already been moved to all

the outlets and the sales will begin from Friday onwards at all

booths. The Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs on

Thursday chaired an inter-ministerial meeting to take stock of the

rise in prices of tomatoes in some parts of the country including

Delhi-NCR. It was decided during the meeting that tomato producing

states will be asked to augment the supply to regions

which are in short supply including Delhi to improve availability

and moderate prices. Tomato-producing states like

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh

have been advised to interact with APMCs, traders and transporters

to ensure regular supply so that prices normalize. The

Agriculture Ministry informed the committee that supply has

been hit due to incessant rains in Maharashtra and Karnataka and

the situation will normalise in the next 10 days as monsoon rains

are already receding.

Historic fall in India vehicles

sales enters 11th month

New Delhi, Despite a 135 basis point interest rate cut since

February and a number of measures announced by the Central

government, including a sharp corporate tax cut, domestic vehicle

sales plummeted for the

11th straight month in

September.

Society of Indian

Automobile Manufacturers

(SIAM) data released on

Friday showed that total

commercial vehicle sales —

a proxy for the economy’s

commercial health — steeply

fell by 39 per cent to 58,419 units in September. Rating agency

ICRA had, earlier this month, said its outlook on the domestic

commercial vehicle sector was negative, considering the sharp

correction in vehicle sales amid slowing economic growth,

overcapacity and tight financing environment.

Signs that the customers were still away from showrooms

was clearly visible in passenger vehicles sales data, which witnessed

a decline of 23.69 per cent to 223,317 units this

September. Passenger cars sales witnessed de-growth of of 33.4

per cent to 131,281 units. In August, sales were down 41 per

cent. SIAM President, Rajan Wadhera, however, told reporters

that the festive season retail sales that are monitored on a regular

basis is “good” but avoided giving any sales forecast.

“The Navaratri sale has also been good and if we compare it

to the sales from last year, the sale has been nearly 10-12 per

cent better,” he said. Wadera stressed that owing to number of

government steps and ongoing festive season, the consumer

sentiments have improved. Consumer confidence, the Reserve

Bank of Indian showed, dipped to six-year low in September.

Besides, two-wheeler sales – often tracked to analyse the

rural markets health – were also down 22.09 per cent. Threewheeler

sales declined by 6.66 percent in April-September 2019

over the same period last year. Within three-wheelers, passenger

carrier sales registered a de-growth of 6.37 percent and that of

goods carriers declined by 7.98 percent in April-September

2019 over April-September 2018. In the two-wheeler segment,

sales registered a de-growth of 16.18 percent in April-

September 2019 over April-September 2018 while in the segment,

scooters, motorcycles and mopeds declined by 16.94 per

cent, 15.24 per cent and 25.33 per cent, respectively, in April-

September 2019 over the comparable period last year. However,

exports across categories inched-up by 0.68 per cent to 417,232

units from 414,428 units shipped-out during September 2018.

Aug factory output at 81-month

low, manufacturing shrinks

New Delhi, Contraction in

manufacturing activity decelerated

India’s factory output

growth to (-)1.1 per cent in

August 2019 from a rise of 4.6

per cent reported in July, official

data showed here on Friday. The

growth has hit the lowest level

in the last 81 months. The

growth rate of August factory

output was lower than the 4.8

per cent achieved during the corresponding

month of the previous

fiscal. “The Quick Estimates

of Index of Industrial

Production (IIP) with base 2011-

12 for the month of August 2019

stands at 126.6, which is 1.1 per

cent lower as compared to the

level in the month of August

2018,” the Ministry of Statistics

and Programme Implementation

said. “The cumulative growth

for the April-August period over

the corresponding period of the

previous year stands at 2.4 per

cent,” it added.

As per the data, the output

rate of the manufacturing sector

fell (-)1.2 per cent in August

from a year-on-year (YoY) rise

of 5.2 per cent. On a YoY basis,

mining production inched up by

just 0.1 per cent from a negative

growth of (-)0.6 per cent and the

sub-index of electricity generation

was lower by (-)0.9 per cent

from 7.6 per cent.

Among the six use-based

classification groups, the output

of primary goods, which has the

highest weightage of 34.04,

grew by 1.1 per cent. The output

of intermediate goods, which

has the second highest weightage,

increased by 7 per cent.

The output of consumer nondurables

was up by 4.1 per cent,

whereas that of consumer

durables fell by (-)9.1 per cent.

In addition, output of infrastructure

or construction goods

decreased by (-)4.5 per cent and

that of capital goods fell by (-)21

per cent. In terms of industries,

15 out of the 23 industry groups

in the manufacturing sector have

shown negative growth during

the month under review as compared

to the corresponding

month of the previous year.

“The industry group ‘manufacture

of motor vehicles, trailers

and semi-trailers’ has shown

the highest negative growth of (-

)23.1 per cent, followed by (-

)21.7 per cent in ‘manufacture

of machinery and equipment

n.e.c.’ and (-)18 per cent in

‘other manufacturing’,” the ministry

said.

“On the other hand, the

industry group ‘manufacture of

basic metals’ has shown the

highest positive growth of 11.8

per cent, followed by 11.3 per

cent in ‘manufacture of wood

and products of wood and cork,

except furniture; manufacture of

articles of straw and plaiting

materials’ and 10.3 per cent in

‘manufacture of wearing apparel’,”

it said. According to

Devendra Kumar Pant, Chief

Economist at India Ratings &

Research: “IIP growth has been

the lowest in the last 81 months

and saw the first contraction

after June 2017. It appears that

pre-stocking due to festive

demand in September and

October has not taken place.”

“Going forward, the IIP is likely

to show erratic low growth

trend. The policy measures

announced by the government

after the first quarter GDP

growth of 5 per cent are more

supply side interventions and

are unlikely to boost demand.

With no fiscal space available to

the government, it is unlikely

that the demand is going to

return back soon,” Pant said.

ICRA’s Principal Economist

Aditi Nayar said: “With the

worsening in the performance of

Coal India Limited and electricity

generation, and the continuing

deep contraction in auto production

in September 2019, it

appears unlikely that the YoY

decline in the IIP in August 2019

will be reversed in the just concluded

month.” “There is a

growing likelihood that the GDP

growth may not meaningfully

accelerate in Q2 FY2020 from

the multi-quarter low of 5 per

cent recorded in Q1 FY2020,

despite a favourable base effect.

The extent of pickup in consumption

in the festive months

and crop production in the rabi

season will signal whether a

material turnaround in demand

and economic growth are in the

offing.” Emkay Wealth

Management’s Research Head

Joseph Thomas said: “If we look

at the sub classification one can

see that the shrinkage in output

has come from a dismal performance

in manufacturing, substantial

fall in capital goods,

consumer durables and infra.

This amply reflects the underlying

weakness in manufacturing

and industrial activity which

needs to be addressed without

much loss of time for economic

recovery.”

---

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

Nutrition survey finds rising

HEALTH

16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019

13

Health conducted the survey to

collect a comprehensive set of

data on nutritional status of

Indian children from 0-19 years

of age. This survey was the

largest micronutrient survey ever

implemented. Also, the survey

used gold standard methods to

assess anaemia, micronutrient

deficiencies and biomarkers of

NCDs for the first time in India.

As far as stunting was concerned,

a number of the most

populous states including Bihar,

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and

Uttar Pradesh had a high (37-42

per cent) prevalence.

The lowest prevalence of

stunting (16-21 per cent) was

found in Goa and Jammu and

Kashmir. A higher prevalence of

stunting in under-fives was found

in rural areas (37 per cent) compared

to urban areas (27 per cent).

Also, children in the poorest

wealth quintile were more likely

to be stunted (49 per cent), as

compared to 19 per cent in the

richest quintile. Stunting and

underweight prevalence were

both about 7 per cent in newborn

children, with a steady increase in

both indicators until two years of

age. The prevalence of stunting

peaked at 40 per cent at approximately

two years of age and slow-

DIABETES RISK IN CHILDREN

ly declined to 30 per

cent by the fifth year

of life. The prevalence

of underweight

was highest (35 per

cent) in the third year

of life and ranged

from 25 per cent to 34

per cent during 36-59

months of age.

New Delhi : Anaemia

Overall, 35 per

is at least a mild public

cent of children aged

health problem for

5 to 9 years were

school-age children

underweight, with 10

per cent severely

New Delhi : There is a growing

risk of non-communicable

diseases among children aged 5

to 9 years and adolescents aged

10-19 years in India. As per the

Comprehensive National

Nutrition Survey (CNNS) 2016-

18, one in 10 school-age children

and adolescents were pre-diabetic.

One per cent of school-age

children and adolescents were

diabetic and three per cent of

school-age children and four per

cent of adolescents had high

total cholesterol.

Seven per cent of school-age

children and adolescents were at

risk for chronic kidney disease.

Five per cent of adolescents

were classified as having hypertension.

The CNNS, the firstever

nationally representative

nutrition survey of children and

adolescents in India, has also

found that 35 per cent of children

under five were stunted, 22

per cent of school-age children

were stunted while 24 per cent of

adolescents were thin for their

age. The CNNS India for the

period 2016-18 is the largest

micronutrient survey ever conducted.

To provide robust data

on the shifting conditions of both

under-nutrition and overweight

and obesity, the Ministry of

LOS ANGELES: Daily consumption

of almonds may help

reduce the severity of facial

wrinkles in post-menopausal

women, claims a first-of-its-kind

study to examine the effects of

the nuts on skin health.

Researchers at the University

of California (UC), Davis in the

US found that a daily snack of

almonds in place of other nutfree

snacks improved measures

of wrinkle width and severity in

postmenopausal women.

The post-menopause is the

time after which a woman has

experienced 12 consecutive

months of lack of menstruation.

In the 16-week randomised

controlled trial, published in the

journal Phytotherapy Research,

28 healthy postmenopausal

women with Fitzpatrick skin

type 1 or 2—characterised by

increased tendency to burn with

sun exposure—were randomly

assigned to one of two groups.

In the intervention group,

women ate almonds as a snack,

which accounted for 20 per cent

of their total daily calorie intake,

or 340 calories per day on average

(60 grammes).

The control group ate a nutfree

snack that also accounted

for 20 per cent of calories: a

underweight. The

prevalence of underweight

was 30 per

cent at age five years

and remained stable

across the five-year period. On

deficiencies, as per the survey,

the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency

was 18 per cent among

pre-school children, 22 per cent

among school-age children and

16 per cent among adolescents.

Vitamin D deficiency was found

among 14 per cent of pre-school

children, 18 per cent of schoolage

children and 24 per cent of

adolescents. Nearly one-fifth of

pre-school children (19 per cent),

17 per cent of school-age children

and 32 per cent of adolescents

had zinc deficiency. On

anaemia, the survey found that 41

per cent of pre-schoolers, 24 per

cent of school-age children and

28 per cent of adolescents suffered

from it. Anaemia was most

prevalent among children under

two years of age.

Female adolescents had a higher

prevalence of anaemia (40 per

cent) compared to their male counterparts

(18 per cent). Anaemia

was a moderate or severe public

health problem among pre-schoolers

in 27 states, among school-age

children in 15 states, and among

adolescents in 20 states. Thirtytwo

percent of pre-schoolers, 17

per cent of school-age children

and 22 per cent of adolescents had

iron deficiency.

cereal bar, granola bar or pretzels.

Aside from these snacks,

study participants ate their regular

diets and did not eat any nuts

or nut-containing products. Skin

assessments were made at the

start of the study, and again at

four weeks, eight weeks, 12

weeks and 16 weeks. At each

visit, facial wrinkles were

assessed using high-resolution

facial imaging and validated

three dimensional (3D) facial

modelling and measurement.

“These high resolution cameras

allow for 3D reconstruction of

any wrinkles so that they can be

Anaemia a health problem

in all states except Kerala

between the age group of

5-9 years in all states

except for Kerala,

according to the findings

of the Comprehensive

mapped for their key characteristics

of width and severity. The

severity score is a calculation of

the depth and length of a wrinkle,”

said Raja Sivamani,

Associate Professor of Clinical

Dermatology at UC Davis, and

lead researcher on the study.

Skin barrier function was also

assessed, by measuring sebum

production and transepidermal

water loss (TEWL). Skin barrier

function examines the strength

of the skin barrier and how well

it protects skin from moisture

loss (TEWL) and from harmful

irritants coming from the environment.

National Nutrition

Survey (CNNS), 2016-

18. Anaemia was a moderate

or severe public

health problem among

pre-school children in 27

states, school-age children

in 15 states and adolescents

in 20 states, the

report said. Anaemia was

most prevalent at more

than 50 per cent among both

boys and girls under two years

of age and thereafter, decreased

steadily to 11 years of age to

about 15 per cent. Overall, 41

per cent of pre-schoolers aged

1-4 years, 24 per cent of schoolage

children aged 5-9 years and

28 per cent of adolescents aged

10-19 years had some degree of

anaemia. The survey noted that

the severity of anaemia varied

across age groups. Among preschoolers,

22 per cent had mild

anaemia, 18 per cent had moderate

anaemia and 1 per cent

had severe anaemia.

Among school-age children,

10 per cent had mild anaemia,

13 per cent had moderate

anaemia, and 1 per cent had

severe anaemia. Among adolescents,

17 per cent had mild

anaemia, 10 per cent had moderate

anaemia and 1 per cent

had severe anaemia. An

increased prevalence was

observed among older adolescents.

Anaemia was more

prevalent among female adolescents

12 years of age and older

at 40 per cent compared to their

male counterparts at 18 per cent.

The prevalence of anaemia

varied by the schooling status of

children and adolescents.

Compared to those currently

in school, anaemia prevalence

was higher among out-of-school

children aged 5 to 9 years and

adolescents aged 10-19 years.

Additionally, the prevalence

of anaemia decreased with a

higher level of mother’s schooling

among both school-age children

and adolescents.

In all three age groups,

anaemia was most prevalent

among scheduled tribes, followed

by scheduled castes.

More than half (53 per cent) of

pre-schoolers and more than

one-third of school-age children

and adolescents (38 per cent

each) belonging to scheduled

tribes were anaemic. The prevalence

of anaemia decreased

steadily with an increase in

household wealth in all three

age groups.

Among pre-schoolers, the

prevalence of anaemia was

highest in Madhya Pradesh (54

per cent), followed by Haryana

(48 per cent) and Delhi (47 per

cent) and was lowest in

Nagaland (8 per cent) and

Manipur (10 per cent).

Among school-age children,

Tripura (41 per cent), Assam

(35 per cent) and Jharkhand (34

per cent) and West Bengal (34

per cent) had the highest prevalence

of anaemia and Kerala (3

per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (7

per cent) and Manipur (7 per

cent) had the lowest prevalence.

Among adolescents, West

Bengal (46 per cent), Tripura

(41 per cent) and Assam (37 per

cent) had the highest prevalence

of anaemia, while Nagaland (8

per cent) and Kerala (9 per cent)

had the lowest prevalence.

Daily almond consumption may help reduce facial wrinkles

---

14 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 HEALTH

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

Healthier diet may reduce

depression risk : Study

Melbourne : Eating a healthy diet

rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and lean

meat is associated with a reduced risk

of depression, according to a study.

The research, published in the journal

PLOS ONE, found that young

adults with depression whose diet is

Resting after traumatic

event may improve mental

recovery: Study

usually unhealthy showed significantly

fewer symptoms of depression after eating

a healthy diet for three weeks.

Researchers from Macquarie

University in Australia, and colleagues

studied 76 university students aged

between 17 and 35 years. They exhibited

moderate-to-high depression symptoms

and followed a poor diet based on

the Australian Guide to Healthy

Eating—high in processed foods, sugar,

and saturated fats.

The researchers randomised participants

into a “diet change” group or a

“regular diet” group. The diet change

group was given brief instructions on

improving their diet, as well as a

healthy food hamper and 60 dollars

towards future groceries.

Each group member also received

two subsequent check-ins via phone

call. The regular diet group did not get

any diet instructions and was simply

asked to return after the three weeks

were up.

Before and after the intervention, the

researchers assessed participants’

scores for depression, anxiety and overall

mood, and their performance on several

learning and reasoning tasks. At the

end of the three weeks, the diet change

group had successfully maintained a

healthy diet and showed significant

improvement in mood, with depression

scores shifting into the normal range.

The regular diet group’s depression

scores remained stable in the moderateto-high

range.

The diet change group also showed

significantly lower anxiety scores than

the regular diet group, though other

measures were not significantly different

between the groups.

The researchers followed up with 33

of the participants after three months. In

this small sample, they found that while

only 21 per cent of these participants

fully maintained the healthy diet, those

that did maintained their improvements

in mood.

The researchers noted that the findings

are derived from a small, specific

population of university students.

However, they provide preliminary

evidence that relatively small, simple

diet adjustments can directly improve

depression symptoms, and that these

effects can last up to three months.

Watch your weight before 40,

ELSE FACE CANCER RISK

LONDON - A period of rest following a traumatic event can

boost mental recovery from negative memories, according to a study

which may help develop new treatment approaches for Post

Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, revealed the

neurological mechanisms at play when some people develop memory

disturbances following trauma, while others do not.

The researchers, including those from University College London

(UCL) in the UK, presented 85 participants with emotionally negative

videos, after which they were either given a period of wakeful

rest, or a simple control task requiring them to pay attention to numbers

on a screen. The videos had highly emotional content such as

badly injured people, or serious accidents, the study noted.

According to the researchers, participants who had a period of rest

after viewing the videos reported fewer memory intrusions over the

following week. On the contrary, there was no difference between

rest and the simple control task on a memory test that assessed how

much the participants remembered when they wanted to.

The researchers mentioned that rest and certain phases of sleep

increased processing in the hippocampus—the brain region responsible

for memory, which placed memories in context.

They suggested that a strengthening of this contextual memory

system was beneficial in preventing involuntary memory intrusions

following trauma. "The coherence of memories is often compromised

when people are exposed to psychological trauma, resulting in

emotional memories popping up involuntarily and out of context,"

said co-author Neil Burgess of UCL. However, Burgess added that

the binding of an event memory with its context may be partly

restored with rest, facilitating deliberate control of the memory.

The researchers mentioned that specific brain systems could be

targeted to reduce the development of PTSD, as treatments focusing

on re-exposure and integrating the trauma with other information are

beneficial. "Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the

mechanisms that are at play when some people develop memory disturbances

following trauma while others do not," said co-author of

the study Lone Horlyck from UCL.

LONDON : Researchers have found that

being overweight before the age of 40 could

increase the risk of various cancers in

adults. "Obesity is an established risk factor

for several cancers. In this study, we have

focused on the degree, timing and duration

of overweight and obesity in relation to cancer

risk," said study author Tone Bjorge,

Professor at University of Bergen in

Norway. For the findings, published in the

International Journal of Epidemiology, the

research team wanted to find out how adult

overweight (BMI over 25) and obesity

(BMI over 30) increase the risk of different

types of cancer. The researchers used data

for 2,20,000 individuals from the Me-Can

study, with participants from Norway,

Sweden and Austria. Data from health

examinations, including information on

height and weight, were linked to data from

national cancer registries.

According to the researchers, 27,881

Canberra : Researchers from

the University of Melbourne

have found that rotavirus infection

might play a role in the

development of type 1 diabetes.

Rotavirus remains the major

cause of infantile gastroenteritis

worldwide, although the advent

of vaccination has substantially

decreased associated mortality.

Following the recent introduction

of rotavirus vaccination,

there has been a 15 per cent

decrease in the incidence of type

1 diabetes in Australian children

under four years of age.

“Vaccination against

rotavirus may have the additional

benefit in some children of

being a primary prevention for

type 1 diabetes,” said the study’s

lead author Leonard C. Harrison.

The study published in the

journal PLOS suggested that

rotavirus vaccination could contribute

to the primary prevention

individuals were diagnosed with cancer during

follow-up, of which 9,761 (35 per cent)

were obesity-related. The study showed that

if you were overweight before age 40, the

risk of developing cancer increases by: 70

per cent for endometrial cancer, 58 per cent

for male renal-cell cancer, 29 per cent for

male colon cancer and 15 per cent for all

of this autoimmune disease. This

finding complements human and

animal studies implicating

rotavirus in the development of

obesity-related cancers (both sexes). Obese

participants (BMI over 30) at the first and

second health examination had the highest

risk of developing obesity-related cancer,

compared to participants with normal BMI.

"The risk increased by 64 per cent for male

participants and 48 per cent for females,"

Bjorge added.

Rotavirus linked to lower rates of type 1 diabetes

type 1 diabetes in genetically

susceptible children.

In the article, the research

team begin by reviewing molecular

evidence supporting their

hypothesis and point out the

association between rotavirus

infection and serum islet autoantibodies.

The results showed that

rotavirus infection-induced pancreatic

pathology, as well as

environmental factors that promote

the rise in the incidence of

type 1 diabetes. After reviewing

population-level data, the study

suggested that rotavirus vaccination

might be associated with a

decrease in the incidence of type

1 diabetes.According to the

researchers, it will be important

to identify which children are

most likely to be protected by

rotavirus vaccination.

Moreover, future studies

should aim to reveal disease

mechanisms and directly demonstrate

whether rotavirus infects

human pancreas prior to the

onset of islet autoimmunity or

type 1 diabetes.

---

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

HEALTH

16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019

15

Heart attack and

heart failure: Know

the difference

New Delhi - Heart attack, cardiac

arrest, heart failure - all three refer to

a health emergency involving the

heart. And we often use the terms

interchangeably, not knowing the difference

between each of them.

Dr Ashok Seth, Chairman of Fortis

Escorts Heart Institute, and Head of

Cardiology Council of Fortis Group

of Hospitals explains how a heart

attack differs from a heart failure.

When the heart is unable to pump

blood as well as it should it is called

heart failure. Narrowed arteries in

your heart or high blood pressure,

leave the heart weak, stiff and unable

to pump blood efficiently. The term

"congestive heart failure" comes from

blood backing up into or congesting

the liver, abdomen, lower extremities

and lungs.

The symptoms of heart failure

symptoms are shortness of breath

(dyspnea) when you exert yourself or

when you lie down; fatigue and weakness,

swelling of abdomen, legs,

ankles and feet, rapid or irregular

heartbeat, reduced ability to exercise,

persistent cough or wheezing with

white or pink blood-tinged phlegm,

increased need to urinate at night,

sudden weight gain from fluid retention

and nausea.

Risk factors for heart failure,

include coronary heart disease, heart

attack, diabetes, high BP, some diabetic

medications, irregular heartbeat,

congenital heart defect, obesity and

substance abuse.

A heart attack, on the other hand,

occurs when the flow of blood to the

heart is blocked by a build-up of fat,

cholesterol and other substances,

leading to the formation of plaque in

arteries, which feed the heart (coronary

arteries). A heart attack is also

called myocardial infarction. It can be

fatal, but treatment has improved dramatically

over the years.

Some symptoms of a common

heart attack include pressure, tightness,

pain, or a squeezing or aching

sensation in your chest or arms that

may spread to your neck, jaw or back;

indigestion, heartburn or abdominal

pain; shortness of breath, cold sweat,

fatigue, lightheadedness or sudden

dizziness.

The experience of pain may vary

from person to person. Some people

experience mild pain, others have

more severe pain. Some people have

no symptoms, while for others, the

first sign may be sudden cardiac

arrest. The earliest warning may be

recurrent chest pain (angina) that's

triggered by exertion and relieved by

rest.

A heart attack differs from a condition

in which your heart suddenly

stops (sudden cardiac arrest, which

occurs when an electrical disturbance

disrupts your heart's pumping action

and causes blood to stop flowing to

the rest of your body).

Here are a few measures to be

taken before a patient is shifted to a

hospital:

*Make the person sit down and

calm. Loosen his/her clothing.

* Transport the patient to the nearest

hospital or ambulance service

immediately.

* Nothing should be given except

for sublingual (under the tongue)

or any other medication prescribed

by the doctor. A tablet of aspirin

helps to limit the damage. A 300

mg aspirin tablet chewed at the

time of heart attack can reduce the

mortality by 15 to 20 per cent.

* If there is no breathing or pulse,

give cardiopulmonary resuscitation

(CPR). Immediately place the

palm of your hand on the patient's

chest just over the lower part of

the sternum (breastbone) and press

your hand in a pumping motion

once or twice by using the other

hand.

WANT to cut food

Light smoking still

damages lungs: Study

New York, People who smoke

fewer than five cigarettes a day

cause long-term damage to their

lungs, according to a new research.

“Many people assume that

smoking a few cigarettes a day isn’t

so bad, but it turns out that the difference

in loss of lung function

between someone who smokes five

cigarettes a day versus two packs a

day is relatively small,” said study

lead author Elizabeth Oelsner,

Assistant Professor at Columbia

University Vagelos College in the

US. For the study publsihed in The

Lancet Respiratory Medicine, the

researchers looked specifically at

lung function–the amount of air a

person can breathe in and out–in

smokers, ex-smokers, and neversmokers.

Lung function declines

naturally with age (starting in one’s

20s), and it’s well-known that

smoking accelerates the decline.

Because of the large number of

people in the study–more than

25,000– researchers could see differences

in lung function among

light smokers (less than 5 cigarettes

per day) and heavy smokers (more

than 30 per day) that other studies

have been unable to detect.

Their analysis found that lung

function in light smokers declines

at a rate much closer to that of

heavy smokers, as compared to

non-smokers. This means that a

light smoker could lose about the

same amount of lung function in

one year as a heavy smoker might

lose in nine months. The study also

tested an assumption, based on a

40-year-old study, that the rate of

decline in lung capacity “normalises”

within a few years of quitting

smoking. The new study shows that

although lung capacity declines at a

much lower rate in ex-smokers than

current smokers, the rate doesn’t

normalise for at least 30 years.

According to the researchers, light

smokers may have a greater risk of

developing chronic obstructive pulmonary

disease (COPD).

intake? Dine alone

London-If you are planning to cut

down on your daily food intake to get

into shape, better dine alone as a new

research has found that people tend to

eat more with friends and family.

Eating "socially" has a powerful

effect on increasing food intake relative

to dining alone, said the study published

in the American Journal of Clinical

Nutrition. "We found strong evidence

that people eat more food when dining

with friends and family than when

alone," said research leader Helen

Ruddock from the University of

Birmingham in Britain.

Previous studies found that those eating

with others ate up to 48 per cent

more food than solo diners and women

with obesity eating socially consumed

up to 29 per cent more than when eating

alone.

For the study, the researchers evaluated

42 existing studies of research into

social dining.

social bonds. The researchers called the the social facilitation of eating is less

The researchers found that people eat phenomenon of eating more with friends pronounced amongst groups of

more with friends and family because and family "social facilitation". strangers," Ruddock said.

having food with others is more enjoyable

and social eating could increase tion effect on eating was not observed ancient hunter gatherers shared food

They found that this social facilita-

The researchers explained that

consumption.

across studies which had looked at food because it ensured equitable food distribution.

Social norms might 'permit' overeating

in company but sanction it when eat-

well acquainted. "People want to convey In the case of social facilitation, we

intake amongst people who were not

ing alone and providing food becomes positive impressions to strangers. have inherited a mechanism that now

associated with praise and recognition Selecting small portions may provide a exerts a powerful influence on unhealthy

from friends and family, strengthening means of doing so and this may be why dietary intakes, the researchers said.

---

16 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 ENTERTAINMENT

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

Kajol set for digital debut

SHE WILL STAR IN A

MULTI-GENERATION

STORY TRIBHANGA

Varun Dhawan shares Sara Ali

Khan’s diet plan, picture goes viral

Bollywood actors Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan are busy

shooting for their upcoming comedy film ‘Coolie No. 1’. The

actors are constantly sharing behind-the-scenes stills with their

fans. The actors have recently returned to Mumbai from Bangkok,

and with that the shooting has begun.

Varun has shared another sneak-peak from set. The photo of

Sara's lunch on Instagram, which seemed rather meagre.

There was a roti made of millet, a few cucumbers and some

vegetables. Varun captioned photo as, "Lunch." Sara has often

talked about her weight-loss journey. In an interview, she revealed

that she used to weigh 96 kg. "I weighed 96kg and had a year to

go before I graduated. The transition from pizza to salad and from

lethargy to cardio is how I kickstarted my fitness journey. I simply

started eating healthy and began working out when in New York,

she said. She continued: "I like to change things up, but ensure that

I work out for an hour and a half every single dayexcept on

Sunday, because that’s my day to chill". Varun and Sara's ‘Coolie

No. 1’ is a remake of the 90's classic, directed by David Dhawan.

Joining the likes of

actors Saif Ali Khan,

Nawazuddin Siddiqui,

Manoj Bajpayee,

Radhika Apte, Emraan

Hashmi, R Madhavan,

Dia Mirza and others,

Kajol is all set to make

her way into OTT platform. The actress

will be starring in a multi-generational

story which will be produced by her hubby

Ajay Devgn and directed by none other

than Renuka Shahane. Along with Kajol,

the Netflix original film, which is titled as

Tribhanga, will also star Tanvi Azmi and

Mithila Palkar in the lead roles.

Talking about the project, Ajay Devgn

said in a statement, “When my team and

co-producer Banijay Asia got on board

with Netflix, we were excited that we

could tell this story in a much more

nuanced manner, with the highest production

standards possible and reach a

wider audience.” Added Renuka

Shahane, “This is an incredible opportunity

and it feels amazing to collaborate

with Netflix for the film and know that it

will be available across the world on literally

the same day. We have a great cast

and a beautiful storyline. I cannot wait

to begin shooting.”

The film is an Odissi dance pose that

is disjointed and asymmetrical, yet mesmerising

and sensuous, so much like the

lives of the three women characters of

the film — Nayan, Anu and Masha.

Vivek Oberoi on Balakot:

Film on Indian Air Force

should inspire children

Actor Vivek Oberoi hopes his next

film ‘Balakot’ will inspire lakhs of

children in the country. The film

depicts the bravery of Indian Air

Force, through the true account of the

Balakot air strike, and the capture and

subsequent release of IAF Wing

Commander Abhinandan Varthaman

in the aftermath of

the Pulwama terror

attack in Kashmir

on February 14.

"I am excited

about Abhinandan's

biopic. I think the

story of Balakot and

the story of Indian

Air Force needs to

be told, as we all are

very proud of Indian

Air Force. When a

film like 'Top Gun'

gets released in

America, an entire

generation there

gets inspired seeing the strength of

their Air Force. I feel this is an opportunity

for us, and the responsibility is

on us, to show the amazing work our

Indian Air Force has been doing," said

Vivek, while interacting with the

media at the 2nd edition of Mumbai

Art Fair 2019 on Friday.

"We should be proud of what they

(Indian Air Force) are doing and I

want to tell their story to lakhs of children

of our country, so that they get

inspired. Whenever they see an armyman

or pilot or an airman, every kid

should salute them

from core of their

heart. That's my aim

of making this

film," added the

actor, who played

Prime Minister

Narendra Modi in

the film ‘PM

Narendra Modi’

earlier this year.

Asked what

research he has

been doing for

‘Balakot’, Vivek

said: "A film like

this needs a lot of

research and we are still doing our

research before we start shooting."

The film is expected to go on floors

this year and is scheduled to release in

2020. Its outdoor locations include

Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Agra.

Jacqueline shot ‘Karma’ song despite being unwell

Actress Jacqueline Fernandez was unwell

while shooting for “Karma” song of her

forthcoming film “Drive”.

In fact, Jacqueline fainted while shooting

for “Karma” on the sets of the Netflix project,

which also stars Sushant Singh Rajput.

“At the time I was right in the middle of

shooting for a lot of projects. I had an injured

leg and I had to fit in all these rehearsals

which required me to dance in pretty high

heels, and my knees both went for a toss,”

Jacqueline said.

Jacqueline was shooting for the action

sequence and preparing for the dance number

simultaneously and the busy schedule

took a toll on her health.

While shooting for “Karma”, Jacqueline

had to perform some stunts and also dance

on the high paced song despite being ill. She

performed each and every step with ease.

The entire unit on the film gave her a standing

ovation and director Tarun Mansukhani

was very impressed to see Jacqueline’s dedication.

“We shot the song over 2 days, and we

managed to squeeze in a lot into that two

days. It was also a night shoot which I don’t

work very well with. But I’m really happy

with the song, really happy with the way it

turned out and I can’t wait for everyone to

see it,” added the actress.

“Drive”, produced by Dharma

Production, will go live on Netflix on

November 1.

Ranveer’s love interest in

Jayeshbhai Jordaar….

Ranveer Singh will next be seen in Yash Raj Films’

Jayeshbhai Jordaar, which will

be helmed by debutant director

Divyang Thakkar. The latest

buzz suggests that Arjun Reddyfamed

South actress Shalini

Pandey has been roped in to be

Ranveer’s romantic interest in

the film. A source says, “The

idea was always to launch a

fresh face opposite Ranveer in

the movie. The makers have

roped in Arjun Reddy actress Shalini Pandey as the main lead

for Jayeshbhai Jordaar. The YRF team will introduce its new

bunch of talent who they will be managing in Bollywood.

Shalini is the most promising face of the lot. She has already

proved her mettle as an actress in Arjun Reddy and now, she will

play a Gujarati girl who’s opposite Ranveer’s Jayeshbhai—a

Gujarati businessman in Jayeshbhai Jordaar. When Adi saw her

screen tests, he was mighty pleased and immediately decided to

launch her in Hindi films.” Meanwhile, Ranveer recently

wrapped up the shoot of Kabir Khan’s 83, which also stars his

wife Deepika Padukone. The biographical drama is all set for an

April 10, 2020 release. He is also gearing up for Karan Johar’s

Takht, another historical saga.

Sunny Deol,

Karisma Kapoor

acquitted in chain

pulling case

Jaipur, Giving a major relief to Bollywood

star Sunny Deol and Karisma Kapoor, a court in

Jaipur acquitted the duo in the 22-year-old railway

chain pulling case, which was reported in

1997 during a film shoot in Ajmer railway division.

A case was filed against Deol and Kapoor

in 1997 during a film shoot for allegedly pulling

railway chain. Railway court on September 17

had held the duo guilty under sections 141, 145,

146 and 147 of the Railways Act.

However, Judge Pawan Kumar on Friday

argued that railway court held the duo guilty

under sections which have been nullified by

Sessions Court in 2010. Also, the case lacks adequate

proof against the two.

The chain pulling incident was reported in

Ajmer railway division at Narena railway station

due to which 2413-A Express was delayed

by 25 minutes. Hence case was registered

against the two under sections 141, 145, 147 if

the Railways Act. However, Deol and Kapoor

had filed a petition in Sessions Court which was

argued on their behalf by advocate A. K. Jain.

---

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

ENTERTAINMENT

Swara Bhasker, who has

never shied away from expressing

her opinions on socio-political

issues, shared a personal

example about the downside of

being publicly political. Actor

Swara Bhasker says while

expecting the powerful in

Bollywood to lend their voices

to larger, prevalent issues in the

country, people need to take in

consideration the hostile environment

that doesn’t let top

celebrities make their opinions

public. At the India Film

Project, where Swara launched

the poster of her upcoming film

Sheer Qorma, the actor was

16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019

asked the reason why

Bollywood personalities shy

away from speaking on matters

of relevance to the country.

Swara, who has never shied

away from expressing her opinions

on socio-political issues,

while answering the question

shared a personal example

about the downside of being

publicly political. The Lok

Sabha election 2019 saw Swara

campaigning for candidates

including Kanhaiya Kumar and

Atishi Marlena. But what not

many know is that the Nil

Battey Sannata actor lost a lot

of work for her political affiliations.

“I lost four brands the

day I campaigned for candidates

for Lok Sabha election,

lost three events. The hit that

my work took at the end of that

experience…,” she said.

Swara, however, was quick

to add she didn’t intend to glorify

herself with this revelation

but instead wanted to make

people understand that when

stakes are high the risk is also

higher to speak up.

“I am not saying, ‘Oh! I am

so great,’ but if you’re going to

make the stakes so high, that a

superstar can talk about a dinner

conversation and then face

17

Swara Bhasker : Lost four brands, three events

after I campaigned for Lok Sabha election

Kriti Sanon calls Varun Dhawan a ‘liar’

Mumbai, It seems actors Kriti Sanon and Varun Dhawan share a

crazy bond of friendship with each other.

Kriti recently appeared on Sophie Choudry’s fitness show “Work

It Up” where she practiced her favourite exercises and conversed

about her “Dilwale” co-star Varun.

In a tete-a-tete with Kriti, Sophie told her that she called Varun to

get some gup about her and he had said that Kriti did not do any work

out while shooting ‘Dilwale’ (Main kya gup doon. Usne ‘Dilwale’

mei workout hi nahi kiya).”

Reacting to it, Kriti called him a “liar”.

“Kitna bada jhoota hai. I used to work out, I remember.

Sometimes we used to even co-ordinate,” she added.

Kriti also shared that Varun “is a freak to work out with”.

The episode will stream on VOOT on Sunday.

Akshay hopes ‘Mission

Mangal’ magic continues

in DIGITAL WORLD

Mumbai, Actors Akshay

Kumar and Taapsee Pannu are

hoping that “Mission Mangal”

will reach to wider audience for

a bigger impact, with its digital

premiere.

“‘Mission Mangal’ is an homage

to the scientists of our country

who silently strive to make a

mark. They are the true heroes

who have become a source of

inspiration to our next generation,”

Akshay said.

“With its digital premiere on

Hotstar VIP, this story of

resilience will travel into the

homes of millions of people,” he

added. Directed by Jagan Shakti,

“Mission Mangal” revolves

around the story of India’s

Mangalyaan or the Mars Orbiter

Mission. It also stars Vidya

Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Kirti

Kulhari, Nithya Menen and H.G.

Dattatreya in key roles. The film

released on August 15. It had its

digital premiere on October 10

on Hotstar VIP.

Talking about it, Taapsee

said: “Post ‘Mission Mangal’

release, we received a lot of

appreciation from fans especially

kids who expressed their

desire to become scientists. Such

instances are a true testimony of

a movie’s real success. With the

movie now streaming on the digital

platform, I am sure we will

receive more such heart-warming

videos and appreciation.”

The film, about ordinary people

doing extraordinary things

and inspiring generations to

dream big and achieve the

impossible, worked well at the

box office, and minted over Rs

200 crore in India.

so much flak or another superstar

can give his opinion and his

car can be stoned on a shoot,

then how can we expect people

with legacies or public profiles

to actually risk their lives, families,

careers? Why should

they? We need to ask ourselves

questions as a society.”

“As public figures you’re

more vulnerable to a lot of

destructive negativity… If we

want our public figures, people

with legacies, to speak out and

take responsible sides, then we

have to become the society,

which doesn’t punish people

doing that,” the actor said.

Felt pain in chest while

missing son in 'Bigg

Boss': Dalljiet Kaur

Actress Dalljiet Kaur, who is the first contestant to be evicted

from the 13th season

of the controversial

reality show

‘Bigg Boss’, says it

was difficult for her

to live without her

son Jaydon for two

weeks.

"I have never

lived without my son

for more than three

days.... I didn't know

how I survived the

two weeks without

him. It was so difficult

to control my

e m o t i o n s .

Sometimes while

missing Jaydon, I

started getting pain

in my chest. So one can imagine how challenging it was. But it

has made me more strong now," Dalljiet told IANS.

The ‘Kulvaddhu’ actress was not expecting her eviction.

She said: "I am very much upset. I thought I will survive in

the house for more days but I don't know what went wrong. May

be I didn't fit in that 'fake love and friendship' thing. We all came

here to show our individuality but most people got involved in

making fake connections and I was not one of them. This season

has become more like Splitsvilla."

"Coming into 'Bigg Boss' was a drastic step in my career. I

left one show for this. I am hoping something good happens and

I get good projects. Right now, I just want to spend some good

time with my son," Dalljiet added. ‘Bigg Boss 13’ airs on

Colors.

A birthday break for Pooja Hegde

Currently enjoying the best

of both worlds with films in

Hindi and Telugu, Pooja Hegde

is all geared up for her birthday.

After her outing as Sridevi in

Gaddalakonda Ganesh, the actor

is currently promoting her next

film, Housefull 4. Taking a

break from work today, she will

be celebrating her birthday with

her close friends and family at a

luxury resort close to Mumbai.

When asked about her birthday

plans, she says, “2019 has

been a beautiful year for me but

it has also been busy. I have

been constantly juggling four

films in all between Mumbai

and Hyderabad.

---

18 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 ENTERTAINMENT

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

For Sushant

Singh Rajput,

his Bollywood

journey has been

an experience

worth having

Not one to shy away from

taking risks, Sushant Singh

Rajput strongly believes in living

his dreams. He dropped out

of engineering to pursue acting,

and later quit the popular TV

show Pavitra Rishta to try his

luck in Bollywood. Sushant

describes his 13-year-long acting

career as a “roller-coaster

ride” and calls Bollywood the

Disneyland of entertainment.

“Bollywood can be a

Disneyland to a dreamer or a

maze to a delusional person,”

Sushant says, “It [The film

industry] is so fascinating, and

with the power of narratives,

one can touch millions of

hearts. With the kind of recognition

one gets, it can be used

to create or do something good

and ompactful.” Ever since

Sushant made his Bollywood

debut with Kai Po Che! (2013),

he has come a long way with

his versatile choice of roles.

Films such as Detective

Byomkesh Bakshy (2015), M.S

Dhoni: the untold story (2016)

showed him trying different

genres. Yet, after so many years

of experimenting, the 33-yearold

actor says, “It still feels like

I’m on a Disneyland rollercoaster.

You’re assured that you

won’t fall off and then there are

people standing in queue waiting.

Still, you end up enjoying

‘Bollywood is

Disneyland

for dreamers’

the ride and it’s an experience

worth having.”

Though he hit the bullseye

with his latest release,

Chhichhore, which has earned

over ?150 crore, Sushant doesn’t

have any inhibitions accepting

that he “wasn’t lucky all the

time” and got mixed responses

for his performance in Shuddh

Desi Romance (2013), Raabta

(2017) and Kedarnath (2018).

However, the actor didn’t let it

become a hindrance. “I treat a

particular success or failure

almost equally. It’s like an

opportunity to learn and have

fun,”says Sushant. “Money and

fame, however lucrative they

may be, were never the driving

force. I like to learn as well as

enjoy doing films that can connect

with more and more people

emotionally,” he says.

Acting workshops

are a fantastic

thing: Sanjay

Actor Sanjay Kapoor has been experimenting

with a lot — be it with respect to roles or even

mediums. His web release, Lust stories (2018)

was recently nominated for an Emmy this year.

According to him, the medium doesn’t matter

and he forgets it once the camera starts rolling.

“Once you are in front of the camera, it really

doesn’t matter. It is about emoting and getting

the character right. The medium doesn’t matter

much while acting. I remember I was working

for TV, web and a film at the same time. The

only difference would be the time period and the

audience,” says the Raja (1995) actor.

Talking about the changing scenario in the

industry, Sanjay says that the one big trend that

he likes is attending film workshops. He says,

“The best thing that I like about the industry

now is acting workshops. Workshops are a fantastic

thing, and it prepares an actor for a particular

role. It has been very common in

Hollywood. In India, it has been with active for

just about five years now.

I remember during Luck By Chance (2009),

Zoya (Akhtar) had conducted readings with all

the actors. During Lust Stories as well, we did at

least three days of reading with the entire cast.”

He adds, “For Tevar (2015), we had auditioned

for actors in every frame, along with the casting

director Mukesh Chhabra. The success of a film

is not in our hands, but the quality of filmmaking

is. And thankfully, we have really high standards

today. We are doing films that audiences

actually wants to see.”

The actor prefers to not talk

much about his personal life.

Asked about his relationship

status and rumoured girlfriend,

actor Rhea Chakraborty, the

actor doesn’t wish to spill any

beans. Enjoying travelling at

the moment, Sushant is busy

ticking off one dream after the

other from his list of 50 dreams

that he recently shared with

fans on social media.

Deepika Padukone, who

plays acid attack survivor

Laxmi Agrawal in the

Meghna Gulzar-directed

biopic, calls Chhapaak the

toughest film of her career.

Actor Deepika Padukone

says she watched the prosthetics

used for her in

Chhapaak burn after completing

the film to allow for

her character to leave her system.

Deepika, who plays acid

attack survivor Laxmi

Agrawal in the Meghna

Gulzar-directed biopic, calls

Chhapaak the toughest film

of her career.

“Up until then I had felt

that emotionally a Sanjay

Leela Bhansali film was the

most difficult because with

him it’s not just about the

character or the film but

everything that goes into making

it, all the hurdles, so by

the end of it you’re exhausted

for various reasons.“With

Chhapaak, the process was

exhausting, of having to get the

prosthetics done for like three

hours and another hour to take it

off. Emotionally I have never

Rajkummar Rao sells

pen to Leonardo

DiCaprio, fans praise

his marketing skills

Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao, who plays a Gujarati entrepreneur

Raghu Mehta in

his forthcoming film

‘Made In China’, has

shared a funny Instagram

video of himself selling a

pen to Hollywood star

Leonardo DiCaprio.

In the video captioned

"When Raghu Bhai met

Leo

Bhai.

#MadeInChina" that

Rajkummar shared on

Saturday, he gives a

hilarious spin to

Dicaprio's final scene

from the movie ‘The

Wolf of Wall Street’.

The video begins with

the clip of the movie

where the ‘Titanic’star

asks a person to sell him

a pen. Adding a twist in

the scene, Rajkummar

enters with the clip. "Leo Bhai kem chho! Arre Leo Bhai this pen

is your story but the refill is the hero. So sell the hero," he says in

Hindi. The one-minute clip ends with DiCaprio applauding the

skills of the businessman.

Rajkummar's video currently has 1,49,406 views. The actor's

girlfriend and actress Patralekhaa took to the comment section,

where she dropped some laughing emojis.

‘Made In China’ narrates the business journey of 'jugaadu'

entrepreneur. Many scenes have been shot in China, and the actor

took inspiration from his own experiences to add to his character.

Dinesh Vijan presents ‘Made In China’ in association with Jio

Studios. A Maddock Films production, the film also stars Mouni

Roy, Paresh Rawal and Gajraj Rao. It is written and directed by

Mikhil Musale, who is making his Hindi directorial debut with the

film. It is slated to release around Diwali.

Never felt as emotionally burnt out as I

felt after Chhapaak: Deepika Padukone

been as burnt out as I felt after

that,” Deepika said at the opening

session of Jio MAMI Movie Mela

with Star 2019 here today.

The actor took the audience to

the last day of Chhapaak, recalling

how she ordered for an

extra piece of face prosthetic,

in order to burn it

after completing the shoot.

“You have to pay for

every piece of prosthetic,

they are expensive. On the

last day, I asked Meghna to

get made an extra piece

which I needed. We got

that, only for me to burn it

at pack up. It was a hospital

scene, we finished that and

I took off my face (prosthetic),

had a shower, took

this extra piece, went to a

corner, threw alcohol on it

and burnt it.

“I watched it burn and I

stood there as I needed to

see it burn completely to a

point where I didn’t even

want to see the shape of the

eyes, nose. I wanted everything

to become ash. I

stood there till that entire

process was over and only

then I felt a part of it had

left my system, my body. But it’s

not entirely possible as none of

these characters leave your system.

As of now, this has been the

toughest film I’ve done,” the

actor said.

---

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

New Delhi-Researchers

have discovered two strains of

'plastic-eating' bacteria from

the wetlands of Greater Noida,

an advance that may lead to

eco-friendly alternative cleanup

methods for plastic waste

worldwide. The bacterial

strains discovered by

researchers at Shiv Nadar

University in Greater Noida,

Uttar Pradesh, have the potential

to decompose polystyrene -

- a key component in Single-

Use Plastic (SUP) items such as

disposable cups, cutlery, toys,

packaging materials etc. The

bacterial species namely

Exiguobacterium sibiricum

strain DR11 and

Exiguobacterium undae strain

DR14 were isolated from the

wetlands adjoining the university.

Polystyrene is quite resistant

to degradation due to its

high molecular weight and long

chain polymer structure. This is

the reason for their persistence

in the environment, according

to the study published in the

journal Royal Society of

Chemistry (RSC) Advances.

The exponential production

and consumption of polystyrene

in various sectors has

presented a great environment

risk and raised the problem of

waste management, the

researchers noted. "Wetlands

are one of the richest habitats of

microbial diversity but are relatively

unexplored. Hence, these

TECH

'Plastic-eating' bacteria discovered

from wetlands of Greater Noida

ecosystems are ideal grounds

for isolating bacteria with

novel biotechnological applications,"

said Priyadarshini who

discovered the bacteria strains

along with her team at the

Department of Life Sciences,

School of Natural Sciences.

According to industry estimates,

India consumes about

16.5 million metric tonnes of

plastic annually.

The All India Plastic

Manufacturers Association

(AIPMA) estimates that the

plastic industry produces about

14 million metric tonnes of

polystyrene, which is nonbiodegradable.

This effects both terrestrial

and marine life, e.g. a plastic

fork can take up to 450 years

or more to decompose, the

researchers noted.

In the universe of plastic

items used daily, SUP constitutes

about a fifth in volume,

they said.

The finding assumes significance

in India given the recent

announcement by the Prime

Minister to eliminate SUP by

2022. The research team identified

that upon coming into contact

with the plastic (polystyrene),

the two isolated bacteria

strains use it as a carbon

source, and create biofilms.

This alters the physical

properties of polystyrene, and

initiates a process of natural

degradation with the release of

hydrolysing enzymes to break

the polymer chains.

"Biodegradation is a process by

which microbial organisms --

mainly bacteria and fungi --

transform or degrade chemicals

introduced into the environment,"

Priyadarshini said. The

team is currently trying to evaluate

the metabolic processes of

these strains for utilisation in

the environmental bioremediation.

"What started as a scientific

exploration of the wetland in

our campus has led to this significant

discovery of plasticeating

bacteria," said

Rupamanjari Ghosh, Vice-

Chancellor, Shiv Nadar

University. "This is a dream

solution of breaking plastic in a

natural process and making it

biodegradable," Ghosh said.

"We started out by just

16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019

exploring the area to get a sense

of bacterial species prevalent in

these areas, but ended up isolating

numerous bacterial species

with unique and useful properties,"

added Priyadarshini.

With new bacterial species

being discovered with plastic

biodegradation ability, she

noted that novel enzymes and

new potential metabolic pathways

can be discovered which

could help in bioremediation in

future.

The researchers noted that

both Exiguobacterium strains

19

were able to establish biofilms

on polystyrenes surfaces.

Biofilms are an assemblage

of bacterial cells, which grow

as communities, reaching to

very high cell densities.

This leads to more targeted

and localised action of polymer

degrading enzymes, the

researchers said. "Polystyrene

is quite recalcitrant to degradation

and requires some form of

pre-treatment like chemical,

thermal, photo-oxidation etc

prior to biodegradation," said

Priyadarshini. Both DR11 and

DR14 strains were able to not

only form biofilm on non-treated

polystyrene, but were also

found capable of degrading

unmodified plastic, researchers

said. "Human dependence on

plastic material has increased

substantially over the years,

which has led to huge amount

of plastic accumulation in the

environment leading to adverse

effects on the ecosystem,"

Priyadarshini said.

She noted that more sustainable

methods for plastic degradation

are required.

The researchers note that the

use of both indigenous and

genetically modified bacteria

could lead to eco-friendly alternative

clean-up methods for

plastic waste. Further research

should be directed towards

making these process faster,

sustainable and cost-effective,

they said.

---

20 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 TECH

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

PUNE-A team of astronomers, led

by John Paice who is a student at

Pune-based Inter-University Centre

for Astronomy & Astrophysics

(IUCAA), has created a high framerate

movie of a growing black hole

system at a level of detail never seen

before. In the process, the team uncovered

new clues to understanding the

immediate surroundings of these enigmatic

objects including violent flaring

at the heart of a black hole system,

said a study by University of

Southampton published in Monthly

Notices of the Royal Astronomical

Society journal.

The black hole system studied is

named MAXI J1820+070 and was

first discovered in early 2018. About

10,000 light years away in our own

Milky Way, it has the mass of about

seven suns. "The movie was made

using real data, but slowed down to

1/10th of actual speed to allow the

most rapid flares to be discerned by

the human eye," said Paice, also a

graduate student at University of

Southampton and the lead author of

the study. "We can see how the material

around the black hole is so bright,

it's outshining the star that it is consuming,

and the fastest flickers last

only a few milliseconds—that's the

output of a hundred Suns and more

Student of Pune-based institute

creates violent black hole flare

being emitted in the blink of an eye,"

he elaborated. The IUCAA is an

autonomous institution set up by the

University Grants Commission (UGC)

and is situated in the campus of

University of Pune. It promotes

Ten years after 'suicide'

mission, NASA thirsts

for lunar WATER

research in astrophysics. Black holes

can feed off a nearby star and create

vast accretion discs of material. Here,

the effect of the black hole's strong

gravity and the material's own magnetic

field can cause rapidly changing

levels of radiation to be emitted from

the system as a whole.

The radiation was detected in visible

light by the HiPERCAM instrument

on the Gran Telescopio Canarias

(La Palma, Canary Islands) and in X-

rays by NASA's NICER observatory

aboard the International Space Station.

The HiPERCAM and NICER

instruments let the researchers record

'movies' of the changing light from the

system at over 300 frames per second,

capturing violent 'crackling' and 'flaring'

of visible and X-ray light.

This is not the first time scientists

have found this. A split-second difference

between X-ray and visual light

has been seen in two other systems

hosting black holes but it has never

been observed at this level of detail.

Dr Poshak Gandhi, also from the

University of Southampton, earlier

found the same fleeting time signatures

in the two previous systems as

well. "The fact that we now see this in

three systems strengthens the idea that

it is a unifying characteristic of such

growing black holes. If true, this must

be telling us something fundamental

about how plasma flows around black

holes operate," said Dr Gandhi.

WASHINGTON-A decade after

NASA sent a rocket crashing into the

moon's South Pole, spewing a plume of

debris that revealed vast reserves of ice

beneath the barren lunar surface, the

space agency is racing to pick up where

its little-remembered project left off.

The so-called LCROSS mission was

hastily carried out 10 years ago

Wednesday in a complex

orbital dance of two "suicide"

spacecraft and one

mapping satellite. It

proved a milestone in the

discovery of a natural

lunar resource that could

be the key to NASA's

plans for renewed human

exploration of the moon

and ultimately visits to

Mars and beyond.

"The LCROSS mission

was a game changer,"

NASA's chief Jim

Bridenstine told Reuters,

adding that once water

had been found the United

States "should have

immediately as a nation

changed our direction to

the moon so we could figure

out how to use it." The

agency now has the

chance to follow up on the

pioneering mission, after

Vice President Mike Pence in March

ordered NASA to land humans on the

lunar surface by 2024, accelerating a

goal to colonize the moon as a staging

ground for eventual missions to Mars.

Bridenstine says the moon holds billions

of tons of water ice, although the

exact amount and whether it's present

in large chunks of ice or combined with

the lunar soil remains unknown.

To find out before astronauts arrive

on the moon, NASA is working with a

handful of companies to put rovers on

the lunar surface by 2022.

"We need next to get on the surface

with a rover to prospect for water, drill

into it, and determine how suitable it is

for extraction," said Jack Burns, director

of the Network for Exploration and

Space Science at the University of

Colorado.

Instead of launching expensive fuel

loads from Earth, scientists say the

lunar water could be extracted and broken

down into its two main components,

hydrogen and oxygen, potentially

turning the moon into a fuel arsenal

for missions to deeper parts of the solar

system.

"We wanted to make as large of a

hole as possible to get as much materials

out of the shadows and into the sunlight,"

Colaprete said, describing an

unusually fast-paced program using

technology that had

never been used in

space before.

Engineers and

mission leaders

used the business

phrase "open

kimono" about disclosing

company

information to characterize

the program's

breakneck

development speed

and the need for

clear and open lines

of communication

between contractors

and NASA.

"That almost

became a mantra

for the project,"

Colaprete said.

The current lunar

program is also

"forcing some cultural

changes" at

NASA, he added, which has undergone

a series of high-level management

changes and delays with the agency's

commercial crew program, a publicprivate

effort to resume US human

spaceflight for the first time since 2011.

"People are coming together in a

way like they did on LCROSS."

Light brighter than the

sun to help virtually read

2,000-year-old scrolls

LONDON-Scientists at Britain's

national synchrotron facility have

harnessed powerful light beams to

virtually unwrap and decipher fragile

scrolls dating back some 2,000

years in a process they hope will

provide new insights into the ancient

world.

The two complete scrolls and

four fragments—from the so-called

Herculaneum library, the only one

surviving from antiquity—were

buried and carbonized by the deadly

eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79

AD and are too fragile to be opened.

The items were examined at the

Diamond Light Source facility in

Oxfordshire, home to Britain's synchrotron,

a particle accelerator in

which beams travel around a closedloop

path to produce light many

times brighter than the sun.

"The idea is essentially like a CT

scanner where you would take an

image of a person, a three-dimensional

image of a person and you can

slice through it to see the different

organs," said Laurent Chapon, physical

science director of Diamond

Light Source.

"We... shine very intense light

through (the scroll) and then detect

on the other side a number of twodimensional

images. From that we

reconstruct a three-dimensional volume

of the object... to actually read

the text in a non-destructive manner,"

Chapon said.

The ink on the scrolls is difficult

to see, even through a synchrotron,

because it is carbon-based like the

papyrus it is written on. But scientists

hope the density of the paper

will be different where written characters

are present. By scanning the

fragments where characters are visible,

they hope to create a machinelearning

algorithm that will decipher

what is written on the scrolls. The

data generated by the process will be

analysed by scientists at Kentucky

University in the United States using

advanced computing techniques to

decipher the scrolls' contents.

"The library at Herculaneum was

the only library that survived from

antiquity and because of that the

material inside is extremely valuable,"

said Brent Seales, professor of

computer science at Kentucky

University. "Texts from the ancient

world are rare and precious, and they

simply cannot be revealed through

any other known process."

---

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

NEWS

16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019

21

B’desh, Nepal ahead of India as growth

in South Asia slows down: WB report

Washington : Bangladesh and

Nepal are estimated to grow faster

than India in 2019, according to the

World Bank, which said that overall

growth in South Asia is projected to

slow down this fiscal in line with a

global downward trend. Pakistan’s

growth rate is projected to deteriorate

further to a mere 2.4 per cent this fiscal

year, as monetary policy remains

tight, and the planned fiscal consolidation

will compress domestic demand,

it said.

Growth in South Asia is projected

to fall to 5.9 per cent in 2019, down

1.1 percentage points from April 2019

estimates, casting uncertainty about a

rebound in the short term, the World

Bank said in its latest report. The latest

edition of the South Asia Economic

Focus, Making (De)centralization

Work, finds that strong domestic

demand, which propped high growth

in the past, has weakened, driving a

slowdown across the region.

Imports have declined severely

across South Asia, contracting

between 15 and 20 per cent in Pakistan

and Sri Lanka.

In India, domestic demand has

slipped, with private consumption

growing 3.1 per cent in the last quarter

from 7.3 per cent a year ago, while

manufacturing growth plummeted to

below 1 per cent in the second quarter

of 2019 compared to over 10 per cent

a year ago.

“Declining industrial production

and imports, as well as tensions in the

financial markets reveal a sharp economic

slowdown in South Asia,” said

Hartwig Schafer, World Bank Vice

President for the South Asia Region.

“As global and domestic uncertainties

cloud the region’s economic outlook,

South Asian countries should pursue

stimulating economic policies to boost

private consumption and beef up

investments,” he said. The report

New Delhi/Bengaluru :

Passenger vehicle sales

slumped 23.7% in September,

the 11th straight month of

decline, prompting an industry

body to flag more job cuts if

sales failed to pick up soon.

Passenger vehicle sales

dropped to 2,23,317 units in

September, the Society of

Indian

Automobile

Manufacturers (SIAM) data

showed, while passenger car

sales dived 33.4% to 131,281

units. SIAM’s data comes as

the domestic automobile industry

faces a crippling slowdown

in demand that has led to production

cuts and thousands of

job losses. The industry is seeing

longest-ever streak of sales

decline. “We are preparing for

best-case and worst-case scenarios

... worst case there will

be more production and job

cuts,” said SIAM president

noted that South Asia’s current economic

slowdown echoes the decelerating

growth and trade slumps of 2008

and 2012.

With that context in mind, the

report remains cautiously optimistic

that a slight rebound in investment and

private consumption could jumpstart

South Asia’s growth up to 6.3 per cent

in 2020, slightly above East Asia and

the Pacific and 6.7 per cent in 2021.

In a focus section, the report highlights

how, as their economies become

more sophisticated, South Asian countries

have made decentralisation a priority

to improve the delivery of public

services. “Decentralisation in South

Asia has yet to deliver on its promises

and, if not properly managed, can

degenerate into fragmentation,” said

Hans Timmer, World Bank Chief

Economist for the South Asia Region.

“To make decentralisation work for

their citizens, we encourage South

Asian central governments to allocate

their resources judiciously, create

incentives to help local communities

compete in integrated markets, and

provide equal opportunities to their

people,” Timmer said.

In India, growth is projected to fall

to 6.0 this fiscal year. Growth is then

expected to gradually recover to 6.9

per cent in fiscal year 2021 and to 7.2

Auto sector crisis deepens

Car sales down 33.4% in Sept,

passenger vehicles slip 24%

Rajan Wadhera. Car and auto

component makers have cut

thousands of jobs and halted

some production as the industry

grapples with various challenges

amid a broader economic

slowdown. The government

stepped in last month, announcing

a corporate tax rate to boost

manufacturing and lift growth.

On Friday, SIAM’s Wadhera

said it expected some improvement

in the situation on the

back of the festive season.

However, Wadhera refrained

from giving out a forecast for

future sales, saying SIAM

would maintain a cautious

stance until October performance

numbers are in.

Aggregate revenue for listed

automobile companies is estimated

to have dropped by onefourth

in July-September,

Crisil, the Indian arm of S&P

rating agency, said in a note on

Thursday.

The drop in auto sales is also

expected to hit earnings for

insurance companies such as

New India Assurance and

ICICI Lombard General

Insurance in the September

quarter.

per cent in the following year.

In Bangladesh, the real GDP

growth is estimated at 8.1 per cent in

2019, up from 7.9 per cent in 2018, the

report said, adding that the country’s

growth is projected at 7.2 per cent in

2020 and 7.3 per cent in 2021. The

garment industry of Bangladesh has

benefitted immensely from the ongoing

trade tensions between the US and

China, Timmer said.

“In general, what we see in high

frequency data is that Bangladesh is

doing better than the rest of the region,

especially than India, Sri Lanka and

Pakistan. We see that in industrial production,

we see that in exports,” he

New Delhi : Drug firm

Torrent Pharma Inc is recalling

73,896 bottles of hypertension

treatment tablets from the US

and Puerto Rico on account of

deviations from current good

manufacturing norms, according

to a report of the US health

regulator.

The US-based arm of

Torrent Pharmaceuticals is

recalling 8,688 bottles of

Losartan Potassium tablets

USP 50 mg, from the US and

Puerto Rico, the Enforcement

Report of the United States

Food and Drug Administration

(USFDA) said.

It is also recalling 39,432

bottles of Losartan Potassium

tablets, USP in the strength of

100 mg from the US and Puerto

Rico, it added. As per the

report, Torrent Pharma Inc is

recalling 17,088 bottles of

Losartan Potassium

/Hydrochlorothiazide tablets,

said. “So that confirms the story that

has been told now many times that the

garment industry in Bangladesh is

doing very well and very likely that

industry has benefited from the trade

tensions between the US and China.

Interestingly, it’s not just to the US or

China, but also to other countries that

they have very strong export performance,”

Timmer said.

In Nepal, GDP growth is projected

to average 6.5 per cent over this and

next fiscal year, backed by strong

services and construction activity due

to rising tourist arrivals and higher

public spending.

In Afghanistan, with improved

farming conditions and assuming

political stability after the elections,

growth is expected to recover and

reach 3 per cent in 2020 and 3.5 per

cent in 2021. In Bhutan, GDP growth

is expected to jump to 7.4 per cent this

fiscal year. In Maldives, growth is

expected to reach 5.2 per cent in 2019.

In Sri Lanka, growth is expected to

soften to 2.7 per cent in 2019.

However, supported by recovering

investment and exports, as the security

challenges and political uncertainty

of last year dissipate, it is projected to

reach 3.3 per cent in 2020 and 3.7 per

cent in 2021.

“Pakistan’s economy is slowing as

the country passes through yet another

macroeconomic crisis with high twin

deficits and low international reserves.

With an IMF Extended Fund Facility

supported stabilization program in

place, growth is expected to remain

low in the near-term,” the report said.

“Obviously, the tensions are problematic

for the whole region, but as we

set off a year ago, the lack of integration

into international markets is not

just because of a lack of regional integration.

Like India, Pakistan is underperforming

in all markets and in the

world,” Timmer said.

Torrent Pharma recalls 74,000

bottles of hypertension drug from US

USP 50mg/12.5mg from the

same markets. It is also recalling

8,688 bottles of Losartan

P o t a s s i u m /

Hydrochlorothiazide tablets,

USP 100mg/25mg. All these

recalls in the US and Puerto

Rico by Torrent Pharma Inc are

ongoing voluntary class II

recalls, USFDA said.

The reason for the recalls is,

“CGMP Deviations: FDA lab

confirmed presence of an impurity,

N-Methylnitrosobutyric

acid (NMBA) in the finished

product above the interim

acceptable daily intake level of

9.82 parts per million,” it

added.

---

22 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 WORLD

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

50 Indian,

Japanese soldiers

to train for

anti-terror ops

New Delhi : A joint military drill to

train 50 soldiers from India and Japan to

counter terror strikes in urban and jungle

scenarios will begin in Mizoram

later this month.

The 15-day-long anti-terror drill,

codenamed Dharma Guardian 2019,

will be conducted at the Counter

Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School

in Vairengte, Mizoram. The exercise is

scheduled to commence from October

19. A statement from the Indian Army

said 25 soldiers each from the Indian

Army and the Japan Ground Self-

Defence Forces will undergo training

during the drill. Experience in unconventional

warfare and counter-terrorism

operations will be shared by teams from

either country as part of the training

schedule.

The exercise is being held against the

backdrop of the threat of global terrorism

faced by Indian and Japan. The first

edition of the exercise, which has been

planned to be held annually in India,

was held last year. In the first exercise,

the Indian Army was represented by 6/1

Gorkha Rifles while the Japanese

Ground Self-Defence Force was represented

by its 32 Infantry Regiment.

"The scope of this exercise covers

platoon level joint training on counter

terrorism operations in jungle and urban

scenario. The joint military exercise

will enhance the level of defence cooperation

between Indian Army and

Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces,"

said the Army statement.

The annual exercise has been conceptualized

to foster bilateral relations

between India and Japan.

Railways to run promotional trains,

Housefull 4 crew first taker

New Delhi : Struggling with high operation

cost, the Indian Railways has come up with a

unique idea to increase its revenue by promoting

movies, art, culture, sports or even television

shows. The railways has decided to allow

trains to be booked for promotional activities

under a new scheme called "Promotion on

Wheels", under which special trains will be

made available for promotion.

According to Railway Ministry, the makers

of Akshay Kumar-starrer 'Housefull 4' have

already booked a train for the film's promotion.

The first special "Promotion on Wheels"

train with eight coaches by the Indian Rail

Catering and

T o u r i s m

Corportation

(IRCTC) and the

Western Railway, in

coordination with

the "Housefull 4"

team, carrying

celebrities and

mediapersons, will

leave Mumbai

Central on

Wednesday and

reach New Delhi on

Thursday.

According to a

press release issued

by Western Railway

spokesperson

Ravinder Bhakar,

the train will pass

through several

J&K: Farooq's sister,

daughter detained

after women's protest

Srinagar : A group of

Kashmiri women led by former

Jammu & Kashmir Chief

Minister Farooq Abdullah's sister

Suraiya and daughter Safiya

staged a protest here on Tuesday

against the scrapping of Article

370. The 20-odd women were

protesting against the scrapping

of Article 370 and

35A on August 5.

They were carrying

placards which read,

'Kashmiri brides not

for sale', 'Why downgrade

Jammu and

Kashmir state'.

Moments after the

women protesters

spoke to the media,

the police swung into

action and took them

away to the nearby

police station.

"We want to know

the fate of those who

have been detained, that's why

we are protesting," said Muslim

Jan, an academician. "The government

of India is telling the

world that we are happy, somebody

should speak to us to find

out how we are feeling, we are

not happy, there are restrictions in

Kashmir, we are highlighting

those issues," said Hawa Bashir,

states and important districts such as Surat,

Vadodara and Kota.

"Under this initiative, the railways has

approached many major production houses

with upcoming films to use these FTR (Full

Tariff Rates) trains to facilitate pan-India publicity

and promotions of films across the

length and breadth of the country.

The IRCTC shall be the nodal agency for

handling such trains," it said.

The IRCTC will undertake attractive and

thematic vinyl-wrapping of these promotional

trains, keeping in view that the trains will be

crisscrossing the country.

an academician.

"We the women of Kashmir

disapprove of the unilateral decision

taken by government of

India to revoke article 370 and

35A and downgrade the status of

Jammu and Kashmir," a statement

by the protesting women

said. "We feel betrayed humiliated

and violated as people we

demand restoration of civil liberties

and fundamental rights of

civilians. We demand demilitarisation

of rural and urban areas.

We demand immediate release of

detainees. We express outrage

against national media for their

false and misleading coverage of

ground realities in Kashmir."

The Public Safety Act has

been slapped against Farooq who

is lodged in his house, G-40, at

Srinagar's posh Gupkar Road.

Earlier his daughter Safiya had

put up a black flag, seemingly as

mark of protest against the revocation

of special status of J&K

outside her house.

The J&K

administration

has justified

the slapping

of PSA

on the

National

Conference

president on

the grounds

that he has

"tremendous

potential to

create public

disorder in

Srinagar and

other parts of

the Valley". The administration

has cited several instances since

2016 when he made statements in

conflict with the law. Farooq's

son and former Chief Minister

Omar Abdullah is detained in

Hari Niwas. Farooq's brother and

senior National Conference

leader Mustafa Kamal has been

detained at his home.

Continue Page 1

Celebrate Dr Baba Saheb

Ambedkar as hero of...

“ I want to start by noting that I was born the

evening of October 13, 1956. If you adjust for

the time difference between India and the United

States, then as Dr. Ambedkar was leading the

conversion of Dalits to Buddhism, my mother

was in labor delivering me. So, in a way, I was

fated to learn about Dr. Ambedkar and the

Ambedkarite movement in India. “

From an international point of view, Dalits

must inform the rest of the world of their struggle.

Caste Hindus have controlled the international

image of the caste system. They typically

discuss how things have changed in India and

how caste is not very important anymore. They

talk about reservation and how much Dalits have

advanced since Independence. Because this is

the typical story that caste Hindus tell, it is

imperative for Dalits to publicize their experiences,

perspectives and realties as much as possible.”

Unlike Gandhi and Gandhians, Ambedkar and

Ambedkarites don’t harp on ‘non-violence’

theme too much because the focus of

Ambedkarite is Equality-Liberty and Fraternity

and for that Ambedkar did not ask the Dalits to

pick up guns and eliminate the caste Hindus. He

did not ask the depressed communities to live in

perpetual hatred but enlighten themselves, ‘be

better than their best’, as our Ambbedkarite

friend N G Uke used to say. It is time, India celebrate

Dr Ambedkar’s path of enlightenment

embrace Equality-Liberty and Fraternity which

he described through the path of Buddha, respect

individuals and build a modern society. You cannot

build modern India on the edifice of celebrating

the spirit of Manusmiriti. A modern India

which will equal rights to all is possible only

through socialization of constitutional values of

egalitarianism and cultural path shown by Baba

Saheb Ambedkar who brought the biggest nonviolent

revolution in the history of independent

India on the Dhammachakra Pravartan Day on

October 14th, 1956.

Celebrate the revolution and spread it.

---

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

Ekta Parishad has launched its

ambitious Jai Jagat 2020 march

from Delhi to Geneva on October

2nd 2019. The Yatra will culminate

at Geneva on October 2nd 2020.

Activists from nearly 16 countries

who are working on the land rights

issues, came together in solidarity

with Jai Jagat campaign. While,

Ekta Parishad’s movement started

with talks of land reforms but it look

now ‘Love’ and ‘Peace’ is the main

theme, perhaps, to commemorate,

Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.

Like Gandhi’s work, there is

some ambiguity in the ideological

traits of Ekta Parishad but none can

doubt their mobilising capacity, a

disciplined cadre and well connected

networking. Ekta Parishad

founder Shri P V Rajagopal has

done numerous ‘walks with massive

mobilisation. His first walk was in

the Madhya Pradesh Bundelkhand

region, followed by the one in 2005,

2013 and last year in Madhya

Pradesh. Each Yatra showed their

moblisation skills as well as well

oiled network both with the government

as well as the opposition parties.

In 2013, they had an agreement

with the then government about the

Comprehensive Land Reform issues

but it look now the current government

has just thrown that document

into dustbin. Ekta Parishad too

seems not focusing on that too

much.

This time the yatra is from Delhi

to Geneva. It is over ten thousand

kilometer long and has about fifty

yatris in which about 15 are from

different parts of the world. The

yatra focuses on spreading love and

against hatred. It talks about building

peace. So love and peace has to

be spread. Ekta Parishad founder Mr

P V Rajagopal has been speaking on

the Gandhian Economic and environmental

model. On 4th October,

we all marched from International

Youth Center to Tees Janwari Marg,

where Gandhi was assassinated,

singing song : Jai Jagat Pukare jaa

which is really a beautiful song.

During the march, many of the

social media activists recorded

many small interviews with the

marchers. A young activist asked me

what is your message and hope. I

have said many time that I will

never agree to Gandhi’s sainthood

or ‘spiritual’ ‘philosophical’ work

but I respect his efforts to bring people

together. It is not easy to bring

so many thousands people together

and talk of unity. The best part of

Gandhi was from 1947 to 1948 till

his death. I felt that Gandhi is surviving

not because he has a ‘philosophy’,

I feel it never was, but

because he created a new generations

of leaders. No other political

leader was able to do so. There are

various reasons for that too but it is

a fact that Gandhi was able to bring

diverse opinion political class at one

platform which was no mean task

given the nature of India’s diversity.

So, for me when any one is organising

a yatra in the name of Gandhi,

the first thing should be that it must

focus on focusing the biggest challenge

that the world face it today.

Climate crisis and all other things

WORLD

Will Gandhian speak

up on who killed

GANDHI and Why?

are there but why to keep your eye

close on the growing hatred. How

will you build peace when there is

no social justice, when caste and

racial hatred continue, when one

kind of people are born with privileges

and other with debt.

When we speak of peace, it is not

possible without asking the privileged

people leaving their privileges.

Among the Gandhian, it was

actually Vinoba, who could do so

asking people to donate land for

Bhudan. There are many ifs and

buts about his campaign but at least

he started a campaign and was able

to get a huge chunk of land under

Bhudan. Now, Vinoba can not be

faulted for failure of subsequent

government and their inability to

distribute that land to landless and

agrarian communities. Also

Gandhians too forgot that agenda

and were satisfied in singing

Ramdhuns and Vaishnav jan te.

Government converted Gandhi into

God and Gandhian organisations

loved it as they had government

patronage so all the people’s issues

were forgotten.

After the Gujarat 2002,

we saw how people started

keeping silent. Gandhian

started talking of Gandhian environment,

Gandhian sanitation,

Gandhian economy thus converting

Gandhi into a ‘environmentalist’ or

‘economist’ which he never was.

Some Gandhian started with anti

drugs campaign. Gandhi against

smoking or liquor. All this is good

but a deliberate effort to evade the

real issues for which Gandhi was

murdered. An issue which opened

my eyes yesterday was raised by

Subhash Gatade, in All India

People’s Forum conference as why

most of our young students, political

leaders visit Rajghat where he was

cremated but none visit to Tees

Janwari Marg, where he was murdered.

Now, I can share this that, on

4th January, land rights activists visited

to Gandhi Smriti, the old Birla

House, where he was shot dead during

the prayer meeting in the

evening. We sat there and a veteran

Gandhian talked about Gandhi’s last

days there. He only gave us statistics

that he was there for 144 days

and it was a center where national

leaders would meet Gandhi. He

used to pray there and he was shot

dead in the evening.

Now, the issue is why we

dont want to inform our children

or those who come to

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

social and human rights activist

India and bow before Gandhi

as who killed him and why ? Isnt it

important for all of us when we go

on campaign for global peace, love

that Gandhi was killed by an ideology

which spread hatred, which

wanted India to be a Hindu Rashtra.

Gandhi’s murder is not a one day

affair. The right wing Hindu organisations

wanted to kill him since

1935 and there were six attempt

made on his life by the right wing

Hindus which are well documented.

These people felt that Gandhi’s secular

project would deny them the

Hindu Rashtra of the brahmanical

hegemony.

As I mentioned earlier also that

Gandhi’s philosophy if it is, has lots

of problems and it is not essential

for us to follow them. But Gandhi

was killed by the people who have

hatred in their belly and most of

them visualise India as per the diktats

of Manusmriti. They have no

faith in modern constitution drafted

by Dr Ambedkar. It is they who celebrate

Gandhi’s death. It is they who

adore Adolf Hitler too. It it worth

writing here that after 2014, the two

best seller in India was the books :

Mein Kampf, the autobiography

of Adolf

Hitler and Why I killed

Gandhi, by Nathu Ram

Godse, the man who

killed Gandhi.

Gandhi’s killers ideology

and the person

who killed Gandhi are not called terrorist

ideology and terrorist. It is

very similar of what is happening in

USA where whenever the white

16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019

23

supremacists kills the black, that is

not a terror attack but ‘gunmen’

killing.. the headline changes

according to your color and religious

identity. So a terrorist has to

be a ‘Muslim’ otherwise the killings

are simple crime and not a terror act.

It is important to know who

killed Gandhi, what was the ideology

that spread hatred against

minorities in India and what was

their agenda and who are their

‘goal-keepers’ and ‘torch bearers’.

If the Gandhians have decided to

keep conspiratorial silence on

Gandhi’s murder then you cant

blame others for the same. As a person

who has no faith in Gandhi’s

spiritual work, I respect his martyrdom,

his last six months when he

traveled nook and corners of the

country stayed away from the government

programms and celebrations.

In 1947 Noakhali, now in

Bangladesh, was burning and so

were other places. Hindus and

Muslims were butchering each others

wherever they had the dominance

and in such a scenario an old

man move around, speak of his

moral courage, ask for shedding

hatred is simply remarkable.

Gandhi tried to unite us against

hatred that time. No other political

leader had that charisma to do so.

India after independence, started

building up. Gandhi build leaders

and his most loved disciple who

never sung Ramdhun and was an

atheist as well as a humanist started

building up India. We did not go the

way Pakistan went. We did not follow

the Manu wad officially as

Pakistan started with Sharia laws.

Both countries got freedom same

time and you see that India emerged

stronger, democracy took root as

Nehru built institutions here, contrary

to Pakistan where no leader

could complete full term in power.

Military dictated things.

Today, we are competing with

Pakistan in attempting to become a

theocratic state. Our institutions are

collapsing and politicians are dividing

society. Those who were supposed

to lead are now sowing the

seeds of divisions. Minorities particularly

Muslims are unwanted, Dalits

face violence in rural India and adivasis

face dislocations. All of them

combine together are nearly six hundred

millions, more than the populations

of many countries of the world.

They face exclusion and discrimination.

So, when Gandhian walk for

love and peace, the issue of race and

caste will come , issue of minorities

and immigrants will have to be

raised. It is these people who suffer

hatred. The Dalits, Adivasis, indigenous

people elsewhere, the immigrants

who are now being vilified.

Will the Gandhian speak up on this

or would follow Narendra Modi and

his party who have converted Gandhi

to a ‘sanitation’ expert to divert the

attention from the main issue of who

killed Gandhi and why ?

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a

social and human rights activist.

He blogs at

www.manukhsi.blogspot.com

twitter @freetohumanity

Email: vbrawat@gmail.com

---

24 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 WORLD

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

Learn to build the future of our mission

from the Life of Manywar Kansiram

At the moment when the Bahujan

politics is in deep crisis, we desperately

miss Manywar Kanshiram ji. The man

who gave the Ambedkarite politics a

new confidence and brought it to power

structure. It is important to understand

what was his politics and how he won

the confidence of the people. It is clear

that there can not be any other

Kansiram as he was a man of ideas and

action, a man who had close association

with his workers and who trusted them.

The distance between politicians and

janata as well as their workers is growing

in the current time. Politics has

become a game of managing contradictions.

The brahmanical parties realised

the growing assertion of the

Ambedkarite activism will be the

biggest threat to their survival and

therefore in the last few years a large

number of spontenous protests that

emerged from the universities and in

rural India, where the lead was taken by

the Ambedkarite students, was used by

the Hindutva parties for their own purposes.

It looked that the Ambedkarite

anger would ultimately benefit the

Bahujan parties but at the end the anger

could not be politically mobilised.

Right from Rohit Vemula’s death to

Una, Saharanpur and now Ravidas

Mandir controversy actually aimed at

creating

numerous

power

structure

inside the Dalit polity to harm the BSP.

Not that we blame the groups fighting

for the Dalit rights but the complete

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

social and human rights activist

failure of BSP leadership in bringing

them to a platform. It resulted in disillusionment

of a large number of

Ambedkarite activists, scholars as well

as other opinion makers with BSP politics

at the moment. Many of them feel

that the activists and those who really

believe in Manywar Kanshiram’s ideals

are being sidelined as the party is more

keen to cater the upper caste votes. The

whole attempt to defend the government

position on Kashmir by Ms

Mayawati, using Dr Baba Saheb

Ambedkar’s was nothing but aiming at

Uttar Pradesh politics and through it the

upper caste votes.

If we look at the working pattern of

Manywar Kanshiram, it was clear that

he brought youngsters and community

leaders as he had more faith in those

who were working tirelessly for years.

BSP became a platform of diverse

Ambedkarites as well as those castes

too, who were victims of brahmanical

order yet might not even heard about Dr

Ambedkar and his monumental work. In

politics, you need to bring all together

and Kansiram Saheb was able to do so.

It was the big job. After the demise of Dr

Ambedkar, with so many outfits

emerged though

RPI was a strong

force in many

states but never as

a challenge to ruling

parties. The power of Kansiram was

Back channel exercise

for Modi-Imran meet in

SAUDI ARABIA ?

Islamabad : Intense back channel exercise by Indian side is

underway to arrange a meeting of Indian Prime Minister Narendra

Modi with his Pakistani coounterpart Imran Khan, a Pakistan

media report claimed on Tuesday. The report said that both Modi

and Imran Khan will take part in International Conference on

Economics and Business Research to be held in Saudi Arabia's

capital Riyadh on October 29, and efforts are allegedly being

made by India to get the two South Asian leaders to meet on the

sidelines of this Conference. The Pakistani media report claimed

that India is making all efforts to fix the meeting of the two Prime

Ministers. If not Riyadh, then it could be the occasion of the inauguration

of Kartarpur Sahib corridor in November.

According to the report, some 'other' heads of states also want

to see Modi and Imran Khan to meet, but Pakistan has some 'reservations'

to the proposed meet. The report claims that India has

offered some 'concessions' to Pakistan for the meeting to happen

but so far Pakistan has shown little interest in them.

to reach to diverse Bahujan communities

who were out of reach for

Ambedkarites. That was the biggest

contribution of him to bring all these

diverse segment to one identity of

Bahujan Samaj. Unfortunately, after his

demise things are taking different

shapes. Parties now realise that they

dont need activists and more managers

who can ‘do’ things for leaders. All parties

are doing it but BSP is different as it

emerged from Bahujan movement and

unfortunately it was also ‘mainstreamed’

or ‘manustreamed’. With so

Chandrayaan-2

Director gets honorary

doctorate from LU

Lucknow : Chandrayaan-2 Mission Director Ritu

Karidhal Srivastava was on Tuesday awarded a honorary

doctorate by her alma mater, the Lucknow

University (LU). Governor Anandiben Patel conferred

the honorary doctorate on Srivastava at a special

function held here.

Srivatava finished her post-graduation in 1997

and got enrolled in a doctorate course in the Physics

Department in Lucknow University. She later taught

in the same department, and has made her university

and the entire nation proud by playing a key role in

India's second moon mission. LU Vice Chancellor

S.P. Singh said that university officials and all professors

unanimously wanted to honour her contribution,

hard work, and excellence. Srivastava had completed

her schooling from Navyug Girls College and

joined LU prior to cracking the prestigious Graduate

Aptitude Test in Engineering. She was a research

scholar at LU for six months and left after clearing

GATE. She joined IISc, Bangalore, to pursue masters

in aerospace engineering.

many young

Ambedkarites emerging

from different

protest movements,

raising their voices

against oppression and

exploitation as well as

seeking accountability

from the government

and a fair representation

in power structure,

it was the most opportune

time for BSP to

give space to all these

young voices. If

Kansiram were alive

today, he would have

used this opportunity

more accurately, giving

huge responsibilities

to our young

Ambedkarites in the

party to take lead but

very unfortunately, it

has not happened in

the party. Young

Ambedkarites felt disturbed and deeply

disappointed. They cant trust the brahmanical

parties and their own party does

not trust them then what do they do ?

Hindutva forces used this very well.

The growing Ambedkarite disenchantment

with their own polity and it is a

great risk. I have always maintained

that it is difficult to make a party in

these times when everything is money

and media oriented. Kanshiram ji build

the whole edifice of BSP on people’s

trust and that legacy has to continue.

BSP has loads of problems and it has

also disappointed but if possible, I

would request youngsters to democratise

the party, built it again and reach

wider audiences of the Dalit Bahujan

Samaj as Kansiram Saheb had done.

A majority of political leaders today

have so many cases. Narendra Modi has

been able to target his opponent for

‘bhai-batijawaad’ and dynasty. There is

no doubt about the fact that political

parties have become private limited

companies and family outfits. The one

man, who could have challenged

Narendra Modi and was able to build a

movement beyond his family and relations,

was Kanshiram. His life was dedicated

to the movement and till end his

fulfilled that promise which none of his

predecessors were able to do so which

was absolute dedication to Ambedkarite

mission and complete delinking of family

from his political issues. If he had

done so, he would also have faced barrage

of questions from brahmanical

media but they cant do so. He was able

to build so many new leaders for the

future but alas that does not seems to be

the agenda of the current leadership. It

is a wake up call. We might never have

another Kansiram as it is not a simple

thing to discard all the pleasures of life

and families, but we can take lessons

from his work and missionary life to

build the future of our movement.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social

and human rights activist. He blogs

at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com

twitter @freetohumanity

Email: vbrawat@gmail.com