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Vol : 03 : #30 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019
No passport needed for Sikhs
visiting Kartarpur Sahib: Pak
Chandigarh : In a major relief to
Sikh devotees visiting Pakistan for the
celebrations of the 550th Prakash Purb
of Guru Nanak Dev, Islamabad on
Friday announced the waiving of
requirement of a passport for identification
and prior registration for such
visitors.
It also exempted the Indian pilgrims
from paying a $20 entry fee on
the day of inauguration of the corridor
and Guru Nanak Dev's birthday.
"For Sikhs coming for pilgrimage
to Kartarpur from India, I have waived
off 2 requirements: i) they won't need
a passport -- just a valid ID; ii) they no
longer have to register 10 days in
advance," Pakistan Prime Minister
Imran Khan tweeted.
"Also, no fee will be charged on
day of inauguration and on Guruji's
550th birthday," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
inaugurate the Kartarpur Corridor on
November 9 and dispatch the first lot
of pilgrims to visit Kartarpur Sahib
Gurdwara in Pakistan's Punjab
province on the occasion of the 550th
birth anniversary celebrations of Guru
Nanak Dev that falls on November 12.
Reacting to the announcement,
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder
Singh said the waiver should be
extended to not just "Sikhs but all citizens
of secular India".
Also, he demanded that the fee
should be waived off on "all days
instead of just two".
The Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara,
originally known as Gurdwara Darbar
Sahib, is a highly revered Sikh shrine
where Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years
of his life and is his final resting place.
Earlier, India and Pakistan signed
an agreement to operationalise the
Kartarpur Corridor to allow Indian pilgrims
a visa free visit to the holy
Darbar Sahib. However, the ticklish
issue of a $20 service fee imposed by
Islamabad remained unresolved.
India signed the deal in the interest
of the pilgrims and timely operationalisation
of the Kartarpur Corridor
before the celebrations.
Orissa High Court bar
association calls off stir
Bhubaneswar : The Orissa High Court Bar Association on
Friday called off their cease work agitation and announced to
resume court work from November 4.
The development came after the Supreme Court directed the
bar association to end the agitation. On October 24, the apex court
observed that there was little doubt that the conduct of the lawyers
fell within the domain of contempt.
"Following Supreme Court's judgement on disruption in court
work and keeping in view larger interests of people, we have
called off our strike," informed Gopalkrushna Mohanty, President,
Orissa High Court Bar Association.
"We will resume work from Monday, but we will continue to
press for our demands at different forums. We have lost confidence
in the Collegium," Mohanty said.
Notably, the lawyers have been abstaining from court work
since October 14 protesting the recommendations of some names
by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment of judges in the
High Court. The Collegium has recommended names of advocate
Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi and judicial officer Bibhu Prasad
Routray to be appointed as Orissa High Court judges.
After the Supreme Court observation, the Bar Council of India
(BCI) also asked the agitating lawyers to withdraw their ongoing
cease-work stir.
’UNCOUTH’:
Puducherry LG
Kiran Bedi as CM
calls her 'demon'
Chennai : Puducherry Lt.
Governor Kiran Bedi on
Friday termed as "unparliamentary,
uncouth and unacceptable"
the term of "demon"
used for her by Chief Minister
V. Narayanasamy.
In a tweet, Bedi said: "The
expression of DEMON used
is unparliamentary, uncalled
for, uncivilised, uncouth and
unacceptable."
Narayanasamy had on
Thursday used the term for
Bedi, with whom he has been
at logger-heads over governance
for long.
Addressing a meeting of
the Congress party, he had
said the Central government
has posted a "demon" here
which is hindering implementation
of welfare schemes.
EU agrees Brexit extension
to Janaury 31, 2020
London, The European
Union (EU) has agreed to
extend Brexit until January 31,
2020, European Council
President Donald Tusk
announced on Monday.
“The EU27 has agreed that it
will accept the UK’s request for
a #Brexit flextension until 31
January 2020. The decision is
expected to be formalised
through a written procedure,”
Tusk said in a tweet.
“Flextension” means flexible
extension. If MPs approve the
Brexit deal sooner, the UK
could leave the EU before
January 31, 2020. The draft text of an agreement
for the 27 EU ambassadors – seen by the BBC –
includes two other possible dates for Brexit:
November 30 and December 31.
It also includes a commitment that the
Withdrawal Agreement on the UK’s exit from
the EU cannot be renegotiated in future.
The UK was due to leave the EU on Thursday,
but Prime Minister Boris Johnson was required
to request an extension from the bloc after
Parliament, in a historic session on October 19,
voted against his Brexit deal.
Johnson had repeatedly said the UK would
leave on October 31 deadline “do or die”, but the
law – known as the Benn act – also requires him
to accept the offer.
The development comes as UK MPs prepare
to vote on Monday on proposals by Johnson for
an early general election on December 12.
The Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) and
Liberal Democrats have also proposed an election
on December 9. Johnson said that if the vote
was approved, his Brexit bill would resume its
progress through Parliament until that is dissolved
on November 6, the BBC reported.
Two-thirds of MPs – 434 – would have to
back the motion for it to pass under the law
which sets election timings. A Downing Street
source said on Sunday that MPs would vote on
an election “so we can get a new Parliament”.
If the vote was lost, the sources said that the
government would then “look at all options”
including ideas similar to those proposed by
other parties.
MPs have already twice rejected a call from
the Prime Minister to hold a general election.
2
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 ASIA
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Who are they seeking
'Azadi' from? asks Imran
Islamabad : As the Jamiat
Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl's (JUI-F)
'Azadi March', led by its chief
Maulana Fazlur Rehman to call
for toppling the incumbent
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)
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government reached
Islamabad, Prime Minister
Imran Khan posed a query to
the participants "who they are
seeking 'azadi' (freedom)
from?".
While addressing a rally in
Gilgit Baltistan, Prime Minister
Khan said: "If you ask PPP
members they will say things
are becoming expensive...
PML-N members will not
know why they are at the march
and if you ask JUI-F they will
say Jews are about to take over
Islamabad," Dawn news reported.
Khan also queried as to
what the Pakistan's Peoples
Party Chairman Bilawal
Bhutto-Zardari was doing joining
hands with a right-wing
Islamist party. "Bilawal, who
calls himself a liberal, has also
joined the 'jalsa'. (It seems) the
Indian-origin researcher wins award for work on batteries
New Delhi : Dr Neeraj Sharma from
the University of New South Wales
(UNSW), Sydney -- considered one of
the global leaders in the use of neutron
and X-ray scattering methods to study
materials for next-generation lithiumion
batteries - has won the 'Early Career
Researcher of the Year (Physical
Sciences)'. NSW Premier Gladys
Berejiklian honoured 35-year-old Dr
Sharma, from the School of Chemistry
at UNSW, with the award at the
Government House in Sydney, the university
said in a statement on Friday.
The award was given for his work in
lithium-ion batteries found in electronic
devices, electric vehicles and the grid,
as well as next-generation battery systems
such as sodium-ion batteries that
will leave minimal environmental
impact, and transition away from fossil
fuels for energy generation and transportation.
"To develop the next generation of
only thing 'liberal' about
Bilawal is that he is liberally
corrupt," he said. Khan's comments
on Bhutto-Zardari came
hours after the latter addressed
the Azadi March participants
on Friday morning here where
he called the former a "puppet".
technologies, we need better performance
at a lower environmental cost,"
said Dr Sharma. "My work explores
lithium-ion batteries - found in electronic
devices, electric vehicles and the grid
- as well as next-generation battery systems
such as sodium-ion batteries. I find
the study of sodium-ion batteries partic-
The PPP leader added that the
nation was not ready to bow its
head before a "selected" Prime
Minister and "those who have
selected him". The marchers,
who set out from Karachi on
Sunday, left Lahore on
Wednesday and culminated its
journey on Thursday night in
Islamabad. The development
comes after the ruling and the
opposition parties reached an
agreement to let the anti-government
march progress as
planned, as long as they protesters
do not cross the sensitive
"red zone" in Islamabad.
The JUI-F supremo is expected
to present his demands at a
rally after the Friday prayers,
which will also be addressed by
opposition leaders.
Fazlur Rehman gives two-day
deadline to Imran Khan to quit
Islamabad : Jamiat Ulema
Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana
Fazlur Rehman, leading the Azadi
march demanding the resignation of
Prime Minister Imran Khan, has
given him a two-day deadline to
resign. Addressing the march at
Metro Ground in Islamabad on
Friday, Rehman said that we are
giving two days' time to Prime
Minister Imran Khan to resign and
other 'National Organisations' to
withdraw support to the incumbent
government. Several opposition
leaders are also participating in the
march. Rehman said that he doesn't
want any conflict with the 'National
Organisations', rather he wants them to be
stable and neutral. He said, "If we feel that
the organisations continue to back and protect
the illegitimate government, then they
have two days' time. After that we shouldn't
be stopped from forming our perspective
about them. Prime Minister
Imran Khan has two days to resign.
If he doesn't resign in two days, then
the people of Pakistan are capable of
entering the PM House forcefully
and arrest the prime minister."
He slammed the government for
failing to live up to its promises. He
said that the government had promised
to build five million homes for
the poor but they have demolished
more than five million homes
instead. Instead of providing
employment to one crore people, the
government has made 25 lakh people
jobless, he said, adding that the public
can't be left at the mercy of such an irresponsible
government.
* The Asian Independent and people associated with it are not responsible for any claims made by the advertisers and do not endorse in any products or services advertised. Please visit www.theasianindependent.com/tc for more information.
Liver cancer
deaths 50% up in
last 10 YEARS
London : Liver cancer deaths have increased by around 50
per cent in the last decade and have tripled since records began,
researchers have warned.
The new mortality data from Cancer Research UK, shows that
there were around 5,700 deaths from liver cancer in 2017 in the
UK, which is the highest ever yearly number of deaths recorded.
This has climbed from 3,200 deaths in 2007. Of all cancer
types, liver cancer has had the largest increase in deaths over the
last decade and the most rapid rise in deaths since the UK records
began. "Unfortunately, progress in treating liver cancer has been
painfully slow and we desperately need more options for
patients. Another problem is the rise in the number of people
being diagnosed, which has meant we are losing more people to
this disease than ever before," said researcher Helen Reeves,
Professor at Newcastle University.
Experts believe that death rates have risen so steeply because
the number of people being diagnosed with liver cancer has also
increased -- by 60 per cent in the last decade -- and survival is
typically low. It's one of the hardest cancers to treat, and fiveyear
survival can range from anywhere between six per cent and
37 per cent depending on age and gender, the researchers said.
According to the study, while there are several factors affecting
liver cancer risk, being overweight or obese and smoking are
two of the biggest preventable causes.
Twenty-three per cent of liver cancer cases can be linked to
being overweight or obese, and 20 per cent can be linked to
smoking. Overall, around half of cases are preventable.
"Rising levels of obesity and associated conditions like diabetes
and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases have likely had a big
role in this, although they aren't the only factors," Reeves said.
"A lot of progress has been made saving lives from cancer, but
it's worrying to see deaths from liver cancer increasing at such an
alarming rate," said Michelle Mitchell from Cancer Research
UK. "Far too many lives are being lost, which is why we're funding
more research into this area. And aiming to understand more
about the biology of the disease to develop better treatments,"
Mitchell added.
ularly fascinating and
we have been developing
new electrodes
for these systems," he
elaborated.
By focusing on
electrochemical reactions
in batteries, Dr
Sharma aims to better
understand how electrode
composition,
and structure at the
atomic level, influence
performance.
His research group is
also exploring inherently
safe solid-state batteries, energydense
lithium-sulfur batteries, dual
function solar batteries and methods for
recycling. "We can enable and enhance
the uptake of electric vehicles, ensure
batteries are recycled leaving minimal
environmental impact, and transition
away from fossil fuels for energy generation
and transportation. There is significant
opportunity to shape how we live
into the future," Dr Sharma said.
Researchers from UNSW won half of
the science and engineering awards
announced by the NSW Premier, including
the top prize for 'NSW Scientist of
the Year'. "Such achievements will
inspire more students from India to take
up meaningful research careers," said
Amit Dasgupta, UNSW Country Head,
India.
UNSW Engineering has launched
new streams starting February 2020 in
mining engineering, renewable energy
and petroleum engineering, and is in the
process of finalising a new Robotics
stream to be available from early 2020.
"Students in India will find these courses
exciting. We would like more meritorious
students from the region to apply
for the 'Future of Change' scholarships,
available exclusively to the Indian students,"
Dasgupta added.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Militants hurl petrol bomb at
school in Shopian, J&K
Srinagar : Suspected militants on Friday
evening hurled petrol bomb at a school building
in
S o u t h
Kashmir's
Shopian
district.
Police
said milit
a n t s
hurled
petrol
bomb at a
school
building in Kundalan village in Shopian district
on Friday. The school is designated as an
examination centre for the ongoing 10th board
exam.
Police said some damage has been caused
to the school office in the incident and resulting
fire was immediately put out.
'Pak to spend Kartarpur income
on Sikh community, shrines'
Islamabad : Pakistan will spend the revenue
generated by the Kartarpur pilgrimage on
the welfare of the Sikh community and renovation
of their holy sites, officials said. Senior
government officials said that Pakistan does
not intend to make money from the Sikh pilgrims
but contribute to their welfare, The
Nation reported on Friday. "Yes, there will be
some income but we don't want to use that
money for projects other than those of the
Sikhs themselves.
The money will be used to renovate their
worship places and their holy historical sites,"
said one official. Another official said the government
will even add more money to the
income generated from the Kartarpur pilgrimage
for improved facilities in the corridor to be
opened next weekend. Pakistan is expected to
earn up to $365,00,000 annually from pilgrims
visiting the holy Darbar Sahib in
Kartarpur, the final resting place of Guru
Nanak Dev. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran
Khan will inaugurate the Kartarpur corridor
on November 9.
Radio Kashmir renamed
All India Radio
Srinagar : With the historic Thursday seeing
two new Union Territories of Jammu and
Kashmir and Ladakh come into being, putting
into effect the reorganisation of the erstwhile
state, radio stations too have been renamed.
Radio Station situated in Jammu is
renamed as the All India Radio, Jammu. While
stations in Srinagar and Leh have also been
renamed as the All India Radio, Srinagar and
All India Radio Leh, respectively.
The implementation of the Jammu and
Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which got
President's assent on August 9, means the special
status enjoyed by Jammu and Kashmir
under Article 370 comes to an end after 72
years and has come into effect at 12 a.m. last
night. As per the Act, the respective UTs will
have Lieutenant Governor as administrator
who will be appointed by the President of
India. The tenure will be determined by the
President.
Hong Kong : A Hong Kong
court on Friday issued a temporary
injunction to block messages inciting
violence on popular instant messaging
applications like Telegram
and online forum LIHKG, aimed at
minimizing the risk of violent clashes
which have increased over the
past 21 weeks of anti-government
protests in the city High Court
Judge Russell Coleman granted the
injunction applied for by the city's
justice department to prevent citizens
from "wilfully disseminating,
circulating, publishing or republishing"
any material that "promotes,
encourages or incites the use or
threat of violence", reports Efe
news. Local media reports have said
that messages inciting violence
against the police were circulated on
these popular apps but do not specify
whether violent demonstrators or
ASIA
infiltrators among them have been
behind them.
The injunction will be in effect
until November 15, when a formal
hearing for the application could
lead to an extension.
"The temporary injunction sets
an extremely dangerous precedent
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019
HK court orders ban on online
messages inciting violence
US hits out at China over the
Dalai Lama, PRAISES INDIA
Washington : As
China protested the
meeting between a senior
US diplomat and the
Dalai Lama in
Dharamsala in India,
Washington emphasized
on the "enduring US
support for the Tibetan
people" and praised
India's "extraordinary generosity" in supporting
the Tibetans' religious freedom. US
Ambassador at Large for International
Religious Freedom Sam Brownback met the
Dalai Lama in Dharmshala on Monday.
Alice G. Wells, Acting Assistant Secretary
of State, Bureau of South and Central Asia, in
tweets said: "@IRF_Ambassador's meeting
with His Holiness in Dharamsala emphasizes
enduring U.S. support for the Tibetan people.
India has greatly supported Tibetan religious
freedom, and the U.S. stands in deep admiration
of India's extraordinary generosity."
On the issue of a successor to the Dalai
Lama, and China's stand on it, she said: "The
Chinese Communist Party claim that Dalai
Lama's succession "must comply with Chinese
laws and regulations" is meritless. Tibetan
communities, like all faith communities,
should be able to select, educate, & venerate
their religious leaders without government
interference. AGW". The Chinese Foreign
Ministry, reacting to Brownback's visit, said on
Tuesday: "We urge the US official to stop contacting
the Dalai Lama clique, making irresponsible
remarks and using
Tibet-related issues to interfere
in China's internal
affairs.
Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesperson, Geng Shuang
said that Brownback's
remarks violated the US'
commitment to recognise
Tibet as part of China and not
support aTibet secession'. On a successor to
the Dalai Lama, Geng said the process "should
follow (Chinese) national laws and regulations,
religious rituals and historical conventions".Brownback,
during his meeting with the
Tibetan spiritual leader in Dharamsala, said the
role of picking a successor to the Dalai Lama
belongs to the Tibetan Buddhist system, the
Dalai Lama, and other Tibetan leaders. "It does
not belong to anybody else, not any government
or any entity", he is quoted as saying.
There have been concerns over the health of
the 84-year-old Dalai Lama. Brownback had
also called on China to release the Dalai Lamaappointed
Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi
Nyima, whose whereabouts are not known.
"We call on the (People's Republic of China)
government to release immediately the
Tibetan-recognised Panchen Lama Gedhun
Choekyi Nyima or share the truth about his
fate with the world," Brownback said. The
Panchen Lama is regarded in Tibetan Buddhist
hierarchy as second most important after the
Dalai Lama. China has appointed a six-yearold
boy as the Panchen Lama.
5-phase poll in Jharkhand from Nov 30, result on Dec 23
New Delhi : The Election
Commission of India on Friday
announced a 5-phase poll for
Jharkhand Assembly election
from November 30. While date
of polling for first phase is
November 30, second phase
polling will take place on
December 7. The third, fourth
and fifth phases of polling will take place on
December 12, 16 and 19, respectively.
Counting of votes will be taken up on
December 23, Chief Election Commissioner
Sunil Arora announced
on Friday.
In Jharkhand, Chief
Minister Raghubar Dasled
BJP is hoping to
retain power in the state.
In 2014, while the BJP
won 37 seats, its ally All
Jharkhand Students
Union (AJSU) won five. The combined tally
was enough for the National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) to cross the majority mark of
41 in the 81-member Assembly.
3
for introducing internet censorship
of online speech similar to the Great
Firewall of China" and "is a serious
breach of citizens' freedom of
expression and Hong Kong's supposed
free flow of information",
Hong Kong lawmaker Charles Mok
said. Mok told Hong Kong broadcaster
RTHK that this selective ban
"would put Hong Kong's economy
and in particular its innovation and
technology industries in a precarious
position".
The legislator also expressed
concern about the use of such regulations
that bypass the local parliament
instead of opting for the standard
legal procedures. The Hong
Kong protests, which have been
drawing massive crowds since June
following a contentious proposed
extradition law, have mutated into a
movement that seeks to improve the
democratic mechanisms that govern
Hong Kong and safeguard - or
expand - the region's partial autonomy
from Beijing. However, some
demonstrators have opted for more
radical tactics than peaceful civil
disobedience and violent clashes
with the police have been frequent.
Nepal PM's health issues raise
concerns over governance
Kathmandu : The health condition of Nepal Prime
Minister K.P.
Sharma Oli,
who was hospitalised
earlier
this week, has
raised questions
about his fitness
to govern the
Himalayan
nation.
Ever since
Oli, 67, was
admitted to the
Grande International Hospital here on Wednesday
morning, little information has been provided by the
government authorities. But on Thursday, a doctor
who has been monitoring Oli's health told The
Kathmandu Post that the Prime Minister had undergone
a second procedure for urethral dilation on
Wednesday. The doctor also confirmed that Oli had
undergone two rounds of dialysis during his stay at
Grande, despite much speculation and a lack of information
from officials and attending doctors. On
Wednesday evening, a brief statement issued by Dibya
Singh Shah, Oli's personal physician, and Chakra Raj
Pandey, medical director at the Grande hospital, had
described the Prime Minister's health as "normal".
But on Thursday afternoon, Nepal Communist
Party (NCP) leaders said that Oli had undergone dialysis,
of which there was no indication or information
either from the hospital or Oli's physician.
Later on Thursday, ruling party Co-chair Pushpa
Kamal Dahal, after meeting Oli at the hospital, also
told the media that Oli had undergone dialysis.
"After his second dialysis, the prime minister is
resting," said Dahal. Statements from Oli's aides only
added to the confusion. Kundan Aryal, Oli's press
adviser, said on Wednesday that the Prime Minister
had been taken to the hospital for "a regular health
check-up" despite reports that he had been admitted to
the intensive care unit. Finally, on Thursday evening,
the hospital organised a press conference and Pandey
confirmed that Oli had undergone dialysis, but stopped
short of divulging any more information, The
Kathmandu Post reported.
Oli is functioning with just one working kidney that
was transplanted 12 years ago in 2007 at India's Apollo
Hospital. This is not the first time Oli's team has tried
to shroud his health condition. In August, Oli left for
Singapore again to undergo plasmapheresis, a process
that filters the blood and removes antibodies, a necessary
procedure for someone who has a transplanted
organ.
4
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 ASIA
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
The festival season is not
over yet now. Something is
today and will continue for next
six days till the Chhath comes.
A careful analysis will tell you
how we celebrate male
supremacy during these festivities.
Just a few days before
Diwali, you have Karwachauth
and now in next one or two
days, you have Bhai dooj and
then Chhath too will give you a
glimpse of celebrations for
sons. India is a continent and
therefore will have more festivals
than anybody else. There
is cultural crisis and cultural
hegemony through festivals
too. Patriarchy too is enforced
through them. Now, lots of
researches and narratives to
justify them.
Many people dont want to
celebrate it because they feel
this is not their identity. Others
suffer in continuous confusion
as to what do you say when
some body ‘greet’ you with ‘
Happy Diwali’. Friends are
confused in it. ‘ How do I
answer their happy diwali
greetings when I am not a
Hindu, said a Buddhist friend.
There are number of them who
are now suggesting that there is
a reference to Deepdanostsav
in Buddhism while other suggest
that such festivals dont
exists in Buddhist countries.
Lots of debate should we be
celebrating Hindu festivals or
not or shouldnt we ?
Now, this crisis is not with
Muslims or Christians as they
are clear about their identity
and hence they participate in
Diwali and Holi in the similar
way, as we might participate in
Eid and Christmas. The issue is
so much in our mind that if a
politician greet people ( who is
not expected to celebrate
Diwali), we get disturbed and
blame him as ‘sold out’. I think,
we need to ponder over a few
things on these issues and save
ourselves from tensions and
isolation.
One no festival in India is
celebrated with one narrative
and if you have traveled across
the country and seen how
things are celebrated then you
will find out that most of our
festivals are actually Bahujan
Adivasi festivals and not really
brahmanical as being projected.
The brahmanical forces
hijacked them and build their
own narratives around them
otherwise a God like Shiva can
never be a brahmanical god.
Dusshera festival have different
and diverse celebrations
across the country. In Bengal it
is Kali Puja, in Gujarat it is
Durga Puja, in
the north it is
Ram leela and
among the
Adivasis and
many places, it is remembering
Mahishasura. While, the north
Indians dont eat non vegetarian
food during the Navratris,
Bengalis rejoice it. Similarly,
Dipwali is not celebrated in the
same way. In many places in
Maharashtra Diwali is people’s
wish to have ‘ Bali ka raj’.
Most of the festivals had local
cultural practices.
Celebrate or not :
WHOSE FESTIVALS
ARE THEY ?
While people may practice
same religion, it is not necessary
their festivals and cultural
practices are same. Islam and
Christianity too have these
diversities according to regions
and languages. In India,
because all the non Muslims
and Non Christians are termed
as Hindus hence we confuse
this diversity as Hindu festivals.
Most of our festivals have
relations with seasons or crops,
whether it is Diwali, Makar
Sakranti, Baishakhi, Holi,
Dusshera, Basant Panchami but
all these festivals are celebrated
in diverse ways and narratives.
There are no homogeneous narratives
in relation to this and
therefore we need to be careful
when we analyse them.
The Dhamma Chakra
Pravartan Diwas is celebrated
on October 14th but equally
important is that a huge number
of people remember it on
Dusshera day which is termed
as Ashoka Vijayadashmi day.
Festivals were used by political
leaders for reaching the bigger
masses and it is true that
Hindutva leaders reached it
first. The counter narrative that
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
social and human rights activist
was built by Dr Baba Saheb
Ambedkar was not repeated by
politicians who swore by his
name.
Every Indian religious
places that has brahmanical
links today, has a Buddhist or
Jain past. Dig any place and
you will find it. Similarly,
every brahmanical festival
today is somewhere a Buddhist
past too. The bigger reality is
that diyas and lighting of lamp
was a common way of celebration
in the past the only thing is
the narratives. It is important
for all of us to delink ourselves
with all the brahmanical narratives
and rituals of these festivities
by completely rejecting
them and celebrate them in a
much more rational and egalitarian
way.
Even if you dont want to celebrate
it there is nothing wrong.
People like us move out of
Delhi and be with communities
we love, share our happiness
with them, enjoy moments with
your near dear ones.
Brahmanism have destroyed
the good spirit of the festivals.
Today Diwali Dusshera and
Holi impact our environment
more than anything else but
now the Banias too build up the
narratives with the help of
brahmins and you see the vulgar
display of wealth during
this period. All the campaign in
the name of swachch Bharat
a n d
clean
India
i s
brought to naught by the same
elite which happily pose with a
‘glossy’ ‘jhadu’ in their hand.
I know Delhi must have
become a gas chamber today
and our ‘messiahs’ will be
quiet. he wont speak on this
biggest non-sense that we do.
He he wont speak against how
all these festivals are choking
our lonely planet.
No festival should be
allowed to destroy our lonely
planet. We cant have celebrations
decided by the market
today.
Protection of environment as
well as health is more important.
Destruction of environment
in the name of ‘celebrations’
is ‘unique’ to brahmanical
culture of India. It is time
we wake up, reject these dangerous
practices and enjoy festivities
without bringing God
and god-men in between.
Celebrate festivals without
Gods and their rituals and I can
say, you will able to protect
nature and human race as well.
Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a
social and human rights
activist. He blogs at
www.manukhsi.blogspot.com
twitter @freetohumanity
Email: vbrawat@gmail.com
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
NEWS
House votes to authorise, open
up Trump impeachment process
New York : A politically-fractured
House of Representatives voted on
Thursday to authorise and open up the
impeachment hearings against President
Donald Trump, meeting a demand by him
and the Republicans. The resolution that
also set up the framework for the impeachment
sailed through the House where the
Democrats have a majority and the move
was proposed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The votes, mostly along party lines,
were 232 for the resolution and 196
against. Only two Democrats joined the
Republican in voting against it. Although
the Republicans had demanded open hearings
and their increased participation, they
opposed the resolution because it did not
meet all their demands. Their attempt to
amend the resolution was earlier defeated.
A group of Republican members of
Congress last week barged into the underground
chamber where the secret hearings
were held and demanded to be allowed to
participate to highlight their opposition to
the secret proceedings.
They left after hours of a dharna-style
protest and the hearings started about five
hours late in secret.
Pelosi, who presided over the voting on
Thursday, appealed for support saying: "It's
about the truth. And what is at stake in all
of this is nothing less than our democracy."
She said that it was being taken up
solemnly and without any "glee".
As the House took up the resolution,
Trump tweeted: "The Impeachment Hoax
is hurting our Stock Market. The Do
Nothing Democrats don't care!"
Later the White House issued a formal
statement saying: "The Democrats'
unhinged obsession with this illegitimate
impeachment proceeding does not hurt
President Trump; it hurts the American
people." "Speaker Pelosi and the
Democrats have done nothing more than
enshrine unacceptable violations of due
process into House rules," it added, accusing
them of "wasting" time instead of taking
up important issues facing the nation.
This is only the third time an impeachment
process has been launched.
Then Presidents Andrew Jackson in
1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 were
impeached but the Senate did not convict
them. Former President Richard Nixon
resigned before the impeachment process
could begin. The House Intelligence
Committee will hold the first set of hearings
under its chair, Adam Schiff, and produce
a report for the Judiciary Committee,
which will have the final say in drawing up
the charges against Trump in what is
known as Articles of Impeachment. After
the full House votes to approve the Articles
of Impeachment with a simple majority,
the Senate will hold a formal trial presided
over by Supreme Court Chief Justice John
Roberts on the charges.
Two-thirds of the 100 Senators will have
to vote to convict the President and remove
him from office. As of now, it seems
unlikely that there will be that many Senate
votes for impeachment, making the process
nothing more than a political catharsis.
Nominally the proposed impeachment
procedures give the Republicans some
rights in the conduct of the proceedings to
assuage their complaints about being sidelined.
The Republican Party leaders, David
Nunes on the Intelligence Committee and
Dough Collins on the Judiciary Committee
will have the right to call witnesses, but the
chairs can object and call for a committee
vote, where there is a Democratic majority.
CNN quoted Republican Representative
Greg Walden as complaining: "It is still not
set up as a fair process" because "the
Democrats call all the shots." Jim
McGovern, the chair of the Rules
Committee that finalised the draft resolution
that set out the procedures, dismissed
the Republican concerns, saying, according
to CNN: "Their sole mission is to circle
the wagons around Donald Trump. They're
not interested in the truth." Trump's
lawyers will be allowed to participate in
the Judiciary Committee's proceedings by
submitting evidence and cross-examining
witnesses. But if Trump prevents witnesses
from appearing before it or refuses requests
for documents, his lawyers will not be
allowed to continue examining witnesses.
Only the chair and the Republican
leader - and/or their lawyers - on the panel
will first question witnesses for 45 minutes
each and other members can examine them
for a limited time.
Pelosi had resisted having the full
House vote on impeachment or have the
proceedings in the open but finally gave in.
The vote undercuts Trump's excuse to
not allow witnesses or to provide documents
to the inquiry because he said the
House had not approved it. It also shuts
down complaints about the secrecy, which
gave the Democrats an upper hand through
selective leaks. It was not clear when the
open hearings will begin. The House has a
week of recess next week, during which
the secret inquiry may be wound up to pave
the way for open hearings. A key figure in
the White House Drama, John Bolton, who
was fired by Trump as the National
Security Adviser and whose name has figured
in some of the testimonies, has been
asked to appear before the inquiry next
week. If the open hearings end up delaying
the final impeachment vote till the end of
this year or beyond, they could create problems
for the Democratic Party's process of
selecting its candidate to run against
Trump. The primaries and caucuses that
determine the support for candidates at the
state level leading up to the convention
start in early February.
If the impeachment trial in the Senate
overlaps this period, it could be a distraction
and also interfere with the campaigns
of candidates like Elizabeth Warren and
Kamala Harris who are Senators.
Meanwhile, another important issue, the
continued funding of the government,
looms next month while the House will be
grappling with impeachment. The funding
ends on November 21 and if Congress does
not pass the legislation authorising the
spending or it Trump doesn't sign it, government
operations will shut down, except
for the most essential ones. A 35-day shutdown
occurred between December last
year and January when Trump refused to
approve the budget without allocation for
his border wall and most federal workers
were temporarily laid off and services were
curtailed. As Pelosi stood firm, Trump
compromised.
Currently, the government is being run
on a temporary measure under what is
known as a continuing resolution by
Congress to provide interim funding.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer
warned that Trump may create another
shutdown to divert attention from the
impeachment. "I am increasingly worried
that President Trump may want to shut
down the government again because of
impeachment, an impeachment inquiry. He
always wants to create diversions," he said.
IS names Abu Ibrahim al-Quraishi as its new leader
Cairo : The Islamic State terror organisation
on Thursday named Abu Ibrahim al-
Quraishi as its new leader after it confirmed
the death of Abu Bak al-Baghdadi
who was killed in a US raid in northern
Syria. A spokesperson for the terror organisation,
Abu Hasan Al Mohager, was also
killed, the group said in a voice message on
Telegram, Efe news reported. United States
President Donald Trump announced that
Baghdadi was killed in a military raid that
took place on Sunday in Syria's Idlib
province.
The message did not provide further
details about the circumstances of their
deaths. Addressing the United States, the
spokesperson said: "Do not be thrilled with
the death of Baghdadi. Do not forget the
death you have suffered at his hands."
"Your destiny is controlled by a stupid
elder who changes his mind overnight," the
spokesperson added. Baghdadi became one
of the world's most-wanted terrorist leaders
when he proclaimed the Islamic State terror
organisation's so-called caliphate from
a pulpit of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in
the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014.
At that time, IS had conquered half of
Syria and around a third of Iraq.
It had under its control not only the historic
city of Mosul, where it filled a power
vacuum left by an Iraqi army in retreat, but
also Raqqa across the border in Syria.
Five years later, the so-called caliphate
all but collapsed when US-backed Kurdish
militias seized its last outpost in southeast
Syria in March. Baghdadi was a ruthless
leader who oversaw the murder of thousands
of civilians. He was erroneously
reported dead on several previous occasions.
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019
5
Bengal workers killing 'pre-planned',
demand probe: Mamata
Kolkata : Describing the killings of five workers from her state
in the Kashmir Valley as being "preplanned
and brutal", West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on
Thursday demanded a "comprehensive
inquiry" into the incident.
Five workers from Bengal were
shot dead by terrorists at Katrasoo
village of Kulgam district on
Tuesday evening.
"Our workers who had gone there,
had gone there in search of jobs.
They were preparing to come back.
But the way they have been murdered
brutally, it is a dangerous incident.
"I think it is a pre-planned brutal murder," she told mediapersons
here. Banerjee wondered how the incident could take place in
a situation where there are no political activities, the press cannot
move freely, and even MPs are not permitted to go there.
"Now there are no political activities there. The press cannot
move freely. No MP can go there. So if some people had gone for
work and were preparing to come back, what was the need to murder
them?" she asked. Banerjee also pointed out that the incident
happened on the day the European MPs' delegation arrived in
India. "They also have not liked the incident. These sort of incidents
give a bad name to the country. Whatever has happened is
not right. There has to be a comprehensive inquiry," she added.
Inflation, not Kashmir biggest
issue in Pakistan: Survey
Islamabad : Pakistan's state of economy and not Kashmir is the
biggest cause of worry for a vast
majority of Pakistanis, a new survey
has revealed. The survey, conducted
in four provinces of Pakistan by
Gallup-Gilani Pakistan, has found
that 53 per cent of Pakistanis are worried
about inflation, 23 per cent said
unemployment was a major problem,
while four per cent of the people
identified corruption as the major
problem, the survey said. Of the 1,200 Pakistanis surveyed, only 8
per cent considered Kashmir as the biggest issue of Pakistan.
The issue of Kashmir ranked third, after inflation and unemployment
in Pakistan, but above local matters such as water crisis,
corruption and political instability.
Interestingly, Pakistan's political parties have always harped on
the Kashmir issue, which they say is close to their heart. But, if the
survey is to be believed, the people seem to care less about
Kashmir. The survey took place over a period of two weeks from
October 7 to October 20. The sample size of the survey comprised
men and women in urban and rural areas in all four provinces of
Pakistan - Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and North-West Frontier
Province. Gallup Pakistan is the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup
International.
Pak train fire: Eyewitnesses say
short-circuit caused fire
Islamabad : A passenger of Tezgam train has disputed the
statements of Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed that the
incident took place due to gas cylinders carried by Tablighi Jamaat
members. In a video that went viral, the eyewitness claimed that
the fire could not be attributed to the gas cylinder blast as all the
cylinders were emptied at the station.
The fire broke out in the AC sleeper where the cylinders were
not allowed, he said adding that they were told by railway personnel
that it was infact due to a short circuit in the ceiling fan, the
Pakistani media reported. He claimed the fan had not been
repaired for the past four days. The eye witness added, there were
no fire extinguishers in the carriages and rejected the railways
minster's statement that tableeghi jamaat passengers were behind
the incident. At least 73 people were killed and dozens wounded
after a passenger train erupted in flames in central Pakistan on
Thursday enroute to Rawalpindi from Karachi.
6 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 ASIA
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Canadian Elections have given numerous
message to Indian People as well as our politicians
Welcome Back Justin Trudeau
The Canadian citizens must be congratulated
for returning liberals headed
by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau without
an absolute majority. He will need
the support from other parties but the
dangers of Conservative party returning
to power are out of question now. In the
338 members Parliament, the Liberals
got reduced fro 184 to 157 though the
opposition conservative party increased
its seats from 99 to 121 but still far short
of the half way mark.
In the over all vote percentage conservatives
were 34.4% while the liberals
got 33.1% and the new democratic party
headed by Mr Jagmeet Singh which got
15.9% vote share and 24 seats. Singh
was projected as the Prime Ministerial
candidates and has support of a large
number of the minorities, immigrants
and other progressive. This result also
brought 98 women parliamentarian
which constitute about 29% of the total
representatives. Last time it was 88
members.
This time the Canadians have elected
19 members from Indian communities
in which 18 happened to be Sikhs, perhaps
their greatest representation in
power structure anywhere in the world.
In Indian Parliament there are merely 13
as per reports. Last year when Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau visited India, he
joked that he has more ministers from
Sikh community than the government of
India. In fact, he had five Sikh minister
including one member holding the
Ministry of Defense Portfolio. The party
wise break up of these winning Indian
Canadian also reflect a clear trend. 13
were elected on Liberal Party ticket
headed by the Prime minister, 4 by the
Conservative Party and one by the NDP.
Canada’s population is about
3,75,89,262. In terms of size, Canada is
the second biggest country after Russia
and it has a size of 9.9 million square
kilometers. When the government worldover,
particularly in the neighboring
USA were speaking up against the
immigrants and minorities, Canada was
welcoming them with an open arm.
According to data available, Canada
admitted 3,13,580 immigrants from
2018 to 2019.
There was huge campaign against the
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his
alleged participation and support in
some racist programmes during his student
days but it was clear that the people
of Canada looked at his current track
record and voted him. People of Canada
have delivered a verdict which should
make all of us proud. It did not give a
solid majority to the Liberal party may
be because of their failure on certain
domestic fronts but it supported them.
More over, the growth of the parties like
NDP, suggest that people would support
the voices of minorities and immigrants.
The people of India can learn a lot
from Canada. How this country is welcoming
people from different parts of
the world and how they are putting them
in their power structure. The immigrants
in Canada, the Sikhs or any one are not
mere than century old unlike Muslims
and Christians in this country who are
living more than 700 years and there is
no immigration here that happen to
Western world and yet we are asking
hundreds of questions of loyalty to both
Muslims and Christians here whose
track record in our national building
remain far superior to those who are
enjoying the fruits of power.
Today, we celebrate the victory of
Canadian Indian and if there are ministers,
we feel proud on them but why ?
All of them are Canadian citizens and
they might have migrated several years
back and now dedicated to the constitution
of Canada. Their only relation with
India remain cultural. Can we do the
same if things happened here. Muslims
here are Muslim Indian and Indian
Muslims and have no other loyalty.
None celebrate elsewhere on their victory
except their own constituency.
Every one know about the French
speaking Quebec State of Canada which
speak of its distinct French identity and
talks of more autonomy and yet flourishing
here. None call them anti national
and there is no military presence.
Canada is a shining example of how we
can progress peacefully and in co-existence.
India was an example. We all
have those traits and we had a leadership
who we hate because their building
a plural society was the biggest hindrance
in the way of those who wanted
to get absolute power without any
accountability.
Opposition is not a burden. All those
who seeks votes in the name of minorities
and immigrants are not anti national.
Minorities, immigrants too have
right to express their feeling and ask
question to all in Parliament and must
have representation. Indian media is
running campaign to demolish the
opposition and minorities as well as
marginalised. Canadian have voted in a
very diverse way and perhaps this is the
best way now to run democracy and
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
social and human rights activist
remain committed to people. With
absolute majorities we are handing over
power to dictators who are never democratic
and misusing the faith of the people
posed in them. The arrogance of
power is allowing them to betray people
and be pygmies of the big industrial
houses. Both the political parties and
Indian media must understand that
diversity is to be celebrated and
enjoyed. Canada is a new country in
comparison to us but it is welcoming
minorities, immigrants and we as an
ancient civilization with a great track
record of multiple-faith working together
and contributing to nation building
are converting our own people as ‘foreigner’
or anti national just because he
does not follow your faith which is sad
and dangerous too. A huge country like
India can not run smoothly by putting a
gun over the head of its minorities and
making them suspect for every anti
national or illegal act. This has to stop.
Learn from the West and Canada particularly
as it engages with minorities and
immigrants and do not treat them anti
national just because they disagree with
the prime minister or ruling party.
We welcome Justin Trudeau again
and hope his policies will strengthen
world peace by increased engagements
with migrants and minorities of all varieties
world over.
Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social and human rights activist. He
blogs at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com twitter @freetohumanity
Email: vbrawat@gmail.com
Can’t control dengue, pay Rs 50 lakh: Telangana HC
Hyderabad, The Telangana
High Court on Thursday said if
the government failed to control
dengue, it should pay Rs 50 lakh
compensation to the families of
those who died of the disease.
The High Court pulled up the
state authorities for their failure to
control the mosquito menace,
resulting in people dying of
dengue and other mosquito-borne
diseases. A division bench comprising
Chief Justice R.S.
Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek
Reddy was not satisfied with the
steps listed out by senior government
officials on measures taken
to control the mosquito menace.
On summons by the bench, Chief
Secretary S.K. Joshi, Municipal
Administration Secretary Aravind
Kumar, Greater Hyderabad
Municipal Corporation (GHMC)
commissioner Lokesh Kumar and
superintendent of governmentrun
Fever Hospital Dr Shankar
appeared before the court on
Thursday and briefed it on the
steps taken. The officials
informed the court that municipal
authorities identified 427 points
prone to mosquito breeding and
took the steps to check the menace.
The court, however, observed
that the measures exist only on
paper. It asked officials to visit
Musi River in front of High Court
building to see the situation for
themselves. As the mosquitoes
from the dried river enter into
High Court complex, the judges
remarked that people would not
come to the court if the problem
was not addressed. The bench
also remarked that the IAS officers
were not even reading
newspapers, which carry stories
about problems faced by people.
It observed that it is the duty of
the government and officials to
look after people’s welfare and
when they fail, they should pay
the compensation. For the second
day, the High Court heard
the petitions questioning official
apathy in tackling dengue epidemic
and in curbing mosquito
breeders. The bench asked the
government how the number of
dengue cases rose from 85 in
January to 3,800 in October. A
district court judge from
Khammam succumbed to
dengue while undergoing treatment
at a corporate hospital in
Hyderabad on Monday. The
bench also took note of this case.
It asked the government to set
up a committee headed by the
chief secretary and take steps on
war-footing to control the mosquito
menace.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
The gruesome murder of Kamlesh
Tiwari reflect the state of law and order
in Uttar Pradesh particularly in the capital
city of Lucknow.
His family alleged that the security
was withdrawn by the state government.
With in few hours, Uttar Pradesh
police claimed that they have resolved
the murder mystery as they claimed that
Gujarat police has arrested three persons
in Surat. Anyway, we don’t comment
on an administrative thing and
would like it to be proved in the court of
law. Since the death of Kamlesh Tiwari,
our channels have started sinister campaign
against Muslims. There is no control
over the filthy language that these
channels and their loudspeakers who
want to divide people and put India on
fire so that they and their masters can
rule on the polarisation of people. How
long will you keep people in perpetual
hatred. Why the murder of an individual,
even if he was most foul mouth, be
blamed on a particular community.
Kamlesh Tiwari’s mother Kusum
Tiwari has alleged that her son was not
murdered by the Muslim murderers but
some Gupta who happened to belong to
the Hindutva group. Mrs Kusum Tiwari
continued on a TV channel that dont
bring Hindu Muslim issue every time.
This murder has nothing to do with
Hindu-Muslim issue. It is purely done
by a person who they are naming but
despite that Uttar Pradesh police has
not arrested the accused person.
We agree that police must investigate
the issue on its own without any
political interference but then the investigations
should look unbiased. What
the police can do it to speak to their
family persons and see why they are
accusing the other person. His mother
is speaking in full senses and seems to
be determined to fight this case and
take it to logical conclusion. This case
may become difficult for the government
to handle unless properly dealt
ASIA
Kamlesh Tiwari’s mother has a right
to be satisfied with the investigations
related to her son’s death
with.
It is good that
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
social and human rights activist
Muslims did not respond
to Kamlesh Tiwari’s filth in the similar
way he was doing. Today, Hindutva
trolls are abusing and writing things
and trending hatred against Muslims.
The twitter and Facebook who act fast
against free thinkers, human rights
defenders and those who disagree with
this hate politics remain mute to
Hindutva hatemongers who trend
hatred on social media. This has to be
condemned. Social media platforms
must stick to strong norms where
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019
7
attempt to sow seeds of division, racial
and caste abuse and slur, religious
hatred must be prohibited. Freedom of
expression is welcome when things are
spoken in a well explained way without
being abusive but these platforms can
not and should not be allowed to abuse
and spread hatred.
The National Broadcasting
Authority of India too should strongly
put its agenda on the erring TV channels.
If the body is unable to discipline
these channels then it must approach
courts and ask for maintaining some
decorum and adhering to constitutional
principles on the TV debates. It must
warn the anchors who have become
Party Spokes person to desist from
doing so. Fact is that we blame social
media but it is the manustream media
which need to be disciplined. Kamlesh
Tiwari’s mother’s strong slap on the face
of an anchor who tried to instigate her in
Hindu Muslim binary, is a big example.
That way, we should appreciate the
stand taken by her. She has a right to get
satisfied with the investigations related
to her son’s death. Who ever is the culprit
must be arrested and the family has
a right to question if they are not satisfied.
It is equally important that media
must not play divisive politics in all this.
The role of the media is to protect
democracy and not to destroy it.
Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social
and human rights activist. He blogs
at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com
twitter @freetohumanity
Email: vbrawat@gmail.com
The target of $5 Trillion Economy
is Achievable : Pratap Padode
In an exclusive interview with the
Asian Independent UK, Pratap
Padode, Founder & Editor-in-Chief
of Construction World magazine &
Founder & Director, First
Construction Council is confident that
the target of a $5 trillion economy is
achievable in India.
What are your views on the current
situation of the construction
industry in India?
A few years back, India was passing
through policy paralysis, the
measures taken at the central government
level were not enough to boost
up the construction industry. There
was a trust deficit between the
builders & the home buyers. Today,
the construction industry has already
picked up the momentum. Big &
small construction companies are taking
new projects across India. In the
coming years, India will lead the
world in the construction industry
since India has surplus land availability.
The construction of highways,
roads, and tunnels have further
upgraded the connectivity to boost up
trade between the states.
India is facing a lot of shortage of
skilled manpower, what are your
suggestions to the government?
India is a rich country with surplus
manpower. The central government
has established an independent Skill
Development Ministry and allocated
funds to skill manpower. The steps
taken are very effective in skilling
India. There is an urgent need to target
manpower from the states where 70
percent of people live in villages. We
must understand that the world is
changing so the technologies. In order
to compete at the international level,
India needs strong skilled manpower
laced with advanced technologies.
It is often alleged that FDI investment
in India is un-even in the construction
industry, what is your
viewpoint?
India is a vast country having 29
states. It is a fact that foreign investors
tend to look for areas where social &
political unrest is at zero level.
Bengaluru city in Karnataka state is
known as a high-tech hub in India.
Every state of India has a vast potential
for the industry to explore and
invest & build. Frankly speaking, state
governments must take initiatives in
collaboration with First Construction
Council bodies or such bodies to boot
up the construction industry in the
state. I believe, if the state governments
shake hands with such bodies
the sky is the limit. This disparity can
only be removed if strong linkages
between states and various stakeholders
are removed.
You are a Founder &
Director of First
Construction Council, please tell us
more about this.
The idea behind setting up of First
Construction Council in India is to
promote research in the construction
industry. First Construction Council is
a Think Tank body which will coordinate
with all the stakeholders and conduct
primary & secondary research
across India. We have tied up with
DODG, data & Analytics New York
based Industry Insights Research to
conduct various construction industry-related
research in
India in the future. Mr.
Stephen A Jones,
Senior Director of
– Dr. Rahul Kumar, PhD
DODG having more
than three decades of
experience in research
and analysis is going to be a council
partner. By doing so we will be able to
understand the challenges & opportunities
existing in the construction
industry. The findings of such studies
in the future will help the government
of India in formulating sustainable &
viable policies.
What are your viewpoint of
Corporate Social Responsibility?
How you see the role of CSR in
financial inclusion?
India is a democratic country.
Democracy means everyone should
have the right to food, shelter, and
clothing. The role of CSR in India is
very positive. Many multinational
companies in India are promoting talents
through various initiatives. For
example, Reliance Industry has been
supporting sports, schools and transforming
the lives of the underprivileged
children in the country.
According to my view, it is the moral
duty of every multinational company
to help and assist the children of the
underprivileged class.
This is the only way forward to
include all sections of the society
in the mainstream society. Further,
I would like to stress upon that in
order to sustain development for
the future generations in India we
must practice egalitarianism.
Prevailing massive social & economic
inequalities can be removed
only if we welcome & embrace
people belonging to all sections of
the society. Modern India has no place
for gender inequality, social & economic
disabilities.
You said $5 trillion economy target
is achievable, could you please
throw some more light on this
issue?
India is already on the global map.
When I visit countries like the USA,
UK, Canada, Russia, China, or South
Asian countries I find business people
are talking about India so India is on
the right trajectory for growth & prosperity.
For example, India has been
ranked the best country by the global
prosperity ranking for the investment
environment. The government of
India has already announced several
domestic airports for promoting connectivity
between states. New road
highways are being built. New rail
links are built. The Smart Cities projects
have unleashed a new era in India
for the construction industry particularly.
Public-Private partnership initiatives
have opened up the doors for
FDI. Huge funds from the developed
nations & the emerging economies are
coming to India.
If we see at the domestic scenario,
new entrepreneurs, builders, traders,
suppliers & various stakeholders, etc.
are entering into the construction
industry while targeting also 2 tier
cities in India. Banks are disbursing
loans for the projects. Looking at all
these positive signs currently prevailing
in the construction industry I am
confident that the target of a $ 5 trillion
economy is achievable.
8 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 ASIA
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Shinde elected Sena leader,
heads to meet Maha Guv
Mumbai : The Shiv Sena on Thursday
elected Eknath Shinde as their Legislature
Party leader, and announced their slated
meeting with Maharashtra Governor soon.
Aditya Thackeray proposed Shindes
name for the post and Sunil Prabhu's name
for the post of Chief Whip of the legislature
BJP
party.
The Thackeray junior tweeted: "As an
elected MLA, it was my privilege to propose
the name of @mieknathshinde ji as the
leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party
for Athe working the legislature. @prabhu_suneel
ji has been elected as chief whip Governor of the "situation".
ever said, the meeting is to "apprise" the
of the party for the legislature." The party is The BJP legislature party met in Mumbai
scheduled to meet Maharashtra Governor on Wednesday afternoon and elected former
Bhagat Singh Koshyari, that has sparked Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis as the
speculations. Sena leader Sanjay Raut, how-
leader of its legislature party. Soon after that,
IOC reports sharp 82.7%
fall in Q2 profit
New Delhi : The country's largest public sector refiner,
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), on
Thursday reported a 82.7 per cent fall
in its net profit for the second quarter
period of financial year 2019-20 on the
back of slump in refinery margins and
inventory losses.
The company posted a standalone
net profit of Rs 563.42 crore in the
July-September quarter of FY20 as against net profit of
Rs 3,246.93 crore in the same period of the previous year.
"The major reason for the decline in net profit was inventory
loss in Q2 as against inventory gains in the same
period of previous year," IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh
said. He added that the company recorded an inventory
loss of Rs 1,807 crore in the second quarter period as
opposed to inventory gain of Rs 2,895 crore in the same
period of FY 19.
The company's refinery margins also fell to $1.28 in
Q2 as against refinery margin of $6.79 in the year ago
period. Shares of IOC ended 0.30 points or 0.20 per cent
lower at Rs 146.80 on the BSE.
Delhi HC agrees to hear Facebook's
plea on Ramdev video
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on Thursday
agreed to hear social
media giant Facebook's
plea, challenging a single-judge
order which
had asked it to remove
video content "on a global
basis" allegedly containing
defamatory allegation
against Yoga guru
Baba Ramdev from its platform. A bench of justices S.
Muralidhar and Talwant Singh said that it will hear arguments
at length on December 7 but refused to pass any
interim order to stay single judge order. Facebook's counsel
and senior advocate Kapil Sibal requested the court to
restrain Ramdev from initiating contempt action against it
till the appeal was pending. Ramdev's counsel assured the
court that he will not initiate any contempt action against
the social media platform till the division bench decides
the matter.
Last week, a single-judge bench of the Delhi High
Court had directed the Facebook to globally remove,
block or disable links to a video containing defamatory
allegations against yoga guru Ramdev.
The court order had come while hearing a plea by
Ramdev seeking global restraint order against Facebook,
Google, its subsidiary YouTube, and Twitter from carrying
content related to a book. On September 29, 2018, the
Delhi High Court restrained the publication and sale of
the book 'Godman to Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba
Ramdev' until the publisher deletes some defamatory portion
written against Ramdev. The court had observed that
the defamatory portions of the book were being communicated
to the public through the video which was
uploaded on Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter.
Mumbai : As much as 14 per cent of Indian
banks payments revenue, or $9 billion, is likely
to be displaced by the growth of digital payments
and competition from non-banks, an Accenture
report said on Thursday.
"With the digital boom as payments become
more instant, invisible and free, banks need to
reinvent themselves to grow customer loyalty,
revenues and profitability," Rishi Aurora, a managing
director at Accenture who leads its financial
services practice in India, said in a statement.
Payments revenue in the country will likely
grow at an annual rate of 10.7 per cent, from
$38 billion in 2019 to more than $70 billion by
2025, said the report titled "Banking Pulse
Survey: Two Ways To Win".
Only banks that change their business models
to adopt the latest technologies and focus on providing
value-added services to customers will
capture a share of the $32 billion in incremental
revenue growth. "To succeed in the post digital
era, banks need to redefine innovation strategies
around scaling technology and adding value to
address the payments challenges," Aurora said.
Digital payments platforms such as Paytm,
Fadnavis asserted, the mandate was for
"grand alliance" of Sena-BJP and the two
will form the government. But Tuesday was
marked with day-long exchange of rhetoric
and counter-rhetoric between the two parties.
First, Sena leader Sanjay Raut alleged the
was "stooping low". Then Chief
Minister Devendra Fadnavis issued a statement
rejecting Shiv Sena's claim of 50-50
formula, which they have been adamant
about.
Later on Tuesday evening, Shiv Sena had
cancelled its meeting with the BJP leadership,
including close aide of Amit Shah,
Bhupendra Yadav, to iron out differences. In
2014, the BJP formed a government without
Sena and with outside support of NCP. There
is a sense of deja vu in Maharashtra politics.
Indian banks risk losing $9bn
revenue to e-wallets by 2025
Parties explore tieups for Jharkhand polls
Ranchi : With Jharkhand Assembly elections
only two months away, political parties have started
exploring poll tie-ups, tightening loose ends and
connecting with workers. While the Congress and
the Jharkhand Mukti
Morcha (JMM) have
decided to contest the
elections jointly, they
are yet to finalise seatsharing
formula.
However, the Congress
has agreed to be the
junior partner to the
JMM, according to
state Congress chief
Rameshwar Oraon.
On the alliance, Oraon said, "Everything is predecided,
and the grand alliance will be announced
soon." The main goal was to dislodge the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) from power in the state, he
added. According to sources, the JMM will contest
44 seats, the Congress 27 and the rest will go to
other ally partners. Of this, five seats each may go to
the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Left parties.
Jharkhand has a 81-member House. Former Chief
Minister Babulal Marandi's Jharkhand Vikas
Morcha - Prajatantrik (JVM-P) is unlikely to join
the grand alliance. Marandi told IANS any decision
would be taken only after talks with the party workers.
In the next five days,
the party leaders would go
door-to door to gauge public
views, he added.
The RJD leaders too
are not satisfied with five
seats. State RJD chief
Abhay Kumar Singh told
IANS, we would like to
contest more seats. The
partners of the grand
alliance were yet to meet
and discuss the seat-sharing, he added. Sources said
trust deficit was the biggest issue in the opposition
alliance. No one was sure of the partner parties preor
post-poll stances and each was insisting on larger
share of seat, they added.
The opposition parties might have different
coalitions in Jharkhand, but to expect a 'mahagathbandhan'
was meaningless, said political critic and
senior journalist Baijnath Mishra.
ICCR to hold international
youth seminar on Sikhism
New Delhi : In a bid to spread the teachings of
Guru Nanak Dev, the Indian Council for Cultural
Relations (ICCR) will organise an international
youth seminar on teachings of the first Sikh guru
and Sikhism on November 6. Addressing a press
conference here, ICCR President Vinay
Sahasrabuddhe said, "On the 550th birth anniversary
of Guru Nanak Devji, the ICCR is planning to
hold an international youth seminar to spread his
teachings and Sikhism's contribution in universal
well being." He said the seminar will be organised on November 6 at the
Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra where about 35-40 international Sikh youth from
US, UK, Malaysia, Thailand, Canada, Italy, Australia, Netherlands,
Singapore and South Africa will participate. Sahasrabuddhe said that
besides the foreign Sikh youths, about 20 Indian Sikh youths will also participate
in the seminar. He said the ICCR has written to the Delhi
University and Jawaharlal Nehru University to send their students to
participate in the international seminar. Sahasrabuddhe said that the foreign
Sikh youths will also meet President Ram Nath Kovind before
leaving for the three day 'Takhat Darshan' from November 7-9. "The
foreign Sikh youths will meet the President on November 6 and then
leave for the three-day Takhat Darshan of Patna Sahib, Golden Temple
in Amritsar and Hazur Saheb in Maharashtra's Nanded," he said.
Google Pay and PhonePe are quite popular in
India. Their adoption surged dramatically after
the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes
in November last year. The report is based on a
revenue-risk analysis model that Accenture
developed to measure trends in how consumers
pay and projected changes in merchant behaviour,
technology and regulation. The research is
complemented by a survey of 240 payments
executives at banks across 22 countries to determine
how they plan to mitigate and capitalise on
the disruption in payments to grow customer loyalty,
revenues and profitability. The report
showed that global payments revenue in all markets
surveyed will likely grow to more than $2
trillion by 2025, creating a $500 billion opportunity
for banks in those countries. Over the next
six years, banks will face further pressure on
income from card transactions and fees, with
free payments putting 8.4 per cent of payments
revenue at risk in India, said the report. In addition,
competition from non-banks in invisible
payments -- where payments are completed in a
‘virtual wallet' on a mobile app or device -- will
put 3.6 per cent of bank revenues at risk. Card
displacement by instant payments, where funds
are settled and transferred in real-time and banks
make little to no interest, is projected to put an
additional two per cent of payment revenues at
risk. The research found that the industry is
aware of the challenges posed by new technologies
in payments.
More than two-thirds of the banking executives
surveyed in all markets agree that payments
are becoming free.
Lawyer shot dead
in Prayagraj
Prayagraj : A lawyer, practising in
Prayagraj District
Court was shot
dead by unidentified
assailants on
Thursday.
The deceased
was identified as
Idrees Ali and he has been practicing in the
district court for the last one year.
Mohammad Ali, elder brother of the
deceased said he was shot dead in his
house early in the day.
"He was a very polite man, aged around
28-30 years old. We got the information
about his murder and informed the police
about it. The administration has assured his
family of all possible assistance," said
Rakesh Tiwari, the former president of the
District Bar Association. Superintendent of
Police, City, Brijesh Kumar Srivastava,
told reporters that the murder was being
investigated and there was no information
about any possible motive.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 9
The poll results of the Haryana and
Maharashtra Assembly as well as bypolls
in about 52 constituencies across
the country are out and wronged the
pollsters as well as the arrogant
‘spokespersons’ on the Manustream
media who were out and out ‘determined’
to ‘decimate’ the opposition. In
any democracy, if we wish to strengthen
it, people must ensure that a healthy
opposition remains in the Parliament
and Assemblies to make the government
accountable. In the absence of
opposition, media would have done the
job as it is doing so powerfully in the
United States as well as other Western
world but unlike them, the casteist
Manustream media has become one of
the ‘specialised’ branches of the Sangh
Parivar whose job is to spread ‘fakenews’
and have debate based on it, distort
facts and deny people their right to
correct information.
I have always mentioned that no
party, whatever, its strength are, can
win elections on the basis of the propagandist
media because, it is running the
show on the guidelines of RSS ideologues
and therefore has no time to send
to reporters to the ground to get a feel.
In fact, reporters who go to the ground,
is not as a journalist whose job should
be to remain impartial and probing particularly
to the deeds of the ruling party,
our media probe the ‘misdeeds’ of the
opposition and if any one challenge
them or ask accountability from them,
they ‘lynch’ them during their ‘prime
time’ ‘puppet show’. Most of them
were doing more than what can be
afforded at ‘national channels’. They
had pre-election surveys and spent lots
of time in their studios to abuse the
opposition, to divide them, confuse
them. Every one of them had given verdict
to finish the opposition. ‘Gandhis
are done’. ‘Opposition wiped out’. Not
satisfied with the surveys, there was a
‘surgical strike’ too to ensure India-
Pakistan binary remained in the news
and big ‘experts’ continue to do their
‘nationalistic’ work on TV. They won’t
wait for the dead line of the Election
Commission and would do everything
to influence the voters. As the election
time was over, all of them started again
with their ‘exit’ polls with their puppets
speaking what they wish to deny people
even right to ‘peace’. All of ‘exit’
‘experts’ gave BJP and Shiv Sena virtually
two third majority in Maharashtra
and huge win in Haryana. Based on
their ‘exit’ findings they had already
‘broadcasted’ ‘End of Gandhi era’ and
beginning of Modi 3.0. We don’t know
who suggest these headlines but all
these Sangh Parivar influenced or
blessed party workers masquerading as
journalists are a disgrace in the name of
journalism. One channel goes berserk
as its Exit Poll has got the correct
results. Now, our opinion is that all
these polls should be banned. Either
organize them three month before the
polls or before the ‘ Model Code of
Conduct’ and for the Exit Polls, there is
no need as we can always wait for the
main results. We do you need an Exit
poll when the results are about to come
but then you have huge Satta market
based on speculations and these Exit
Polls are meant for that.
The current results have many takeaways.
The attempt to divert people’s
attention from the issues facing them
and putting them all the time in ‘
national’ perspective will not be useful.
If our political leaders are mature
enough they can easily deflate the
‘national narrative’. BJP wanted to sale
Article 370, Surgical Strike all the time
to both Haryana and Maharashtra but it
ARROGANCE SLAPPED
did not work. Both states have a huge
number of farmers too and their issues
were never addressed by the Prime
Minister, Home Minister and local leaders.
BJP leaders have become arrogant
to shout down the others. A completely
inefficient leader like Manohar Lal
Khattar continue to be chief minister of
Haryana where the Jat discontent with
BJP’s attempt to isolate them was growing.
There was nothing for the chief
minister to show as his ‘achievements’
except for abusing and accusing the
opposition and talking about ‘how great
India was”. Narendra Modi while campaigning
in Haryana ‘assured’ that he
would not allow the Satluj water to flow
in Pakistan despite the known fact that
legally India cannot do this as per the
guidelines of the International River
laws.
In Maharashtra, the BJP was over
confidence of Devendra Fadnavis who
too was harping on national issues.
Prime minister spoke about 370 and
‘challenged’ the opposition to oppose it.
During the elections, as usual, the BJP
sent Enforcement Directorate and IT
officials to
Sharad Pawar,
who at this
moment is the
tallest leader
from Maharashtra. The attempt was to
humiliate Pawar and compel his supporters
to desert him. A large number of
NCP and Congress leaders were made
to resign from their parties and joined
the BJP but the ‘Operation- ED’ fell flat
on the face of the BJP leaders and
Sharad Pawar, as a matured politicians
used it without speaking anything.
Maharashtra leaders of all the political
parties felt an attack on Pawar was an
attack on the ‘identity’ of Maharashtra,
particularly to that of Marathas who
constitute about 30% of the population.
BJP as a party is never known to
speak about the issues of the poor. It has
nothing to explain to people about policies
and governance. Its major focus is
to influence the NRIs and caste Hindus
and the sloganeering it engage in is
about ‘greatness’ of India and a ‘powerful’,
Ram Mandir, Article 370, India-
Pakistan, Hindu Muslamaan. During
the elections these issues were deliberately
raised as Haryana has a large
number of retired as well as serving
army personnel and hence it attracted. It
is not that the issue did not appeal but
cant be the sole issue. Both
Maharashtra and Haryana results have
one thing in common and that is the
anger of the dominant communities in
these two state. Marathas and Jaats
have been with BJP and perhaps
ignored the local issues but this time
perhaps they realized that the BJP while
trying to get their support was also
backstabbing them. Since its inception,
Jaats have been the main political force
in Haryana but BJP has ‘successfully’
put a Punjabi Khatri as chief minister of
the state who is unacceptable to them.
Most of Khattar’s ministers lost election
showing how the people have
given them a resounding slap very
much similar to what happened to the
arrogant ministers of the Devendra
Fadnavis government yet they
would not like to change Khattar
who is RSS pointman in
Haryana. It is not that Indira
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
social and human rights activist
Gandhi did not wanted strong
leaders, it looks Amit Shah and
Modi don’t want strong regional
leaders to emerge in their party.
Congress was not really in the fray in
both the state. It look party had already
lost. In the political arithmetic in
Haryana, Congress had already lost the
jaat support as it was not seen as standing
with Hooda, the tallest Jaat leader of
the state. Rahul Gandhi’s card of bringing
a Dalit as the leader of the party in
Haryana actually went against the party.
This also shows the caste realities of
our country and how social reforms
can’t happen in the realm of politics.
The Jaats who were already disturb losing
their power, would not side with a
party where they don’t have the leadership
role. Second, Ashok Tanwar was
no match to Hooda’s outreach and the
result is party failed. The late decision
to give Hooda, charge of Haryana along
with Sailja paved the return of the jaat
voters to the party but it may not be
permanent unless a Jaat is at the helm of
the affairs of the party. Jaats have no
love relations with Congress but they
never had a liking for the Sangh Parivar
except the specific efforts of the Sangh
Parivar to woe them in 2014 onwards
that they swayed in the nationalistic
narratives of the BJP as a huge number
of them are in the armed forces. The
fact is that BJP has cleverly reduced the
Jaat political representation in Western
Uttar Pradesh which were its dominant
areas. Also the BJP strategies are cleverly
planned as it had two-three big jaat
groups in Haryana, it did not want to
put its weight on them entirely.
Dushyant Chautala and their other family
members ensured that Jaat voters
don’t reach Congress alone and remain
fragmented much to the benefit of the
BJP.
In Maharashtra, NCP-Congress put a
great show and the
credit goes to Sharad
Pawar who tirelessly
campaigned. The two
parties which are
being blamed for
playing spoilsports
for Congress-NCP in
Maharashtra are
VBA of Prakash
Ambedkar and
AIMIM of Asadduin
Owaisi. VBA and AIMIM had jointly
fought the Lok Sabha election and
secured one Lok Sabha seat. This time,
both broke and while VBA could not
get a single seat, AIMIM got two seats
in Maharashtra and one in Bihar. The
fact is that Muslims are feeling deeply
betrayed from the secular party and
AIMIM and its leader are looking decisive
and well prepared to raise their
issue. Asaduddin Owaisi, has been raising
the economic issues, and that of the
Dalits and farmers. Both the parties are
being blamed for giving 30 odd seats to
BJP as the vote got by these parties was
more than the margin of defeat but the
question is why should these parties be
blamed. Is not it a fact that both got substantial
chunk of vote during Lok Sabha
polls and even then both Congress and
NCP did not seem to be bother too
much about them. We know in politics,
politicians have become hard bargainers
and in that the smaller parties are
proving to be craftier then the bigger
one as they can switch over easily. Both
VBA and AIMIM were ready to talk to
Congress but not really ready with NCP
which is predominantly an upper caste
party. Both NCP and Congress failed
miserably in Maharashtra because they
did not take VBA and AIMIM seriously.
It is well understood that many time
politicians in their attempt to blackmail
and bargain actually go beyond rhetoric.
Most of them judge their political
strength beyond normal and hence a
possible alliance is impossible with
Machiavellian politicians.
India is definitely in the coalition age
and all members will have to judge
themselves honestly to come for an
alliance. Democracy in this country is
not really for the sake of democracy but
representation of communities and
leaders. BJP has woven a better community
alliance everywhere which is
making it successful. Powerful communities
are looking for their share in
power, they are craving for bigger positions.
Marathas and Jats felt left out in
the political structure have switched
alligience because they found powerful
leaders at the helm of top positions in
party. Congress will have to develop
stronger regional leaders added with
strong sense of social justice and minority
representation as in the absence of
all of this, they will never gain trust of
various communities. The defeat of
NDA in Bihar reflect that all is not good
for Nitish Kumar and RJD and other
opposition parties will make it difficult
for him in the coming Assembly polls.
In Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav has
proved that he is the better bet to counter
Yogi Adityanath. He needs to build
the Samajwadi Party and get rid of the
middlemen who don’t have any ideological
strength of the party. As far as
BSP is concern, the lesser said about it
the better. Rather than introspecting on
her politics, Ms Mayawati continue to
blame others for her defeat. Kerala is
out of reach of NDA at the moment so
is Tamilnadu.
These results have several messages
for all.
That media will be used to divert
attention and steal the mandate. All the
opposition leaders should boycott
media and may be file a petition in the
Supreme Court for a comprehensive
guideline on media ethics. Pre poll surveys
should only be allowed prior to
election notifications and exit polls
should be completely banned.
Modi and Shah will continue to harp
on ‘nationalistic’ ‘narratives’ with the
help of media. It is not true that their
‘efforts’ have failed. It is true that they
have won despite no factual pro people
works visible prove that people are still
fancied by these narratives including
370 though it wont work fully if there is
a good counter narratives on the massive
economic failures of the government.
The opposition needs to counter
them with local narrative and expose
the lies being spread in the name of
abrogation of 370 and Kashmir.
The bigger parties need to develop
better strategic alliances and honor the
smaller parties. Attempt to discredit
them will only push them towards the
Hindutva. Just blaming political parties
not in alliance with them as B team of
BJP will not work.
The B team argument can easily
work on Congress Party too as it has
failed to prove ideologically that it is
different than BJP. See Page 23
10 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 ASIA
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
India objects to China's
comment on Ladakh
New Delhi : Taking strong
objection to comments made by
China on creation of the Union
Territory of Ladakh, India on
Thursday asked it to refrain from
making statements on its internal
matters just like New Delhi does
not make any remarks on internal
issues of any other country.
Addressing a media briefing
here, External Affairs Ministry
spokesperson Raveesh Kumar
highlighted that China continues
to be in "occupation of a large
tract of area in the Union
Territories of Jammu and
Kashmir and Ladakh" and has
"illegally acquired Indian territories
from Pakistan-occupied-
Kashmir (PoK) under the socalled
China-Pakistan Boundary
Agreement of 1963".
He reiterated India's concern
on the projects in "so-called
China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC) which is in the
territory that has been illegally
occupied by Pakistan since
Court notice on
lack of playgrounds
in SHIMLA
1947", in a reference to the parts
of Jammu and Kashmir under
Pakistani occupation.
"We have seen the statement
made by the spokesperson of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
China on the establishment of
the Union Territories of Jammu
and Kashmir and Ladakh. China
is well aware of India's consistent
and clear position on this
issue.
"The matter of reorganization
of the erstwhile State of Jammu
and Kashmir into the Union
Territories of Jammu and
Kashmir and Ladakh is entirely
an internal affair of India. We do
not expect other countries,
including China, to comment on
the matters which are internal to
India, just as India refrains from
commenting on internal issues of
other countries," the spokersperson
said.
Asserting that the Union
Territories of Jammu and
Kashmir and Ladakh are integral
part of India, Kumar said: "We
expect other countries to respect
India's sovereignty and territorial
integrity". Referring to the
boundary question between
India and China, he noted that
the two countries have agreed to
seek a fair, reasonable and mutually-accepted
solution to the
issue through peaceful consultations
on the basis of the political
parameters and guiding principles
that were agreed in 2005.
"This was reiterated also in the
2nd India-China Informal
Summit between Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and President Xi
Jinping in Chennai earlier this
month. In the interim, the two
sides have also agreed to maintain
peace and tranquility in the
border area," Kumar added.
CBDT extends IT returns date
in J&K, Ladakh till Nov 30
New Delhi : The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on
Thursday extended, till November 30, the date for filing of Income
Tax Returns for the assessees in all categories in newly-created
Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in view of disruptions
in internet services there.
In an order, the CBDT said that it "further extends due date of filing
of Income tax returns/tax audit reports to 30th November, 2019
in respect of all categories of income tax assessees in the Union
Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh who
were/are required to file the income tax returns/tax audit reports..."
It said the extension is being given "on consideration of reports of
disturbances in internet facility in certain areas of Jammu and
Kashmir". The reference to "disturbances" was apparently to the partial
suspension of internet services which continues there.
"It is also clarified that ITRs filed by certain categories of income
tax assessees who were required to file ITRs by 31.08.2019 but have
filed ITRs after 31.08.2019 till the date of issuance of this order shall
be deemed to have filed within the due date... ," the order said.
SC will rule for Babri Masjid,
Muslim body believes
Shimla : The Himachal Pradesh High Court
has issued notice to the Chief Secretary, the
Principal Secretary, the Shimla Deputy
Commissioner and the Municipal Corporation
Commissioner on the issue of lack of playgrounds
in the city.
A Division Bench, comprising Justice
Dharam Chand Chaudhary and Justice Jyotsna
Rewal Dua, issued notices on a petition taken up
suo moto as public interest litigation on a letter
written to the Chief Justice by children of Nabha
Estate, a government locality.
The children wrote the city was getting overcrowded
and more buildings were coming up
squeezing out open space for them to play. The
biggest building in their area, Block No 34, had
been demolished and there the government proposed
to build three-four buildings there leaving
very little open space for children.
New Delhi : The central advisory
council of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH)
has said evidences and witnesses suggest
the Supreme Court will rule in
favour of the Babri Masjid. In a statement,
released here on Thursday, the
JIH's advisory council expressed satisfaction
with the counsels representing
the Muslim side in the Ayodhya title
dispute.
"They put forth claims over the
masjid with facts, evidence and witnesses",
it said. The council also
emphasised on the documentary evidence
to stake rights over the masjid.
Citing the probability of decision
in its favour, the Muslim body said,
"This will enhance the prestige of the
Supreme Court. It will also erase the
stain on India's polity, which it carried
after the demolition of the Babri
Masjid." The council said the entire
world was awaiting the apex court
judgment on the centuries-old dispute.
The JIH council also expressed
concern over Indian economy, exclusion
of nearly 19 lakh people from the
final list of the National Register of
Citizens (NRC) in Assam and the
Union Home Minister's statement that
the NRC would be implemented
across the nation.
The NRC was a drain on the
exchequer, a waste of human
resources, and a harmful thing for the
nation, it said. The council appealed
all citizens, especially Muslims, to
avoid unnecessary fear and anxiety.
"As responsible citizens, they should
update the necessary legal papers and
documents in their possession," it
said.
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It is a fact that politics and crime are
inseparable particularly in India. Soutik
Biswas argues that criminals get elected
not only because many voters are illinformed,
but also for sociopolitical reasons.
According to a report released this
April by the Association for Democratic
Reforms (ADR), a nonprofit that works
on electoral and political reform, a total
of 1,580 Members of Parliament (MPs)
and Member of Legislative Assemblies
(MLAs), or approximately 33 percent of
the legislators in India’s Parliament and
state assemblies, have criminal cases
pending against them.
Gopal Kanda, Chief of Haryana
Lokhit Party defeated his nearest rival
Gokul Setia, an Independent, by a slender
margin of 602. The victory of Gopal
Kanda has raised the eyebrows of the
leaders of National Democratic Party
(NDA) government. His criminal background
infuriated BJP Uma Bharti,
Arun Singh, and many more leaders do
not include Gopal Kanda in the formation
of the government in Haryana. The
argument against Gopal Kanda is that
his criminal background would cause
political damage to the BJP in the forthcoming
local body elections. According
to the Association for Democratic
Reforms (ADR) report 39 percent of
winning candidates in 2019 General
elections of the BJP is of criminal background.
The BJP in the state of Haryana
is trying to kill two birds with one stone.
On one hand, the BJP wants to project
itself as a party with a difference and on
the other hand, the BJP would like to
use Gopal Kanda against Dushyant
Chautala, the Jannayak Janata
Party(JJP) Chief.
No doubt, Gopal Kanda is an experienced
politician as well a rich businessman
of Sirsa. He is currently on the bail
in the suicide case of Geetika Sharma, an
air hostess who worked for his aviation
ASIA
Why GOPAL KANDA is
Untouchable to the BJP
company called
then the leaders like
MDLR Airlines. Due
to his powerful influence
in his constituency,
he won despite
Uma Bharti will never
speak a word in the
public. Since 2014,
many social scientists
negative propaganda
and political
against him. Gopal
Kanda knows very
well the power of
observers blame that
the number of criminals
in the BJP has
money. Tax evasion
increased manifold
case and a threat to
the Income Tax officials
by the Kanda
clique proves that in
since the glue of political
power attracts
them to the BJP.
Narendra Modi and
India nothing is
Amit Shah did not
impossible if you
take any political
have the money and
right political connections.
stand in stopping the
entry of the criminals
We also cannot
into the BJP.
blame the gullible voters who run to vote be any objection by the BJP leaders to The litany is that the BJP rape case
for the known criminals. Indian society, include him in the formation of the government.
Uma Bharti, the BJP woman the top BJP leaders. It is observed that
accused MPs, MLAs are pampered by
at large, has become accustomed to voting
to politicians with criminal background
due to absence of a politician Pragya Singh Thakur, an active member ruling dispensation usually go scot-free.
leader never made any statement against BJP rapists under the patronage of the
with a clean image in the society. of the ABVP and later on joined the Even if they have to stay for some time
Gopal Kanda offered his support to RSS, currently BJP Member
in jail due to media pressure, they
form the BJP government in Haryana of Parliament, accused in
enjoy all comforts in the four
but was rejected by the central the leadership
Malegoan blast. Uma Bharti,
walls of the jail. With the support
of the BJP on the ground that
of the ruling dispensation, the
the BJP`s flagship programme “Betti – Dr. Rahul Kumar, PhD
majority of the criminals get
Bachao, Betti Padhao, shall embolden
social antipathy against the BJP in did not raise objections
tal with medical false reports and
themselves admitted to the hospi-
the state of Haryana.
against Chinmayanand, rape
enjoy all sorts of privileges and
Gopal Kanda after winning assembly case accused; Kuldeep
civic facilities. Conviction in
election claims that he is an RSS man. Sengar, Unnao rape case accused. It all such cases is, comparatively to the
His father was an RSS man. If Gopal shows that the BJP has a double standard.
When it is the case of Brahmins low in India. Bindu, a litigator at
developed nations of the world, is very
Kanda claims that he has close connections
with the RSS then there should not priests or BJP’s own political leaders Alternative Law Forum, nexus being
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019
11
formed between the public prosecutor,
the police and the accused that collectively
works against the victim in order
to get the case withdrawn” Bindu said.
“Many public prosecutors are extremely
corrupt and I have seen one take money
to derail the case in front of my
eyes.”The antipathy of the police
administration and patronage of the ruling
dispensation have sent a loud and
clear message to the rape victims at
large that they should not dare to raise
voice against the perpetrators.
Due to nexus between criminals &
politicians, the cleanliness of politics in
India seems beyond redemption. Some
scrupulous Judges in the Honorable
Supreme Court & High Courts are
found exasperated to deal with the
nexus having the patronage of the ruling
dispensation. Responding to such cases,
Sapna Narang, High Court Lawyer, and
activist argues that ‘Nothing will
change unless the Parliament amends
article 102 of the Constitution & provisions
of the People`s Act to disqualify
unworthy candidates.
In contemporary times, the BJP is
having a large number of politicians
with a criminal background. The BJP
cannot ignore Gopal Kanda for a long
time since he has already won the seat.
It is certain that he is going to play a
crucial role in the Haryana State
Assembly. Gopal Kanda is a snake in
the pit of the BJP. Such politicians are
very useful for the BJP to foment communal
violence in the name of religion
to divide and conquer so it is hoped that
wealthy & politically well-connected,
influential Gopal Kanda having a political,
administrative experience shall not
remain untouchable to the BJP in the
coming months. Those who worked day
& night to make Gopal Kanda victorious
in the hope for some perks should
wait patiently.
Jansadharan Exp decorated with Sardar Patel's images
New Delhi : To mark the 144th birth
anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,
the Indian Railways on Thursday
upgraded the coaches of the
Muzaffarpur-Ahmedabad Jansadharan
weekly express into the LHB coach and
also vinly wrapped it with the contribution
of the Iron Man of the country.
According to the railway ministry
officials, the East Central Railway first
upgraded the rake of the weekly train
from the old ICF coaches to more safer
Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches.
The ECR also vinyl wrapped the train
showcasing the contribution of Sardar
Patel in uniting India. The train has been
decorated with photographs of important
life events of Sardar Patel and his
important quotes. The Muzaffarpur-
Ahmedabad Jansadharan weekly
express passes through the states of
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and
Gujarat to spread awareness among the
masses about the role of Sardar Patel in
uniting India. The train will departed
from Muzaffarpur on Thursday at 9.20
p.m. for Ahmedabad.
The Narendra Modi government has
been observing Patel's birth anniversary
as 'Ekta Diwas' or National Unity Day
since 2014. As part of celebrations, various
programmes are being organised
across the country this year, recalling
Sardar Patel's contribution to the unification
of India.Prime Minister Narendra
Modi also attended a special function
organised in Kevadia in Gujarat, where
statue of unity (world's largest statue)
dedicated to Patel is located.
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12 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 NEWS
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Veteran CPI leader
Gurudas Dasgupta dead,
Prez, PM mourn
New Delhi : After WhatsApp confirmed
that Indian human rights
activists and journalists were among
those targeted by an Israeli spyware, a
political blame game erupted on
Thursday between the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress,
with some leaders demanding a parliamentary
probe into the matter.
"Indian users were among those
contacted by us this week," a
WhatsApp Spokesperson told IANS,
without revealing the numbers or
names of those affected. However,
some individuals came out on their
own on social media and news outlets,
revealing they were among those
affected by the spyware developed by
Israeli cyber intelligence company
NSO Group.
The piece of NSO Group software
called Pegasus allegedly exploited
WhatsApp's video calling system with
installing the spyware via giving
missed calls to snoop on 1,400 select
users globally. "Government of India
is concerned at the breach of the privacy
of citizens of India on the messaging
platform Whatsapp. We have
asked Whatsapp to explain the kind of
breach and what it is doing to safeguard
the privacy of millions of Indian
citizens," tweeted IT Minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad. "Those trying to
Kolkata : Veteran communist
leader and trade unionist
Gurudas Dasgupta, considered a
very capable parliamentarian,
died at his south Kolkata residence
on Thursday after a long
battle with cancer. He was 82.
Dasgupta, Deputy General
Secretary of the Communist
Party of India (CPI), passed away
at 6 a.m. leaving behind his wife,
a daughter and a granddaughter,
family sources said.
"He was admitted to Tata
Medical Centre, where he was on
ventilation also for some time.
On Monday he was released from the hospital
and brought home," party state
Secretary, Swapan Banerjee, told IANS.
President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in
paying homage to Dasgupta - a three-term
Rajya Sabha member, who was also elected
to the Lok Sabha twice --from Panskura
in 2004 and Ghatal in 2009.
He began his long parliamentary career
following his election to the Upper House
of Parliament in 1985, and made his mark
with his erudition, fearless and articulate
oratory, speaking out with a crusader's zeal
against corruption, capitalism and what he
always termed as the "neo-imperialist policies".
He was twice re-elected to the Rajya
Sabha in 1988 and 1994. Dasgupta lost the
bypoll to the Panskura Lok Sabha constituency
in West Bengal in 2000, but won
the seat in the general elections four years
later as a Left Front-backed candidate.
Dasgupta was one of those parliamentarians
who repeatedly highlighted the
Bofors scandal that came into the public
domain in the late 1980s during the prime
ministerial stint of Rajiv Gandhi. He also
served on the joint parliamentary committees
formed to probe the securities scam
and the 2G spectrum scandal.
One of the tallest leaders of the Indian
trade union movement, Dasgupta served
the All India Trade Union Congress in various
capacities including its General
Secretary and Vice President. "He was one
of those leaders who successfully brought
all trade unions under a common platform
in the interest of the workers. The strong
joint trade union movements that we see
nowadays is the result of that effort," said
Banerjee. Kovind in his message expressed
sadness over Dasgupta's demise and said
he had a aforceful presence in the House.
"A big loss for public life in Bengal and
India. Condolences to his family, colleagues
and well-wishers," the President
said. Modi described Dasgupta
as one of the "most committed
and articulate proponents of his
ideology". "He was a strong
voice in Parliament, whose interventions
were keenly heard
across the political spectrum.
Saddened by his passing away.
May his soul rest in peace," Modi
said on Twitter. West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
said Dasgupta will be remembered
for his contribution to the
nation as a Parliamentarian and
trade union leader. Dasgupta's
body has been kept in a South
Kolkata mortuary, from where it will be
taken on Friday morning to his residence,
AITUC state headquarters and the CPI
state committee headquarters before the
last rites are performed at the Keoratala
crematorium. Born on November 3, 1936,
in Barishal (now in Bangladesh) of undivided
Bengal, Dasgupta was baptised into
politics through the student movement, and
served as the President and General
Secretary of the undivided Bengal
Provincial Students' Federation between
1958 and 1960. He became a Communist
Party of India member in 1952 and was
detained under Defence of India Rules in
1965 and went underground on several
occasions during the Congress rule in West
Bengal. He visited various countries
including Finland, France, Hungary, Italy,
South Africa, the UK and erstwhile Soviet
Union. A prolific writer, Dasgupta was a
regular contributor to several Bengali and
English newspapers.
make political capital out of it need to
be gently reminded about the bugging
incident in the office of the then eminent
Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee during UPA regime. Also a
gentle reminder of the spying over the
then Army Chief Gen. V. K. Singh,"
said Prasad. "These are instances of
breach of privacy of highly reputed
individuals, for personal whims and
fancies of a family," he added.
The BJP also dared WhatsApp to
reveal the names of those affected.
The WhatsApp spygate immediately
snowballed into a political controversy,
with several Congress leaders
blaming the BJP of being behind the
WhatsApp snooping. "Modi Govt
caught snooping! Appalling but not
Surprising! After all, BJP Govt 1.
Fought against our right to privacy. 2.
Set up a multi crore Surveillance
Structure until stopped by SC. SC
must take immediate cognisance &
issue notice to BJP Govt," tweeted
Congress Party leader Randeep Singh
Surjewala.
Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill
Kashmir situation can be
resolved only with full respect
for human rights: UN
United Nations : Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is concerned
about the situation in Kashmir
and is clear that it can only be resolved
when human rights is respected, according
to his Deputy Spokesperson Farhan
Haq. Asked by a reporter at the noon
briefing on Thursday about Kashmir
being made into a Union Territory and
losing its flag and Constitution, Haq said
he was reiterating "our basic concerns
that the Secretary-General has previously
expressed, his concerns about the situation in Kashmir".
"We make clear, particularly as the Human Right
Commissioner (Michele Bachelet) has made clear, the situation
in Kashmir can only be solved with full respect for human
rights," he said. Guterres has met with representatives of India
and Pakistan at their request to discuss the situation and he has
appealed to both sides to deal with the situation through dialogue,
he added. At the stroke of midnight on October 31, what
was the state of Jammu and Kashmir was split into two Union
Territories -- (1)Jammu and Kashmir and (2) Ladakh.
This follows the central government's decision in August to
revoke Article 370 of the constitution that gave Kashmir special
status and Parliament passing the Jammu and Kashmir
Reorganisation Act to make the change.
AKSHAY KUMAR TEACHES US
A LESSON IN HUMANITY
Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar’s latest film ‘Housefull
4’ is breaking records at the box office, and he
is basking in the success of the film with his
family. In a tweet posted through his Twitter
account Akshay Kumar shared a ‘life lesson’
that he and his daughter learnt yesterday
morning, thanks to an elderly couple. Whilst
walking in the morning, the father daughter
duo chanced upon the humble home of an
elderly couple and asked for a ‘sip of water’.
In return the elderly couple not only offered
water but fed Akshay Kumar and his daughter
with ‘gur roti’. The actor was impressed by
the couple’s kind gesture and posed for pictures
which were later posted on Twitter. Akshay Kumar wrote
saying ‘Today’s morning walk turned into a life lesson for the
little one. We walked into this kind, old couple’s house for a sip
of water and they made us the most delicious gur-roti. Truly,
being kind costs nothing but means everything!’
WhatsApp confirms Israeli bug snooped on Indians, politics on
tweeted: "1) BJP Govt wanted Aadhar
linked with phone 2) objected to right
to privacy as fundamental right; 3)
20/12/2018 issued Notification authorising
data snooping 4) WhatsApp
snooping thru Israeli Software; Nextcameras
in our Homes in name of
Rashtravaad? Tricks of Bhrasht Jasoos
Party?" Congress Party spokesperson
Sanjay Jha tweeted: "Big Bro is
watching, reading and analysing your
#WhatsApp message".
Facebook-owned WhatsApp has
already sued NSO Group that exploited
its video calling system to snoop on
1,400 select users globally. Those targeted
in India included the human
rights activists who were arrested over
their alleged involvement in the
Bhima-Koregaon Dalit riots near Pune
in January last year and some journalists.
Of 1,400 affected users, over 20
are academics, lawyers, Dalit activists
and journalists from India.
Sidhant Sibal, who is principal
diplomatic and defence correspondent
for WIONews, tweeted: "Here is the
good news. WhatsApp was able to
raise the alarm of hacking and they
promptly took measures--Technical &
Legal. Having being approached by
them, they suggested measures to be
safe online."
According to WhatsApp, the NSO
Group used the flaw to hack into users'
smartphones. "It targeted at least 100
human-rights defenders, journalists
and other members of civil society
across the world," the head of
WhatsApp, Will Cathart, wrote in an
op-ed published by The Washington
Post. In a statement, NSO Group
denied performing any such act, saying
it disputed the allegations and
vowed to "vigorously fight them."
In May, WhatsApp urged its 1.5 billion
users to upgrade the app after discovering
the vulnerability that allowed
a spyware to be installed on users'
phones via the app's phone call function.
NSO limits sales of Pegasus to
state intelligence agencies and others.
The software has the ability to collect
intimate data from a target device.
According to experts, the victims of
the latest WhatsApp spyware attack
may have lost important personal
information including location data
and email content. "The bug can be
exploited based on a decades-old type
of vulnerability - a buffer overflow,"
Carl Leonard, Principal Security
Analyst at cybersecurity company
Forcepoint, told IANS.
"One could assume that an attacker
may seek out bulk contact lists, email
data, location data or other personal
information," Leonard added.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
HEALTH
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019
13
Eating tomatoes could
increase sperm count
LONDON : Tomatoes might
cost you dearly in India nowadays,
but adding one or two in
your daily diet could keep your
virility up and running, according
to researchers. A dietary
compound called Lacto
Lycopene found in tomatoes has
been shown to improve sperm
quality and those took this supplement
had almost 40 per cent
more fast swimming sperm with
improvements to sperm size and
shape. “We didn’t really expect
that at the end of the study, there
would be any difference in the
sperm from men who took the
tablet versus those who took the
placebo. When we decoded the
results, I nearly fell off my
chair,” said Allan Pacey,
Professor of Andrology
Reproduction and Head of the
University of Sheffield’s
Department of Oncology and
Metabolism. The discovery
could transform the outlook for
men with fertility problems as
sperm quality could be improved
with a simple diet supplement
containing LactoLycopene found
in cooked tomatoes.
The 12-week trial designed
by Liz Williams, a leading specialist
in human nutrition at the
University of Sheffield, involved
60 healthy volunteers aged 19-
30. Half took LactoLycopene
supplements and the other half
took an identical placebo
(dummy pills) every day for 12
weeks. Sperm and blood samples
were collected at the beginning
and end of the trial.
The team discovered that it is
possible to increase the proportion
of healthy shaped sperm
(sperm morphology) and boost
‘fast swimming’ sperm by around
40 per cent. Lycopene can be
found in some fruits and vegetables,
but the main source in the
diet is from tomatoes. Lycopene
is a pigment that gives tomatoes
their red colour, but the dietary
Lycopene is poorly absorbed by
the human body, so the compound
used for the trial was a
commercially available formulation
called LactoLycopene;
designed by FutureYou
Cambridge to improve bioavailability.
“The improvement in
morphology, the size and shape
of the sperm, was dramatic. This
was the first properly designed
and controlled study of the effect
of LactoLycopene on semen
quality, and it has spurred us to
want to do more work with this
molecule,” explained Pacey.
“We were surprised by the
improvement in sperm quality
shown by the results,” added
Williams in a paper published in
the European Journal of
Nutrition. The next step for
researchers is to repeat the exercise
in men with fertility problems
and see if LactoLycopene
can increase sperm quality for
those men and whether it helps
couples conceive and avoid
invasive fertility treatments.
World Mental Health Day :
EAT HAPPY TO FEEL HAPPY
Feeling down in the dumps,
consumed with anxiety at the
thought of the day ahead or unable
to muster the energy to face the
outside world? Your mood
enhancer is as close as the fridge,
stocked hopefully with “happy
food” like banana and berries, kale
and cabbage. ‘You are what you
eat’ should be an everyday mantra
to keep you healthy in body and
also to keep you fit mentally is the
new thinking in the medical community,
which is increasingly
using “nutritional psychiatry” to
combat a spectrum of ailments.
Consuming a “happy diet” can
help “avoid, treat and prevent”
depression, anxiety, post traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) and other
mental illnesses, said several medical
consultants and researchers on World
Mental Health Day, observed every year on
October 10.
According to clinical psychologist Preeti
Singh, research in the field of nutritional
psychiatry has shown that optimisation of
micro-nutrients is a “viable way to avoid,
treat and prevent mental illnesses”.
A “happy diet” can comprise leafy vegetables
like kale, cabbage and spinach as
well as broccoli, mushrooms, red/yellow bell
peppers, zucchini, onions, oregano, and vitamin
rich fruits like berries, apples, oranges,
peaches and pears. Proteins can be consumed
in the form of eggs, cheese, chicken and fish,
while nuts, almonds, and pistachios can supply
the micro-nutrients.
The mental health awareness movement
gained momentum in India when Bollywood
actor Deepika Padukone opened up about her
battle with depression in 2015, reassuring
those suffering that it was ‘okay to not feel
okay’. A 2018 study by global medical journal
Lancet noted that people with mental illnesses
accounted for nearly 6.5 per cent of
the Indian population, which, it said, was
likely to increase to 20 per cent in 2020.
Diagnosed with clinical depression, anxiety
and PTSD a few years ago, UK-based
teacher Kasturi Roy Bardhan said she found
relief in medication, face-to-face therapy as
well as a change in diet. She was unable to
find work for a long time and, when she did,
dragging herself to work became an “everyday
battle”, she recalled.“Making sure you are eating
healthy, or food that you generally associate
with positive memories or thoughts makes
you feel better emotionally,” the 29-year-old
said. A September 2019 study conducted by
Australia’s Deakin University revealed that
dietary intervention can reduce depressive
symptoms in individuals more efficiently than
social support, which is known to be helpful
for people with mental health issues.
For the experiment, adults with major
depressive disorders were recruited and randomly
assigned to receive either social support
or support from a clinical dietician over
a three-month period. The results showed
that around 33 per cent of those in the dietary
support group met criteria for remission of
major depression, compared to only 8 per
cent of those in the social support group.
“The results of the team’s new study offer
a possible new treatment approach to depression,
one of the world’s most prevalent and
costly medical disorders,” Felice Jacka,
director of Deakin’s Food and Mood Centre,
said in the report. Biologically put, chemicals
produced in the gut also affect the brain,
and by altering the type of food, it is possible
to improve one’s brain health. “Food is generally
associated with just weight
loss and weight gain,” said
Mumbai-based nutritional consultant
Jaydeep Bhuta. He explained
that consumption of certain food
items help release happy hormones
that get processed by the
brain and help improving the
mood. “There’s a saying—‘You
are what you eat’. It simply means
that whatever you eat, directly
affects the structure and function
of your brain and, ultimately your
mood,” Bhuta said.
Banana, for instance, is known
to be a great mood uplifter, added
Delhi-based nutritionist Surbhi
Aggarwal. “It releases the happy
hormone serotonin. So, we can
say, ‘Eating one banana every day,
keeps the mental health issues
away’,” she added. One can keep the happiness
metre high by consuming antioxidantrich
products such as apricots, carrots, sweet
potatoes, kiwis, tomatoes, along with healthy
carbohydrates that can be found in abundance
in legumes. Gurgaon-based theatre
artiste Sakshi Gandhi was prescribed food
rich in iron, and vitamin D to treat her
depression, which was adversely affecting
her day-to-day life. Her sleeping patterns
changed, she would have disturbing thoughts
and completely stopped socialising, she said.
“A change in diet along with exercises was
prescribed. It helped in overall increase of
energy levels, and I stopped feeling exhausted,
both mentally and physically,” she added.
Both medical experts as well as nutritionists
agree that while a balanced diet can
enhance the treatment of mental illnesses, it
is not an alternative to traditional medication.
“Right food can enhance positive effect
of medication but this can’t be an alternative
to psychotropic drugs (medication capable of
affecting the mind, emotions, and behaviour),”
said Shweta Sharma, clinical psychologist
at Gurgaon’s Columbia Asia hospital.
“With the right diet, one can control side
effects and the duration to continue the medication,”
she added. So if you are not feeling
great, talk to friends, exercise, seek professional
help—but also remember to eat happy.
India biggest success
story among malaria
endemic countries
New Delhi : India has been
the biggest success story
amongst malaria endemic
countries in the world in bringing
down malaria cases and
deaths, which have declined by
49.09 per cent and 50.52 per
cent in 2017, respectively, as
compared to 2013.
This was apprised to the
Union Cabinet chaired by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
in a briefing on the progress
under the National Health
Mission (NHM) and decisions
of the Empowered Programme
Committee and Mission
Steering Group of the NHM.
Apart from the success in
controlling malaria, there has
been acceleration in decline of
Maternal Mortality Ratio
(MMR), and Under Five
Mortality Rate (U5MR) since
the launch of the
NRHM/NHM. At the current
rate of decline, India should
able to reach its SDG target
much before the due year of
2030. As per the progress
report, the Revised National
Tuberculosis Control
Programme (RNTCP) has been
significantly strengthened and
intensified. Due to the intensified
efforts, there is 16 per cent
jump in identification of new
cases in one year. Universal
drug sensitive cases also
increased by 54 per cent.
In 2018, Measles-Rubella
(MR) vaccination drive was conducted
in 17 additional state,
thereby covering 30.50 crore
children till March 2019. In
2018-19, 52,744 Ayushman
Bharat-Health and Wellness
Centress were approved against
which 17,149 HWCs were operationalized
against the target of
15,000. A total of 1.81 lakh
health workers which included
ASHAs, MPHWs, Staff Nurses
and PHC-MOs were trained on
NCDs during 2018-19. The
states have initiated activities to
operationalise the HWCs.
During 2018-19, rotavirus vaccine
(RVV) was introduced in
additional two states. By now, all
the states/UTs are covered with
RVV. In addition, during the
year, pneumococcal conjugated
vaccine (PCV) was expanded to
MP, Haryana and the remaining
districts of Bihar, Rajasthan and
Uttar Pradesh. The National
Viral Hepatitis Control
Programme was approved for
prevention, management and
treatment of Hepatitis to A, B, C
and E and rollout was initiated.
This would benefit an estimated
5 crore patients of hepatitis.
14 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 HEALTH
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Babies understand counting years earlier than believed
NEW YORK : Babies who are years away
from being able to say 'one', 'two', and 'three' actually
already have a sense of what counting means,
said a new study.
"Research like ours shows that babies actually
have a pretty sophisticated understanding of the
world—they're already trying to make sense of
what adults around them are saying, and that
includes this domain of counting and numbers,"
said the study's senior author Lisa Feigenson from
the Johns Hopkins University in the US.
For the study, published in the journal
Developmental Science, the researchers worked
with 14 and 18-month-old infants.
The babies watched as toys, little dogs or cars,
were hidden in a box that they couldn't see inside
of, but could reach into.
Sometimes the researchers counted each toy
aloud as they dropped them into the box, saying,
'Look! One, two, three, four—four dogs!' Other
times the researchers simply dropped each toy into
the box, saying, 'This, this, this and this—these
dogs'. Without counting, the babies had a hard time
remembering that the box held four things.
They tended to become distracted after the
researchers pulled just one out—as if there was
nothing else to see. But when the toys were counted,
the babies clearly expected more than one to be
pulled from the box. According to the study, they
didn't remember the exact but they did remember
the approximate number.
"When we counted the toys for the babies
before we hid them, the babies were much better at
remembering how many toys there were," said the
study's researcher Jenny Wang, Assistant Professor
at the Rutgers University.
Poor toilet hygiene, not food,
behind superbug spread
London : Poor toilet hygiene, rather than
undercooked chicken or other food, may be
behind the spread of antibiotic-resistant E.
coli bacteria, a study has found.
People harmlessly carry E. coli bacteria in
their gut, as do animals. However, some
strains cause food poisoning whereas others
cause urinary tract infections (UTIs), and
infections after gut surgery, according to the
researchers from the University of East
Anglia (UEA) in the UK.
E. coli has become considerably more
antibiotic resistant over the past 20 years
both in humans and animals, the researchers
said. Particularly important are strains with
'Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamases
(ESBLs) -- enzymes that destroy many
important penicillin and cephalosporin
antibiotics, they said. However, until now, it
has not been known whether antibioticresistant
E. coli that cause bloodstream
infections are picked up via the food chain,
or passed from person to person.
Researchers showed how they sequenced
the genomes of resistant E. coli from multiple
sources across the UK -- including from
human bloodstream infections, human faeces,
human sewerage, animal slurry and meat
including beef, pork and chicken, and fruit
and salad. The findings, published in The
Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, show
that antibiotic-resistant 'superbug' strains of
E. coli from human blood, faeces and sewerage
samples were similar to one another.
Strain 'ST131' dominated among ESBL-
E. coli from all these human sample types,
the researchers said. They found that resistant
E. coli strains from meat, principally
chicken, cattle and animal slurry were largely
different to those infecting humans.
ST131 was scarcely seen. Instead, strains
ST23, 117 and ST602 dominated, according
to the researchers. They found there was little
crossover of ESBL-E. coli from animals
to humans. The researchers looked at more
than 20,000 faecal samples and around nine
per cent were positive for ESBL-E. coli
across the regions, except for in London,
where the carriage rate was almost double --
at 17 per cent. "We found ESBL-E. coli in 65
per cent of retail chicken samples -- ranging
from just over 40 per cent in Scotland to over
80 per cent in Northwest England," said
David Livermore, from UEA's Norwich
Medical School. "But the strains of resistant
E. coli, were almost entirely different from
the types found in human faeces, sewage and
bloodstream infections," Livermore said.
"Only a very few beef and pork samples
tested positive, and we didn't detect ESBL-E.
coli at all in 400 fruit and vegetable samples -
- many of which were imported to the UK,"
he said. The results show that there are
human-adapted strains of ESBL-E. coli, principally
ST131, which dwell in the gut and
which occasionally -- usually via UTIs -- go
on to cause serious infections. They study
also shows that there are animal strains of
ESBL-E. coli. "But -- and critically -- there's
little crossover between strains from humans,
chickens and cattle. The great majority of
strains of ESBL-E. coli causing human infections
aren't coming from eating chicken, or
anything else in the food chain," David added.
More Indians prefer physical wellbeing over mental: Survey
New Delhi, A majority of Indians,
at 75 per cent, are preoccupied about
their physical wellbeing, over mental
wellbeing at 62 per cent, a survey by
global market reseach agency Ipsos
has found.
The survey, conducted to coincide
with the World Mental Health Day,
found 64 per cent Indians believe that
is equally important to have both,
physical and mental health.
Indians want a clear shift in the
handling and perception of mental illness.
As many as 64 per cent Indians
want the stigma attached with mental
health issues to go and they would prefer
if it was treated like any other illness.
Further, 74 per cent Indians
Thousands of
patients suffer as
doctors strike
work in TN
Chennai, For the second day in succession, thousands of patients
in government hospitals in Tamil Nadu continue to suffer as around
17,000 doctors are on a strike since Friday, demanding pay parity.
Besides pay parity with their counterparts in the Central government,
the doctors are also demanding the implementation of the timebound
promotion, and the non-reduction in the numbers of the doctors
in hospitals.
The striking doctors have said that in patients will not be examined
unless an emergency happens and life saving/medical/surgical
emergencies will be attended to.
Meanwhile, on Friday DMK President M.K. Stalin urged the
Tamil Nadu government and the striking doctors to hold talks and
find a solution as patients were suffering.
exhort adoption of a more tolerant attitude
towards those with mental illness
in the society. The survey also shows a
more positive and empathetic change
coming about towards those with
signs of mental health conditions with
64 per cent urban Indians believe seeing
a mental health specialist or therapist,
as a sign of strength. “Indians are
recognising that being healthy and
well is a combination of both, physical
and mental wellbeing and both work
in tandem. Also mental health issues
are like any other illness and it is
alright to see a doctor for alleviating
symptoms,” says Monica Gangwani,
Executive Director & Country Service
Line Leader, Healthcare, Ipsos India.
The Ipsos survey found that views
around mental health somewhat disjointed
and devoid of clear consensus.
Aout half of Indians polled (52 per
cent), disagree that increased spending
on mental health services is a waste of
money. However, 27 per cent think it
is a wasteful expenditure, while 17 per
cent were neutral, 3 per cent were
undecided and 1 per cent refused to
tender opinion.
As many as 39 per cent Indians
reject exclusion of someone from public
office, on the grounds of mental
health history, while 32 per cent agree
on exclusion, 25 per cent were neutral,
3 per cent undecided and 1 per cent
refused an opinion.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
HEALTH
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019
15
Obesity causes diabetes in women,
KIDNEY DISEASE IN MEN
London : Obesity poses a higher risk of type
2 diabetes in women, and Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and chronic kidney
disease in men, said a new study from the
University of Oxford. “The study shows just how
harmful carrying excess weight can be to human
health, and that women and men may experience
different diseases as a result,” said the study’s
first author Jenny Censin. To identify additional
causes of death made worse by obesity,
researchers performed an analysis that explores
cause-and-effect relationships using genetic data
and three measures of obesity from 228,466
women and 195,041 men in the UK Biobank.
Their analysis showed that obesity contributes
to a laundry list of health problems including
coronary artery disease, type 1 and 2 diabetes,
stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
lung cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,
chronic liver disease and kidney failure.
While obesity causes type 2 diabetes in both
women and men, women experienced a higher
risk of type 2 diabetes as compared to men, while
men faced a greater risk of chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease and chronic kidney disease.
“Given the compelling evidence of harm that
arises as a consequence of obesity across a broad
range of diseases that result in death, our findings
highlight the critical need for public health
measures to stem the tide of obesity,” said
researcher Michael Holmes, who supervised the
work together with researcher Cecilia Lindgren.
Overall, the study found that obesity causes or
contributes to the majority of the leading causes
of death worldwide that are not linked to the
infectious diseases.
The impact of obesity, however, manifests differently
in men and women.
BAD BREAKUPS
may not trigger
Facebook use may
not make kids
depressed: Study
NEW YORK : That pint of ice
cream after a nasty breakup may not
do as much damage as you think.
Despite the emotional turmoil, people
on average do not report gaining
weight after a relationship dissolution,
says a new study.
According to the researchers, it has
been well documented that people
sometimes use food as a way to cope
with negative feelings and that emotional
eating can lead to unhealthy
food choices.
"...our research showed that while
it's possible people may drown their
weight gain: Study
sorrows in ice cream for a day or two,
modern humans do not tend to gain
weight after a breakup," said study
author Marissa Harrison, Associate
Professor at Penn State University in
the US.
Breakups can be stressful and emotional,
it could potentially trigger emotional
eating.
"Food was much scarcer in the
ancestral environment, so if your partner
abandoned you, it could have
made gathering food much harder,"
Harrison added. For the study, published
in the Journal of the
Evolutionary Studies Consortium, the
researchers completed two studies to
test the theory that people may be
more likely to gain weight after a relationship
breakup. In the first one, the
researchers recruited 581 people to
complete an online survey about
whether they had recently gone
through a breakup and whether they
gained or lost weight within a year of
the breakup.
Most of the participants—62.7 per
cent—reported no weight change.
For the second study, the
researchers recruited 261 new participants
to take a different, more extensive
survey than the one used in the
first study. The new survey asked
whether participants had ever experienced
the dissolution of a long-term
relationship, and whether they gained
or lost weight as a result.
The survey also asked about participants'
attitudes toward their ex-partner,
how committed the relationship
was, who initiated the breakup,
whether the participants tended to eat
emotionally, and how much participants
enjoy food in general. While all
participants reported experiencing a
break up at some point in their lives,
the majority of participants—65.13
per cent—reported no change in
weight after relationship dissolution.
"The only thing we found was in
the second study, women who already
had a proclivity for emotional eating
did gain weight after a relationship
breakup. But it wasn't common,"
Harrison added.
New York : The amount of time
spent on social media is not directly
adding to the anxiety or depression
issues in teenagers, say reseachers
from Brigham Young University.
The study, published in the journal
Computers in Human Behavior, shows
that it is not merely the amount of time
spent on social media that’s leading to
an increase in depression or anxiety
among adolescents.
“We spent eight years trying to really
understand the relationship between
time spent on social media and depression
for developing teenagers,” said
study author Sarah Coyne, Professor
at Brigham Young University in the
US. “If they increased their social
media time, would it make them more
depressed? Also, if they decreased
their social media time, were they less
depressed? The answer is no. We
found that time spent on social media
was not what was impacting anxiety or
depression,” Coyne added.
Mental health is a multi-process
syndrome, where no one stressor is
likely to be the cause of depression or
anxiety. For the study, researchers
worked with 500 youth between the
ages of 13 and 20, who completed
once-yearly questionnaires over an
eight-year span. Social media use was
measured by asking participants how
much time they spent on social networking
sites on a typical day. To
measure depression and anxiety, participants
responded to questions with
different scales to indicate depressive
symptoms and anxiety levels.
These results were then analysed on
an individual level to see if there was
a strong correlation between the two
variables. At age 13, adolescents
reported an average social networking
use of 31-60 minutes per day.
These average levels increased
steadily so that by young adulthood,
they were reporting upwards of two
hours per day. According to the
researchers, this increase of social networking,
though, did not predict future
mental health. That is, adolescents’
increase in social networking beyond
their typical levels did not predict
changes in anxiety or depression one
year later. Researchers suggest some
healthier ways to use social media: Be
an active user instead of a passive
user. Instead of just scrolling, actively
comment, post and like other content.
Limit social media use at least an
hour before falling asleep. Getting
enough sleep is one of the most protective
factors for mental health, the
researchers said.
16 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 ENTERTAINMENT
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Parineeti to visit Saina’s
Hyderabad home to
prepare for BIOPIC
Sunny Leone draws flak
for copying artwork,
ACTOR RESPONDS
Hyderabad : Actress Parineeti Chopra, who is all set to play
Saina Nehwal on screen, will be visiting the ace badminton player’s
home here for the first time, as part fo preparation for her
role. “I want to become Saina. For that I want to go to her house
and see how she lives. We have met many times, but this time I
want to go to her house, live like her and eat like her for a day.
She has promised me that her mom will feed me the exact food
that Saina eats. So I am excited to go to her house and live her
life for one whole day,” Parineeti said.
Bollywood actors working in biopics have been known to
make the extra effort to bring alive the character on screen. In the
recent past, actor Ranveer Singh spent 10 days with Kapil Dev,
to prepare for his role of the Indian cricketer in “83”. Earlier,
Priyanka Chopra Jonas spent time with boxer Mary Kom to
essay the wrestler’s life story. The Saina Nehwal biopic is directed
by Amole Gupte and is being produced by T-series.
Would love to go on
long drive with wife
Anushka: Virat Kohli
Mumbai, Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli has said he
would like to go on a long drive with his actress wife Anushka
Sharma when they get the time.
“We haven’t been able to go on long drives as times have been
hectic. Whenever you get time, you go for a holiday mostly, so,
may be, when I spend more time in the city and at home, I will
find places to go for long drives. I think highway is a good place
to go on for a long drive,” said VIrat.
Asked who he would love to take on a long drive, Virat’s reply
was instant. “My wife for sure. Isn’t that obvious?” he quipped,
talking about his better half, actress Anushka Sharma.
Where would he love to go on a long drive?
“You don’t really think about where you want to go when you
go on a long drive. You just get into the car, find a long stretch
which is never ending and just keep going.
Whenever you feel like you are done then just take turn back
and come back home and usually, it would be at night when there
is less traffic. You just have to put on some nice music and great
weather would be handy as well so in the future, when I am in
the city and at home, we will be going for more drives than we
are at the moment,” said Virat, interacting with the media at the
launch of Audi A6, as brand ambassador of the luxury car brand
on Thursday in Mumbai.
Mumbai : Actress Sunny Leone has
been blasted on social media for copying
for charity an artwork originally painted by
French illustrator Malika Favre.
The anonymous Instagram account
Dietsabya called out the similarity on
Monday, sharing snapshots of similar photographs
of Favre and Sunny’s painting.
“We are all for charity, but stealing an
artist’s original work - without credit - and
auctioning it off for charity (as your own)
is just dirty. Left: original by
@malikafavre; right: w* by @sunnyleone,”
the snapshot was captioned.
This forced the Instagram account to
call the actress out on social media.
The actress soon replied that she had not
copied the original artwork but was given a
photograph from which she drew her painting.
She wrote: “Hello. Just to give you the
correct information , I was given a photograph
of this piece of art. I then decided to
paint it! At no time did I claim to come up
with the idea. I simply painted a piece of art
that I saw and loved. It should be taken as a
compliment as it was being donated to cancer
patients for charity. “Nothing more and
nothing less. Sorry you don’t like the version
that I choose to create while helping
Kajal Aggarwal wants
to get married soon
Mumbai, Actress Kajal Aggarwal says
she plans to get married soon.
The actress opened up about her plans to
settle down during a conversation with
Lakshmi Manchu on VOOT’s “Feet Up with
the Stars Telugu”. When Lakshmi asked her
about her wedding plans, Kajal said: “Yes, I
am planning for a wedding soon.” Asked
about the qualities that she would want in
her husband, she said: “Quite a lot of things,
but most importantly he should be possessive,
caring and spiritual.” The actress also
opened up about her beliefs, saying “I’m
very Spiritual, I even have a small idol of
Lord Shiva which travels with me wherever
I go.” When the host asked her “Kill, Hook
Up or Marry”, she said: “Ram Charan —
Kill, N. T. Rama Rao Jr.
Mumbai, Raveena Tandon turned a
year older on Saturday, and it was a
working birthday for the “Mohra”
actress. Raveena, who is currently judging
the dance based reality TV show
“Nach Baliye 9”, reserved the day for
work and quality time with her family.
“Usually on birthdays, people examine
their lives. I think it’s best to do that
while at work. My family is the centre
of everything I do. Spending time with
loved ones and my kids helps me
children in Need. The painting was not
about you or I. It was about trying to help!
Best of luck! Keep creating.” Dietsabya then
shared Favre’s response to Sunny’s painting
on their Instagram stories. “Sunny Leone a
Actress Nia Sharma's glitzy
silver lehenga caught fire at a
Diwali party.
Nia took to Instagram stories
to share details of her little
mishap, revealing that her
lehenga caught fire by a diya at
the party. She did not sustain
injuries thanks to the layers in
her outfit.
She shared a photograph of
the burnt ensemble and said
that she is still unsure of how
she was saved from injury.
The actress wrote: "The power of a
diya. Caught fire in a second! I got saved
by the layers in my outfit or some guards
you and protects you." Nia was seen dancing
at the party with singer Guru
credit would have been the minimum...
Intellectual property is a thing you know?
What if I didn’t want a copy of my work to
be copied by you and auctioned? The cause
is commendable, the attitude not so much.”
Nia Sharma's lehenga
catches fire at Diwali
party, picture goes viral
appreciate the little joys of life. I am
fortunate to have a loving family and
also an extended work family. Both
keep me grounded,” she said.
She also celebrated her birthday on
Friday evening on the sets of “Nach
Baliye 9”. She was surprised when her
whole family, including her parents, inlaws
and daughter, turned up to celebrate
the occasion. Raveena, 45, recently
featured in the recreated version of
her hit song “Sheher Ki Ladki”.
Randhawa. The bash was also attended by
Mika Singh and Kapil Sharma among others.
On the work front, Nia will next be
seen in the fourth installment of Ekta
Kapoor's hit franchise, ‘Naagin’.
Work keeps me grounded: Raveena Tandon
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Star Bharat’s show Musakaan is
known to be one of the favourites of
audiences. Viewers will witness
major plot twist. Soon a new entrant
will be seen and it is none other
than TV actress Kritika Sengar,
whose acting has been appreciated
for her roles in Kasautii Zindagii
Kay, Jhansi Ki Rani, Punar Vivaah
and Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki.
According to sources from the production
house, Kritika will play the
role of a parallel lead in Musakaan.
There will be a six-year leap in the
storyline. Raunak and Muskaan
(Ssharad Malhotra and Yesha
Rughani) will once again separate
from each other.
Reportedly, Kritika will be seen
as Raunak’s new, second wife as he
gets separated from his first wife
Muskaan. The actress has worked
in many shows. During this time,
her performances for the roles of a
sister-in-law, daughter and daughter-in-law
have always been appreciated.
ENTERTAINMENT
New leading lady
Kritika Sengar bags the parallel lead in Musakaan post time leap
Strength of a woman
Tahira Kashyap’s journey through battling cancer
has been exemplary,
which has given hope
to many. She recently
said while she was
advised to not reveal
cancer, she decided to
do it. Now, that she has
emerged victorious
after undergoing treatment,
Tahira is determined
to keep the dialogue
going. She will
be part of a discussion
in Chandigarh on
October 29 for Leaf &
Life organisation, run
by Rohini Mahajan,
which grows and supplies Microgreens.
Talking about the campaign, Tahira says, “It is very
important to share your story, but not stop at that.
Microgreens encourage a healthy lifestyle and it’s a
great honour to discuss with women why and how
they should choose a lifestyle high on nutrition.”
When Anupam Kher learned a life
lesson in the ninth standard!
Clearly, he has had a rollercoaster
of a ride through his 35-
year-long film journey, since his
1984 breakthrough with
Saaransh. And that’s exactly
what Anupam Kher has tried to
capture in his new autobiography,
Lessons Life Taught Me,
Unknowingly. Although the
book has him sharing anecdotes
and rare nuggets from his life as
well as the lessons it taught him,
the actor maintains the idea was
not to “make it sensational”. “I
strongly believe you have to live
life with your own values and
that you should be able to look at
yourself in the mirror with pride.
So, the book is very funny and
has great entertainment, but I
have tried not to make it sensational.
Though a lot of people
asked me about it, that was not
my intention. In the book, I have
narrated some incidents from my
life which needed to be told the
way I have mentioned them. But
I am very clear that I can’t tell
my truth at somebody else’s
inconvenience. So, I have
changed a few names and also
concealed their identities,” says
the actor.
The Silver Linings Playbook
(2012) actor says he has mentioned
the names of people who
he has dealt with at the professional
level, but changed the
identities of those he has had a
rendezvous with in the personal
sphere. Ask him what’s been his
biggest life lesson till date, and
Kher goes back to his school
days to recount a story when he
was in Class IX. “I remember I
was in ninth standard, and had
taken the report card to my
father. He looked at it and told
me that my rank was 59. He then
asked me about the strength of
my class. When I told him it’s
60, I was scared despite the fact
that he never hit me physically,”
says the actor, adding “after taking
a pause”, his father gave him
a “lesson that he still swears by”.
“He explained to me that the
student who ranked first would
always run the risk of coming
second every year and face failure.
But someone, who is in the
59th position, can always work
hard and reach the 30th or 40th
position. My dad said, ‘Next
time, your rank should be 48 and
not 59’. And that was such a
great lesson as I then understood
the meaning of failure,” he adds.
Sunny Leone surprised by Nawazuddin’s dancing skills
Mumbai, Actress Sunny
Leone says she was surprised
with actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s
dancing skills while working on
the song “Battiyan bujhaado”.
The song will feature in
Nawazuddin’s upcoming
“Motichoor Chaknachoor”. It is
composed by Ramji Gulati, who
also sings the song with Jyotica
Tangri. “I was hooked to the
soundtrack from the very first
time I heard it. A catchy tune, that
really grows on you, ‘Battiyan
bujhaado’ is a full-blown dance
song, that will surely be on every
party’s playlist. And shooting the
song with Nawaz, with whom I
am sharing a screen for the first
time, was an
extremely enjoyable
experience,”
Sunny said.
“He has quite
surprised me
with how sporting
and fun he
can be at dancing,
on and offscreen,
which the
audience will see
when the song
launches today,” she added.
“Motichoor Chaknachoor” is
about a young NRI husbandobsessed
bride and a desperate
groom Pushpinder (Nawazuddin).
Athiya Shetty will be seen
essaying role of Anita, an educated
girl who is looking for a green
card holder groom. Pushpinder,
the eager to get married boy, is
settled in Dubai, and follows his
mother’s instructions. The story is
about how their life changes
when the two get married.
Directed by Debamitra Biswal,
produced by Viacom18 Studios,
Woodpecker Movies, Rajesh and
Kiran Bhatia, the film will release
on November 15.
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019
17
Ekta Kapoor ‘burns the
floor’ with Rajkummar Rao,
calls him ‘partner in crime’
Diwali is over but it seems the festive fever still rages on for many
people including
celebrities, who
continue to post
celebratory
videos and pictures
on social
media. Among
the many videos
still pouring in, a
dance clip featuring
actor
Rajkummar Rao
and producer
Ekta Kapoor at
the latter's
Diwali bash has
been trending.
Ekta on
Sunday hosted a
star-studded
Diwali bash in
w h i c h
Rajkummar marked his presence. Sharing a glimpse of their celebrations,
Ekta took to Instagram and posted a video in which she, along
with Rajkummar, is seen grooving to the Govinda-Raveena Tandon
hit song ‘Akhiyon se goli maare’, from the 1998 film, ‘Dulhe Raja’.
"This had to be shared! I cannot dance but I guess Zumba and my
partner in crime are helping! A Diwali get together (Small one) turns
into a floor burning night with my #lsd guy RajKummar! #dancingsince2010,"
Ekta captioned the video.
Rajkummar made his Bollywood debut with Ekta Kapoor's production
film ‘Ragini MMS’. He even recently featured in her film
‘Judgementall Hai Kya’.
When King Khan
CHARMED
... at the interview with David
Lettermen, which has gone viral
Shah Rukh Khan’s fans across the globe have fallen in love with
the superstar all over
again after watching
his latest interview
with television host
David Letterman on
Netflix, which is
currently viral.
Fans of King
Khan took to Twitter
to express their love
for the superstar
after watching the
interview and they
just can’t stop gushing
about it. The
actor took to Twitter
to share the news
with his fans that he
is watching his own
interview with
younger son
AbRam!
He tweeted, “So
you finally settle
down on your soft
bed, with your softer
littlest one & say,
“let’s watch something
new today...on
@NetflixIndia ...”
and this banner pops
up!! & the littlest
one quips...”papa it’s
not new...it’s just you!! Well...” Reacting to SRK’s tweet, a fan
wrote: “Loved it. Best statement when you said Shah Rukh Khan is
a myth I am just his employee. More glory to you.” Another fan commented:
“How sweet being with your lil ray of sunshine...but
ShahRukh..you’re new everyday ,never a dull moment with you
around....you never chase to amaze me. Loved watching it. Thanks
for being in my life. Keep Shining your light.”
18 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 ENTERTAINMENT
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Boman Irani talks
about the surge in
content driven cinema
and admits that
he wouldn’t waste
time on a film that
he won’t enjoy
A supporter of underdog stories,
Boman Irani says he knew
he wanted to be a part of Made
In China the moment he heard
the script.
“I loved the story. I was keen
to work with Rajkummar Rao,
too. I spent a lot of with the
director Mikhil Musale, and I
realised that the story is in good
hands. I have done underdog
stories before and the stance
this film takes is quite interesting,”
says the 59-year-old actor,
who plays a sexologist in the
film and hopes the film encourages
people to seek medical
help for sexual issues and not
shy away from it. Working with
Rajkummar was a pleasure for
the senior actor who says he
was “proud to work with him”.
He adds, “I kind of understood
what Rajkummar is about. You
do tend to understand what
process he is going through, if
you are an actor. When I met
and worked with him, I realised
that this guy is so good at his
work, and we should all feel
happy for his success. There is
a great reward for work and
application he puts into his
roles.”
2019 saw a surge of movies
hailed as new-age cinema and
content-driven films. Boman is
thrilled with the kind of films
being made but also feels that
the credit for them must be
given where it is due. He says,
“It is the writers who are writing
stories and have brought
about the change. It is not the
Once again, Ankhiyon
Se Goli Maare
The shoot for Pati Patni Aur Woh remake, starring Kartik
Aaryan, Ananya Panday and Bhumi Pednekar, has already been
wrapped up. But, reportedly, the lead actors will reunite soon at
the studio to shoot a song. The song is a recreation of Govinda and
Raveena Tandon’s Dulhe Raja song Akhiyon Se Goli Maare. The
choreography this time will be by Farah Khan. Director Mudassar
Aziz is excited to have her on board.
Mudassar said that their story is based in a certain milieu. To
take the narrative forward, they required more songs. The makers
collectively felt that they needed a fun song to communicate with
the audience and that the characters could let loose in an alternate
setting. The movie is the remake of BR Chopra’s 1978 classic hit
film which starred Sanjeev Kumar, Vidya Sinha and Ranjeeta.
‘WRITERS
deserve just as
much credit’
actor who has done that, let’s
be clear and honour the writer.
Sure, the actors are choosing
these scripts and being courageous.
But not just actors, writers,
too, should get due credit
for the surge in content-driven
films. The writers need to be
appreciated and even paid well
for creating content that is celebrated
in films.”
The Munna Bhai M.B.B.S
(2003) actor has done 93 films
to date but he says he isn’t
looking at the 100-film mark.
“That is not my goal. I do films
to have a good time. I want to
enjoy my role and the process
of the film, more than anything
else. I don’t want to
waste time on a
film that I
won’t enjoy,”
he says.
Dalljiet Kaur did not expect to be
evicted from the house this early
Actor Dalljiet Kaur was
recently evicted from a popular
reality show and this left her
fans shocked. However, she is
happy about the love and support
she received from people.
“My fans did not expect me to
be the first one to evicted and
neither did I. This is shocking
for me as well because I had the
potential as I was real and not
faking it. I was even doing the
tasks well. I did not fight with
anyone much. I think we as
housemates would have formed
deep bonds after the third week
but I did not get the opportunity,”
she says. Dalljiet adds that
she never intended to fight or
create a scene in the house just
to get noticed. “I did not want
to cry and show my weakness
because my fans appreciate my
strength and get inspired by it.
If I would have cried, I’d
have got more support but I did
not want to do it. It was very
important for me to represent
my family well so that even
they could feel proud of me,”
she says, adding that the show
has taught her about people and
their mindsets. On asking about
her future plans, Dalljiet
reveals, “I am looking for a
new phase in my career now. I
hope I do a lot of events, web
series, and daily soaps. I want
to send a message across to all
producers out there that I want
to do something really good
and my dates are available, so
they can give me work immediately
because I don’t want to sit
at home.”
Now, Baiju Bawra by Bhansali
Bollywood’s ace director Sanjay Leela
Bhansali, after recently announcing his
movie titled Gangubai Kathiawadi, has now
announced his second venture titled Baiju
Bawra. The movie is slated to release on the
auspicious occasion of Diwali in 2021. The
film will be a revenge story, but nothing
concrete is known as of now. Bhansali
Productions took to its official Twitter handle
and announced the film, stating it to be
the director’s most ambitious magnum
opus!
Reports suggest that Ajay Devgn is in
talks with the director for the film. If things
work out, this will be the first time in 20
years when the actor and director will be
collaborating after Hum Dil De Chuke
Sanam.
Meanwhile, Bhansali’s Gangubai
Kathiwadi is also in line. It is reported to be
based on a chapter in Husain Zaidi’s novel
Mafia Queens Of Mumbai. The filmmaker
is yet to announce a male lead in the film
opposite Alia Bhatt. These two projects
come after shelving of Salman Khan and
Alia Bhatt-starrer Inshallah.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
NEWS
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019
19
Naga settlement only after
consulting all stake-holders
New Delhi : The Centre on
Thursday clarified that all stake-holders,
including Assam, Manipur and
Arunachal Pradesh, will be duly consulted
and their concerns will be taken
into consideration before any settlement
is arrived at with Naga groups.
The Union Home Ministry issued
the clarification following rumours
being spread in some sections of
media, including social media, that
"final Naga settlement has been
arrived at and will be announced
soon".
"This is creating anxiety and concern
in some parts of the country,"
said the statement.
"It is clarified that before any settlement
is arrived at with Naga groups, all stakeholders
including States of Assam, Manipur and
Arunachal Pradesh will be duly consulted and their
concerns will be taken into consideration," it said,
stressing "no credence needs to be given to such
rumours and incorrect information".
Getting nod from the apex leadership of all 14
Naga tribes and various stake-holders in a meeting
held in Nagaland on October 18, the Centre had
said that it had determined to conclude the peace
process without delay after the overwhelming support
in favour of a settlement of the issue.
Noting that "endless negotiation under the shadow
of guns is not acceptable", a statement from the
Naga interlocutor’s office said that the Central government
expects all negotiating parties to heed the
will of the people, and facilitate the conclusion of
the Naga peace process within the stipulated time.
As the 22-year-old Naga talks between the
Centre and National Socialist Council of Nagaland-
Isak-Muivah stand on shaky ground with some
leaders of the groups adopting a "procrastinating
attitude" by raising the contentious symbolic issues
of separate Naga national flag and Constitution on
which they are fully aware of the Centre’s position,
Centre’s representative and interlocutor for Naga
Peace Talks, R.N. Ravi on Friday held a detailed
consultation meeting with the primary stake-holders
of the Naga society. The
meeting was attended by the
apex leadership of all the 14
Naga tribes of Nagaland, all the
minority non-Naga tribes of
Nagaland, the Nagaland GB
(Gaon Burahs) Federation, the
Nagaland Tribes Council, the
Church leaders and civil society
organisations, said the statement.
It said that primary stakeholders
- tribal and civil society
organisations from Nagaland,
Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh
and Assam -- were involved in
the peace process and made
valuable contributions through
regular consultations and insightful inputs, said,
adding the Church leaders with their constant
prayers and goodwill have immensely contributed
to the cause of enduring peace.
It is a matter of great satisfaction that agreements
with the NSCN (I-M) on August 3, 2015 and
with seven Naga armed groups under the banner of
Working Committee of Naga National Political
Groups (NNPGs) on November 17, 2017 -- on the
political parameters of the settlement were signed,
the statement said, adding that a mutually agreed
draft comprehensive settlement, including all the
substantive issues and competencies, is ready for
inking the final agreement.
300 farmers booked for
stubble burning in UP
Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh), Three hundred farmers
have been booked for burning stubble in their
fields in Uttar Pradesh s Pilibhit district, despite
directives from the National Green Tribunal
(NGT).
The cases have been registered by revenue
officials in villages that include Bilsanda, Neria,
Amaria, Puranpur, Seramau, Madhotanda,
Jahanabad, Bisalpur and Gajraula.
Angry farmers are now taking to the streets to
register their protest against the police action.
Charanjeet Singh, a local farmer said that the
farmers were already suffering due to non-payment
of cane dues, low prices of paddy and the
paucity of fertiliser, and now they were being
harassed in the name of stubble burning.
City magistrate Ritu Punia said that the directives
of the NGT were being followed and the
district administration would not allow stubble
burning in the district. We have directed all revenue
officials to report cases of stubble burning in
the district, he said.
20 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 NEWS
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
MASS surveillance tech just
needs a missed call to hack you
New Delhi : As Indians break their
heads over WhatsApp spygate where
an Israeli bug infected select users
smartphones to access their personal
details, the mass surveillance technology
has truly come of age and now the
governments just need to make a
missed call to install an "exploit link"
into the device of a person they want
to bug and listen in.
From the days when surveillance
methods involved bugging the phone
or cable wires to tap phones (remember
Radia tapes!) to track a person’s
vehicle by installing a tracking device
beneath the car, cyber criminals and
hackers have devised modern and
untraceable tools to hack into your
systems. The most popular mass surveillance
programme is ’PRISM’ --
under which the US National Security
Agency (NSA) collects user’s personal
communications from various US
internet companies. ’PRISM’ allegedly
collects stored Internet communications
based on demands made to internet
companies.
The NSA can use PRISM requests
to target communications that were
encrypted when they traveled across
the internet backbone, to focus on
stored data that telecommunication filtering
systems discarded earlier, and to
get access to data. Its existence was
leaked by NSA contractor and whistleblower
Edward Snowden, who warned
that the extent of mass data collection
was far greater than the public knew.
US President Barack Obama, during a
visit to Germany, stated that the NSA’s
Cupertino (California) :
Riding once again on its
Services and Wearable business
even as iPhone sales dropped 9
per cent, Apple has posted a
strong revenue of $64 billion --
an increase of 2 per cent from
the year-ago quarter -- for its
fiscal 2019 fourth quarter that
ended on September 28.
Services revenue hit an alltime
high of $12.5 billion while
global sales accounted for 60
per cent of the quarter’s revenue.
For its full fiscal year,
Apple generated over $46 billion
in total services revenue.
"We concluded a groundbreaking
fiscal 2019 with our
highest Q4 revenue ever, fueled
by accelerating growth from
Services, Wearables and iPad,"
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a
statement.
Apple’s profit dipped 3 per
cent to $13.7 billion, but the
$3.03 earnings per share (EPS)
met analyst projections.
"With customers and
reviewers raving about the new
generation of iPhones, new,
noise-cancelling AirPods Pro,
the hotly-anticipated arrival of
Apple TV+, and our best lineup
of products and services, we’re
very optimistic about what the
holiday quarter has in store,"
Cook elaborated.
"All told, outside of iPhone,
our revenue grew by $17 billion
to almost $118 billion," for
the full fiscal year," he added.
Apple forecasts revenue
between $85.5 billion and
$89.5 billion for its fiscal 2019
first quarter and operating
expenses between $9.6 billion
and $9.8 billion.
"Our strong business performance
drove record Q4 EPS
of $3.03 and record Q4 operating
cash flow of $19.9 billion,"
said Luca Maestri, Apple’s
CFO. "We also returned over
$21 billion to shareholders,
including almost $18 billion in
share repurchases and $3.5 billion
in dividends and equivalents,
as we continue on our
path to reaching a net cash neutral
position over time," he
added. According to Cook, the
company set new Q4 revenue
records in the Americas and
data gathering practices constitute "a
circumscribed, narrow system directed
at us being able to protect our people".
According to Amnesty.org, NSA and
UK’s Government Communications
Headquarters (GCHQ) are monitoring
you with code names. ’Muscular’ is
one such project that "intercepts user
data as it passes between Google
servers". Yahoo! was also said to be
affected. Between December 2012 and
Despite iPhone decline, Apple
logs record quarter growth
Rest of Asia Pacific and saw
further improvement in our
revenue trends in Greater
China. "Outside of iPhone, our
September quarter revenue was
up 17 per cent. We reached a
new all-time high for Services
with growth accelerating to 18
per cent. We generated well
over 50 per cent revenue
growth from Wearables," said
Cook. iPhone revenue in the
September quarter was $33 billion.
"This 9 per cent decline
over last year is a significant
improvement over the 15 per
cent decline we saw across the
first three quarters," Cook
noted. In the iPad segment,
Apple generated 17 per cent
growth driven by iPad Pro.
Apple saw double-digit
services revenue growth and
all-time records in all five of its
geographic segments.
"We established new alltime
highs for multiple services
categories including the App
Store, AppleCare, Music, cloud
services and our App Store
search ad business. We are well
on our way to accomplishing
our goal of doubling our fiscal
year 2016 Services revenue
during 2020," Cook told the
analysts.
For Apple Pay, revenue and
transactions more than doubled
year-over-year with over 3 billion
transactions in the
September quarter exceeding
PayPal’s number of transactions
and growing four times as
fast. Apple Pay is now live in
49 markets around the world
with over 6,000 issuers on the
platform. Apple Card was
launched in August in the US.
"Users kind of apply for
Apple Card through the wallet
app on iPhone in minutes and
start using it right away in
stores, in apps and on websites.
They’ve told us they love Apple
Card’s simplicity, privacy,
security and transparency,
which has helped them make
healthier financial choices,"
Cook mentioned.
Later this year, the company
is adding another feature to
simply manage payments right
in the Apple Wallet app on
iPhone.
January 2013, ’Muscular’ collected
181 million records but "Google has
now strengthened security between
their servers since then.
Another tool called ’Optic Nerve’
allowed secret access to Yahoo! webcam
chats. In a six-month period, it
spied on 1.8 million Yahoo! users and
took one still image every five minutes
of video per user. "GCHQ targeted
Belgacom, Belgium’s largest telecommunications
provider with spyware
called Regin, a malicious piece of
software designed to break into
Belgaom’s networks. The purpose of
the GCHQ hack was to spy on phones
and internet users using the Belgacom
network". Since then, the technology
has evolved to such an extent that just
a missed call is enough to snoop on
anyone, anywhere. Citizen Lab, a laboratory
based at the Munk School of
Global Affairs and Public Policy of the
University of Toronto, has identified
over 100 cases of abusive targeting of
human rights’ defenders and journalists
in at least 20 countries across the
globe via the new piece of Israeli spyware
called Pegasus. Once Pegasus is
installed, it begins contacting the operator’s
command and control (C&C)
servers to receive and execute operators’
commands, and send back the target’s
private data, including passwords,
contact lists, calendar events,
text messages, and live voice calls
from popular mobile messaging apps.
"The operator can even turn on the
phone’s camera and microphone to
capture activity in the phone’s vicinity,
and use the GPS function to track a target’s
location and movements," said
Citizen Lab. The spyware can be
placed on phones using multiple vectors,
or means of infection. The
WhatsApp exploit from May 2019 was
one such vector. In 2017, the wife of a
murdered Mexican journalist was sent
alarming text messages concerning her
husband’s murder, designed to trick her
into clicking on a link and infecting her
phone with the Pegasus spyware. In
2018, a close confidant of Jamal
Khashoggi was targeted in Canada
with a fake package notification,
resulting in the infection of his iPhone.
Citizen Lab has tracked more than two
dozen cases using similar techniques.
Indian-American White House official
caught in impeachment crossfire
New York : An Indian-American White House official has
been caught in the crossfire of internal politics arising from the
Ukraine controversy
that has engulfed
President Donald
Trump in an impeachment.
The expertise of
Kashyap Patel, the
National Security
Council’s (NSC) senior
Director of counter-terrorism,
on Ukraine has
been questioned by
another NSC official, Lt Col Alexander Vindman, during the
impeachment inquiry hearings, Politico reported on Wednesday.
The sniping brings to the open the conflicts inside the Trump
administration between those like Patel, who are considered his
loyalists, and those opposed to him. Vindman told the secret
inquiry that Patel had "misrepresented" his expertise on Ukraine to
Trump, Politico reported. He said that had been prevented from
participating in a briefing for Trump on Ukraine because the
President believed Patel was the expert on that country instead of
himself, Politico reported.
Vindman said that the NSC Senior Director for European and
Russian affairs, Fiona Hill, told him that she and then-National
Security Adviser John Bolton felt that his presence at the briefing
would create "an uncomfortable situation," according to Politico.
The Washington Post also gave an account matching it in major
details. Politico had earlier reported that Hill testified before the
impeachment inquiry that Trump thought Patel was in charge of
Ukraine policy for the NSC. Vindman, who was born in Ukraine
and came to the US as a refugee when he was a child, is a decorated
veteran of the Iraq war. He was on the line listening to Trump’s
phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in July during
which he asked for help in investigating former Vice President
Joe Biden’ son’s connections to a Ukrainian gas company and if his
father had interfered in an investigation of the company. Vindman
has been hailed a hero by the Democrats and the media for his testimony
against Trump. He had asserted that Trump had undermined
national security by asking Ukraine for a favour against the Bidens
because that could undermine the bipartisan support for Kyiv.
While he said that he was not allowed to make some changes to
the reconstruction of the Trump-Zelensky phone conversation that
was made public, it did not appear from leaked accounts of his
impeachment testimony that he had established that Trump had
made the Ukrainian probe of the Bidens a condition for releasing
aid, as has been alleged.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
NEWS
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019
21
Dushyant Chautala Factor
Frank Hebert rightly said,
“Absolute power attracts the corruptible.”
The fractured assembly election
2019 result in Haryana shows that the
foundation of collapse in the BJP turf
has been laid down by the Congress
Party. The result also shows that
Congress has emerged as a strong
opposition party with 30 MLAs
despite the NDA`s government anticongress,
anti-dynasty 24×7 feisty &
marooned corporate media propaganda
& meager financial resources.
There is no denying the fact that
Modi`s popularity has been dropped
obliquely. The Congress party has succeeded
in making a dent in the Modi
turf within five years. It will be quite
difficult for the Modi 2.0 in the coming
years to rebound after Haryana
assembly election plummet to win a
clear cut majority in the upcoming
elections in two states: Jharkhand &
Delhi, as happened in 2019 provided
the Electronic Voting Machines
(EVMs) do not tamper. Enough entertainment
has been made by Modi 1.0
to befool the people of the super-poor
country. Now the people of India
understand subterfuges of the BJP.
Sunday is always a holiday. No government
department works for the
welfare of the people on Sunday. The
BJP is so greedy, insecure & desperate
to hold power that even the top party
leadership could not wait till Monday
for Swearing-in-Ceremony of
Manohar Lal Khattar as the Chief
Minister of Haryana for the second
inning. It reflects the sneaky mentality
of the BJP. It is really disgusting to
think. Post-poll alliance with the
Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) shows that
the BJP can stoop to any sneaky level
to retain & sustain political power. It
does not make any difference for the
BJP if a leader of a political party, who
is willing to extend support, is a corrupt,
lacerated, squinted, black or
white, deaf or dumb. The legacy that
Dushyant Chautala will follow is reprehensible.
His great- grandfather Om
Prakash Chautala & his father Ajay
Chautala both have been convicted in
the 2000 Junior Basic Teachers
recruitment scam[i] and were sentenced
to ten years of imprisonment.
Dushyant Chautala`s love for his
father, who is already on 15 days furlough
from Tihar jail, strikes the right
political cord with two purposes in
mind while shaking hands with the
BJP. One is to rule the state & the
other is to protect his family.
A young, tall, smart, US-educated
Dushyant Chautala, Deputy Chief
Minister of Haryana understands better
how he can protect his beloved and
respected father Ajay Chautala under
the thumb of the BJP. He also understands
that the BJP is a ‘Nirma
Washing Powder ’now- a -days for all
the corrupt political leaders in India.
Some of the erstwhile exceedingly
corrupt Congress party leaders and
other various political party leaders
have joined the BJP to save their skin
in HARYANA POLITICS
from the law-enforcing agencies. For
instance, BJP Mukul Roy, BJP
Narayan Rane, BJP Sushil Modi, BJP
Giriraj Singh, BJP Janardhan Reddy
are facing charges due to financial
scams. They all defected their parent
political party & joined the BJP. It is
also a fact that the BJP that claims a
party with difference seems to be a
Heaven for all the corrupt political
leaders. Social critics assert that
whosoever will embrace the BJP, his
or her sins will be washed away in the
Maili Ganga. His or her corruption
cases will be withdrawn or partially
closed or no CBI or ED will be sent to
his or her house to make a raid in the
future. The NDA government under
Prime Minister Modi did not dare to
touch these BJP corrupt leaders.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi does
not get tired of blaming Gandhi
Family until today for all ills of the
country. Of course, there is a vast difference
between speech and action.
Dushyant Chautala, 31, having
Business Administration degree from
California University will be the first
young, dynamic Deputy Chief
Minister of Haryana who earned
unhappiness of the voters of
Haryana by taking a stupid decision
to shake hands with the BJP. The
young, inexperienced Dushyant
Chautala is not fully aware of the
dirty, divisive politics of the BJP. Two
things are certain, one is that Dushyant
Chautala`s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)
will be treated as a Junior Partner and
the other is that the JJP`s MLAs will
be co-opted by the BJP sooner or later.
– Dr. Rahul Kumar, PhD
It is certain that the BJP will encourage
factionalism within the JJP.
Past track record of the BJP shows
that the Regional political party Chiefs
are not treated well by the BJP. Two
examples are pertinent to refer here;
Ram Das Athawale, President of
Republican Party of India (A) once a
loyal dog to Sharad Pawar, President
of Nationalist Congress Party in
Maharashtra and Mayawati of
Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) swallowed
by the BJP. Both shook hands with the
BJP. Ram Das Athwale is an agent of
BJP-Shiv Sena in Maharastra.
Mayawati not only lost Dalit vote
bank but also respect among the Dalit
communities. The BJP powerful
machinery backed by the rich businessmen
and corporate houses in connivance
with the RSS workers works
day & night to use acid to destroy the
roots of an opposition political party.
Today both are a political trophy to be
kept in the corner of a home. The state
of Haryana is sui generis, a sociological
term used by Emile
Durkheim, a French sociologist,
in itself. The Jat community
dominates the sociocultural,
socio-economic &
socio-political spheres in the
state. The Jat caste has a reasonable
representation in almost all
sectors like education, government
services, police, etc. Agriculture landholding
by the Jat community in
Haryana rules the roost. Literacy
among women in Haryana is still an
issue to ponder over. Only 29 percent
of women age 15-49 in the state have
completed 12[ii]. 34 percent of
women age 15-49 in Haryana have
experienced physical or sexual violence[iii].
There is a substantial
increase in crime under the Khattar
BJP government in the state.
According to National Crime Record
Bureau (NCRB), the state recorded
57.1 percent increase in crime rate in
2016(The Tribune, 23 Oct 2019). The
practice of patriarchy in the state poses
several challenges to the state social
harmony. Honor killings in the state
are quite prevalent. “Even marriages
into the same gotra(same descendants
& same lineage clan) have emerged as
the causes of honor killings in the
state. The role of community members,
community elders & particularly
the community Councils (such as
Khap Panchayats) can be observed as
patronizing the honor killings & protecting
the killers. Honor Killings are
majorly executed by the Jats
in the state”[iv]. Despite,
Betti Padhao, Betti bachao
flagship programme, the girl
child is not at all welcome by
the members of the Jat community
in New India of
Narendra Modi.
The state of Haryana has
been always in the headlines
due to atrocities by the Jats against the
Scheduled castes. The socio-economic
conditions of the Scheduled Castes in
the state of Haryana are worsening day
by day. According to NCRB
2017report, a 19.24 percent increase
has been reported in crimes against
Scheduled Castes in Haryana.
Surinder Singh Jodhka, teaching
Sociology at the Centre for the Study
of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru
University explains, “Politically also
the locally dominant communities did
not care for support of Dalits. A Jat
leader from the Haryana region, Sir
Chhotu Ram of the Unionist Party,
who acquired quite a prominence in
the regional politics of Punjab during
the pre-independence period, had once
told some Dalits that he could not do
anything for their welfare as it might
offend the landowning Jats. He reportedly
said:
I cannot annoy my own brothers to
benefit you. If the zamindars do not
stop these practices, I cannot do anything.
If on this basis you want to
deprive us of your votes do so, for it
does not matter. The zamindars are
numerically stronger than you in the
villages[v].
The members of the Jat community
practice caste discrimination against
religious minorities. The communal
threat, particularly to Muslims in the
state, has increased manifold due to
the existence of several Gau Rakshak
Dals aided and abetted by the Bajrang
Dal, VHP and the RSS. On 10 June
2016 in Faridabad district, Haryana,
two Muslim men allegedly found
transporting beef were forced to consume
dung, urine, milk & curd by vigilantes
who uploaded footage of the
incident[vi]. Khattar during his first
tenure, implemented Hindu holy text,
the Bhagwad Gita in the Haryana
school curriculum. The BJP under the
Khattar government in the state succeeded
to a larger extent to suppress
the Dalits, Muslims, Sikhs &
Christians in the state and pampered
the vigilantes. Brahmins, Khatris get
social preferences under the Khattar
government in the state.
Unemployment is high among the
members of the religious minorities.
Haryana is not a safe place for the
poor Dalits, Muslims & Christians.
Real Estate market is quite volatile
in the state of Haryana. The land
prices in Gurugram are comparatively
higher than in other districts of the
state. The presence of multinational
companies (MNCs), chain of foreign
Five Star Hotels attracts the attention
of wealthy people across India &
abroad to invest money in the real
estate market. In contemporary times,
the Real Estate market in Gurugram
especially get stuck up because of a
larger number of court cases against
Haryana Urban Development
Authority (HUDA) filed by the farmers.Due
to a perpetual rise in land
prices, the farmers who sold their land
to the HUDA 10 years back or their
land acquired by the HUDA to redevelop
the city of Gurugram, are coming
back to reclaim more financial
compensation for their land.
See Page 23
22 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 WORLD
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Remarkable ‘philosophy’.
He thanked the people of
Maharashtra and Haryana for
‘posing’ faith in BJP despite the
known fact that the arrogant
ministers in both the states lost
miserably. Now, when all the
leaders are in Jail in Jammu and
Kashmir, all the major political
parties boycotted except for
BJP, he is hailing these ‘second’
tier Panchayat elections in
J & K as ‘historic’. So, they
have everything historic without
participation of people. Sad
part is that secular rationalists
too fall in such trap. If you have
heard the speech of a so-called
‘secularists’ who said that her
Hindu voice was not allowed in
‘secular’ India during the US
Congressional hearing, then listen
to the speech made by Dr
Natasha Kaul, a Kashmiri
expatriate who expose the
attempt to divert attention from
the real issues. Look at the
videos after the hearing and
how she was harassed by the
KPs there.
The narrative of the Sangh
Parivar which are being planted
through social media and some
time used by the ‘liberals’ are
dangerous but it is meant to
attract the caste Hindus in rest
of the country, to feed them
continuously with anti Muslim
feeling and divert the entire
narrative and issue into a
Pakistan sponsored terrorism.
Agreed, Pakistan is responsible
for many thing including
Islamising the entire Kashmir
issue but then arent Kashmiri
Pandits responsible for using it
to create hatred against
Muslims. Question is what has
government done to win over
the Kashmiris. Does it want
Kashmiris to be at its mercy
and without any credible political
leadership or whether RSS
is looking for some Khattar
kind of leader in the valley.
If you listen to the entire discussion
at the US
Congressional hearing where
the Congress members countered
some of the arguments
put forward by Arti Tikku
Singh, who has off late become
fan of the Sangh Parivar and
BJP. Strange are India’s ‘secularists’
who can be swayed by
the anti Muslim feeling and
who look at Kashmir issue just
from the ‘terrorist’ view point
and as if there are no other
issues except for the infiltration
and terrorism. They are the
issues and must be dwelt with
seriously but can be hide from
the fact that the Jammu and
Kashmir issue remain to be
taken care off and resolved otherwise
there will not be peace.
Kashmiri Pandits who have
become Pawns in the hands of
Hindutva can not discuss
Kashmir since 1990 but since it
was purchased by Gulab Singh
and how the rules were framed,
how the King helped cronies to
become landowners and why
the majority of the Kashmiri
Muslims faced discrimination
during the Dogra Raj. It is also
important and perhaps
political historians
post independent
India can
do that, make a
chronological history
of the power
of Kashmiri
Pandits vis a vis
various prime
ministers of India.
They always
enjoyed protection
of the power people.
Look from
Nehru’s time to
Indira Gandhi,
there were senior officers of
KPs in the PMO. It happened
till Rajiv Gandhi. Where are
they now but then KPs,
it seems, today are
totally mesmerized by
the ‘Gujarat model’.
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
social and human rights activist
Speak to Kashmiris
to resolve the issue
Kashmir is not India
and Pakistan. It is not
merely terrorism. It is people of
Kashmir and their will too. We
say, it is our ‘internal’ matter.
Fair enough but what is internal.
If people are unable to go
to doctors, remain without
newspapers, remain without
internet and other communication.
Can we keep people out of
the courts and judiciary. Can
Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmbedabad,
Kolkata, Banglore, Hyderabad,
Chennai be kept without communication,
internet and television
services for even a single
day ? Can you imagine what
will happen if the mobile services
are disrupted in these
All have a stake in it.
You cant discuss
Kashmir without
engaging their media,
their activists and
their political leadership.
Building up
narrative through the
corrupt and communal
media will not
help India gain any
positive responses on
the issue.
‘nationalist’
places.
What about
the judiciary
and media. Did
we see any
newspaper writing
a front page
bold news and
following it up
courageously
about the
‘arrest’ of Dr
F a r o o q
Abdullah and
other leaders.
Can anyone say
that the Home Minister mislead
the Parliament and the
Supreme Court but then when
the courts are
not ready to listen
and take
their time to
allow things
happen on its
own, you cant
expect anything.
It will
need an A G
Noorani to
speak the truth to our power,
our Courts as we all will fear
contempt as well as harassment.
I know not all in the
media are like that and there
are many serious voices but
they need to speak up though
the space is very little.
For the government and its
good wishers, it is important to
understand that internationally
all these tricks wont work as
they are used to in India
through desi nationalist media
which stand completely
exposed today. In this digital
age, people have their own
sources of information and
international media has report-
ed this issue seriously. How can
anyone think of a solution of a
problem without engaging the
local people, media, intellectuals,
civil society and political
leadership. Kashmir issue is not
an issue for you to get benefit
in Maharashtra and Haryana. It
will have to be solve through
participation of local people
and not through jumlas and
rhetoric that is being produced
to you through an absolutely
spineless media.
In any democracy, it is people
who matter and they are
represented through their representatives,
civil society,
activists, academics, lawyers,
journalists, media. All have a
stake in it. You cant discuss
Kashmir without engaging their
media, their activists and their
political leadership. Building
up narrative through the corrupt
and communal media will not
help India gain any positive
responses on the issue. The only
way out is to speak to the people,
listen to their voices and
allow them have a say in their
affairs. Any chest thumping
may give you votes elsewhere
but not help resolve the issue
particularly when India is looking
for support on the issue
from the international community
without wanting to ‘internationalise’
the issue.
Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a
social and human rights
activist. He blogs at
www.manukhsi.blogspot.com
twitter @freetohumanity
Email: vbrawat@gmail.com
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
WORLD
Indira Gandhi Assassination : Congress used
Hindu card to consolidate its position politically
without fighting the hatred ideologically
This last day of October
reminds us the brutal assassination
of the then Prime Minister
Mrs Indira Gandhi, by her own
security guards who were supposed
to protect her. Since June
1984 when Indira Gandhi
ordered ‘Operation Bluestar’ at
the Golden Temple in Amritsar,
the Sikh feelings were tremendously
hurt but there was no
attempt to assuage the feelings.
Somehow every Sikh became a
‘terrorist’ and victim of the sinister
campaign to humiliate him. I
still feel, those times were much
better than today because we did
not have these goons who threaten
people from their newsrooms
and instigate violence against
them. Can you imagine, what
would have been the role of this
media in a powerful government
of Rajiv Gandhi. Doordarshan
was showing the dead body of
Mrs Gandhi for many days as
people were shouting slogan :
Khoon Ka Badla Khoon se
lenge..
as Indiraji brought colour TV
revolution to India, people
watched the entire thing on their
TV screens and were being fed
with all the sarkaari reports
every moments. It was perhaps
the first 24×7 ‘spectacle’ for the
TV media to extend its outreach
as for a few days newspaper sale
increased and in smaller places
where we used to live, newspaper
would be sold off before
reaching the homes.
There was only doordarshan
and All India Radio. They were
doing their duty but there were
no shouting party spokesperson
inside the studio like what we
are witnessing in these times,
who would have launched a
direct campaign against the
Sikhs. The media that time was
silently and was just doing its
duty as per the government
order. Doordarshan-Akashwani
would stop all the programmes
and we would just listen some
classical music but on Indira
Gandhi’s assassination day, till
the evening 6 pm, everything
was shut. We were depending on
the external sources like BBC
which had declared that she was
shot dead but there was no official
word about it. Though she
was shot at her home in the
morning time around 9 am, the
official announcement of her
death came at 6 pm on radio and
television simultaneously. When
I imagine what would have happened
if Indira ji was in todays
time or if there were all these
24×7 TV channels.
Violence erupted or was made
to erupt by the goons of the
Congress party but it was not
merely an issue of Congress. In
her death, Indira Gandhi had
become or was projected as a
Great Hindu leader killed by the
Sikhs. So subsequent days, we
saw, a ‘Hindu’ outrage, though
we conveniently called it
Congress goons but it was not
so. Congress had become the
Hindu party, a party of the Hindu
sentiments, whose leader was
called and Rajiv Gandhi called
her Bharat Mata in his first
broad-caste to the nation.
The violence or pogrom
whatever we call as the state of
India completely abdicated its
duty. The goons whether
Congress Party or any other
sympathizer, whether Hindus or
not, had complete protection
from the administration and its
police. It was like a ‘national’
‘resolve’ to ‘teach’ Sikh a lesson.
Innocent children lost their parents.
We never saw such brutality
since partition of India.
Butchering of families. The
Home Minister P V Narsimha
Rao sat silently allowing the
goons to do all the things and
police remaining quiet. All over
the country, there was a pattern,
whisper campaign against Sikhs
as if they killed Mrs Gandhi.
This is a serious question to ponder
over. Why we blame the
entire community if the some
crime is done under their name.
Muslims have been punished for
that, Dalits, too and Sikh got
punishment because the murderer
of Indira Gandhi happened to
be Sikh. But the murderer of
Rajiv Gandhi were Hindus while
that of Gandhi were Brahmin but
we never saw that kind of isolation
and condemnation of the
communities. It means, that the
dominant define the discourse
who to vilify and who to glorify.
That is why, Gandhi’s murderers
are still being glorified and nothing
happen to them.
Today when we moan the
brutal murder of Indira Gandhi,
remember her legacy, we can not
keep our eyes shut that the Sikhs
were butchered and murdered in
the aftermath of her assassination
were a complete abdication
of the state Rajdharma. It was a
project Hindu Rashtra, this time
under Rajiv’s Congress where
Sikhs were vilified and Rajiv
became symbol of Hindu
Asmita. If we are living in these
terrible time when Indian state
apparatus has turned brahmanical
then the project started since
the return of Indira Gandhi in
1980. It got strengthened in her
unfortunate assassination in
1984. India is paying a heavy
price today for the games that
the Congress played during this
period in the absence of fighting
the issue ideologically, it tried to
sail through the same boat of
communal polarisation which
resulted in massive mandate for
Rajiv Gandhi but victory of the
Hindu Rashtra. Subsequently,
Rajiv’s flirtation and Congress’s
complete ideological bankruptcy
paved the way for the Hindutva
forces whose cherished dream to
rule India was realised in May
2014 and second mandate of
2019, they have further strengthened
their position. Today is the
day to not merely remember Mrs
Gandhi and her contribution to
our polity but also Congress’es
failure to fight communal forces
ideologically by virtually
becoming the B team of
Hindutva, resulting in the legitimacy
and ascendancy of the hate
mongers in the power structure.
Dalit women prevented from
entering temple in UP district
Bulandshahr : A case of
Dalit women being denied entry
into a temple in Bulandshahr district
of Uttar Pradesh has come
to light with a video of the incident
going viral on social media.
According to informed
sources, the incident took place
on October 25 but the video
went viral on Wednesday.
In the six-minute long video,
a man wearing a black shirt can
be seen standing in front of the
closed gates of a temple while
voices of women can be heard
demanding to know why they
are not being allowed to worship
at the temple.
Other voices can be heard
saying that women also had the
right to worship and would not
leave the temple gates till they
were allowed in. To this, the man
points a finger at the woman and
warns her to talk politely. A
woman is heard saying, "Why
don't you kill us here? We will
die here. Bring lathis... we will
continue sitting here. We will not
leave. Bring the whole village
here. Let them also see."
The man is then heard telling
the women that the property and
the temple belong to 'Thakurs'
who are the upper caste.
"This property belongs to
Thakurs. Brahmins and Thakurs
have been praying here for
years," he says.
The camera then zooms into
the temple and shows a man
wearing a white t-shirt locking
the main door and walking to the
gate. Both men then stand in
front of the gate and stare at their
mobile phones, while the women
vociferously demand to be
allowed to enter the temple.
As the argument continues,
the men become louder and
more forceful in their refusals.
The video shows at least 15
angry and agitated women standing
clustered around the gate,
along with a small group of
school children. Vijender Singh
Valmiki, a community leader
who later complained to the
police on behalf of the women,
said: "These people used to pray
here earlier but last week some
men refused to allow them entry
saying they would not be
allowed because they were
Dalits." The police have registered
a case of assault on
October 25, under the SC/ST Act
against unnamed persons who
assaulted a Dalit man on the
same day that the video was
shot. Bulandshahr Additional
Superintendent of Police Atul
Srivastava said: "We are investigating
and facts are being ascertained
about the video. We will
act further in this case."
01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019
Continue Page 9
Continue Page 21
23
Dushyant Chautala Factor in Haryana...
How is it going to take the minorities and the marginalized along
with it. The non-acceptability of a Dalit president by the dominant Jats
in Haryana reflects the ideological crisis of the Congress party. The
elections show that BJP is not invincible yet it is also time to be alert
all the time particularly the issue of EVMs is not going to die that
soon.And end of the day, political parties must clear their position on
social, economic, cultural, foreign affairs issues and need their effective
propaganda machinery. It cant just respond to the issues but also
clarify various issues. For parties like Congress, it is not merely to condemn
the government but also introspect their own follies in the past.
Unless Congress accept that it did make mistakes and its stand on various
issues remained ambiguous, it wont be able to win the confidence
of minorities and the marginalized. It needs to talk to various social
groups and also allow the other parties to flourish.
One thing is for sure that India cannot be prisoner of a few political
parties and we will have to admit that such a huge country like us, communities
and groups will always attempt to get fair representation and
when bigger national parties fail to provide them fair representations,
they will find their own way and there is nothing wrong. It is for the
parties to develop long term alliances and not merely on the eve of elections.
If we are able to do that, it will help in long term. Is it possible
for Congress and other political parties to build state wise alliances for
the 2024 elections and raise people’s issues both in and outside the
Parliament and assemblies? I am sure, the result can be beyond the
imaginations of the pollsters. The people in this country have from time
to time taught arrogant rulers big lessons and one should not be surprise
watching these results that the most arrogant politicians got humiliated
in the worst form. It is time for all to remain on the ground, raise people’s
issues, stop attempting to speculate results and build alliances. If
each sector work according to the norms and ethics, democracy would
get strengthened which is not merely elections but as a culture which
build modern India based on constitutional ethics and norms.
Dushyant Chautala Factor in Haryana...
Although, all the farmers were fully compensated by the
HUDA as per the officials. In the hope of getting more money
through the court cases, the farmers in connivance with the local
lawyers or property dealers have made HUDA administration
notorious. In addition to that, the Jat and Gujjar big landholders
put pressure socially & politically on the ruling government to
compensate more if they want their votes.
The majority of the residential sectors in Gurugram is under litigation.
The nexus between the lawyers & property dealers have
caused havoc in the life of the plot owners. For instance, Ill-reputed
sector 57 in Gurugram District is again in the headlines because
of litigation between the HUDA and Farmers. 10 years back,
Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) got land from
the farmers and paid full financial compensation to them. After
having full compensation, some farmers filed a court case against
HUDA for more compensation. Under pressure, HUDA sent letters
to the plot owners in Sector 57 Gurugram and demanded
heavy enhancements two times which all the plot owners paid.
HUDA won the case in 2017 from the farmers. After winning
the court case from the farmers, some plot owners were offered
possessions in Sector 57 in 2018. After taking physical possession
from the HUDA administration, some of the plot owners started
construction. As ill-luck have it, the farmers and some unscrupulous,
cunning lawyers provoked the farmers & filed once again a
fresh court case against HUDA in 2019 and the Judge passed the
STAY orders against the whole Sector-57, Gurugram, Haryana.
After stay order by the court, the innocent plot owners are running
from pillar to the post. The officials of the HUDA issued letters to
all the plot owners to stop construction leaving behind all of them
in the lurch. God knows when the Judge will remove this stay
order and the innocent plot owners will resume construction and
fulfill their dream of a sweet home[vii]. The intervention on behalf
of the Khattar Government in the matter did not yield any positive
result to date.
The state of Haryana has been facing great challenges due to
the lethargic & prejudiced attitude of the public system. The general
people in the state are the worst sufferers. Some of the issues
such as the land mafia has been active in the state under the nose
of Khattar government. Youths are frustrated due to the high rate
of unemployment. Corruption is high despite the digitization of
the public system. The touts are active in every government
department of the state. Police administration is found prejudiced.
The attitude of Police officials towards poor, helpless Dalits,
Muslims & Christians is partial. These are some of the burning
issues that need to be addressed on priority. Against this backdrop,
voters of Haryana including poor Dalits, Muslims,Sikhs &
Christians expect of a young, US graduate Dushyant Chautala
with impartial mind and heart to focus on these issues. It is hoped
that Dushyant shall make sincere & honest efforts to provide a
clean and corruption-free administration. I further hope that the
BJP will not disown this young man like Mehbooba Mufti of PDP
(Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party).
24 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 WORLD
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Monarch Singge Namgyal's
statue installed in Leh
Leh : An 18-footlong
statue of Singge
Namgyal, the 17th
Monarch of Ladakh,
was inaugurated on
Friday as part of celebrations
of newlyformed
Union
Territory (UT) of
Ladakh.
"In celebration of
the recent UT status
granted to Ladakh,
Hemis Monastery is
offering a new statue
of King Sengey
Namgyal to the people
of the region," the
Gyalwang Drukpa,
the spiritual head of
the Drukpa Lineage
of Vajrayana
Buddhism, tweeted.
"This statue is a
symbol of Ladakh's
history, might, and
identity in remembrance of its
past as great kingdom along the
Silk Road."
The statue was envisioned
by the spiritual head in
December 2017 and was carried
forward by the Hemis
Monastery.
The story of Singge
Namgyal has fascinating beginning.
When Ali Sher Khan
Anchan also known as Ali Mir
of Skardo imprisoned the then
Ladakh Monarch Jamyang
Namgyal during an expedition,
the incident led to the confluence
between these two kingdoms
with the marriage of
Jamgyang Namgyal and Gyal
Khatun, the daughter of Ali
Sher Khan.
This union gave birth to
arguably the most powerful
king of Ladakh, King Singge
Namgyal.
Singge Namgyal was an
admirable leader and overcame
several challenges faced by his
ancestors with his military and
diplomatic skills. Moreover, he
was also a great patron of arts
and a strong adherent and proponent
of Buddha Dhamma.
His contributions to art and
architecture can be witnessed
with the nine-storey rammed
Leh Palace and a number of
monasteries that were built all
over Ladakh.
King Singge was also highly
influenced by Lama Staktsang
Repa, whom he referred to as,
"the Patron Lama of
Ladakhi Kingdom".
King Namgyal's
patronage led to the
establishment of the
Hemis Monastery
with 25 young students
were brought
from Baltistan to
become monks at the
monastery.
One of the most
revered monasteries
of Ladakh, Hemis
Monastery raised
funds for the 18-foot
tall bronze statue of
Singge Namgyal,
which is placed at the
prominent location of
Skyrsags Chowk in
Leh.
The man behind
the masterpiece is the
talented young
Ladakhi artist Tsering
Gyurmet. A culmination of
years of Gyurmet's hardwork,
the statue commemorates the
contributions of Singge
Namgyal in the unification of
Ladakh and flourishment of its
culture and heritage.
With Ladakh being declared
a Union Territory on Thursday,
the statue stands as a reminder
to the people of Ladakh to
regain their sovereignty and
preserve their rich cultural
identity.
Pak invitees to Kartarpur will
have to seek clearance: MEA
New Delhi : Referring to the Congress leader
and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu's
acceptance of the Pakistani invite to the inauguration
of the Kartarpur
corridor, the Ministry of
External Affairs (MEA)
said that the "political
clearance" would have to
be sought for it.
"Those who Pakistan
wants to call have to take
political clearance," MEA spokesperson Raveesh
Kumar said at a briefing, to a question on Sidhu
accepting an invite by Imran Khan to attend the
November 9 inauguration ceremony.
He also said India has given Pakistan a list of
480 pilgrims for the inaugural 'jatha', and is
awaiting clearance from Pakistan.
15-year-old held in Chandigarh on
sexual assault charge
Chandigarh : A 15-year-old
boy was arrested in Chandigarh
for allegedly sexually assaulting a
21-year-old woman on the pretext
of marriage, the police said on
Thursday.
The woman alleged the accused
kept her at a hotel in Mumbai and
physically exploited her. The boy's
family, however, claimed that the
two had eloped and were brought
back from Mumbai by them.
It is learnt that the boy is also
married, a police official said.
UK ELECTIONS :
Farage calls on Johnson
to form ALLIANCE
London : Brexit Party's leader Nigel Farage on Friday called
on British Prime
Minister Boris
Johnson to dump
Brexit deal and
form a "leave
alliance" for the
upcoming elections.
Launching the
Brexit Party's
election campaign
here, Farage said
that bringing political
parties together
was the "only
way" forward,
BBC reported.
Farage warned
Johnson that if he
rejected his offer,
the Brexit Party would field candidates on "every single seat" in
England, Scotland and Wales.
The Conservatives have consistently denied to form an
alliance with the Brexit Party.
Condemning Johnson's Brexit deal, the Brexit Party leader
urged him to drop it "because it is not Brexit".
Farage's statement comes after US President Donald Trump
urged Farage and Johnson to team up as "an unstoppable force".
The British PM negotiated a deal with the European Union
(EU) and tried to get it through the UK Parliament in three days
to pass it before the Brexit deadline of October 31.
While, UK MPs voted it through its first hurdle in the House
of Commons, they voted against the short timetable - leading to
a further delay to the country's departure from the EU, to
January 31, 2020.
Farage has criticised Johnson for failing to deliver on his
promise that the Britain would leave the EU by Oct 31. Instead,
he wants Johnson to pursue a free trade pact with the EU -- similar
to the bloc's deal with Canada -- and to impose a new Brexit
deadline of July 1, 2020 to get it signed off.
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