The Asian Independent 16 - 30 Nov. 2019

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Vol : 03 : #31 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 

Sabarimala Temple all set 

to open after SC verdict 

Sabarimala (Kerala) : The 

famed Sabarimala Temple that 

resembled a fortress a year ago, 

wore a quiet and peaceful look 

on Saturday as it was all set to 

open for the two-month long 

festival season. 

Compared to the last season, 

no prohibitory order has been 

clamped in and around the temple 

town this time. 

Though the Supreme Court 

on Thursday gave a 3:2 verdict 

referring the Sabarimala review 

pleas to a larger bench, it maintained 

that it has not stayed the 

September 28, 2018 order that 

allowed women to enter the 

temple. This time, the Kerala 

government has however, made 

its position clear that they will 

not make any effort to see that 

women were taken to the temple 

to pray. Last year, the police 

provided security to women 

who faced stiff resistance from 

the activists of the right-wing 

forces who chased them away. 

According to tradition and custom 

of the temple, women in 

the age group of 10 to 50 are 

not allowed to enter. Kerala 

Police chief Loknath Behra 

told the media that everything 

was in place and he would be 

meeting the advocate general to 

get a first hand knowledge of 

Supreme Court verdict. 

"Today, we will be observing 

things and depending on the 

situation, things will be 

reviewed," said Behra. 

At 5 p.m., the temple's sanctum 

sanctorum will open with a 

new priest taking over and also 

present would be the temple 

tantri and other officials of the 

Travancore Devasom Board 

(the body that looks after temples 

in the state). The temple 

will officially open for pilgrims 

on Sunday at 5 a.m. The devotees 

were now waiting at the 

Nilackal base camp and would 

be sent to the Pamba base 

camp. On Saturday morning at 

the first point of entry at 

Nilackal, only 300 policemen 

were present compared to the 

1,200-strong police force last 

year. The security at Pamba 

base camp has also been 

watered down. Vasudevan 

Nampoothiri, the outgoing 

chief priest of the Sabarimala 

temple, said he was a much 

relieved man seeing the present 

security arrangements, unlike 

the previous year. 

"I went through some tough 

times when the season opened 

last year and it was scenes that 

were never witnessed in the 

temple. I did what I am supposed 

to do and things are very 

clear, the tradition and culture 

of every religious place should 

be respected and hence there is 

no place for women, in the 

banned age group to come," he 

told the media. 

The incoming chief priest 

A.K. Sudheer Nampoothiri also 

echoed the feelings that tradition 

and culture should be 

respected and adhered to. "We 

are all certain that things will 

be smooth this season and I will 

be doing my job. Beliefs cannot 

be described in one sentence as 

traditions have to be respected 

in full and there is no way 

women who cannot come here, 

can be allowed to enter," he 

added. Temple tantri K. 

Mahesh Mohanaru wished all 

pilgrims a happy pilgrimage. 

Even as the Kerala government 

has made its stand very clear, 

the police, however, are not 

taking the security arrangements 

lightly. 

JUI-F leaders, 

workers booked for 

blocking highway 

Islamabad : A case has been registered against Jamiat 

Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leaders and workers for blocking a 

highway that links Karachi with Balochistan as the party started 

the second phase of its protest against the incumbent Pakistan 

government after ending its sit-in in Islamabad. 

A senior police official said the case had been registered 

against 250 baton-armed people, including some JUI-F leaders 

and supporters, on Friday after they suddenly blocked the highway, 

causing collision between vehicles and damage to some of 

them, reports Dawn news. He added that no arrest had been made 

so far. The development comes after the JUI-F's had announced 

to block the province's main highways from Friday to November 

18. The protests, led by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman 

began with March on October 27 from Karachi. 

It reached the capital city on October 31. On Wednesday, 

Rehman ordered party workers and leaders to disperse across the 

country and cripple key roads, in what he called ‘Plan B' to topple 

Prime Minister Imran Khan. On Thursday protesters blocked 

the Grand Trunk Road between Islamabad and Afghanistan's 

capital Kabul, causing lengthy delays. 

Sri Lanka votes in eighth presidential election 

Colombo : Sri Lankans 

went to the polls on Saturday to 

elect the eighth President of the 

island nation which is yet to 

recover from the wounds of the 

nearly three-decade-long civil 

war and also the brutal Easter 

Sunday terror attack that took 

place just seven months ago. 

In a statement, incumbent 

President Maithripala Sirisena 

urged the nearly 16 million voters 

to come out and cast their 

ballots without fear, Xinhua 

news agency reported. 

"In a country where democracy 

has been strengthened it is 

a right and also a duty to vote 

for the person of their choice," 

Sirisena said, adding that maximum 

security had been provided 

across the country and thousands 

of police officers along 

with tri-forces had been 

deployed on ground. Long 

queues were seen as voting 

began in 12,845 polling centres 

at 7 a.m. Polling is due to end at 

5 p.m., reports the Daily Mirror 

newspaper. Shortly after voting 

started, an unidentified group 

first pelted stones and then 

opened fire on two buses carrying 

voters in Mannar district. A 

police spokesman told Xinhua 

that none of the passengers 

were injured but the buses had 

been damaged. The group managed 

to flee before police personnel 

reached the incident 

spot, he said, adding that the 

voters were safely escorted to 

their polling stations. No 

arrests have been made so far. 

Saturday's contest was focused 

on the two front-runners -- 

Sajith Premadasa (52) from the 

ruling New Democratic Front 

(NDF) alliance and the Sri 

Lanka Podujana Peramuna's 

(SLPP) Gotabaya Rajapaksa 

(70) -- in a crowded field of a 

record 35 candidates. 

This is the highest number 

of contenders since the first 

presidential election in 1982. In 

the 2015 election, only 18 candidates 

had contested. 

Gotabaya is a retired soldier 

who took over Sri Lanka's 

defence portfolio during the 

period when his older brother, 

Mahinda Rajapaksa was 

President (2005-2015) and also 

when Sri Lanka ended its war 

in 2009 with the Liberation 

Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). 

While the family's political 

future appeared to be fading 

after Mahinda's defeat in 2015, 

the April 21 Easter bombings 

on churches and luxury hotels 

in which 269 people were 

killed, lent wings to Gotabaya's 

candidacy. While campaigning, 

he has presented himself as a 

nationalist and champion of the 

Sinhalese Buddhist majority, 

while also promising strong 

national security in the wake of 

the April attacks. 

On the other hand, Sajith 

Premadasa, the son of 

Ranasinghe Premadasa who 

served as the President from 

1989 until he was assassinated 

in May 1993 in Colombo in a 

suicide bombing by the LTTE, 

has pledged to fight for the 

Muslim and Tamil minorities. 

The votes from the minority 

community had also played a 

major role in Sirisena's 2015 

victory. Anura Kumara 

Dissanayake, the leader of the 

Marxist party, Janatha 

Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) 

which led to youth insurrections 

in 1971 and 1987-1988, 

has emerged as the third popular 

candidate, followed by former 

Army Commander Lt. 

Gen. Mahesh Senanayake who 

formed National People's Party 

(NPP) after he left the army last 

August. If Premadasa wins the 

election, the incumbent cabinet 

and government would continue 

until the next general election 

to elect lawmakers. But if 

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is elected 

and proves 113 majority power 

in Parliament, there is a possibility 

of a change of government. 

Election Commission 

officials have said that the 

results were expected by 

Saturday night.

2 

16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 ASIA 

www.theasianindependent.co.uk 

Key highway reopens, HK 

remains relatively calm 

Hong Kong : After five 

straight days of traffic disruption 

and chaos, Hong Kong witnessed 

a relatively calm Saturday as a 

key highway fully reopened after 

being blocked by protesters the 

night before. With the closure of 

the Tolo Highway and the suspension 

of the MTR train services 

on Friday, the government 

provided free ferry services 

between Tai Po and Wu Kai Sha, 

so that residents could travel to 

other parts of the city, reports the 

South China Morning Post. 

However, main arteries such 

as the Cross-Harbour Tunnel and stretches 

of Pok Fu Lam Road and Bonham Road 

remained blocked, while MTR train services 

between Fo Tan and Tai Po Market were 

still suspended. 

Train services were also suspended 

between Hung Hom and Mong Kok East 

after a petrol bomb was thrown onto the 

track on Saturday morning, but services 

later resumed. On Friday night, protesters 

clashed with police in Mong Kok and 

occupied the Chinese University (CUHK), 

London : Senior leaders of the UK's main opposition 

Labour Party were set to meet on Saturday to 

finalise its manifesto for the December 12 general 

election. The party has already announced a number 

of policies, including a part-nationalisation of BT 

and extra spending on infrastructure, reports the 

BBC. 

But it still has to decide whether to include some 

policies from its party conference, including on free 

movement. 

Labour was likely to discuss a policy to help 

women affected by a change in the state retirement 

age. The leaders at the meeting would also debate 

whether to include a commitment to "maintain and 

extend" free movement rights for migrants, as 

demanded by delegates at September's party conference. 

Labour's 2017 manifesto stated that free 

movement, giving European Union (EU) citizens 

the right to work and seek employment in the UK 

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before eventually pulling out. Meanwhile 

at the Polytechnic University, around 100 

protesters were scattered around the campus 

on Saturday. Some were patrolling the 

grounds, while others cleaned up trash, or 

collected and tidied up food supplies in the 

canteen. The University of Hong Kong's 

main campus, which had become a base for 

protesters this week, was quiet on Saturday 

morning, with hubs like the main library 

closed and few students to be seen. 

Hong Kong has increasingly has 

and British citizens the same right in other EU 

countries, would end with Brexit. 

Labour supremo Jeremy Corbyn has said that his 

party's immigration policy would be "based on fairness 

and justice, and the economic needs of our 

society", the BBC reported. On Friday, Corbyn confirmed 

an existing pledge to abolish university 

tuition fees will be included in the party's manifesto 

for the 12 December poll. He also said bringing 

Royal Mail, rail and water utilities under public 

ownership "are clearly going to be in our manifesto". 

Other parties have also begun announcing 

policies ahead of the official launch of their manifestos 

later in the campaign. On Saturday, both the 

Liberal Democrats and the ruling Conservatives 

made rival pledges on tree planting. The 

Conservatives also announced 500 million pounds 

of funding over the next five years to help support 

developing countries in protecting oceans. 

become a battleground 

between police and protesters 

since June, when mass 

peaceful marches targeted a 

government proposal, since 

shelved, to allow the city's 

criminal suspects to be 

extradited to mainland 

China. Those protests have 

since morphed into a larger 

activism, with citizens 

demanding the right to vote 

for their own city leaders. 

This week, the prodemocracy 

protests have 

taken a dark turn. On 

Wednesday, a 15-year-old boy was hit in 

the head by what appeared to be a tear-gas 

canister, according to the city Hospital 

Authority, reports the South China 

Morning Post. A day earlier, a battle 

between police and protesters turned a top 

university's campus into a combat zone. 

On Monday, a Hong Kong police officer 

shot a protester, while in a separate incident, 

protesters apparently set on fire a 

man who had expressed support for police 

outside an MTR station. 

Labour leaders to meet over final election manifesto 

UK MAN JAILED FOR SENDING 

DEATH THREAT TO MP 

London : A UK man who 

sent a "sickening" letter to 

Change UK leader Anna 

Soubry, suggesting she would 

be murdered like Labour MP Jo 

Cox, who was shot and stabbed 

while on her way to meet constituents 

in 2016, has been 

jailed. The Crown Prosecution 

Service (CPS) said on Friday 

that the letter, titled "Cox was 

first you are next", sent by the 

now jailed Alden Bryce Barlow 

arrived at Soubry's constituency 

office in Broxtowe, Nottingham, on 

October 14 and was opened by a 

member of staff, The Daily Mail 

reported. 

Barlow referred to Soubry as 

"treacherous" and "worthless". 

On Friday, he admitted to sending 

the letter conveying a threatening 

message and was sentenced to 12 

months in jail at the Sheffield Crown 

Court. He was also given a 10-year 

restraining order against Soubry, 

who is standing as a candidate for 

The Independent Group for Change 

(TIGfC) in the December 12 general 

election.Barlow was traced using 

fingerprint analysis and CCTV from 

the post-office counter in Doncaster 

from where he had sent the letter. 

Chief Crown prosecutor 

Gerry Wareham called the letter 

"sickening" and "ominous" and 

described it as an "attack on 

democracy". "Soubry and her 

staff in the constituency office 

understandably found the message 

deeply disturbing and 

highly offensive. 

"I hope the sentence Barlow 

received today is of some comfort 

to Soubry and her colleagues 

and a deterrent to anyone else contemplating 

such despicable actions 

against a parliamentary representative 

or candidate," The Daily Mail 

quoted Wareham as saying on Friday 

Cox, who was Labour a MP for 

Batley and Spen, was stabbed and 

shot in Birstall, West Yorkshire, in 

2016. 

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Record number of women 

to stand in UK polls 

London : A record number of women were set to stand in the 

UK's December 12 general election, with female candidates likely 

to comprise about a 

third of the total, it was 

reported on Saturday. An 

analysis found that 1,120 

of 3,322 registered candidates 

were women, the 

BBC reported. 

The Conservatives and 

Labour are set to field candidates 

in every constituency 

in Britain, except 

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle's seat in Chorley, Lancashire. According 

to the figures, 333 or 52 per cent of Labour's 632 candidates were 

women, while 190 or 30 per cent of the Conservatives' 635 candidates 

were female. 

The Greens and Liberal Democrats are fielding 204 and 188 

female candidates, respectively. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage's Brexit 

Party has put forward 275 candidates, having stood aside in all the 

seats won by the Tories in 2017. 

But Farage has controversially withdrawn all his candidates 

from the 317 seats that the Conservatives were defending in an 

effort to avoid splitting the pro-Brexit vote. The party, which 

topped the polls in May's European elections, was also not standing 

in two thirds of Scotland's 59 constituencies, including Liberal 

Democrat leader Jo Swinson's East Dunbartonshire seat. 

In 2017, 973 female candidates took part in that year's snap 

election, according to research by the House of Commons library, 

down from 2015's record of 1,033, the BBC reported. 

There have been concerns that levels of abuse on social media 

might deter women from standing, with a number of high-profile 

former female ministers citing this as their main reason for quitting 

frontline politics. 

Gunmen open fire on 

buses carrying SL voters 

Colombo : A group of unidentified gunmen 

open fire on two buses carrying voters in Sri 

Lanka's 

Mannar district 

on 

Saturday as 

polling was 

underway for 

the island 

nation's presidential 

election, a police spokesman said. The 

group hurled stones on the first bus, damaging the 

windscreen, and then they opened fire on the second 

bus from behind, the spokesman told Xinhua 

news agency. 

He said that none of the passengers were injured 

but the buses had been damaged. The group managed 

to flee before police personnel reached the 

incident spot, the spokesman said, adding that the 

voters were safely escorted to their polling stations. 

No arrests have been made so far and the police 

were currently investigating the incident. Voting 

began at 7 a.m. at over 12,000 polling centres to 

elect the country's eighth President.


ASIA 

16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 

Dismantling Casteism & Racism Symposium 

Continuing the Unfinished Legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar 

“Jai Bhim! Jai Martin Luther 

King!” So began Professor Kancha Ilaiah 

Shepherd’s address to a packed audience 

at the Michigan League on Saturday, 

October 12. Invoking Dr. Bhimrao Ramji 

Ambedkar and Dr. Martin Luther King— 

two stalwarts in the global struggle 

against racism and casteism—Professor 

Shepherd kicked off a full-day of presentations 

and discussions for the symposium 

“Dismantling Casteism & Racism: 

Continuing the Unfinished Legacy of Dr. 

B.R. Ambedkar.” The event was a firstever 

collaboration between the 

Ambedkar Association of North America 

(AANA) and University of Michigan’s 

Program in Asian/Pacific Islander 

American (A/PIA) Studies. Aimed at 

building solidarity and examining issues 

that pertain to the Dalit community in 

South Asia, the symposium explored the 

politics of dignity and equal rights for 

marginalized communities in a global 

context with an emphasis on intersections 

with issues of gender, race, and religion. 

As the organizers put it, “We seek to 

strengthen conversations between scholars, 

activists, and practitioners in analyzing 

caste-based discrimination and violence 

in South Asia and beyond.” 

The Vandenberg room of the 

Michigan League was filled with nearly 

one-hundred audience members, including 

guests from California, Chicago, 

Toronto, Indiana and Kentucky. Two 

longtime activists of the Ambedkarite 

movement, Dr. Velu Annamalai 

(Washington, DC) and Dr. Gary Bagha 

(Sacramento) were also in attendance. 

During a reception held in Sterling 

Heights on Friday, Dr. Annamalai—the 

former executive director of the 

International Dalit Forum—spoke about 

his early years as an activist for the 

Dalit cause when he first immigrated to 

the U.S. in the late 1960s. 

Dr. Annamalai described his efforts 

lecturing across the country to African 

American audiences about the struggle 

against casteism and penning editorials 

in Indian-American newspapers that 

challenged the benevolent image of 

Gandhi by highlighting his record of 

anti-Black racism and his role in undermining 

Dalit self-determination. 

The Saturday morning session featured 

speeches from Professor Kancha 

Ilaiah Shepherd, who recently retired 

from the Center for the Study of Social 

Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at 

Maulana Azad University, and 

Thenmozhi Soundararajan, the director 

of Equality Labs and former director of 

AANA in the U.S. One of India’s most 

prominent anti-caste intellectuals, 

Shepherd spoke about the “spiritual fascism” 

that undergirds caste practice and 

sharply criticized the virulent Hindu 

nationalism of modern India that continues 

to persecute and disenfranchise 

the Dalitbahujan community. 

Continuing these themes, 

Soundararajan discussed the role of 

“Hindu fascism” in proliferating a climate 

of violence and hatred towards 

Dalits, Muslims, Christians, and other 

nonupper-caste communities. Her presentation 

displayed examples of the proliferation 

of hate speech against 

Muslims and Dalits on social media as 

well as the bipartisan inroads that the 

Hindu Right have made in U.S. electoral 

politics. Her presentation asked a 

captivated audience to consider, “What 

does it mean to be an Ambedkarite during 

a time of fascism?” “It means more 

than just coming to a conference,” 

Soundararajan explained, imploring the 

audience to consider how to continue 

the struggle against casteism and 

Hindutva outside of ivory tower spaces. 

An afternoon session featured three 

panelists who discussed more personal 

impacts of casteism, colorism, and 

racism by focusing on the role of mental 

health. Ankita Nikalje, M.S., M.Ed, 

a doctoral candidate at the College of 

Pope Francis to reunite with 

cousin during Thailand trip 

Education at Purdue, described her personal 

experiences of living as a Dalit 

woman and connected her narrative to 

recent studies which highlight the rampant 

caste-based discrimination in the 

Asian-Indian immigrant community in 

the U.S in education, employment, 

local businesses, places of worship, 

and interpersonal relationships. 

Professor Ronald Hall from Michigan 

State University, whose scholarship has 

focused on the role of “colorism” in the 

African American community, drew 

connections between colorism and 

caste in South Asia. 

The final panelist, Professor Gaurav 

Pathania from George Washington 

University, explored the ways that student 

activism in India has empowered 

Ambedkarite scheduled castes, scheduled 

tribes, and OBC students to construct 

a new narrative to counter the 

mainstream narratives of Hindu 

mythology within the sacred spaces of 

higher education. He closed the afternoon 

panel with a recitation of his 

poem, “The Moon Mirrors a Manhole”. 

3 

To conclude the event, Mahesh 

Wasnik, a co-founder of the AANA and 

symposium organizer, presented 

plaques and a copy of the Indian constitution 

to each of the panelists. 

The symposium was the culmination 

of a conversation that began in January 

2019, initiated by Mahesh Wasnik and 

Vivek Chavan of AANA in coordination 

with Professor Manan Desai of UM’s 

A/PIA Studies program. In the end, the 

symposium brought together a number 

of communities not only at the 

University of Michigan and Metro- 

Detroit region, but nationally. It was 

sponsored by community organizations 

including the Periyar-Ambedkar Circle, 

the American Federation of Muslims of 

Indian Origin, and the Association for 

India’s Development. 

A long list of University of Michigan 

sponsors also generously funded and 

supported the event, including A/PIA 

Studies, the Department of American 

Culture, the Office of Diversity, Equity, 

and Inclusion, Rackham’s DEA 

Programmatic Support Fund, the LSA 

Humanities Institute Mini Grant for 

Public Humanities, the Center for South 

Asian Studies, the Department of 

English Language & Literature, the 

Department of Comparative Literature, 

the Center for South Asian Studies, the 

Department of History, the Global 

Scholars Program, and the Barger 

Leadership Institute. 

The organizers especially thank the 

following individuals who made the 

event possible: Vivek Chavan, Rakesh 

Raipure, Chatak Dhakne, Prabhu Karan, 

Dinesh Pal, Ganganithi Sivapandian, 

Sandeep Kulkarni, Anshul Sontakke, 

Rohit Meshram, Bikash, and Bipin. 

Bangkok : Pope Francis 

will begin his official visit to 

Thailand on November 20 

where he is slated to be 

reunited with his second 

cousin Ana Rosa Sivori, 

who came to the Southeast 

Asian country as a missionary 

50 years ago. 

Sister Sivori, 77, told Efe 

news on Friday that the Pope 

had suggested her name as 

his translator for his 

Thailand visit. 

"It was a pleasant surprise 

for me and it is an honour," 

she said from the chapel of 

Salesian Sisters Convent 

here. Sister Sivori, who 

learned the language "to reach the most 

disadvantaged population", will translate 

the Pope's sermons he would deliver in the 

country. 

The two grew up together in Argentina 

and their grandfathers were brothers. "As a 

child, Jorge (the Pope's given name) was 

very studious and loved soccer. Our family 

was very close, and in Argentina, we would 

always meet during family gatherings," 

said Sister Sivori. She said Catholicism 

was in "good health" in Thailand despite a 

small community of followers of less than 

400,000 or 0.58 per cent of the 60 million 

population. Pope Francis will be on a 

three-day pilgrimage for peace and to promote 

inter-religious dialog. 

The visit also coincides with the 350th 

anniversary of the Vatican's mission to 

Siam, Thailand's former name. The 

"Mission de Siam" was announced by Pope 

Clement IX in 1669. 

The pontiff will meet Thailand's King 

Maha Vajiralongkorn, Prime Minister 

Prayut Chan-o-cha and the 

head of Buddhist monk 

Sangha, before he heads to 

Japan on November 23 to 

continue his Asian tour. 

The pontiff's meeting 

with the Buddhist leader 

will be the most complicated 

for Sister Sivori as 

according to Buddhism, a 

woman cannot touch or sit 

next to a monk. She will, 

therefore, have to sit 

behind Pope Francis during 

the meeting. 

"The Vatican does not 

understand it, but these 

things are ingrained in 

them and we have to 

adapt," she added. 

Buddhist leaders have also imposed a 

series of restrictions on the use of a few 

religious terms in Thai which are related to 

Buddhism, a religion practiced by 95 per 

cent of the country's population. 

Sister Sivori came to Thailand in 1966 

as a missionary, a year after entering the 

religious life, and is currently one of the 

trustees of five Catholic schools for girls 

across Thailand. The cousins last met in 

Rome in 2015. 

All papers handed 

over to police: IIT-M 

student's father 

Chennai : Abdul Lateef, father of Fathima Latheef, an Indian 

Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) student who committed 

suicide on November 9, said on Saturday he had submitted all the 

documents in his possession to the Tamil Nadu police. 

Fathima Latheef, 19, a first year MA Humanities and 

Development Studies student had ended her life by hanging from 

a ceiling fan in her hostel room, allegedly for religious biasness. 

Fathima was a class topper at IIT-M. While speaking to reporters, 

Abdul Latheef said that no other student should suffer the fate that 

his daughter Fathima had suffered. He said his daughter wanted to 

study in IIT-M and he was also comfortable in sending her to 

Chennai for studies. On Saturday morning the Central Crime 

Branch of Tamil Nadu police had enquired with Abdul Latheef for 

couple of hours here. While no suicide note was found in 

Fathima's room, a note in her mobile phone had mentioned some 

faculty names as the cause of her death.

4 

16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 ASIA 


National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements 

National Office: 6/6 Jangpura B, New Delhi – 100014 

Ph: 01124374535 | 7337478993 | 9718479517 | E-mail: napmindia@gmail.com | Web: www.napm-india.org 

NAPM Solidarity with 48,000 striking TSRTC employees : Stop Privatization of TSRTC 

To, 

Mr. K. Chandrasekhar Rao, 

Chief Minister, 

Telangana State. 

Sub: Seeking your 

immediate intervention to 

fairly resolve the month-long 

strike by TSRTC employees 

and stop any move towards 

privatization of TSRTC. 

Sir, 

We the members of National 

Alliance of People's 

Movements (NAPM), an 

alliance of more than 300 people’s 

organizations from across 

the country are writing to 

express our deepest dismay and 

disenchantment at the manner 

in which the serious issue of 

strike by 48,000 employees of 

the Telangana State Road 

Transport Corporation 

(TSRTC) has been handled by 

your government. The issue 

concerns not just the employees 

(including bus drivers, conductors, 

mechanics, maintenance 

workers) and their families 

who would together be 

about 3 lakh people affected, 

but many more lakhs of common 

people who stand to lose 

due to halt of public transport 

services as well as attempts to 

privatize the same. 

We also write to you with a 

grave sense of urgency since 

your Cabinet has issued an 

‘ultimatum’ for all TSRTC 

employees to resume duty by 

tonight, failing which they shall 

stand to lose their jobs permanently, 

and pave way for privatization 

of the corporation. 

While it has been an entire 

month since the employees 

embarked on their strike, it is 

indeed a sad state of affairs that 

even after such a long period, 

there seems to be no substantial 

offer of dialogue and resolution 

by your government. Starting 

tomorrow, the RTC employees 

along with their family members 

have declared another 

phase of intense strike in front 

of all bus depots across the 

state. At least at this critical 

stage, we hope you would 

intervene to resolve the issue in 

an amicable way. 

Tragically, many employees 

like Surender Goud, Srinivas 

Reddy, Surender Reddy, 

Ravinder, Jaipal Reddy and a 

dalit woman employee Neeraja 

have been pushed to end their 

lives and at least 12 other 

employees including conductors 

and drivers have succumbed 

to depression and cardiac 

arrests in the past month, 

as per union and news reports. 

While we convey our deepest 

condolences to families and 

colleagues of all the employees 

in this moment of grief and outrage, 

we see this as an unprecedented 

crisis that the state has 

pushed the entire TSRTC community 

into ! 

From across the nation, we 

have been observing all these 

developments with a great deal 

of concern, since we also know 

that the states in the southern 

part of the country have been 

comparatively successful 

examples for public transportation, 

as against many states in 

the northern and central region, 

which shifted towards privatization 

of transport, leading to 

major hardships to lakhs of 

ordinary commuters as well as 

losses to the public exchequer 

in the long term. 

We have perused through 

the 26 point charter of the 

unions and find that almost all 

of them are reasonable 

demands that the state government 

can concede to and the 

same would in fact help 

TSRTC in long run, to re-establish 

itself as a strong public sector 

enterprise. We express particular 

support to the demands 

related to merger of TSRTC 

with state government, payment 

of arrears, pay revision 

pending since 2017, purchase 

of additional fleet, job tenure 

security, special measures and 

support for women employees 

etc. 

The resistance that we have 

been witnessing in Telangana 

in the past one month, not just 

by the striking employees, but 

by lakhs of other citizens, 

social organizations, students 

groups, women's groups, political 

joint action committees, 

opposition parties is almost at 

par with the upsurge during the 

Telangana statehood movement. 

It is no sign of a healthy 

democracy for your government 

to ignore the everyday 

agitations and massive gatherings 

by tens of thousands of 

employees, supported by all 

sections of civil society. 

It is learnt that your government 

plans to open up 5,100 

routes, i.e. half of the 10,400 

routes in the state for privatization. 

You have also declared 

that the routes to be privatized 

would increase further if the 

employees don’t end their 

strike. It needs no emphasis 

that such a measure would spell 

doom for the public transport 

sector in the state. TSRTC provides 

services to the remotest 

of villages and if the privatization 

drive is pushed, at least 

4,000 interior villages would 

suffer. This would be hugely 

detrimental to the rural hinterlands 

where public transport is 

the only mode of travel and private 

parties would not run 

buses in areas which are not 

profitable. 

As someone who owes your 

power today to the Telangana 

movement, it would only be 

fair that you genuinely 

acknowledge the growing public 

resistance in the state and 

respond to the demands of the 

various socio-political movements, 

beginning with the most 

burning issue of the RTC 

employees. The right to strike / 

protest is not just a hard earned 

legal right, but a democratic 

means of struggle which you 

have resorted to as well extensively 

in the past. To brand all 

the 48,000 employees who 

chose to go on strike with legitimate 

demands as 'self-dismissed' 

is plain arbitrary and 

unprecedented. You would 

recall that a couple of years 

back, your government also 

attempted to clamp down on 

the Dharna Chowk, although 

the same was struck down by 

the High Court in its order 

issued in Nov, 2018. 

The right to transport is part 

of the constitutionally guaranteed 

fundamental right to free 

movement and a welfare state 

has the responsibility to ensure 

the same, especially for the 

lakhs of poor people, women, 

students and persons from marginalized 

social locations. We 

find it extremely ironic that 

while the (new) state of Andhra 

Pradesh has conceded to the 

demand of merger of APSRTC 

with the state government, 

Telangana, which we all looked 

forward to as a welfare state 

that emerged out of a people’s 

movement is taking the path of 

privatization, that too in such 

an arbitrary fashion ! 

Much has been written about 

in the past month as to how the 

state policy has been more 

responsible for the revenue 

losses of the RTC and to 

penalise the employees for the 

same is grossly unjust. 

Likewise, while it is true that 

the strike has been causing 

hardships to the ordinary commuters, 

to place the entire onus 

of this situation on the striking 

employees as against the policy 

paralysis of the state is 

extremely unfair. 

The JAC of the employees 

has been claiming that the state 

government reimbursed only 

Rs 710 crore to the corporation, 

as against Rs 2,700 crore pending 

for the last five years 

(2014-2019), as reimbursement 

for providing free and concessionary 

bus passes to students, 

journalists, police staff on certain 

duties, senior citizens and 

persons with disabilities. The 

approach of starving state 

RTCs of funds, pushing them 

into losses, declaring the corporations 

as ‘unviable’ and therefore 

privatization as the ‘only 

way’ is an old method followed 

in some other states and we see 

the same happening in 

Telangana now. 

We place on record our 

appreciation for the timely 

intervention of the High Court 

in this matter and hope that 

your Government will take 

steps to bring an early resolution 

to this serious issue as per 

the directions of the High 

Court, to begin with, by paying 

the salaries of the month of 

September, for which the 

employees have worked hard. 

It is also quite disconcerting 

that just a few days back, the 

High Court had to admonish 

the MD, TSRTC for filing a 

misleading affidavit inconsistent 

with the earlier statement 

of your Transport Minister, Mr. 

Ajay Kumar in the assembly 

regarding payment of all dues 

to RTC. 

We know that the matter has 

now been listed for 7th Nov in 

the High Court where the Chief 

Secretary (Mr. S.K Joshi), the 

in-charge Managing Director of 

TSRTC (Mr. Sunil Sharma) and 

the Commissioner of the 

Greater Hyderabad Municipal 

Corporation-GHMC (Mr. 

Lokesh Kumar) have been 

summoned. We hope your government 

will take a reasoned, 

fair and humane stand in the 

court. 

Sir, we are very pained to 

note that your position so far 

not been sensitive to the struggle 

of the employees. When the 

matter is sub judice, issuing 

such ultimatums, amounts to 

contempt of judicial process. 

We urge you to refrain from the 

same. We also find that a couple 

of pragmatic suggestions 

have been offered to you from 

different quarters, including 

your own party MP, to open the 

window of negotiation, but 

there is no substantive response 

from your end. 

We are convinced that the 

TSRTC employees are fighting 

not just for themselves but for 

safeguarding the corporation, 

the entire state and the long 

term interest of the common 

people. 

We therefore urge you to 

immediately: 

5th Nov, 2019 

Revoke the ‘ultimatum’ 

issued to the TSRTC employees 

to call off their strike, failing 

which they would stand to 

lose their jobs permanently. 

Initiate a process for peaceful 

and positive dialogue with 

representation from TSRTC, all 

unions, opposition parties, 

women’s and students groups. 

Duly compensate families 

of all employees who have died 

in the past one month with an 

ex-gratia of 50 lakh rupees, 

employment to another member 

in a family, 3 acres of land 

and other benefits. 

Stop any move towards privatization 

of the TSRTC and 

constitute a high-level expert 

committee with representation 

from unions as well as public 

spirited persons and people’s 

organisations to suggest measures 

for effective and sustainable 

functioning of the RTC. 

In anticipation of fair action 

in the interest of the ‘Bangaru 

Telangana’ that your government 

claims to bring about. 

Signed/-


He was the only son of his landless 

parents in a village named as Udaypura 

in district Deoria. When the brick kiln 

season is off, most of the people from 

Mushahar community who live on the 

river bank are engaged in fishing as 

they have no other source of food.. This 

time, with so much of rain, all communities 

on river bank are enjoying a good 

fish. But October 28th i.e. Diwali day 

came as a devastation for Chhotu who 

was just 27 years old when he refused 

to share his fish catch with a local 

Brahmin who was determined for the 

same. The altercation happened 

between Chhotu and the local bully 

who happened to be Brahmin as he was 

thrashed, beaten up mercilessly and 

thrown in the river. 

When he did not turn home, 

Chhotu’s pregnant wife Rinku and 

mother got worried about. They started 

looking for him but did not find. They 

went to the police but was of no help. 

Nobody was willing to speak that time. 

He has three small children and his wife 

is due for delivery again. The family 

live in a small house granted by the 

government under Indira Aawas Yojna. 

Chhotu was barely literate. He had 

passed fifth exam and like many others 

he was at home as there was no much of 

work hence fish remain the main source 

of their livelihood. Mushahars just fish 

to feed themselves. 

Two days later, Chhotu’s body was 

recovered from the river Gandak. Well 

built Chhotu had lost to the brahmanical 

arrogance. Mushahars are the most 

exploited community, a thoroughly 

landless, they are political unrepresented 

and have no space in the popular 

movements so far. 

The literacy rate is very low. People 

d id not reach them and those who go 

now just for the sake of ‘social work’, 

too treat them shabbily. It is not that the 

Iconic statue of EVR Periyar at the 

Periyar Thidal. His powerful presence 

in the Dravidian land ensured that the 

hate-mongering caste supremacists 

remain out of the power game in 

Tamilnadu but now the Tamil land is 

being targeted by the Hindutva forces 

and their agenda is to finish the 

Dravidian movement in the state. I 

asked this question to Dr K Veeramani, 

founder DK, whether the Dravidian 

politicians who swore in the name of 

Thanthi Periyar, not compromised by 

the Hindutva. I also felt that after the 

demise of towering leaders of the movement, 

both J. Jailalitha and Kaliangar 

Karnunandhi, there is a great risk of the 

powerful lobby of Hindutva through 

their money and muscle power, 

Why is Periyar’s life not taught in the 

schools and colleges of Tamilnadu and 

rest of the country. Is his achievements 

and sayings not important ? I feel the 

powerful symbolism of Black is not 

merely beautiful but powerful too is 

reflected in Periyar’s action more than 

any one else. Where do you find the 

Black shirt and white pant / Sarong / 

Lungi combination. In the cinema, in 

popular culture it is always black pant 

white shirt, but Periyar’s idea provided 

Black superiority over white and that is 

why his symbolism is much more powerful 

than anyone else but I dont know 

whether the African American know 

about Periyar’s work. I asked this question 

to Dr K Veeramani and he said that 

fight would have been for ‘fish’ alone. 

The Hippocratic thing is that the 

Brahmins and other of their social order 

dont ‘eat’ meat or non vegetarian things 

NEWS 

Dalit killed for not 

selling FISH to 

dominant caste men 

people are now reading to Dr Ambedkar 

as his writings were in English, 

Periyar’s work is in Tamil and need to 

be translated into English but DK is 

very careful of it as a lot of ideas may be 

misinterpreted by the translators but 

they are now on the process. 

Periyar was a thinker, an intellectual 

and I call him the most powerful public 

intellectual. Many people feel ‘Public 

Intellectual’ is a term for serious ‘academics’ 

but I think it should not be their 

monopoly. Periyar was the most influential 

man in our public life as far as 

Tamilnadu is concern. He had the 

courage to call a spade a spade. His 

writings on women are unmatched even 

today and he can also be termed as one 

of the greatest feminists of our time 

whose work most of our elite feminists 

may not even know. 

Periyar spoke against all forms of 

social evils and attacked the root of it. 

At the time when people say that in 

India, nothing can move without religion 

and we should ‘respect’ people’s 

‘sentiments’, we must remember 

Periyar and his success story. Periyar 

thrashed brahmanism in Tamilnadu, 

made the dravidian people aware of the 

exploitative nature of Brahmanism and 

provided his own cultural alternative 

like self respect marriages. Tamilnadu 

still remain a fascinating state though 

Dravidian parties compromised with 

Hindutva and that is why Periyar always 

maintained that we must not be part of 

during this festive season. It shows the 

absolute thuggish character that you 

want to snatch his catch which poor 

Chhotu was having for his family. The 

the power politics. Social movements 

must remain devoted to the cause of the 

people and must not become political 

parties as then they will compromise the 

interest of the people. Dr Veeramani 

says, that 

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat 

DK remain 

social and human rights activist 

committed 

to Periyar’s vision of strong social 

movements and our cadres dont aspire 

to become MPs and MLAs even when 

their cadres do work and spread the 

message of Periyar all over the state 

which only benefited the Dravidian 

fact is Mushahars are maltreated and 

looked down upon in contempt. The 

powerful and dominant communities of 

all varieties hate to see any person with 

political parties. Periyar must go international 

and his thoughts should spread 

worldwide to promote 

humanism, rational 

thinking and powerful 

message of black identity. 

Periyar is more 

important because it is 

also essential to know 

that you can bend the power without 

being in power. Periyar’s power came 

from his commitment to the cause of 

people that is why they were ready to 

listen and follow him despite his strong 


5 

marginalised sections ‘rejecting’ their 

‘order’. Chhotu paid a price for his 

‘rejection’ as Mushahars dont sale fish 

but are depended on it for their survival. 

Most of the government schemes are 

trap in deep corruption and rarely reach 

them. 

But in the last one decade because of 

various initiatives Mushahars are 

standing and speaking up. They are 

demanding their rights and are uniting 

too. When the police did not file the 

FIR, the villagers went to the District 

Headquarter and lodged a protest with 

the district magistrate. 

The police officers, though, were 

supportive yet, had their hand tied for 

the two days ‘Chhuth Festival’ when 

people worship Sun. The rivers will be 

crowded tomorrow with devotees. 

Chhotu’s father had actually given a 

written complain against the two persons 

of the village but the police did not 

act. After much effort of local activist 

Sangeeta Kushwaha the administration 

promised to act after the festive season 

is over. 

Most of the time, our administration 

and police are busy in arranging the 

things in the name of ‘festivities’ and 

hence the lives of human being, particularly 

those who are not even considered 

human, does not matter. 

We hope the administration will act 

on the complain and bring justice to the 

family of Chhotu. His family must be 

duely compensated . We will be steadily 

monitoring the case so that the criminals 

are punished. 

By Vidya Bhushan 

Rawat 

social and human rights 

activist 

Tamilnadu will always reject Hindutva project to eliminate 

Dravidian identity work of EVR Periyar – Dr K Veeramani 

words against religious belief. He spoke 

powerful against superstition. Periyar 

was not merely a rationalist and atheist 

but openly propagated that. Despite not 

in politics, he defined the Dravidian 

political principles and ideology that 

Tamiladu saw. It is this Dravidian principles, 

that despite all faults of political 

leaders and their compromises, 

Tamilnadu remain one of the best governed 

state, better in human development 

indexes where children get far better 

mid day meal than any other state 

and they started it on their own. 

Tamilnadu still has 69% reservation and 

far superior to any other state in governance. 

Success of Periyar’s model in 

Tamilnadu suggest that if we are true to 

public cause, we can speak against false 

religious beliefs and succeed. Today’s 

politicians cant do it as they use religious 

superstition to promote their 

devotees and bhakts. Periyar want 

enlightened cadres and not brainless 

bhakts and that is why he succeeded. 

There are attempt to finish Dravidian 

principles and Periyar’s work but as Dr 

Veeramani says, Hindutva forces will 

try everything but Tamilnadu will reject 

them as it rejected them in the past. 

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social 

and human rights activist. He blogs 

at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com 

twitter @freetohumanity 

Email: vbrawat@gmail.com

6 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 ASIA 


The All-Party Parliamentary Group 

(APPG) on Indian Traditional Sciences 

celebrated Ayurveda Day 2019 at a 

packed meeting in Houses of Lords on 

Tuesday 5th November. 

In her opening note the Baroness 

Uddin welcomed fellow parliamentarians, 

the High Commissioner of Sri 

Lanka to the UK Her Excellency Hon. 

Manisha Gunasekera, and Hon. 

Manmeet Singh Minister Coordination 

and Ms Yamuna Counsellor from the 

High Commission of India in London 

and all the invited guests and exalted to 

the glory of longevity in Ayurveda, 

which had clearly shown that it had 

been time tested and therefore merited 

inclusion within the National Health 

Service. The Baroness Varma spoke eloquently 

of her passionate interest in 

Indian Traditional Sciences and 

enforced her core message to the audience 

that this is a valuable time for the 

APPG Indian Traditional Sciences to 

present a manifesto on health to all 

political parties as the country is going 

for general election. She said ‘this is so 

important; I am emphasizing it as much 

as I can that the power for change lies 

with the people of the country.’ 

Amarjeet S. Bhamra, Secretariat of 

the APPG Indian Traditional Sciences 

thanked both the Baroness Uddin and 

the Baroness Verma for hosting this 

event at the last minute as the original 

event had to be cancelled on the same 

day but later in the evening in the House 

of Commons. Amarjeet prompted the 

audience to sign a petition calling on the 

European Union Commission to offer 

Freedom of Choice in healthcare to all 

citizens of Europe as well as inviting the 

audience to write to their MP’s urging 

them to lend their support to sign an 

Early Day Motion 80*, which has been 

tabled by Bob Blackman MP to consider 

that Ayurveda is a proven, effective, 

comprehensive system of medicine, and 

needs to be made accessible to all in this 

country, supported by the National 

Health Service. The links to both the 

Petition and EDM is accessible by visiting 

www.ITSappg.org website. 

Ayurveda Day 2019 

House of Lords UK 

Amarjeet Bhamra, Baroness Verma, Baroness Uddin, Sri Lanka HC M Gunasekera, Dr 

Godagama, Ms Yamuna Counselor HC of India 

The opening address was given by 

the guest of honor High Commissioner 

of Sri Lanka to UK Her Excellency 

Hon. Manisha Gunasekera, who spoke 

about the prevention-oriented approach 

of Ayurveda, and her passion to promote 

health sciences of Sri Lanka through the 

established APPG Indian Traditional 

Sciences. 

Special guest, Hon. Manmeet Singh 

Minister Coordination from the High 

Commission of India in London elaborated 

about the prevention-oriented 

approach of Ayurveda, and the steps 

taken by his government to promote 

Ayurveda in the UK and around the 

world, in particular the inauguration of a 

Centre of Excellence for Yoga Research 

and Indian Traditional Medicine in the 

UK last year, at a ceremony with both 

Prince Charles and the Prime Minister 

of India, Narendra Modi. 

Dr Shantha Godagama member of 

the Herbal Medicines Advisory 

Committee (Medicines and Healthcare 

products Regulatory Agency) spoke of 

the formation of British Ayurvedic 

Medical Council. A ‘one voice’ for 

Ayurveda in the UK which will liaise 

with governments departments in the 

ever-challenging environment for traditional 

systems of medicines. Objections 

to the inclusion of Ayurveda centred on 

quality control on products from India 

and Sri Lanka, he urged the both High 

Commission of India and Sri Lanka to 

begin a dialogue with British authorities 

to align production standards from the 

sub-continent of India. 

Siddhalepa Group is a household 

name in Sri Lanka for over six generations 

of Ayurvedic physicians and its 

managing director Mr Asoka Hettigoda 

expanded on the timeline of one of the 

largest producers of variety of 

Ayurvedic products. 

Dr Mauroof Athique from the UK’s 

most iconic learning establishment 

shared the philosophy of Ayurveda on 

longevity. 

The ever-enchanting Indian classical 

dance prodigy Ragarani Vinjamuri performed 

a dance relating to the herb – 

Tulsi. 

Magali Mazzei, born in 

Dschibuti/Africa, raised in Greece and 

Germany, now living France gave an 

inspiring demonstration of the understanding 

of all the major Pranas of 

Ayurveda through movement which 

were followed by the audience. 

Dr Indira Anand chair at the British 

Association of Accredited Ayurvedic 

Practitioners proposed that according to 

WHO, in the next 25 years, the population 

aged 65 and above is likely to grow 

by 88%. Therefore, in the coming years, 

maintaining health and quality of life in 

ageing populations will be vitally 

important, both socially and economically. 

It is high time our NHS decides to 

embrace Ayurveda with its unique rejuvenating 

and purificatory therapies, and 

seasonal regimens, individualised and 

holistic healthcare and a code of moral 

and social conduct based on common 

sense. 

From India, Dr Hrishikesh Damle 

Founder, CEO and Managing Director 

of Atrimed explained his remit as a 

physician, trained in Ayurveda with 

post-graduation degrees in plant pharmacology 

and clinical pharmacology in 

India. 

Dr Palitha Serasinghe summed up 

the presentation of the speaker’s contribution 

and offered the Dhanvantri 

Mantra together with Dr Venkata Joshi. 

In her valedictory address the 

Baroness Verma thanked all the contributors 

of a very successful historical 

meeting celebrating the Ayurveda Day 

2019 in the UK Parliament and praised 

the continuous relentless work of 

Amarjeet S Bhamra who has been tirelessly 

working for all Indian Traditional 

Sciences for the past decade. 

Special ‘Ambassador for Pluralistic 

Medicine’ Awards were presented to: 

The Baroness Verma, The Baroness 

Uddin, Shahnaz Husain producer of 

Ayurvedic health and beauty care products 

from India. 

Coveted Ayurveda Ratan Awards 

were presented by The Baroness Verma 

and Amarjeet S Bhamra to 

Dr Hrisheikesh Damle, Bengaluru, 

India, 

Dr Raghunandan Sharma Hounslow, 

UK (Ayurvedic Medical Association), 

Dr Palitha Serasinghe Guildford, UK 

(Ayurvedic Practitioners Association) 

and Asoka Hettigoda. 

Scam in UP Home Guards' 

attendance, probe begins 

Entry not banned in Sabarimala, 

I'll go again: Kanakadurga 

Kozhikode (Kerala) : 

Kanakadurga, who created history by 

praying at the Sabarimala temple on 

January 2, welcomed the Supreme 

Court's decision on Thursday which 

referred the issue of entry of women 

into the temple and other religious 

places to a larger seven-judge bench, 

saying since the verdict does not ban 

entry, I will go again. "Today's verdict 

is encouraging. There is no stay on the 

September 28 (2018) verdict which 

opened the temple to women of all 

ages. I will go again," Kanakadurga 

told the media at Malappuram. 

Kanakadurga and Bindu Ammini, 

both aged below 50, prayed at the 

Sabarimala temple on January 2 with 

police security amid huge protests. 

Ammini said that since Thursday's 

verdict doesn't stay the previous year's 

historic decision, women are free to 

go and pray at the temple. 

"The Kerala government should 

ensure that they provide all the support 

to women who want to go and 

pray at Sabarimala," Ammini told the 

media here. 

The two offered prayers at the temple 

last year that triggered a huge 

protest which forced them to go into 

hiding. Both of them could return to 

their homes only after the protests 

died down. 

Lucknow : After the recent provident 

fund scam in the Uttar Pradesh Power 

Corporation, another scam in the state 

has now come to light related to allotting 

duties to home guards, according 

to the police on Wednesday. 

According to reports, the 

scam has taken place in Gautam 

Buddha Nagar where crores of 

rupees have been swindled by 

marking fake attendance for 

home guards. The Yogi 

Adityanath government has 

already initiated an inquiry into 

the matter. Uttar Pradesh DGP 

O.P. Singh has directed the 

Senior Superintendent of Police 

(SSP) in Gautam Buddha Nagar 

to register an FIR against those 

responsible for the scam. A four 

member team has been set up to conduct 

a thorough probe into the matter. The 

Director General of Police (DGP) told 

reporters here that the fraud was a case of 

"virtual policing" because those marked 

'present' in the registers were actually not 

present.The SSP has made a preliminary 

investigation into the matter and has recommended 

that a case be registered 

against the concerned home guard officials. 

According to Gautam Buddha 

Nagar SSP Vaibhav Krishna said he had 

received information that several home 

guards do not report for duty even as 

their attendance was being marked. Some 

officials were reportedly drawing their 

emoluments. Initial investigations 

showed that the signatures of those in 

charge of police stations were being 

faked to withdraw the money. 

"I have written to the state government 

and requested an inquiry after 

which the DG Home Guards set up the 

committee which includes SSO Lucknow 

Sunil Kumar, Mirzapur District 

Commandant Shailendra Pratap Singh, 

Baghpat Division Commandant, 

and Meerut Divisional 

Commandant D.D. Maurya," he 

said. The team visited all the 

police stations and discovered fake 

registers and seals. The maximum 

forgery had been done at the 

Knowledge Park police station. 

"The money would be transferred 

into the account of the home 

guards and those officials involved 

in the scam, would later take their 

share. In just two months, five 

police stations have been defrauded 

of a sum of Rs 7 lakh," the SSP 

said.In case the scam extends 

across state, the money involved would 

run into several crores, sources said. 

The home guard is an Indian paramilitary 

police force, tasked as an auxiliary 

to the main police force. The home 

guards are not on regular salary but are 

paid a daily allowance of Rs 500, which 

has recently been increased by the 

Supreme Court to Rs 672.


ASIA 


7 

Nikhil Kapoor 

Young people share their views in 

panel discussion. CBSO String Quartet Participants 

World Music Conference 2019 

promotes Mental Health key messages 

‘It is events like this that bring us all 

together irrespective of our differences, 

which provide a platform for us to celebrate 

the sheer diversity, in terms of 

world music, which plays an important 

part in our daily lives’ – British Prime 

Minister, Rt Hon Boris Johnson 

This year’s World Music Conference 

has once again been hailed a huge success. 

The festival, which attracted 

expert speakers, over 100 school children 

from all abilities from across the 

West Midlands and representatives from 

over 12 countries, was organised by the 

British Carnatic Choir (BCC) and hosted 

by Aston University in Birmingham 

last Friday (Nov 8). 

The core objective of this year’s 

event was to raise awareness of links 

between music and mental health and 

well-being. 

The whole day event, now in its third 

year, featured interactive workshops, 

stage performances and panel discussions, 

concluding with the popular BCC 

concert and conference dinner. 

Presentations included: 

Making music a resource for health – 

Dr Naomi Norton, Associate Lecturer in 

Music Education, University of York 

Music, mental health and Offenders 

– Dr Leela Sivaprasad, Consultant, 

Forensic Psychiatry, Birmingham & 

Solihull Mental Health Foundation 

Trust 

Music therapy for Alcohol-related 

depression – Jas Rai, campaigner 

The event also featured two panel 

discussions with 16-24 year-olds, the 

themes for which were: 

Student Mental Health and Music – 

an effective coping strategy, chaired by 

Ben Parry, Chair, National Youth Choirs 

of Great Britain (NYCGB) 

The Power of Music, chaired by 

Heather Clemson, former Deputy Head 

of the Music Service in Birmingham 

Introduced this year were the 

Midlands Young Ambassadors of Music 

Awards where educationalists, parents 

and guardians were encouraged to nominate 

children and young people for 

their flair for singing, playing instruments, 

dance, or anything related to 

music. Winners of these inaugural 

awards were: 

Anupama Harish – She has won the 

BCC’s Patrons Award for 3 successive 

New Delhi : The Congress, which is 

in talks with its ally Nationalist Congress 

Party (NCP) over government formation 

in Maharashtra, is treading cautiously in 

preparing the common minimum programme 

(CMP) before committing to the 

Shiv Sena and wants the latter to shed its 

Hindutva ideology and take a secular 

stand. According to Congress sources, 

the party is in discussions with NCP over 

the CMP to form a government in the 

state, where President's rule was imposed 

on Monday and the assembly put under 

CROSSING ALL 

BOUNDARIES, 

GLOBALLY 

years and is a Grade 3 violinist. 

Maisie Stewart – A member of the 

National Youth Orchestra of Great 

Britain. A violinist, Maisie is currently 

at Solihull Sixth Form. 

Sami Rao – A Year 11 student at 

Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for 

Girls, Sami is a viola player. She is an 

inspiration to her peers. 

Ankita Sai Ananth Kumar – Music is 

her passion and she enjoys entertaining 

audiences. Her passion lies in music 

from both East and West. 

A second set of awards, the BCC 

annual awards, were presented to those 

who have demonstrated excellence in the 

Arts & Culture sector, through innovation, 

passion and pride in the work that 

they undertake to make a positive difference 

to the lives of individuals and communities. 

Winners of these awards were: 

Ben Parry – Artistic Director & 

Principal Conductor, National Youth 

Choirs Great Britain 

Stuart Birnie – Head of the Music 

Services, Services For Education 

Nikhil Kapoor – Dance instructor, 

Shiamak Midlands 

This year’s event was supported by 

Aston University, West Midlands 

Combined Authority, the Consul 

General of India in the Midlands and 

NHS Mental Health Trust Foundation. 

The keynote address was given by 

Professor Martin Levermore MBE DL, 

Chief Executive of MDTi Limited. 

In addition to Eastern European, 

other countries represented were India, 

Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, China, 

suspended animation. Before committing 

to the Shiv Sena, the party first wants to 

discuss all the points of the CMP with the 

NCP, a Congress source said. He said that 

NCP chief Sharad Pawar is all set to meet 

Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi 

on the weekend to discuss the matter. 

He also said that the Congress will 

look at every aspect, on whether to support 

government formation in the state 

from inside or give outside support. 

According to the source, if the 

Congress becomes the part of the government 

then it will also discuss the cabinet 

berths for the party. 

He, however, refused to give any time 

frame for government formation and said 

that, at this juncture, it would be very 

"hypothetical" to comment when a government 

could be formed in Mumbai. 

The source further said that the Congress 

will also study the Shiv Sena's manifesto, 

and what they have promised to the people 

of the state. 

"If the Congress supports the Shiv 

Sena in the state for the government formation, 

then it will also ask the party to 

shed their strong Hindutva ideology and 

take the secular stand on several issues," 

he said. In the October 21 assembly elections, 

the BJP won 105 out of 288 seats, 

while its pre-poll alliance partner Shiv 

Sena won 56 seats. However, the allies 

fell out after Shiv Sena chief Uddhav 

Thackarey demanded that the Chief 

Minister's post be rotated, which was 

unacceptable to the BJP. The Congress 

source further said that senior leader 

Ahmed Patel, who along with 

Iran and several African countries. 

The evening programme, compered 

by Aston University engineering student 

Sreenivas Ramakrishnan, featured the 

popular City of Birmingham Symphony 

Orchestra’s String Quartet, as well as 

performances by young people and students 

of organiser Dr Chithra 

Ramakrishnan FRSA. Distinguished 

guests included John Crabtree OBE, 

Lord Lieutenant for West Midlands, 

Councillor Stephen Reynolds, Mayor of 

the Borough of Telford & Wrekin, 

Marcia McLaughlin, Managing Editor, 

The Phoenix Newspaper, Professor 

Nazira Karodia from University of 

Wolverhampton. 

Once again, this event saw a large 

representation from Commonwealth 

Nations. Last year delegates were 

encouraged to sign a life-size ‘World 

Music Conference’ card which was 

delivered to HM The Queen by the 

event chief organiser, Dr Chithra 

Ramakrishnan FRSA. 

“We are hugely proud of HM The 

Queen and all that Her Majesty does for 

our nation but also for the 

Commonwealth. This card was a token 

of our respectful gesture to Her majesty 

for embracing the sheer cultural diversity 

that we have here in Great Britain”. 

Dr Ramakrishnan added: 

“Music has a phenomenal effect on 

mental health. This multidisciplinary 

conference brings young people, leading 

researchers, mental health practitioners, 

communities and music professionals 

together from all backgrounds to 

share their perspectives about the positive 

benefits of music through their 

work and expertise and contribute to a 

wider audience and their wellbeing. 

“In addition to this, the conference 

will also focus on practical ‘’hands -on’’ 

musical experiences for children and 

adolescent people.” 

Andy Street CBE, Mayor for West 

Midlands, had this to say: 

“The festival is unique in its aim of 

bringing together artists, academics and 

music educators from across Africa, 

Europe, the USA and India.” 

The World Music Conference, 

launched in 2017, aims to promote and 

bring together academics, musicians, 

experts, children and young people of 

all abilities representing all facets of 

multicultural Britain under one platform. 

For lending support, Congress wants Shiv Sena to shed Hindutva 

Mallikarjun Kharge and K.C. Venugopal 

met Pawar in Mumbai on Tuesday, will 

submit the report of their talks to Sonia 

Gandhi. Asked if Sonia Gandhi had spoken 

to party MLAs, who were stationed 

in the Rajasthan capital Jaipur to avoid 

poaching, he replied: "She did not call 

any party MLAs to discuss the issue." 

Following the imposing of President's 

rule in Maharashtra, the Congress and the 

NCP are holding series of meetings to 

decide on supporting the Shiv Sena to 

form a government.



Delhi’s choking is in the news every 

year during this period. This year, it 

broke all the ‘box office’ records of 

worst air quality. The Supreme Court 

‘acted’ as a ‘concerned’ authority. It 

asked the Delhi and other related government 

to ‘stop’ ‘blame’ game. It has 

given some order and ‘decided’ that 

‘enough’ is ‘enough’. 

Arvind Kejriwal blamed the Punjab 

farmers while BJP and Congress blamed 

Arvind Kejriwal for all that was happening 

in Delhi where air quality is 

‘good enough’ to send you to some 

‘asthma cure’ centers. 

Netas are ‘protesting’ in the street. 

Some students organisations and other 

groups too are ‘protesting’ that ‘Delhi 

must be given clean air’ as if you can 

buy it from Reliance’s Big Bazar. 

Watching the protest of the people, I 

found how hypocrite are politicians as 

well as public. The question we must 

ask today is whether Delhi’s environmental 

crisis is because farmers are 

burning stubble or are farmers being 

used as soft target ignoring the vast construction 

activities, vehicular pollution 

and above all, despite all pretensions, 

our ‘festivals’ which we glamorise so 

much. Modern day, commercialised, 

Diwali and other festivals have become 

the biggest threat for our environment 

and actually a disaster for our future if 

we dont change the mode to celebrate 

them. There was a time when crackers 

were burst only during the Diwali day 

but now the trend has been extended 

during the Dusshera, Chhuth as well as 

marriage parties, India- Pakistan matches 

and various other festivals. 

I am here in the Eastern Uttar 

Pradesh and every year I come to this 

place particularly during the festivities 

of Diwali to protect myself from the torture 

that we face in Delhi but here too 

crackers were burst, noise pollution was 

already there through temples but on 

Chhutth day, we have seen crackers 

being burst. Next morning, we saw 

smog all over but we dont care. We are 

hell bent to please our gods who cant do 

anything but will only help the brahmanical 

interests. 

When I was flying from Chennai to 

Gorakhpur and came via Delhi, I can 

say that the smog was not merely in the 

Delhi sky, It had actually spread across 

the other part of Northern India and various 

satellite images now confirm that. 

It is painful to see how India’s smaller 

towns too are now being choked. 

And it will continue as long as our 

political class and people at large will 

not act. we will destroy our environment 

Pyongyang : North Korea 

lashed out at former US vice 

president Joe Biden for 

denouncing the communist 

regime, calling him a “rabid 

dog” that should be “beaten to 

death”, state media said on 

Friday. “Biden bereft of elementary 

appearance as a 

human being, much less a 

politician, again reeled off a 

string of rubbish against the 

dignity of the supreme leadership 

of North Korea,” Yonhap 

News quoted Pyongyang’s 

state-run KCNA as saying in a 

commentary. 

“Rabid dogs like Biden can 

hurt lots of people if they are 

allowed to run about. They 

must be beaten to death with a 

Who is responsible 

for our current climate 

crisis in DELHI ? 

and No God will be able to help India if 

people dont act. That is why I remember 

Periyar who was the man who had the 

courage to speak up against evils of religion. 

There were many other reformers 

who spoke against these religious evils 

which are one of the reasons of continuous 

destruction of our environment. 

Cant we imagine how much north India 

engulfed in darkness on the Diwali day 

but once you raise this question the 

deliberate thing will be 

what about Christmas and 

Eid and I tell all these that 

no other festival match in 

destruction of nature as the current form 

of Diwali if bursting of the cracker is 

considered to be essential ‘religious’ 

activity. No political leader of the modern 

time, can appeal to people not to 

burst crackers and greet each other, light 

stick, before it is too late.” 

Biden, a leading Democratic 

presidential candidate, has been 

vocal about his criticism of US 

President Donald Trump’s 

approach to North Korea in 

negotiations to denuclearise the 

regime. 

In July, he accused Trump of 

embracing “thugs” like North 

diyas. Why cant the government act 

against the cracker factories but it wont 

because it will allow things to come 

from the source and penalise the poor 

workers. 

Our festivals are related to crop and I 

have mentioned it many times but given 

the nature today, we need to have a 

serious look at the way we celebrate 

them. On the Holi, we burnt so much 

of wood all over the country. Can 



N Korea calls Joe Biden ‘rabid dog’ 

that should be ‘beaten to death’ 

any one imagine burning of wood at 

the time when it will not be available 

even for burning the dead bodies. That 

apart, we destroy our environment. 

Chhatth has finished shortly. The festival 

is called ‘festival’ of nature but the 

Korean leader Kim Jong-un 

and giving him the legitimacy 

he craves on the world stage. 

He has called the two Trump- 

Kim summits made for TV 

shows. KCNA on Friday 

described Biden as a “profiteer” 

who is greedy for 

power and “wandering 

about like a starving field 

dog”. “He will be made to 

see even in a grave what 

horrible consequences will 

be brought about by his 

thoughtless utterances.” In 

May, Pyongyang had issued 

similar angry remarks at Biden 

and called him a “fool of low 

IQ” after he called leader Kim a 

“dictator and tyrant” during a 

campaign speech. 

fact is these are celebration of male 

supremacy. Right from Karwachowth to 

bhai dooj and now Chhath, they all are 

part of our male dominated brahmanical 

system but none of the politicians will 

ever speak against them. None of our 

‘revolutionaries’ will speak. Now, 

Chhatth has been 

cleverly ‘nationalised’ 

through TV channels 

and rivers and banks 

are all filled with mass 

of people. The next 

day, you find only 

garbage on these 

banks. The photographs 

of women worshiping 

sun in the highly polluted 

Yamuna river. I am amazed to see the 

‘faith’ that makes these women including 

young girls to give ‘ardhya’ to sun 

Lucknow : The Uttar Pradesh Shia Central 

Waqf Board Chairman Wasim Rizmi, has 

announced a donation of Rs 51,000 for the construction 

of the Ram 

temple in Ayodhya. 

Wasim Rizvi said 

on Thursday that the 

Shia Waqf Board was 

in favour of the construction 

of a Ram 

temple in Ayodhya 

and the Supreme 

Court judgment was 

the 'best verdict' that 

could have been possible. 

"Preparations 

are on for the construction 

of a grand 

temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi. Since Lord 

standing in the hugely intoxicated water 

of Yamuna. I am not ‘impressed’ in their 

‘faith’ but can only pity at their ignorance. 

I am shocked that political leaders 

and government did not advise people 

not to go to these dangerous polluted 

areas in the name of faith. It should 

have stopped but then it wont because 

our politicians remain highly hypocrite. 

India is destroying its natural 

resources in the name of faith. Watch 

your festivals of Durga Puja, Ganesh 

Puja and the amount of garbage is left 

over after the ceremony. After the festivals 

are over, we immerse all the idols 

in the rivers and seas. Have anybody 

said why this cant stop. How will you 

keep your water bodies clean and safe 

with such massive level of rubbish is 

flown into them. 

It is not the issue or north or south. It 

is the issue of our cultural corruption. 

Fight to protect environment is not just 

a government job. In fact politicians and 

governments dont have courage to 

speak things bluntly as they are habitual 

of using these ‘religious’ events to further 

their political agenda. Once you 

have seen ignorance as bliss for politicians, 

they wont make a comment but 

our constitutional bodies must work, 

our environment Ministry must act, we 

must have river protection department 

and stop people from further polluting 

them. Faith can not be a pretense to 

destroy our environment. Donot blame 

farmers of Punjab for the evils of Delhi, 

have courage to complete halt the crackers 

and immersion of idols in various 

parts of the country. Reduce vehicular 

traffic and stop your ‘developmental’ 

activities at the cost of our nature. No 

developmental work should be allowed 

unless an impartial environmental 

assessment study is done and approve it. 

Ofcourse, we know how this is done 

these days. Modi ji is ‘developing’ a 

new plan to ‘develop’ Delhi. The historical 

buildings might become ‘history’. 

So further digging and polluting of the 

city will continue. A green Delhi has 

been converted into cemented zone 

which will choke it further. 

It is time we all understand the dangers 

of our ignorance and superstitions 

which are now threatening our environment. 

Our ‘developmental’ module is 

also helping the corrupt and cronies and 

has nothing to worry about protecting 

earth. Can they protect our nature who 

want to ‘exploit’ everything in it ? We 

need to place our priorities well only 

then we will be able to protect our right 

to breathe fresh air otherwise situation 

is going to worsen in future. 

UP Shia Waqf Board chief donates 

Rs 51,000 for Ram temple 

Ram is the ancestor of all of us, we are giving Rs 

51,000 on behalf of the 'Wasim Rizvi Films' to 

the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas towards temple 

construction," he 

said. 

He further said 

that the unanimous 

verdict of the 

Supreme Court on 

November 9, had 

cleared the way for 

the construction of a 

Ram temple at the 

disputed site in 

Ayodhya, The court 

has also directed the 

Centre to allot a separate 

five-acre plot 

to the Sunni Waqf Board to build a mosque.

www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 9 

Guru Nanak Chair Launched at the 

University of Birmingham by Indian 

Union Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri 

As part of the 550th birth anniversary 

celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, in 

a scintillating function organised by the 

University of Birmingham and 

Consulate of India, on November 1st, 

2019, India?s Union Minister, Shri 

Hardeep Singh Puri formally announced 

the launch of the Guru Nanak Chair 

(supported by the Government of India). 

This academic Chair will promote 

research into the life and philosophy of 

Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the revered first 

Sikh Guru. This announcement was 

made while the Hon?ble Minister was 

delivering the prestigious „Distinguished 

Guest Lecture’ in the „packed to the 

capacity? ?Great Hall? of University of 

Birmingham (UOB). Nearly 400 people 

from all across the UK, braved the early 

– November chill to listen to the illustrious 

orator from India speak on the subject 

of ‘The Contemporary Relevance of 

Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji’s Message of 

Inter-faith Harmony?. 

In his key note address, lasting a little 

over half an hour, the Hon?ble 

Minister spoke eloquently about Guru 

Nanak’s powerful and eternal message 

to the world, and its relevance in the 

21st Century. Drawing upon the tenets 

of the Sikh religion, he exhorted the 

three principles of Naam Japo (meditation), 

Kirat Karo (honest living) and 

Vand Chakho (sharing with others), 

which are inspiring the followers of 

Guru Nanak even today. He emphasized 

that Guru Nanak during his travels all 

around the world, over a period of 27 

years, interacted with people of all faith, 

with commoners, with Kings, with 

philosophers, and seers, and built interfaith 

harmony through dialogue. Long 

before the launch of the inter-faith 

movement, Guru Nanak had shared his 

ideas on building inter-faith understanding 

and harmony, almost five centuries 

ago. In today?s world, facing conflict 

and religious bigotry, the essential 

teaching of Guru Nanak – „See the 

divine light in all? can help build peace 

and harmony around the world. As the 

world addresses the challenge of terrorism, 

we don?t have the luxury to ignore 

this message of Guru Nanak, which can 

help each of us become a better human 

being and make the world a more peaceful 

place for everyone. 

The Hon?ble Minister announced 

amidst thunderous applause, the launch 

Honourable Minister Shri Hardeep Puri being felicitated on behalf of the British-Indian 

community (From L-R: High Commissioner of India, Mrs. Ruchi Ghanashyam, Chancellor 

Lord Bilimoria, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Consul General Aman Puri & Prof Nathu Puri) 

of the prestigious academic Chair to 

promote research into the life and philosophy 

of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the 

revered first Sikh Guru. He said on the 

occasion “The University of 

Birmingham is most suitable for the 

Chair given the strength of its academic 

offering, its close connections to the 

vibrant Sikh community, the larger 

British-Indian community of the UK, 

and its history and continuing commitment 

to India. Equally, the City of 

Birmingham, in the heart of the United 

Kingdom, with its rich and diverse religious 

heritage, and its diverse population, 

is an ideal place for the Chair to be 

located.” 

In a star studded setting- the hallowed 

precinct of University of 

Birmingham turned into a veritable 

„who?s who gathering? for the evening. 

Among the notable dignitaries gracing 

the occasion were H.E. High 

Commissioner of India to the UK, Mrs. 

Ruchi Ghanashyam, Lord Bilimoria of 

Chelsea, CBE, DL, Chancellor of the 

University of Birmingham, University 

of Birmingham, Bangladesh High 

Commissioner to the UK, H.E. Ms. 

Saida Muna Tasneem, Mr. Charanjeet 

Singh, Deputy High Commissioner of 

India to the UK, Mr. Samantha 

Pathirana, Deputy High Commissioner 

of Sri Lanka to the UK, Prof Robin 

Mason, Pro Vice Chancellor & Director 

of India Institute, UOB, Ms. Neena Gill 

MBE, (the first female MEP in the 

European Parliament), Baroness 

Sandeep Verma, Professor Nat Puri, 

Founder of Purico Group, Professor. 

Philip Plowden, Vice Chancellor, 

Birmingham City University, Mr. 

Dipankar Chakraborty, Country 

Director of India Institute, UOB 

The evening?s proceedings began 

with a melodious musical performance 

organised by the Birmingham based 

South Asian Arts & Heritage institution- 

SAMPAD. The artist, Priti Kaur, gave 

an uplifting, solemn and seamless rendition 

of a Sanskrit Shloka, a hymn from 

Guru Granth Sahib and sang 

„?Ae Watan, Mere Watan Abad rahe 

tu, Main jahan rahoon, jahaan mein 

yaad rahe tu??. 

Addressing the guests, Professor 

Robin Mason, Pro Vice Chancellor 

(International) said that he was delighted 

to welcome the Hon?ble Minister to 

deliver the Annual Distinguished Guest 

Lecture which would strengthen the 

already existing strong linkage between 

the University and India. He also 

remarked that the University of 

Birmingham was the first British 

University to start academic course in 

Sikh studies, and was very proud of its 

engagement with the British-Indian 

community. 

University of Birmingham 

Chancellor Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea 

said that, “The Indian Government?s 

decision that the University of 

Birmingham should host this high-profile 

Chair is testament to our long-standing 

and ever-deepening relationship 

with India and its people??. “We are 

proud of our education and research 

links with India, particularly in those 

fields that resonate with the teachings of 

Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. We believe this 

Chair will help further deepen and 

strengthen links between our academic 

community and the Indian Diaspora.” 

In her closing address the High 

Commissioner for India in the UK, Mrs 

Ruchi Ghanashyam congratulated the 

British-Indian community for its partnership 

on various projects to celebrate 

the auspicious occasion of 550th birth 

anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, 

whose life and teachings inspire 

Indians belonging to all faiths across the 

globe. 

This is a great opportunity for that 

eternal message of the revered first Sikh 

Guru to be shared with the British community, 

and the larger world community. 

The programme concluded with the 

presentation of a souvenir – a large original 

oil painting by renowned artist Mr. 

Sukhprit Singh from India.The artwork 

was especially commissioned by the 

High Commission of India, London for 

the occasion and was presented to the 

Hon?ble Minister as a token of appreciation 

from the British-Indian 

Community of the United Kingdom. 

Aman Puri, Consul General of India, 

Birmingham commented, „„I am 

delighted that the University of 

Birmingham has partnered on this prestigious 

academic Chair, as its India 

Institute is playing such an important 

role in improving collaboration between 

India and the UK??. “Future research by 

this Chair will help further understand 

the contemporary relevance of Sri Guru 

Nanak Dev Ji?s teachings.” 

Honourable Minister Shri Hardeep Singh Puri along with some 

distinguished members of Indian diaspora and dignitaries. 

Honourable Minister Shri 

Hardeep Singh Puri speaking on 

’The contemporary relevance of 

Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s message 

of inter-faith harmony’ 

Chancellor Lord Bilimoria, 

UOB welcomed Honourable 

Minister Shri Hardeep Singh 

Puri 

H.E. High Commissioner of India 

to UK, Mrs. Ruchi Ghanashyam 

sharing her thoughts on the 

occasion of Annual Distinguished 

Guest Lecture



Buddhists and SCs 

pitch for Valmiki’s 

statue in Ayodhya 

New Delhi : On the heels of the apex 

court judgment in favour of construction of 

Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Buddhist community 

and Scheduled Castes on Thursday 

pitched for installation of a statue of 

‘Maharishi’ (sage) Valmiki, who composed 

the eponymous epic ‘Ramayana’. 

“Installation of statue of Valmiki, who was a 

Scheduled Caste in the precinct of the proposed 

Ram Temple is natural as the seer 

composed the Ramayana,” said Bhante 

Sanghpriya Rahul, president of Rashtriya 

Baudh Sangh. 

“The Rashtriya Baudh Sangh will lead a 

delegation of Buddhists and downtrodden 

section of society to Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief 

Minister Yogi Adityanath in the matter,” said 

Bhante Rahul. 

Also, the delegation will meet other dignitaries 

in the matter. 

He further said it would be ideal if a statue 

of ‘Kevat’ — the boatman who helped 

Ram, Sita and Lakshman ferry across the 

Ganges — is also installed. As a token of 

devotion to Ram, the Kevat refused to charge 

him thereby becoming a symbol of unconditional 

devotion in the Indian folklore. Kevat 

is a modern day caste of ‘Mallah’— recognised 

as “Most Backward Caste” in modern 

India. 

“Both Valmiki and Kevat standout for 

their exemplary role in the society. Their 

respect for the Lord, whose compassion and 

identification with downtrodden throughout 

the epic underscores the age-old cultural plurality, 

secular and inclusive ethos of the 

country,” said Bhante Rahul, and added that 

the culture must be preserved. 

The gesture of installing Valmiki statue 

will further the cause, he said. 

The Baudh Sangh batted for installation 

of statue of Hanuman who was devotee of 

Lord Ram. 

It will mobilise public support in the matter, 

including in UT of Ladakh and state of 

Himachal Pradesh, where there is sizeable 

presence of Buddhists. The VHP, which was 

in the vanguard of the movement for Ram 

Temple, has lent support to the demand for 

Valmiki’ statue. 

Addressing a function relating to birth 

anniversary of Valmiki, which was organised 

here by the Rashtirya Baudh Sangh a few 

days ago, VHP’s working president Alok 

Kumar committed support to it. 

A number of SC organisations have also 

joined hands with Rashtirya Baudh Sangh 

for the cause, said Bhante Rahul. 

Pak rules out any deal with India in Jadhav’s case 

‘Be Smart’ campaign 

launched in Telangana, 

Andhra to fight AIDS 

Hyderabad : The Ministry of 

Health and Family Welfare, 

Government of India reported 

has reported with National 

Health Profile of India (2018) 

that two Telugu states— 

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh 

have the highest number of people 

with sexually-transmitted 

diseases (STD) in the country. 

A new campaign has been 

launched to fight this battle. On 

Friday, the AIDS control society 

of Telangana (TSACS) has initiated 

a new project: “Be Smart”. 

NGOs will 

conduct mass 

testing in 

m i g r a n t 

colonies, construction 

and 

industrial risk 

sites, slums etc. 

“This was the first time AIDS 

screening was being done by 

going to people’s doorsteps”, 

said Dr. G. Anna Prasanna 

Kumari, Additional Project 

Director of TSACS. Out of the 

total number of 1,181,125 people 

living in India, Andhra is 

home to 17,266 (second to 

Maharashtra). Telangana is 

home to 73,360 (fifth nationally 

after Maharashtra, Andhra, 

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu). 

India is committed to achieving 

'End of AIDS' by 2030. 

The report says currently, 

with more than 1300 surveillance 

sites; almost the entire 

country is covered under HIV 

Surveillance system. National 

Health Profile of India has 

reported that in 2016 around 

8,056 cases of syphilis, that 

amount to 35 per cent of total 

cases in the country was reported 

from Telangana. 

Then in 2017, the highest 

number of syphilis cases; numbering 

around 5,155 were reported 

from Andhra Pradesh. 

The medical fraternity of the 

two Telugu states have been 

sceptical about the findings in 

the National Health Profile, 

which was released some time 

ago. Dr. Kammela Sridhar, a 

Hyderabad based urologist, who 

is a post-graduate from PGI, 

Chandigarh has 

s a i d : 

“Promiscuity in 

these two states 

has led to poor 

genital hygiene, 

clubbed with rising 

in the number 

of same-sex sexual preference 

has pushed up cases of STD and 

HIV”. Trying to decode the findings 

of the National Health 

Report, Dr. Sridhar continued: 

“In Telangana and Andhra 

Pradesh obesity is highest in the 

country. Due to fat in the body, 

the immune system is less effective. 

Due to heavy sweating, particularly 

in Andhra Pradesh 

coast, genital hygiene is affected. 

With this in mind, the state of 

Tamil Nadu has worked well to 

bring down STDs and HIV.” 

A local dermatologist, Dr. 

George Valsan claims that number 

of patients with syphilis and 

gonococcal infections have been 

increasing. Though the number 

of cases of gonorrhoea is fewer, 

cases of syphilis have also drastically 

increased. 

Islamabad : Pakistan on Thursday 

ruled out any deal with India in deathrow 

convict Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case 

and said any step taken to implement 

the ICJ’s decision will be according to 

its Constitution. 

Foreign Office Spokesperson 

Mohammad Faisal’s remarks came a 

day after Pakistan Army said the government 

was considering various legal 

options for the review of Jadhav’s case. 

Jadhav, 49, a retired Indian Navy 

officer, was sentenced to death by a 

Pakistani military court on charges of 

“espionage and terrorism” after a 

closed trial in April 2017. India has 

maintained that Jadhav was kidnapped 

from Iran where he had business interests 

after retiring from the Navy. 

In a major victory for India, the 

International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 

July 17 ruled that Pakistan must review 

the death sentence given to Jadhav. 

Faisal in his weekly press briefing 

in Islamabad said, “There 

will be no deal…all decisions 

will be as per local 

laws.” He said any step 

taken to implement the decision 

of the ICJ regarding 

Jadhav will be according to 

the Constitution. 

During Jadhav’s trial in 

the ICJ, India had argued 

that consular access was being denied 

to its national in violation of the 1963 

Vienna Convention on Consular 

Relations. Rejecting Pakistan’s objection 

to admissibility of the Indian 

application in the case, the ICJ in its 

42-page order held that “a continued 

stay of execution constitutes an indispensable 

condition for the effective 

review” of the sentence of Jadhav that 

had strained relations 

between the two neighbouring 

countries. The 

bench, however, rejected 

some remedies sought by 

India, including annulment 

of the military court’s decision 

convicting Jadhav, his 

release and safe passage to 

India. After much dilly-dallying, 

Pakistan on September 2 granted 

India consular access to Jadhav under 

the direction of the ICJ. 

Pakistan claims that its security 

forces arrested Jadhav from restive 

Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 

after he reportedly entered from Iran. 

Faisal also condemned the recent verdict 

by India’s Supreme Court to award 

the site of the Babri Masjid to the 

Hindus. He said the mosque was in possession 

of Muslims for over 450 years. 

“The Babri mosque verdict has shredded 

so-called secularism in India,” 

Faisal said. He said Pakistan would do 

“everything” to highlight the “injustice” 

in the case. He said about 12,000 Sikhs 

visited Kartarpur on the opening day of 

the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. He also 

said anybody from Pakistan can to 

Kartarpur but the media would need 

special permission for coverage. 

The historic Kartarpur corridor connects 

Dera Baba Nanak shrine in 

India’s Punjab with Darbar Sahib at 

Kartarpur in Pakistan. 

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01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 

11 

Political climate affects judiciary too 

When the socio-political climate of 

the country has completely vitiated can 

we expect anything from the courts ? 

There are many who are ‘moaning’ as if 

India has become a Hindu Rashtra. Fact 

is it was always a Hindu Rashtra with a 

secular ‘Odhini’ but now that cover has 

completely got exposed. 

The question is not between this 

party or this party, court or media, the 

thing is that India’s ruling castes decide 

what is good and what is bad for its 

health. Long back, they decided that 

‘secularism’ was good for their health 

and hence for India too without including 

people. Now, they have realised that 

the small mercies that they have given 

to the marginalised are now threatening 

them hence they have revolted with a 

vengeance. 

The institutions in India were rarely 

progressive particularly courts. I wrote 

many time, that if you read any judgement 

of the court, you will come out 

with different conclusions, depending 

which side of the thoughts you are but 

the fact is that Courts in India have not 

resisted the pressure of the powerful 

leaders and governments. Courts could 

not stop the tyranny of the governments 

and autocratic rulers. Most of the time, 

they believe in the government provided 

narratives. 

Coalition era has been the best for 

Indian judiciary in terms of defending 

the rights of the people. Right now, it is 

time for the government to frame all 

those who disagree with it and judiciary 

has not really acted that strongly as 

it is expected off. Thus human 

rights defenders remain the most 

vulnerable and people like Prof 

Saibaba and Sudha Bhardwaj languish 

in the jail without much legal support. 

They are still big people compare to 

lesser known souls who the police beat 

up and administration harass at the daily 

basis for raising people’s issues. 

Whether it is Ayodhya verdict or 

Meghan Markle still waiting 

for her UK citizenship 

London : Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle was still waiting to 

be granted a British citizenship despite applying for it two years ago 

and being 

married to 

Prince Harry 

for 18 

months, a 

media report 

said on 

Saturday. 

"Meghan is 

not yet a 

British citizen," 

a friend 

of the 

Duchess confirmed 

to The 

Daily Mail. "It might seem extraordinary, given that she's been married 

to the Queen's grandson (Prince Harry) for 18 months, but she 

accepts that it's a slow process," the friend added. The delay means 

that Markle won't be able to vote in the December 12 general election. 

Members of the British Royal Family are allowed to cast a ballot 

but, by tradition, choose not to do so. 



Petrol prices rise for third 

consecutive day 

New Delhi : Petrol prices increased for the third 

consecutive day on Saturday, while diesel prices 

remained unchanged. 

The price of petrol rose by 14 paise per litre in 

Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai, while by 15 paise/litre in 

Chennai. The fuel has become costlier by 47 paise in 

Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai, and 50 paise in Chennai, 

in three days. According to the Indian Oil website, 

petrol price in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai 

has increased to Rs 73.77, Rs 76.47, Rs 79.44, and Rs 

76.68 per litre, respectively. However, the price of 

diesel in the four metropolitan cities has remained stable 

at Rs 65.79, Rs 68.20, Rs 69.01 and Rs 69.54 per 

litre, respectively. 

Rafael deal or the issue of Karnataka 

legislature, triple talaq, reservation, forest 

bills, JNU incidents, the top court 

disappointed. I would have respected 

the Ayodhya verdict much 

more, if they had categorically 

said that make a full 

stop here, no more petitions elsewhere, 

no more threatening of Minorities and 

no more digging of existing structures. 

Terming the demolition of Babari 

Masjid illegal is a very soft language 

towards the criminals and then not commenting 

on those who demolished it and 

their cases. When the Supreme Court 

can club issues of all religion together 

just to protect itself from criticism on 

Sabarimala, why cant it take up all the 

issues related to Babari Masjid, 

including its demolition as well as the 

engineered riots after that. It could 

have made a general comment and 

asked for strong action but in the name 

of ‘technicality’ the honorable judges 

confined themselves to the ‘issue’ but in 

Sabarimala, they are ready to include all 

other ‘religions’. 

We have seen the how the apex court 

found not time to the vital issue of 

Kashmir. The arrest of Farookh 

Chandigarh : Yashveer Goyal, a differently-abled 

sportsperson and IT whiz 

kid from Bathinda, Punjab, has been 

selected for a national award to be given 

by President Ram Nath Kovind 

next month. Yashveer, 20, has 

hearing and speech impairment. 

The award for the 

Empowerment of Persons with 

Disabilities of 2019 will be 

awarded to him in the Role 

Model Hearing Impairments 

(Male) category on December 3 in New 

Delhi. Goyal this year added another 

feat to his cap by winning gold in doubles 

category and bronze in single category 

at the 10th Punjab State Deaf 

Badminton Championship which was 

held in September in Jalandhar city. By 

winning two medals, Goyal has got 

selected in the state badminton team that 

Abdullah, former chief minister and former 

Union Minister and the continuous 

lies of the agencies who did it could not 

get any reprimand from the court. The 

court heard Ayodhya issue for 40 days 

which was good also but Kashmir issue 

too needed a patience hearing. 

We dont need to disappoint. Court 

will act the way they do. There will be 

some judges who will be more passionate 

about people’s right like justice 

Krishna Iyer, Justice Venkatchallaiah, 

Justice H R Khanna, Justice Tarkunde, 

Justice Rajinder Sachar, AP Shah and 

many more while there will be others 

who will have other concern. The main 

thing is the political climate and it has 

got sanctity of the people yet we will 

have to struggle and fight as there is no 

other way. These are tough times and 

they need our conscious efforts. The 

growth of right wing and its legitimacy 

among masses is an international phenomena 

and will need wider efforts and 

understanding. As political parties in 

India particularly its largest in the opposition 

is in search of its Hindutva wings, 

only social movements, politically 

active non political groups, intellectuals 

will have to put pressure on them to act, 

work together and protect India’s constitution 

and its secular fabric. 

PUNJAB youth to get 

special national award 

would participate in the national badminton 

championship for the deaf to be 

held in Gurugram in January 2020. 

Last year, Goyal won silver in doubles 

category and bronze in the 

individual category in the championship. 

He also won silver in 

men's (Senior) category in the 

11th Punjab State Deaf Chess 

Championship. He is hearing and 

speech impaired since his birth 

and also suffered from congenital 

deformities. 

Goyal to his credit has the achievement 

award in the Global Information 

Technology Challenge for Youths, held 

in Hanoi in Vietnam in 2017 and the 

gold and the overall trophy in National 

IT Championship for Youths with 

Disability held at the National Institute 

of Technology in Kurukshetra in 2017. 

On kanshi TV 

channel 772. 

SATURDAY at 

6 :00 pm 

SUNDAY at 

6 :00 pm 

Ambedkarites News and Views 

by 

BUDDHIST INTERNATIONAL MEDIA 

Mob : 07411 251 804, 07847 307 059

12 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 BUSINESS 


Vodafone Idea rings in loss 

of Rs 50,921 crore 

New Delhi : Hit hard by the unpaid statutory dues, telecom 

o p e r a t o r 

Vodafone Idea on 

Thursday posted a 

colossal Rs 

50,921-crore loss 

for the second 

quarter 

ended 

September 30, 

and said it is in the process of filing a review petition on the 

adjusted gross revenue matter. 

This is the highest ever quarterly loss posted by any Indian 

company in recent memory. 

Its total loss stood at Rs 50,921 crore in September quarter, 

against Rs 4,874 crore loss in the year-ago period. Its revenue 

rose 42% to Rs 11,146.4 crore during the second quarter this 

year. 

Airtel posts mega loss of Rs 

23,045 cr in July-Sept qtr 

New Delhi-Telecom operator Bharti Airtel, which has been hit 

hard by the 

Supreme Court 

ruling on statutory 

dues, 

today posted 

highest-ever 

loss of Rs 

23,045 crore 

during the second 

quarter 

e n d e d 

September 30. The company had recorded a net income of Rs 

119 crore in the same quarter a year ago, although it said that 

amounts are not comparable due to adoption of new accounting 

system. The consolidated revenue of Bharti Airtel was up by 

4.7% at Rs 21,199 crore in the just concluded quarter. 

The company said that the Supreme Court ruling has “significant 

financial implication on the company”. “The company is 

hopeful of relief and in the absence of the same, has provided for 

an additional amount aggregating Rs 28,450 crore as a charge for 

the quarter with respect to the licence fee as estimated based on 

the court judgment and spectrum usage charges (SUC) as estimated 

based on the definition of AGR,” it said. 

Gujarat firm to promote 

wine, food processing 

TOURISM IN HP 

To invest Rs 45 cr in setting up project at Banalgi in Solan 

Chandigarh : Come 2021, 

Himachal Pradesh could emerge 

as one of the preferred destinations 

for wine and food processing 

tourism. The project, once 

operational, will be the first-ofits-kind 

project in North India. 

A tourist visiting the state 

would have an opportunity to 

witness the wine-making process 

on the lines of Sula Vineyard and 

Soma Wines or food processing 

process, as initiated by companies 

such as Mala’s and Mapro in 

Maharashtra. 

Besides staying in the midst of 

nature, tourists visiting these 

manufacturing units will be taken 

to processing units where they 

will get first-hand experience as to how 

fresh fruits are brought into the factory, 

pass through grading and sorting process 

and finally processed into wines, juices and 

jellies. Considering thematic tourism as a 

major attraction these days, a Gujaratbased 

company has entered into an MoU 

with the Himachal Pradesh government for 

promoting thematic tourism at Banalgi in 

Solan district. 

“We have conceptualised the project on 

the lines of wine tourism and food processing 

tourism in other states. For example, in 

SC paves way for Arcelor 

Mittal to take over Essar 

Steel for Rs 42,000 crore 

Maharashtra and Gujarat, a lot of theme 

tourism projects are running successfully,“ 

said Ravi R Desai, managing director, 

Himalaya Cotton Yarn Ltd. 

The company has already invested Rs 

15 crore in setting up a controlled-atmosphere 

cold storage. It will pump in another 

Rs 30 crore. The facility will have winery, 

food processing industry and eco-tourism 

project where tourists can stay and have 

first-hand account of the entire manufacturing 

process. The company is keen to 

establish winery and plans to process it 

from locally available fruits such 

as apple, peach, plum, cherry and 

apricot. 

It will also process fruits and 

vegetables to manufacture jams, 

jellies, syrups and other products. 

The company has sought 

approval for 5,000 sq mt of land 

from its existing 20,000 sq mt of 

leased land for the project. 

Desai said companies such as 

Mala’s, Mapro, Sula Vineyard 

and Soma Vines were already 

successfully running the theme 

tourism projects within the premises 

of their factories where people 

could enjoy day trip as well 

as night stay. “People also get to 

know about local fruits and vegetables 

processing. This includes factory 

visit and briefing on production methods, 

including manufacturing a particular product,” 

he said. According to experts, the 

place where Mala’s and Mapro units are 

located used to be rural areas and one could 

not think of promoting tourism there. 

However, these two units have transformed 

the entire area and tourists visit these manufacturing 

units to have first-hand knowledge 

of processing. Both these factories are 

located between Mahabaleshwar- 

Panchgani in Maharashtra. 

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on 

Friday paved the way for ArcelorMittal 

takeover of debt-ridden Essar Steel for Rs 

42,000 crore and set aside the July 4 

NCLAT order giving equal status to financial 

creditors and operational creditors. 

A bench headed by Justice R F Nariman 

clarified that financial creditors enjoy primacy 

over operational creditors and the 

adjudicating authority cannot interfere 

with the decision approved by the committee 

of creditors. The top court said that the 

adjudicating authority can send back the 

resolution plan to the committee of creditors 

(COC) for implementation in accordance 

with the guidelines but cannot 

change the commercial decision taken by 

the COC. The bench also relaxed the timeline 

of 330 days to find a resolution plan as 

prescribed under the Insolvency and 

Bankruptcy Code. The bench said it would 

be open for the adjudicating authority to 

maintain the timeline in exceptional cases. 

The bench said that the COC resolution 

plan must balance the interest of all stakeholders. 

The apex court had on July 22 

ordered status quo in the Essar insolvency 

case. The verdict came on a plea of the 

committee of creditors challenging 

NCLAT’s order of July 4 in which it had 

approved steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal-led 

ArcelorMittal’s Rs 42,000-crore bid for the 

acquisition of Essar Steel after it rejected a 

plea by the lead shareholder of the debtladen 

firm challenging the eligibility of the 

bidder. The National Company Law 

Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had, however, 

given operational creditors equal status 

as lenders in the distribution of the 

ArcelorMittal’s bid amount among the 

creditors of Essar Steel. Essar Steel was 

auctioned under the new Insolvency and 

Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to recover Rs 

54,547 crore of unpaid dues of financial 

lenders and operational creditors. 

Moody's cuts India's GDP growth 

forecast to 5.6 pc for 2019 

New Delhi- Moody's 

Investors Service on Thursday 

cut India's economic growth 

forecast for current year to 5.6 

per cent from 5.8 per cent estimated 

earlier, saying GDP 

slowdown is lasting longer than 

previously expected. 

"We have revised down our 

growth forecast for India. We 

now forecast slower real GDP 

growth of 5.6 per cent in 2019, 

from 7.4 per cent in 2018," it 

said. It expected economic 

activity to pick up in 2020 and 

2021 to 6.6 per cent and 6.7 per 

cent, respectively, but the pace 

to remain lower than in the 

recent past. "India's economic 

growth has decelerated since 

mid-2018, with real GDP 

growth slipping from nearly 8 

per cent to 5 per cent in the second 

quarter of 2019 and joblessness 

rising. "Investment 

activity was muted well before 

that, but the economy was 

buoyed by strong consumption 

demand. What is troubling 

about the current slowdown is 

that consumption demand has 

cooled notably," it said.


HEALTH 


13 

Some skin cancers may start in hair follicles 

New York : Some of the most 

deadly skin cancers may start in 

stem cells that lend colour to 

hair, and originate in hair follicles 

rather than in skin layers, 

says a new study. Hair follicles 

are complex organs that reside 

within skin layers. It is there that 

immature pigment-making cells 

develop cancer-causing genetic 

changes—and in a second step— 

are exposed to normal hair 

growth signals. The study, published 

in the journal Nature 

Communications, found that 

unlike their normal counterparts, 

newly cancerous pigment stem 

cells then migrate up and out of 

the follicles to establish 

melanomas in nearby surface 

skin before spreading deeper. 

The study was conducted in 

genetically engineered mice, 

with the results confirmed in 

human tissue samples. 

“By confirming that oncogenic 

pigment cells in hair follicles 

are a bona fide source of 

melanoma, we have a better 

understanding of this cancer’s 

biology and new ideas about 

how to counter it,” said study 

author Mayumi Ito Suzuki, 

Associate Professor at New York 

University. The study addresses 

the stem cells that mature into 

melanocytes, cells that make the 

protein pigment melanin, which 

protects skin by absorbing some 

of the sun’s ultraviolet, DNAdamaging 

rays. By absorbing 

some wavelengths of visible 

light, but reflecting others, pigments 

“create” hair colour. In a 

series of elegant steps, the 

research team established a new 

mouse model for the study of 

melanoma, one engineered such 

that the team could edit genes in 

follicular melanocyte stem cells 

only (the c-Kit-CreER mouse). 

This capability enabled 

researchers to introduce genetic 

changes that made only 

melanoctye stem cells - and their 

descendants destined to form 

melanomas - glow no matter 

where they travelled. 

Able to accurately track a key 

stem cell type for the first time, 

the authors confirmed that 

melanoma cells can arise from 

melanocyte stem cells, which 

abnormally migrate up and out of 

hair follicles to enter the epidermis, 

the outermost layer of skin. 

The team then tracked the same 

cells as they multiplied there, and 

then moved deeper into the skin 

layer called the dermis. Once 

there, the cells shed the markers 

and pigment that went with their 

follicular origins, presumably in 

response to local signals. They 

also acquired signatures similar to 

nerve cells (neurons) and skin 

cells (mesenchymal), molecular 

characteristics “almost exactly 

like” those noted in examinations 

of human melanoma tissue. 

Knowing where to look for the 

original, cancer-causing event, 

the researchers temporarily eliminated 

signals one by one in the 

follicular environment to see if 

cancer still formed in their 

absences. “Our mouse model is 

the first to demonstrate that follicular 

oncogenic melanocyte stem 

cells can establish melanomas, 

which promises to make it useful 

in identifying new diagnostics 

and treatments for melanoma,” 

said first study author Qi Sun. 

AGRI FIRES aggravated in last 

decade causing more pollution 

New Delhi : Researchers have 

found a growing link between agricultural 

fire and air pollution with the 

impact of the former aggravating in 

the last decade. Researchers at an 

international conference on forestry 

at TERI School of Advanced Studies 

found that surprisingly, agricultural 

fires have been the same on the 

Pakistan side of Punjab (Western 

Punjab), while the fires have 

increased in Punjab (India) since 

2008. There has been around 2 per 

cent increase in aerosol concentration 

in the last three decades. The black 

carbon concentration and absorbing 

aerosols over the Indo Gangetic plain 

has been increasing due to biomass 

burning and other activities which 

peak during post-monsoon seasons 

(October-December). This was 

recorded using satellite data products 

of Moderate Resolution Imaging 

Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and 

Multiangle 

Imaging 

Spectroradiometer (MISR). Forests 

in Himachal Pradesh and 

Uttarakhand have been under constant 

stress from forest fires and this 

problem is now being tackled by providing 

early warning to forest departments 

from real time monitoring 

using high resolution remote sensing 

data. According to the National 

Forest Inventory programme, 9.89 

per cent of forest areas are heavily 

affected and 54.40 per cent areas are 

mildly affected due to forest fires. 

FISH OIL SUPPLEMENTS HAVE NO 

EFFECT ON ANXIETY : STUDY 

London : Increased consumption 

of omega-3 fats is 

widely promoted globally 

because of a common belief 

that it will protect against conditions 

such as anxiety and 

depression, but researchers 

have now found that fish oil 

supplements have little or no 

effect on such conditions. 

Omega-3 is a type of fat. Small amounts are 

essential for good health and can be found in 

the food that we eat including nuts and seeds 

and fatty fish, such as salmon. 

The study, published in the British 

Journal of Psychiatry, found that omega-3 

supplements offer no benefit. 

“This large systematic review included 

information from many thousands of people 

over long periods,” said study 

lead author Lee Hooper, from 

University of East Anglia in 

UK. “Despite all this information, 

we don’t see protective 

effects, the most trustworthy 

studies consistently showed 

little or no effect of longchain 

omega-3 fats on depression 

or anxiety, and they 

should not be encouraged as a treatment,” 

Hooper added. 

For the findings, the research team 

looked at 31 trials of adults with and without 

depression or anxiety. More than 41,470 

participants were randomised to consume 

more long-chain omega-3 fats (fish oils), or 

maintain their usual intake, for at least six 

months 

Deep sleep may calm, reset anxious brain: Study 

LOS ANGELES : A sleepless night 

can trigger anxiety by up to 30 per cent 

while a full night’s nap can stabilise 

emotions, according to a study which 

recommends deep sleep as a non-pharmaceutical 

remedy for anxiety disorders. 

People suffering from the mental 

health disorder are bombarded by feelings 

of worry, anxiety, or fear that are so 

strong that they interfere with their daily 

activities, the study, published in the 

journal Nature Human Behavior, noted. 

The researchers, including those 

from the University of California (UC) 

Berkeley in the US, found that deep 

sleep—also known as non-rapid eye 

movement (NREM) slow-wave sleep— 

can calm and reset the anxious brain. In 

this sleep state, oscillations in the electrical 

activity in the brain’s neurons 

become highly synchronized, and the 

heart rate and blood pressure drops, the 

researchers said. The findings of the 

study revealed a new function of deep 

sleep in which anxiety is decreased 

overnight by reorganizing nerve connections 

in the brain. 

According to the researchers, the 

study provides one of the strongest links 

to date between the brain circuits 

involved in sleep and anxiety. 

“Our study strongly suggests that 

insufficient sleep amplifies levels of 

anxiety and, conversely, that deep sleep 

helps reduce such stress,” said study 

lead author Eti Ben Simon from UC 

Berkeley. As part of the study, the 

researchers scanned the brains of 18 

young adults using functional MRI, 

polysomnography and other measures 

as they viewed emotionally stirring 

video clips after a full night of sleep, 

and again after a sleepless night. They 

measured the anxiety levels of the participants 

following each session via a 

questionnaire known as the state-trait 

anxiety inventory. 

When the participants did not get any 

sleep, their scans showed a shutdown of 

a brain region called the medial prefrontal 

cortex, which normally helps 

keep our anxiety in check, while the 

brain’s deeper emotional centers were 

overactive, the researchers said. 

“Without sleep, it’s almost as if the 

brain is too heavy on the emotional 

accelerator pedal, without enough 

brake,” Walker said. 

The results revealed that the participants 

who had a full night of sleep had 

significantly reduced anxiety levels, 

especially for those who experienced 

more slow-wave NREM sleep. 

“Deep sleep had restored the brain’s 

prefrontal mechanism that regulates our 

emotions, lowering emotional and physiological 

reactivity and preventing the 

escalation of anxiety,” Simon said. 

The researchers replicated the results 

in a study of another 30 participants, 

showing that those who got more nighttime 

deep sleep experienced the lowest 

levels of anxiety the next day. 

Simon and his team also conducted 

an online study tracking how the sleep 

and anxiety levels changed for four consecutive 

days in 280 people of different 

ages. The results revealed that the 

amount and quality of sleep from one 

night to the next predicted the anxiety 

levels they would feel the next day. 

The researchers said that even subtle 

nightly changes in sleep affected the 

participants’ anxiety levels. 

“People with anxiety disorders routinely 

report having disturbed sleep, but 

rarely is sleep improvement considered 

as a clinical recommendation for lowering 

anxiety,” Simon said. 

The study, the researchers said, not 

only establishes a causal connection 

between sleep and anxiety, but also 

identifies the kind of deep sleep needed 

to calm an overanxious brain.

14 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 HEALTH 


'Only child' 7 times more likely to be obese 

New York : Parents with only child 

are more likely to tackle an obese kid as 

children without siblings may be at a 

higher risk of gaining weight than those 

who have brothers and sisters, say 

researchers. 

This is because families with multiple 

children tend to make more healthy 

eating decisions than families with a 

single child, the study added. 

The study, published in the Journal 

of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 

found that this kind of obesity could be 

seven times more common among 

youngsters. "Healthier eating behaviours 

and patterns may result from 

household-level changes rather than 

peer exposure, as peer exposure is also 

present in away-from-home care," said 

study lead author Chelsea L. Kracht 

from the University of Oklahoma in the 

US. According to the researchers, data 

was self-reported in daily food logs kept 

by mothers over the course of three days 

-- two weekdays and one weekend day. 

Teachers kept logs by proxy for any 

food children ate while at school. 

Mothers also completed the Family 

Nutrition and Physical Activity questionnaire 

to evaluate typical family eating 

behaviour like food and beverage 

choice. Researchers have found that 

only-children, who researchers refer to 

as 'singletons,' had less healthy family 

eating practices, beverage choices, and 

total Healthy Eating Index 2010 score, 

coming in lower on three out of the 12 

areas measured. They also had significantly 

lower total scores across weekdays, 

weekends, and on average, indicating 

there are both individual and collective 

differences in eating patterns 

between the groups. Researchers found 

mothers of singleton children were 

more likely to be obese themselves. 

Moreover, maternal BMI had a much 

stronger connection to child BMI percentile 

and waist circumference percentile 

than singleton status. Maternal 

BMI did not significantly contribute to 

overall eating patterns but did contribute 

to empty calories. The research 

also found that time spent in awayfrom-home 

care like school and daycare 

was not connected to children's eating 

patterns. "Nutrition professionals must 

consider the influence of family and siblings 

to provide appropriate and tailored 

nutrition education for families of 

young children," said Kracht. "Efforts to 

help all children and families establish 

healthy eating habits and practices must 

be encouraged," Kracht added. 

New HIV strain discovered 

after nearly 2 DECADES 

New York : A team of 

scientists at pharmaceutical 

major Abbott has identified 

a new subtype of the 

H u m a n 

Immunodeficiency Virus 

(HIV), called HIV-1 

Group M, subtype L. 

The discovery marks 

the first time a new subtype 

of HIV-1 has been 

identified since 2000. 

The findings, published 

in the Journal of 

Acquired Immune 

Deficiency Syndromes 

(JAIDS), show the role 

next-generation genome 

sequencing is playing in helping researchers 

stay one step ahead of mutating viruses and 

avoiding new pandemics. 

Since the beginning of the global AIDS 

pandemic, 75 million people have been 

infected with HIV and 37.9 million people 

day are living with the virus. 

"In an increasingly connected world, we 

can no longer think of viruses being contained 

to one location," said Carole 

McArthur, Pofessor at University of 

Missouri, Kansas City, and one of the study 

authors. Group M viruses are responsible for 

the global pandemic, which can be traced 

back to the Democratic Republic of Congo 

(DRC) in Sub-Saharan Africa. To determine 

whether an unusual virus is in fact a new 

HIV subtype, three cases must be discovered 

independently. The first two samples of this 

subtype were discovered in the DRC in the 

1980s and the 1990s. The third, collected in 

2001, was difficult to be sequenced at that 

time because of the amount of virus in the 

sample and the existing technology. Today, 

next-generation sequencing technology 

allows researchers to build an entire genome 

at higher speeds and lower costs. 

In order to utilise this technology, Abbott 

scientists had to develop and apply new techniques 

to help narrow in on the virus portion 

of the sample to fully sequence and complete 

the genome. "Identifying new viruses such as 

this one is like searching for a needle in a 

haystack," said Mary Rodgers, a principal 

scientist and head of the Global Viral 

Surveillance Program, Diagnostics, Abbott, 

and one of the study authors. "By advancing 

our techniques and using next generation 

sequencing technology, we are pulling the 

needle out with a magnet. This scientific discovery 

can help us ensure that we are stopping 

new pandemics in their tracks." 

Air pollution affects 

children's brain 

development: Unicef 

United Nations : Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore has 

warned that air 

pollution toxicity 

can affect children's 

brain development 

and called 

for urgent action to 

deal with the crisis 

gripping India and 

South Asia. "I saw 

first-hand how 

children continue 

to suffer from the 

dire consequences 

of air pollution," 

Fore, who recently 

visited India, said. "The air quality was at a crisis level. You could 

smell the toxic fog even from behind an air filtration mask," she 

added. Air pollution affects children most severely and its effects 

continue all their lives because they have smaller lungs, breathe 

twice as fast as adults and lack immunities, Fore said. 

She added that it "damages brain tissue and undermines cognitive 

development in babies and young children, leading to lifelong 

consequences that can affect their learning outcomes and future 

potential. There is evidence to suggest that adolescents exposed to 

higher levels of air pollution are more likely to experience mental 

health problems". "Unicef is calling for urgent action to address 

this air quality crisis," affecting 620 million children in South Asia. 

Schools were closed in Delhi till Tuesday because of the severe 

environmental situation caused by post-harvest burning of stubble 

in neighbouring states. The Air Quality Index (AQI) on Sunday 

touched 625, considered "severe plus" level. 

Heavy smoking can make you look older: Study 

London : Heavy tobacco smoking 

may give you a "Smoker's Face" -- a 

condition where people look older than 

they are, according to a study. 

Researchers from the University of 

Bristol in the UK noted that some people 

carry one or two copies of a genetic variant 

linked with heavier tobacco use. 

To identify the effects of heavy smoking, 

scientists can separate out the 

effects of the genetic variant through 

tobacco use from other possible effects 

associated with carrying that variant that 

are unrelated to tobacco use. To simultaneously 

identify these two types of 

effects the study, published in the journal 

PLOS Genetics, used a novel combination 

of two data analysis approaches and 

applied them using data from people in 

the UK Biobank. 

The researchers separated people into 

two groups. The first contained people 

who had never smoked, and the second 

included current and former smokers. 

They reasoned that the smoking 

group would reveal the effects of tobacco 

exposure, while the never-smokers 

would show them any unrelated effects 

of the genetic variant. 

The analysis searched across 18,000 

traits and apart from finding more rapid 

facial ageing, also identified several previously 

reported effects of smoking, 

confirming the method's effectiveness, 

the researchers said. The known effects 

of smoking that the analysis identified 

included worse lung function, and higher 

risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary 

disease (COPD) and skin cancer, they 

said. 

"We proposed a novel approach that 

can be used to search for causal effects 

of health exposures, and demonstrated 

this approach to search for the effects of 

smoking heaviness," study author 

Louise Millard said in a statement. "We 

searched across thousands of traits to 

identify those that may be affected by 

how heavily someone smokes," Millard 

said. As well as identifying several 

known adverse effects such as on lung 

health, the researchers also found an 

adverse effect of heavier smoking on 

facial ageing.


India ranks at 140 out of 150 countries 

in the world on the happiness 

index, making it one of the unhappiest 

countries in the world. 

This permeates down to adolescents 

as well and could lead to unhappy 

choices of alcoholism and binge 

drinking to cope with the chaos. 

Dr. Paras, Founder, Matrrix, a life 

leadership coach and corporate training 

firm, believes that the solution for 

this ginormous issue lies in our minds. 

According to him, the mind is the 

greatest tool which affects all the 

facets of a human, be it his relationships, 

studies, career or self-esteem. 

Dr. Paras helps you understand the 

importance of focusing on the pragmatic 

and constructive elements of 

life. Quite often, the peer pressure 

drives youngsters to plunge themselves 

into an endeavour of perfection. 

However, no one is perfect and you 

have to help your young adult to see 

that. 

In order to address this question, 

he states: "Let us first tackle some 

of the most important questions." 

Q) What is it like being an adolescent? 

What does an adolescent want? 

How addictions are confused as 

mechanisms to escape routes? 

Being an adolescent is often the 

inception of what can be regarded as a 

recognition crisis. They are on the 

cusp of being adults and therefore, 

have an understanding of how to emulate 

an adult, but their mental development 

is still taking small steps from 

being that of a child to a grown person. 

Having said that it does not mean 

that teenagers are children who are not 

meant to be taken seriously. On the 

contrary, they are bright and agile 

minds who have the potential to bring 

in new thoughts. 

However, many adolescents are 

quashed under the sense of building an 

individuality way too fast that coaxes 

them towards alcoholism. Their need 

to prove themselves and a misguided 

sense of emulating what they think is 

right pushes them towards taking 

extreme steps. 

The Play of Strokes 

As per Dr. Eric Berne, founder of 

The Transactional Analysis Movement 

in Psychotherapy, every emotion, 

encouraging or defeating can be classified 

into a broad category of 

'strokes'. Every human, and not just a 

HEALTH 

Does your adolescent 

drink more than you 

would APPROVE? 

teenager, craves for some sort of a 

stroke or a reaction to feel valued or 

show their presence. 

In the case of teenagers, they are in 

a psychological and emotional whirlwind 

in which they resort to activities 

that earn them attention and validation. 

These strokes can either be positive 

or negative, as long as they yield 

any sort of reaction. Teenagers require 

heavy attention and if not catered to, 

they can resort to a plethora of activities 

leading to addiction. 

These activities are divided into 

withdrawal, rituals, past times, activities, 

games, and intimacy. 

Withdrawal, as the name suggests, 

resonates with being in a cocoon or a 

shell that will shield them from the 

world and disengage them from feeling 

anything at all. The feeling of detachment 

with no one to turn to can lead a 

teenager into finding solace in the 

numbness of alcohol. Lack of intimacy 

or affection, especially from the parents 

can also account for the teenagers 

feeling left out or cast aside. Peer pressure 

or from someone within the family 

can 'inspire' them to take up alcohol 

as a coping mechanism. In fact, they do 

end up mimicking those around them 

who themselves choose escapism as a 

solution for all their problems. 

They do not regard mental health as 

an important parameter for self-development 

which sends out a clear message 

to the teenager who himself/herself 

are battling their psychological 

upheaval. This is a clear cut case of a 

bad role model. 

Last but not the least, is the inner 

voice. The inner voice of a teenager, or 

even an adult for that matter plays a 

huge role in making a person or 

breaking him. In teenagers, the voice 

is often an echo of those around 

him/her. If nestled amidst a positive 

environment, the inner voice is 

encouraging. However, in contrasting 

situations, the inner voice is the one 

that brings the child down and as a 

result, he/she resorts to alcoholism to 

quieten down that voice. 

Q) How to Combat Emotionally 

Stimulated Alcoholism? 

The good news is that there are 

ways to turn the tables around on 

binge alcoholism and addiction in 

adolescents. It is all about building a 

better lifestyle and awareness with 

respect to mental health. 

Here are some of the ways which 

may help: 1) Open culture in schools, 

colleges, and family Communication is 

the key to all distress. An open and 

healthy interaction in places like home, 

school/college, and social circle can 

help a teenager normalise to the fact 

that it is okay to feel the mental pressure 

and emotionally distraught and that help 

is always available when they need it. 

Alcoholism is not the way to go. 


15 

2) Creating a culture that supports 

mental health. Charity begins at home 

and so does the acceptance of mental 

health. Parents, teachers, and other 

elders of a social group can create a 

safe space for teenagers to talk to 

heart's content and interact with them 

about anything that is bothering them. 

It is important that these adults are 

able to accept it without prejudices 

and judgments. 

3) Parents to stop comparing children 

on their weaknesses. The culture 

of encouraging the present qualities 

must take over the detrimental practice 

of parents pointing out their children's 

weakness in the name of selfdevelopment. 

4) Parents and teachers creating 

space for positive psychology. Since 

parents and teachers directly influence 

the mindset of the children, it is 

important for them to set a space that 

promotes positive psychology and 

mindfulness. 

5) Exercise– Yoga, Meditation and 

Mindfulness techniques One can 

never discount the importance of 

recreational activities and exercise. It 

releases endorphins, also known as 

happy hormones, which prepare the 

body to take on physical stress, but 

also shapes the brain into taking any 

sort of mental pressures. Therefore, 

instead of going for that bottle, exercising 

can help boost greater mental 

health and keep addiction at bay. 

6) Psycho-education textbook from 

class KG till post-graduation. While 

the Indian education system is exemplary 

when it comes to creating credible 

engineers, doctors, and lawyers, 

what it really needs is to create a student 

force which is happy and mentally 

strong. It is, therefore, important to 

include psycho-education as a subject 

right from KG to higher education. 

7) Elders taking mental support, 

children can emulate As discussed, 

teenagers emulate what they see 

around them and if they witness an 

adult take mental health seriously, 

they too will take that path to self-care 

and emotional well-being. Addiction 

arises from unresolved issues and the 

unresolved issues emanate from the 

lack of communication. Integrating 

communication in daily lives can help 

keep mental and psychological issues 

at bay, which will in turn avert the 

pathway to any sort of addiction. 

Stress hormone controls your body clock 24/7 

London : Stress hormone, and not neurons, 

manage the fixed circadian rhythm that 

controls everything from sleep needs to body 

temperature, the researchers have found. 

Our internal clock is controlled by some 

very distinct hereditary genes, known as 

clock genes. These genes are particularly 

active in the so-called suprachiasmatic nucleus 

area of the brain. 

However, these areas of the brain are not 

directly linked by neurons, and this made 

researchers at the University of Copenhagen 

curious. 

Using lab tests, the team demonstrated that 

the circadian rhythm is controlled by the 

stress hormone, corticosterone. 

"In humans, the hormone is known as cortisol, 

and although the sleep rhythm in rats is 

the opposite of ours, we basically have the 

same hormonal system," said Associate 

Professor Martin Fredensborg Rath from the 

Department of Neuroscience. In the study 

with the stress hormone corticosterone, the 

researchers removed the suprachiasmatic 

nucleus in a number of rats. As expected, this 

removed the circadian rhythm of the animals. 

However, the circadian rhythm of the cerebellum 

was restored when the rats were subsequently 

implanted with a special programmable 

micropump. In this case, however, the 

researchers used the pump to emit doses of 

corticosterone at different times of the day 

and night, similar to the animals' natural 

rhythm. 

"Nobody has used these pumps for anything 

like this before. So technically, we were 

onto something completely new," said Rath. 

With the artificial corticosterone supplement, 

researchers were again able to read a 

rhythmic activity of clock genes in the animals. 

"This is interesting from a scientific 

point of view, because it means that we have 

two systems - the nervous system and the 

hormonal system - that communicate perfectly 

and influence one another, all in the course 

of a reasonably tight 24-hour programme," 

Rath elaborated. The researchers now plans 

to study other rhythmic hormones in a similar 

manner, including hormones from the thyroid 

gland.

16 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 ENTERTAINMENT 


Kapil Sharma’s ‘good news’ 

will be here before Akshay 

Kumar’s ‘GoodNewwz’ 

Comedian Kapil Sharma shared his “Good News”, while congratulating 

Akshay 

Kumar on his 

‘GoodNewwz’. On 

Thursday evening, 

the comedian won 

everyone’s hearts and 

even earned a “big 

hug” from Akshay. 

Kapil and his wife, 

Ginni Chatrath, who 

tied the knot last year, 

have been preparing 

to welcome their first child. The couple recently flew down to 

Canada for their babymoon. In a tweet, Kapil wished Akshay 

well, and revealed his “Good News” will be coming sooner than 

his. The comedian wrote: “Congratulations paji .. poster is looking 

very nice, but my good news is coming before ur good news 

hahahaha, all the best team #GoodNews.” 

The comedian reactions melt everyone’s hearts online. Even, 

Akshay replied: “Kamaal kar diya Sharma ji Heartiest congratulations 

on your #GoodNewwz! Big hug” Meanwhile, ‘Good 

Newwz’ trailer will be out on Monday. The movie is helmed by 

Raj Mehta, the film stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kiara Advani 

and Diljit Dosanjh. Produced by Dharma Productions, ‘Good 

Newwz’ is slated to release on December 27. 

‘Darling papa, praying for 

you’, Amitabh Bachchan shares 

baby Abhishek’s letter 

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has shared an old letter penned 

by his son Abhishek 

Bachchan when he was a 

child. Amitabh took to 

Twitter and shared the letter 

written in a child's handwriting 

on a piece of notebook 

paper It read: "Darling Papa, 

How are you? We are all 

well. I miss you very much. 

Papa you will be home soon. 

I am praying for your smile Papa. God is hearing our prayers. 

Do not worry I will look after mama, Shweta didi and the house. 

I am naughty sometimes. I love you Papa. Your darling son, 

Abhishek." T 3549 - Abhishek in his glory .. a letter to me when 

I was away on a long outdoor schedule .. 

The image currently has 1.4K retweets and 24.1K likes. 

He captioned it: "Abhishek in his glory.. a letter to me when 

I was away on a long outdoor schedule." Abhishek retweeted 

the photograph and wrote: "@SrBachchan evidently before I 

took a creative letter writing course." 

Rishi Kapoor shares childhood 

pic with Anil and Boney Kapoor 

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor shared a childhood photograph of 

himself with brothers Anil and Boney Kapoor. 

Rishi on Wednesday took to Twitter, where he shared a 

throwback black-and-white picture of himself along with Anil 

and Boney among many others sipping on cola. He called it the 

“original Coca Cola advertisement”. 

“Original “Coca Cola” advertisement. Boney Kapoor, Aditya 

Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Tutu Sharma and that cute brat Anil 

Kapoor(photo courtesy Khalid Mohammed),” Rishi captioned 

the image. In September, Rishi returned to India after undergoing 

medical treatment in New York. 

On the work front, he was last seen on screen in “102 Not 

Out” alongside Amitabh Bachchan. 

Aamir, Salman, SRK 

to team up for ‘Laal 

Singh Chaddha’? 

Chandigarh, 

Superstar Aamir 

Khan is busy shooting 

for “Laal Singh 

Chaddha”. It might 

just be the film that 

will bring 

Bollywood’s three 

Khans – Aamir, Shah 

Rukh and Salman – 

together on the big 

screen for the first time. 

The film is an Indian remake of Tom 

Hanks’ 1994 classic “Forrest Gump”. 

In the Hollywood film, there is a scene 

where Hanks’ character is sitting on a 

bench. It seems Aamir wants Shah Rukh 

and Salman for the scene. “He is very keen 

Anu Malik on ‘MeToo’: Father of two 

daughters, can't imagine committing the act 

Music composer Anu Malik, 

who has been accused of sexual 

harassment by singers Sona 

Mohapatra, Neha Bhasin and 

Shweta Pandit, on Thursday 

denied the allegations, saying 

he was "being cornered" for 

something he did not do and 

may take legal action to safeguard 

himself. 

Malik, 59, was first accused 

of misconduct last year during 

the #MeToo movement and 

was briefly dropped as a judge 

of a singing reality show on 

Sony channel. The allegations 

resurfaced with his reinstatement 

on the channel this 

September. 

In a statement posted on his 

social media accounts, Malik 

called the allegations "false and 

unverified" which had affected 

his "only source of livelihood". 

"It has been over a year that 

I have been accused of something 

that I haven't done. I have 

been silent all this while as I 

was waiting for the truth to surface 

on its own. But I realise 

that my silence on the matter 

has been misconstrued as my 

weakness," he wrote, adding 

that it had taken a toll on his 

and his family's mental health 

and left him "traumatised, and 

tarnished my career". 

The music composer said he 

to have a special 

appearance from 

the two. While 

Shah Rukh has 

agreed, Salman is 

yet to give his consent,” 

a source told 

BollywoodLife. 

Aamir is playing 

the role of a 

Punjabi for which 

he has undergone a physical change. 

Written by Atul Kulkarni, the film is 

helmed by “Secret Superstar” director 

Advait Chandan and will be produced by 

Viacom18 Studios and Aamir Khan 

Productions. The movie is slated to release 

during Christmas 2020. 

BACK IN TIME 

It’s a dream Bollywood debut for 22-year-old Miss 

World 2017 Manushi Chhillar, as India’s biggest production 

house, Yash Raj Films, has signed her as the 

heroine of their biggest historical film Prithviraj, which 

is based on the life of the fearless King Prithviraj. The 

film stars Akshay Kumar as Prithviraj and Manushi will 

play the role of the gorgeous Sanyogita, the love of 

Prithiviraj’s life. An excited Manushi says, “It is a huge 

honour to have been chosen by a production house like 

Yash Raj Films as their heroine. My life, so far, has really 

been a fairy tale. From becoming Miss India and then 

Miss World to now getting such a big project as my 

debut film, it’s amazing. It is a huge responsibility to 

play princess Sanyogita. 

wondered why the allegations 

were resurfacing only when he 

is back on "television, which is 

currently my only source of 

livelihood?" 

"Being a father of two 

daughters, I can't imagine committing 

the acts that I am 

accused of, let alone do it. 

Fighting a battle on social 

media is an endless process, at 

the end of which nobody wins. 

If this keeps on continuing. I 

will have no option but to 

knock on the doors of the 

courts to safeguard myself," he 

added. "Fighting a battle on 

social media is an endless 

process, at the end of which 

nobody wins. If this keeps on 

continuing, I will have no 

option but to knock on the 

doors of the courts to safeguard 

myself." He thanked his wellwishers 

who have been with 

him and family through this 

"dark phase. I don't know how 

much more slander and dirt my 

family and I can take." 

"The show must go on. But 

behind this happy face, I'm in 

pain. I'm in a dark space. And 

Lata Mangeshkar 

doing much better: 

Family spokesperson 

Lata Mangeshkar, who has been admitted 

to the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital 

here, is "doing much better", a spokesperson 

of the legendary singer's family said 

Friday. Mangeshkar, 90, was admitted to 

the Breach Candy Hospital after she complained 

of difficulty in breathing in the 

early hours of Monday. 

In a statement, her PR team said, "We 

are as happy as you are to inform you that 

with all your prayers and best wishes, Lata 

didi is doing much better. Thank You for 

being there. God is great." 

In her over seven-decade career, 

Mangeshkar has sung more than 30,000 

songs across languages. 

She is considered one of the greatest 

playback singers in Indian cinema. She 

received the Bharat Ratna, India's highest 

civilian honour, in 2001. 

Mangeshkar's last full Hindi album was 

for the late filmmaker Yash Chopra-directed 

2004 film ‘Veer-Zaara’. 

justice is all I want," he concluded 

Mohapatra was the first to 

call Malik out last year, claiming 

that he would call her at 

odd hours and once referred to 

her as "maal" in front of her 

composer husband Ram 

Sampath. 

Singers Neha Bhasin and 

Shweta Pandit also came forward 

with their stories of 

alleged harassment at the hands 

of Malik when they were young 

and looking for work. 

Pandit said she was 15 when 

she was called for an audition 

at the end of which Malik 

demanded a kiss in exchange 

for giving her a song. The incident, 

she said, left her scarred. 

Bhasin, who had called out 

Malik last year and renewed 

her allegations, said she had 

met him to present her work in 

a CD and was hoping for a song 

break, but his behaviour turned 

out to be that of an "ugly pervert". 

"I didn't let myself get into a 

sticky situation beyond him 

lying on a sofa in front of me 

talking about my eyes in a studio. 

I fled lying my mum's 

waiting below. He even msged 

and called me after that to 

which I stopped responding," 

Bhasin had shared in a tweet.


ENTERTAINMENT 

Yami Gautam : I feel 

bald men are cool 

Mumbai, In her new film “Bala”, Yami 

Gautam plays a beautiful TikTok star who is 

shattered when she discovers her on-screen 

husband — played by Ayushmann Khurrana 

— is a bald man. In real life, however, Yami 

says she wouldnt mind having a bald man in 

life. “Why not?” said Yami, asked if she 

would be okay having a bald man as her partner. 

She added: “I feel bald men are really 

cool. They look really cool. The idea of the 

film is to tell people that they should love 

themselves first, and only then can you 

expect others to love you,” said Yami, while 

interacting with the media after a special 

screening of “Bala” in Mumbai. 

In the Amar Kaushik-directed “Bala”, 

Ayushmann plays a young man in Kanpur 

who suffers from premature baldness, and 

who lacks confidence owing to the societal 

pressure that comes with balding. The film 

also stars Bhumi Pednekar. 

“Amar (Kaushik) told me that I had to 

react like Pari (her character in the film), and 

not like Yami,” said the actress. “Bala” has 

done good business so far, crossing the Rs 

50-crore mark on its fourth day. The film 

earned Rs 8.26 crore on Day 4, taking its 

total collection at the end of four days to Rs 

After winning hearts as Shivani Shivaji Rao in 

Mardaani, Rani Mukerji is back as the fierce cop in 

the film’s sequel — Mardaani 2. Makers of 

52.21 crore. 

Talking about the film’s success, Yami 

said: “I am happy with the way the film is 

doing (business) in theatres, because we all 

knew that Amar (Kaushik) has made a really 

good film. But when you get such response 

that shows in the box-office numbers, it feels 

special. In just three days, the film has done 

really well. We are getting a lot of calls and 

‘Fashion isn’t a frivolous thing’ 

Designer Ralph Lauren says 

fashion sounds like a frivolous 

thing, but gives people a way to 

express emotions and thoughts. 

“Fashion sounds like a frivolous 

thing and that it’s not 

important. But I think it’s important 

that people express who 

they are,” Lauren said. 

Lauren, an immigrants’ son, 

has made a global fashion 

empire with his brand Ralph 

Lauren. He founded the company 

in 1967, and the brand is 

known all around the world. 

Now, Very Ralph, a documentary, 

will explore his life and 

legacy. It will stream on Hotstar 

Premium from November 13. 

“I didn’t know what my story 

was going to be. I didn’t even 

know what a designer was,” said 

Lauren about his legacy. Very 

Ralph is directed and produced 

by award-winning documentarian 

Susan Lacy. 

The documentary also features 

interviews with Lauren’s 

family, long-standing colleagues 

and other notables, including 

Anna Wintour, Karl Lagerfeld, 

Andre Leon Talley, Hillary 

Clinton, Robin Givhan, Jason 

Wu, Naomi Campbell, Martha 

Stewart, Calvin Klein, Tyson 

Beckford, Tina Brown, Diane 

von Furstenberg, Jessica 

Chastain, Vanessa Friedman and 

Paul Goldberger. In an interview, 

Lauren reflected on the film, 

saying: “What I do is about living, 

and the HBO documentary, 

through the direction of Susan 

Lacy, has captured that through 

different lenses of memory and 

observation — my own, my family’s, 

those who have helped 

shaped it and those who have 

observed it over many decades. 

It will certainly be an important 

part of telling the story of who I 

am and what I did.” 

Rani is back with Mardaani 2 

Mardaani 2 released the trailer of the film on 

Thursday and we can surely say that it has blockbuster 

written all over it! While Mardaani was 

based on the subject of 

human trafficking, 

Mardaani 2 deals with the 

issue of rapes in India. 

While Tahir Raj Bhasin 

locked horns with Rani in 

Mardaani, it will be interesting 

to see who will play the 

villain in Mardaani 2. The 

movie marks the directorial 

debut of Gopi Puthran and is 

scheduled to release on 

December 13. Besides Rani 

Mukerji, Mardaani 2 stars 

Sudhanshu Pandey, Vikram 

Singh Chauhan, Shruti 

Bapna and others. 

messages, and people are sharing videos 

while watching the film in theatres so, it feels 

very overwhelming.” 

Yami added: “People are connecting with 

the film and are saying they are find the film 

funny and entertaining. I played very different 

role in the film for the first time. I am 

feeling really happy that I got the opportunity 

to play Pari who is a TikTok queen so.” 

Earlier this year, she bagged a dream 

Bollywood debut (with Student of The Year 2; 

SOTY2). The film put Tara Sutaria’s career on the 

fast track. As she admits: “The start has been great. 

The bonus of being part of Karan Johar’s production 

house is that they give you the best beginning 

and a fantastic platform to start off with. Then, it’s 

totally up to you how you take it forward.” 

Now, Tara is readying for her second outing, 

Marjaavaan which, she says, is “very different 

from my first 

film”. “But the 

nervousness and 

excitement will 

be there with 

every film. It’s 

something that 

will never go 

away. So, there’s 

a lot to look forward 

to and a lot 

that people will 

see that they didn’t 

in SOTY2.” 

Unlike the 

“very young, 

fun, light and 

easy” film 

SOTY2, Tara 

calls Marjaavan 

“a very emotional, 

dramatic, serious, tragic love story”. “I think I 

am very lucky to be able to do such a film as my 

second movie. It’s also exciting to play a character 

that can showcase so many different emotions, 

especially considering she is mute. She can hear, 

but can’t speak. I don’t think any other actor is 

doing such a part. So, it feels unique and rare, and 

it’s a great opportunity to show expressions and 

emotions without having any dialogue,” says the 


17 

‘Body-shaming 

messed me up’ 

Singer Selena Gomez says being body-shamed after gaining 

weight really messed her up. In 

an episode of her friend Raquelle 

Stevens’ video podcast Giving 

Back Generation, Gomez opened 

up about how comments about 

her weight affected her mind and 

her health following her battle 

with lupus. 

“I experienced (body-shaming) 

with my weight fluctuation 

for the first time,” Gomez 

recalled. I have lupus and deal 

with kidney issues and high blood 

pressure, so I deal with a lot of 

health issues, and for me that’s 

when I really started noticing 

more of the body image stuff,” 

she added. Selena said while her 

lupus doesn’t directly affect her weight, the “combination” of all 

the different factors does. 

Tough task : “It’s the medication I have to take for the rest of 

my life - it depends on even the month, to be honest. So for me, I 

really noticed when people started attacking me for that. In reality, 

that’s just my truth. I fluctuate. 

It depends what’s happening in my life,” she shared. Gomez 

said being mocked during that stressful period in her life “got to me 

big time”, and that it “really messed me up for a bit”.She said she 

is “very happy with living my life” and doesn’t feel the need to 

share everything on social media because she doesn’t want to live 

in the past or voluntarily live in the spotlight more than she already 

does. “I don’t care to expose myself to everyone,” Gomez said. 

I miss theatre and 

singing, and I’ll surely go 

back to them, says Tara 

actor, adding: “Also, I have never died in a film 

before (laughs). That too was kind of exciting actually.” 

However, the 23-year-old doesn’t feel any pressure, 

at least for the time being as she is “still very 

new to this whole game and understanding of the 

commercials and numbers”. She adds: “I only try 

and pay attention to the creative aspects of moviemaking.” 

Next up for Tara is Sajid Nadiadwala’s RX 100 

remake. “I think 

it’s a very exciting 

time for 

women in every 

sphere including 

showbiz. There 

is no better time 

than now to 

multi-task and 

perform many 

roles. Among 

other things, I 

am definitely 

going to be 

singing in my 

films, and I am 

looking forward 

to it. It may happen 

in RX 100 

remake or mostly, 

the film after 

that,” says Tara, adding that she hopes to create a 

niche for herself as an actor-singer. 

“I feel Ayushmann (Khurrana) has done it beautifully, 

and I am sure others can, too. I would like 

to be the first person (female actor) who always 

sings her own songs,” says Tara, adding that she 

has grown up watching musicals and musical theatre. 

“I have performed a lot on the stage and 

always sung for myself,” she signs off.

18 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 ENTERTAINMENT 


Arun Mozhi : The ‘thotakaran’ of Tamil cinema 

Dealing with Arun Mozhi’s sudden 

demise seems to be silencing me; not 

adapting the spirit of Bharati’s poems to 

an entirely new terrain located in the 

the locations. 

Why did he choose to efface himself 

letting me express my feelings about the 

cement factories of Thalaiyuthu, thus? Why did he project himself as the 

moment when I heard the news in a 

crowded Bengaluru railway platform 

from my student Omar, in Chennai. 

Forty years of friendship that has seen 

periods of intense togetherness and long 

separations pack themselves into a state 

of mind unable to reconcile with his 

death. 

Back in November 1979, I remember 

meeting him as one of film director 

Rudraiah’s comrades when he joined 

me as my assistant. At that time, let me 

be honest, I needed him much more than 

he needed me. His willingness to accept 

my FTII-carved ideas with his ‘native’ 

intelligence drove him to be my toughest 

critic, in the process of shaping a 

film titled Ezhavathu Manithan. Thanks 

to him, I had the guts to embark on a 

Tirunelveli. He was much more at home 

in the rural hamlet than I was and translating 

our scenes into action was very 

easy for him. 

Sadly, when the film went on to win 

the National Award and was selected for 

the Moscow Film Competition, it was 

me, the suave urban ‘intellectual’, representing 

the film. Looking back, I can 

only say that Arun Mozhi was extremely 

gracious in letting me grab all the laurels, 

accolades and status that came 

along with it. He never once felt or 

expressed that he deserved more than 

what he got. In my later projects, where 

he was my associate director, his argumentative 

mind was solely restricted to 

the private scripting space. On location, 

he projected himself as the jester in 

pied piper followed by nomadic film 

buffs? Why did he not stabilise himself 

in one place? His only film Kaani Nilam 

remained unreleased and he did not 

complete any of the films, documentary 

or fictional, that he commenced with his 

little handycam. I teased him often to 

release all that footage in one package 

called ‘The Incomplete Works of Arun 

Mozhi’, and probably, it could start 

something new. And along with everybody 

else, he would join in a hearty 

laugh. At 63, Arun Mozhi, when he collapsed 

in a cinema theatre, represented 

the true status of Tamil cinema, a large 

field where the soil is packed with 

human nutrients for an orchard producing 

so many feature films. Arun Mozhi 

was the faceless ‘thotakaran’, the gardener, 

film about the venerable poet 

King Lear’s court. Readily obeying my 

nurturing that soil packed with 

Subramania Bharati. Being a Bombayite, 

my Tamil was just good enough then 

to read bus boards and menu cards. 

Without Arun Mozhi, comprehending 

Bharati would have been impossible. 

After several debates on scripting 

Bharati’s complicated life to cinema, 

Arun gave me the courage to abandon 

the biopic approach and move on to 

commands but constantly critiquing the 

organised systems which I was used to, 

he brought a new buoyant energy into 

impoverished dreamers but who were 

rich enough to enshrine the ornate pillars 

of Tamil cinema. 

‘I love my body the way it is’ 

Getting candid about her journey from being fat to fab, actress 

Anusha Mishra shares, “Moti. 

Golmatol. Laddu. Football… 

these are some of the names I 

have been called by people. Yes, 

you guessed it right. I am overweight. 

Worse still, a young, 

unmarried girl, who is overweight. 

And, society has a massive 

problem with it. We 

laughed at Tun Tun. We laughed 

at Guddi Maruti. We laughed at 

Bharti Singh. Because they’re 

all fat women, which makes 

them less of a woman and more 

of a joke. Our body is our pride 

and we need to accept it. While 

people will always find a reason 

to walk up to you and somehow 

tell you about your not-so-perfect 

body size, ignore it.” She 

adds, “The only one who should be comfortable about your body 

is you. I have always been pointed out for my weight, even by my 

mother or ‘concerned’ aunties, who would just come and say 

‘you’ve changed a lot’. 

I knew how to decode that into ‘Oh, you’ve gained a lot of 

weight’ but I didn’t care enough to feel offended because I was 

confident with my body. I love my body the way it is. And thanks 

to this very body, today I have been given this incredible opportunity 

of becoming an actress.” 

Aamir Khan in and as 

Laal Singh Chaddha 

Aamir Khan has been the talk of the town ever since Mr 

Perfectionist announced his upcoming project titled Laal Singh 

Chaddha co-starring 

Kareena Kapoor 

Khan. The buzz 

around the film was 

already sky-high 

when Shah Rukh 

Khan tweeted about 

his association with 

the film. It brings 

Aamir and Kareena 

together for the third 

time post 3 Idiots and 

Talaash. Recently, 

Kareena headed to 

Chandigarh for schedule of the film and her first look from the sets 

of the film went viral. After seeing Kareena’s look, we now have 

Aamir’s. As the name Laal Singh Chaddha suggests, Aamir is seen 

as a Jatt in a turban. The actor looks unrecognisable with a long 

thick beard. Dressed in regular shirt and pants, he is wearing sports 

shoes and flaunting a kada too. Kareena, as well as Aamir, will be 

playing two regular individuals living in Chandigarh. 

Bigg Boss 13: Khesari Lal Yadav says ‘have 

come long way from not having even Rs 10 in 

my pocket to touching people’s lives’ 

Wild card entry Khesari Lal Yadav talks 

about his strategy inside the house, his 

journey till date and more. 

Bhojpuri star Khesari Lal Yadav, who 

recently entered Bigg Boss 13 house as a 

wild card entry, has said he once did not 

even have Rs 10 in his pocket. He also said 

that he aimed at expanding his popularity 

to national and international levels with his 

Bigg Boss stint Speaking with Indian 

Express in an interview before entering the 

show, Khesari said, “I have survived life 

and all the hardships it got me. From not 

having even Rs 10 in my pocket to now 

touching crores of people’s lives, I have 

come a long way. And this was an opportunity 

for me to reach out to more people.” 

“I will never change my ideologies for 

anyone. I will go with dignity and come 

back with dignity. I will never hurt anyone 

to win the show. I don’t want to come 

across in a wrong light that after the show, 

I don’t even get work offers,” he added. 

Ever since he entered the house, Khesari 

has stayed true to his word - he has never 

shied away from voicing his opinions. He 

even had fights with Sidharth Shukla after 

he confronted him about his attitude 

towards others. Khesari also aims for international 

fame with the reality show. “Bigg 

Boss is such a popular show that it will help 

me increase my national and international 

reach. I am here to stay and so want to 

broaden my horizons. Bhojpuri industry is 

my motherland, and I would keep doing 

more regional films. But I also want to 

reach out to a bigger audience.” Khesari, 

along with Shefali Jariwala and Tehseen 

Poonawalla, were kept in the secret room 

from where they watched the housemates 

for a few days before entering the house. 

PROUD IN THE UNIFORM 

Vivek Dahiya, who hails from 

Chandigarh, will be next seen as an Army Arjun Rampal set to return 

Officer in ZEE5’s upcoming web series 

Operation Terror: Chabbis Gyarah. He will with supernatural thriller 

be playing the role of Captain Rohit Bagga Mumbai, Actor Arjun Rampal, who next will be seen 

who was away on leave when the terror in the supernatural thriller “Anjaan”, says he will start 

siege in Mumbai took place and the NSG shooting for the film in March next year. “We will start 

Commandos were called upon. Setting shooting for ‘Anjaan’ in March. I am very excited about 

aside his personal leave, Bagga had driven it. It is one of my first super-natural films,” said Arjun, 

four hours to reach the flight in the nick of while interacting with the media. Earlier in September, 

time for the operation. 

Arjun had tweeted about the film, saying: “Spooked and 

Vivek shares, “This one is special for excited… for my next film #Anjaan it’s gonna be one 

me as it has helped me grow as a human hell of a scary ride. Can’t wait to start filming.” 

being and brought me closer to my own “Anjaan” is being directed by Amitebdra Vats, written 

country. Being on a set in an army officer’s by Pooja Ballutia. Asked which web series is his 

uniform is one thing but the show has been favourite, Arjun said: “My favourite series in recent 

made with so much attention to details that time is an English series called ‘Succession’. which is 

my respect has grown towards our army streaming on Hotstar.” Arjun made his digital debut with 

officer and commandos after actually stepping 

into their shoes.” 

do the second season of ‘The Final Call’,” he 

a web series named “The Final Call”. “I hope I will soon 

said.


London : The UK-based Internet 

Watch Foundation (IWF) has revealed 

that nearly half of the child abuse content 

in the social media space is being 

shared openly on micro-blogging platform 

Twitter. 

According to a report in 

The Telegraph that accessed 

the IWF data, 49 per cent of 

the images, videos and url 

links it found on social media, 

search engines and cloud services 

in the last three years 

were on Twitter - "making up 

1,396 of the total 2,835 incidents". 

This is a scary incident 

as the child abuse images and 

videos slipped through 

Twitter's filters and were 

available for anyone to see. 

According to the IWF, it helps 

minimise the availability of 

online sexual abuse content, 

specifically child sexual abuse 

content hosted anywhere in the world. 

The majority of its work focuses on 

the removal of child sexual abuse 

images and videos. "We search for 

child sexual abuse images and videos 

and offer a place for the public to 

report them anonymously. We then 

have them removed," it said on its 

website. Microsoft's Bing search 

engine was second in the IWF report, 

NEWS 

Twitter leads in child abuse 

content on social media 

with 604 incidents recorded between 

2016 and 2018, followed by Amazon 

with 375 and Google with 348. 

"The IWF found 72 incidents of 

abuse being openly hosted on 

Facebook, 18 on its sister site 

Instagram and 22 on YouTube," said 

the report. A Twitter spokesperson 

replied to the IWF report: "We have 

serious concerns about the accuracy 

of these figures and the metrics used 

to produce them. We will continue to 

work with the IWF to address their 

concerns and improve the accuracy of 

their data". Susie Hargreaves OBE, 

CEO of the IWF said that "our data is 

accurate and recorded fairly and consistently 

regardless of where we find 

child sexual abuse material". 

Microsoft also questioned the IWF 

data. Earlier reports claimed 

that Microsoft's search 

engine Bing is still serving 

child porn, and certain 

search terms on the platform 

brought up child porn 

images and related keywords. 

"Microsoft's Bing search 

engine reportedly still 

served up child porn, nearly 

a year after the tech giant 

said it was addressing the 

issue. "The news comes as 

part of a report in The New 

York Times that looks at 

what the newspaper says is 

a failure by tech companies 

to adequately address child 

pornography on their platforms," 

reports CNET. The tech giant has long 

been at the forefront of combating 

abuse imagery, even creating a detection 

tool called "PhotoDNA" almost a 

decade ago. But many criminals have 

turned to its search engine Bing as a 

reliable tool. "Part of the issue is privacy, 

some companies say," said the 

report. 

New York : Using a special type 

of radar, researchers have discovered 

the invisible footprints hiding since 

the end of the last ice age -- and what 

lies beneath them. The fossilised 

footprints reveal a wealth of information 

about how humans and animals 

moved and interacted with each other 

12,000 years ago, according to the 

study published in the 

journal Scientific 

Reports. 

"We never thought to 

look under footprints, 

but it turns out that the 

sediment itself has a 

memory that records the 

effects of the animal's weight and 

momentum in a beautiful way," said 

study lead author Thomas Urban 

from Cornell University in the US. "It 

gives us a way to understand the biomechanics 

of extinct fauna that we 

never had before," Urban said. The 

researchers examined the footprints 

of humans, mammoths and giant 

sloths in the White Sands National 

Monument in New Mexico. 

Using ground-penetrating radar 

(GPR), they were able to resolve 96 

per cent of the human tracks in the 

area under investigation, as well as all 


19 

‘Ghost’ footprints 

hiding since end of 

Ice Age found 

of the larger vertebrate tracks. "But 

there are bigger implications than just 

this case study," Urban said. "The 

technique could possibly be applied to 

many other fossilised footprint sites 

around the world, potentially including 

those of dinosaurs. We have 

already successfully tested the method 

more broadly at multiple locations 

within White 

Sands," Urban 

added. "While these 

'ghost' footprints 

can become invisible 

for a short time 

after rain and when 

conditions are just 

right, now, using geophysics methods, 

they can be recorded, traced and 

investigated in 3D to reveal 

Pleistocene animal and human interactions, 

history and mechanics in genuinely 

exciting new ways," said study 

co-author Sturt Manning. GPR is a 

nondestructive method that allows 

researchers to access hidden information 

without the need for excavation. 

The sensor - a kind of antenna - is 

dragged over the surface, sending a 

radio wave into the ground. The signal 

that bounces back gives a picture of 

what's under the surface.

20 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 NEWS 


Why have India’s elite institutions become 

murderers of Dalit Adivasi-Muslim scholars ? 

The suicide of bright young scholar 

Fathima Latheef at the IIT Madras 

is reflective of the brutal and atrocious 

caste order prevailing in these institutions 

which discriminate against Dalit, 

OBC, Adivasi and Muslim students. 

This suicide is an institutional murder 

where the masterminds and caste 

supremacists are well protected. The 

list is long in recent years as how 

bright young dynamic scholars particularly 

hailing from Dalit Adivasi 

Muslim background are being targeted 

not merely by the Savarna students but 

their faculties. It is difficulty for 

India’s racists savarnas to accept brilliant 

self respecting bright scholars 

from other communities who dont 

agree with them. 

These institutions who I term as 

Gurukuls now where a Droancharya is 

ready to cut the fingers of students 

from marginalized sections, are today 

becoming the hunting ground for these 

students who aspire high though their 

social location might not be that 

strong. Rohith Vemula was murdered 

in Hyderabad Central University 

Campus, Dr Payal Tadvi faced very 

similar pressure in her medical college 

in Mumbai while nineteen years old 

Fathima became the latest victim of 

this murder series. 

Fathima was a topper in the 

entrance examination. She topped in 

her earlier too. Hailing from Kollam 

district in Kerala, Fathima had big 

dreams when she got into Integrated 

MA programme in Humanities and 

Social Sciences at the IIT Madras. Her 

parents have accused Prof Sudarshan 

Padmanabhan for mentally torturing 

her. 

Fathima’s story is not alone. The 

caste forces have revolted with a 

vengeance everywhere. There are 

attack by targeting institutions and 

individuals. Look at the JNU and how 

the government and all others have 

joined hand to destroy this credible 

institutions. They are unable to break 

the spirit of the University and yet 

through media and the paddlers of lies, 

we are witnessing a campaign against 

provisions which ensure that children 

of all the communities who are the 

margin can enter into a credible and 

privileged institution. IITs and IIMs 

are actually much regressive in their 

Houston : Researchers have developed 

a speech-based mobile app that 

uses artificial intelligence to categorize 

a patient’s mental health status, an 

advance that may lead to a tool to 

assist psychiatrists in diagnosing mental 

illnesses. The study, published in 

the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin, 

noted that many people in remote 

areas do not have access to psychiatrists 

or psychologists, and others 

can’t afford to see a clinician frequently. 

The researchers, including those 

from the University of Colorado at 

Boulder in the US, said therapists base 

their treatment plan largely on listening 

to a patient talk which they said 

was an old, subjective and unreliable 

method. They developed a machine 

caste prejudices and that is why it is 

very difficult for girls like Fathima to 

survive there. 

Not long ago, a Ph.D award of a 

scientist who happened to belong to 

scheduled caste community was held 

up by the brahmanical faculty in IIT 

Kanpur, accusing the scholar of plagiarism, 

when everybody knew the 

track record of the senior scholar as 

brilliant. His father passed away hearing 

about the same that his son might 

not get his hard earned Ph.D. Finally, 

after much campaign by friends the 

IIT K appointed a committee and ultimately 

charges against him were 

dropped. 

learning technology that can detect 

day-to-day changes in speech which 

hints at mental health decline. As an 

example, they said, sentences that 

don’t follow a logical pattern can be a 

critical symptom in schizophrenia. 

Shifts in tone or pace may suggest 

mania or depression, and memory loss 

can be a sign of both cognitive and 

mental health problems, the 

researchers said. 

“Language is a critical pathway to 

detecting patient mental states,” said 

study co-author Peter Foltz from the 

University of Colorado at Boulder. 

“Using mobile devices and AI, we 

are able to track patients daily and 

monitor these subtle changes,” he 

added. The study noted that the new 

In the universities like 

JNU, despite all differences, 

the students from the margins 

can enjoy freedom to 

challenge the might but such freedom 

does not exists in any other institution. 

In fact, the brahmanical elite are now 

ensuring that other institutions do not 

go JNU way. I dont consider JNU revolutionary 

but given today’s circumstances, 

it is a model that the government 

could have adopted like 

Navodaya vidyalayas and spread 

across the country to ensure that persons 

from the marginalised sections 

participate in our nation building and 

contribute. 

How will they contribute when all 

these institutions are being made 

beyond their economic limit. The fees 

and other expenses at the IITs, IIMs 

and other medical institutions are 

deliberately being made such so that 

the students who hail from economically 

weaker background do not reach 

there. The social and cultural environment 

in these institutions is as such 

that the students from Dalit- 

Adivasi-OBC-Muslim community 

become mute and totally 



isolated. They remain in atmospheric 

intimidation which I call criminal 

and oppressive environment which 

reminds students of their ‘social background’. 

Can the Ministry of HRD respond 

as what happened to the probe into 

Rohith Vemula’s murder ? What happened 

in the Payal Tadvi case ? What 

happened to Nazeeb’s murder ? And 

what is the progress in the investigation 

of murder of Fathima Latheef. 

These are institutional issues and need 

to be seriously addressed. If our institutions 

are becoming killing fields of 

the scholars from Dalit Adivasi- 

Muslim communities then it is time to 

have a serious look into their structure. 

Are there teachers from these sections 

in these institutions ? Are there enough 

students from these sections ? Are 

there enough staff from their communities 

? If not then the students will 

always remain in ‘alien in 

wonderland’. 

Sad part is that there is 

no out cry. Political parties 

as usual remain silent as 

these are not issues for 

them. More criminal is the 

silence of those who ‘represent’ 

Dalit Bahujanminority 

communities. It is not the 

issue of making one statement. It is 

time, they develop their vision for 

education particularly how are they 

going to strengthen and encourage 

India’s huge Bahujan communities 

into these institutions. 

Fathima Lateef’s killing is the story 

of discrimination against Muslims too 

mobile app asks patients a 5- to 10- 

minute series of questions which 

they can answer by talking into 

their phone. The patients are asked 

about their emotional state, or to 

tell a short story, or to listen to a 

story and repeat it. 

The app also gives them a series 

of touch-and-swipe motor skills 

tests. It assesses the speech samples, 

compares them to previous 

samples by the same patient and 

the broader population, and rates 

the patient’s mental state. The 

researchers also asked doctors to 

listen to and assess speech samples 

of 225 participants - half with 

severe psychiatric issues and half 

healthy volunteers - in rural 

who are now increasingly feeling it at 

every level. Isolation, contempt and 

attempt to define them further. We 

must speak up against such efforts. 

You blame communities are being 

pampered. You blame them for not 

being ‘educated’ but what happens 

when the students come at their own. 

Fathima was not wearing ‘Burqa’ so 

by all the ‘standards’ of the brahmanical 

IITs, she was a modern Muslim 

girl and yet she was forced to die. 

The basic question is why Fathima 

died or was killed or allowed to be 

killed ? And the answers are simple 

and one need to read into what is happening 

in our campuses in the last six 

years. Institutionally, all of them are 

being restructured in such a way so 

that the Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasi- 

Muslim students remain outside their 

domain or unable to make entry into 

them and if they are able to make an 

entry inside the brahmanical club, then 

it is ensured that they are isolated, 

depressed and compel to commit suicide. 

So these institutional murder will 

continue if we are unable to democratise 

our institutions and that will only 

be possible if they reflect diversity of 

India in these institutions and not 

merely brahmanical diversity but non 

brahmanical diversity too. 

Representation of India’s diverse religious 

and ethnic, caste groups is 

important for democratisation of our 

institutions. Will it be possible ? I dont 

think those who have enjoyed privileges 

and fruits of power for last so 

many years will easily leave it. The 

only way is political battle and our 

continuous struggle for social justice 

and human rights when political parties 

have failed to take up the cause of 

people. That is the most worrisome 

part in India but there is a reality and 

that is a revolution happens in the 

most frustrating situations and I am 

seeing that in India, people are feeling 

it. Will those who are socially excluded 

organised themselves not merely in 

the University campuses but also 

politically and outside the urban 

domain, in our villages too. If they do 

it, I can say, we will not have to see the 

sad and deeply painful lives of 

Fathima or Rohtih Vemula or Payal 

Tadvi, cut short by brahmanical 

crookedness. 

AI app may help diagnose psychiatric illness by listening to users 

Louisiana in the US and Northern 

Norway. When they compared the 

results to those of the machine learning 

system, they found that the computer’s 

AI models can be at least as 

accurate as the clinicians. 

The researchers called for larger 

studies with the app to prove its efficacy 

and earn public trust. “The mystery 

around AI does not nurture trustworthiness, 

which is critical when 

applying medical technology,” they 

said. “Rather than looking for 

machine learning models to become 

the ultimate decision-maker in medicine, 

we should leverage the things 

that machines do well that are distinct 

from what humans do well,” the 

researchers added.


NEWS 


21 

Ayodhya verdict incomplete without 

bringing perpetrators of the demolition 

of Babari Masjid to justice 

The Ayodhya verdict is out. People 

are interpreting it according to their 

positions. A one thousand page verdict 

will have many point and perhaps 

would be useful for the scholars as a 

research material. There are things 

which make verdict the best possible 

solution in todays vitiated political climate. 

It is unambiguous that the court 

has been unanimous in ‘respecting’ the 

‘sentiments’ of Hindus. While it suggested 

that it would put facts over faith 

yet reading the judgment and listening 

to the justification of various points, I 

would suggest it is a ‘settlement’ of a 

case and not really a ‘judgment’ which 

really uphold the sanctity of the law and 

our secular constitution. 

The verdict did not even take into 

consideration the Buddhist claims 

despite the known fact that Ayodhya is 

saket in many old texts and that circuit 

from Shravasti to Sarnath-Kushinagar 

till Lumbini is termed as Buddhist circuit. 

We know that the popular opinion 

too influence judges and they knew it 

well that this judgment cant be delivered 

purely on ‘technicality’ and that 

was the reason why the court wanted 

mediation. They knew it well that the 

situation would go out of hand if the 

Hindu parties lose the case and they 

wanted to ensure that Muslims should 

not be seen as ‘losing’ party and that is 

why while granting whole write of 2.77 

acres of disputed land to Hindus, the 

court also asked the government to allot 

five acres of land to Muslims to construct 

a mosque. 

Muslim party is rightly aggrieved 

because the judgment is not really 

based on supremacy of law otherwise 

the courts would have stood strongly 

against the demolition of the Babari 

Mosque. They made important observations 

regarding the same. That idols 

Ram Lalla were surreptitiously placed 

inside the mosque in November 1948 

and then the demolition of the Babari 

Mosque on December 6th, 1992, were 

against the rule of the law and illegal. 

Indian constitution is secular but the 

nature of Indian state remained brahmanical 

to say the least. It has not happened 

all of a sudden. The continuous 

failure of the secular politicians and 

politics has helped the Hindutva to get 

legitimized and courts cant be uninfluenced 

and unaffected with the political 

climate of the country. We need not to 

discuss things here but a chronology of 

events and court’s responses on many 

of the issues concerning civil liberty 

and human rights are a matter of grave 

concern. In wake of the Ayodhya judgment, 

the court actually did not hear 

many important petitions during the last 

two months. 

It is a fact that such cases of faith are 

difficult to evaluate when the dispute is 

over centuries. Frankly speaking 

court’s are not here to decide where a 

God is born. It is the faith and judges 

being human being realize the great 

responsibility on them. As a nation, we 

have not yet matured to accept any kind 

of verdict. The court verdict prove that 

India, though is constitutionally a secular 

nation yet it is defecto a Hindu state 

and sentiments of Hindus mattered 

more in this judgment. There is no 

doubt that courts observations are 

important and they have tried to analyse 

things in a very balanced way yet the 

judgment fall short of many things. 

I am sure Muslims as well as secular 

progressive liberal people would not 

have any issue with respecting the ‘sentiments’ 

of Hindus who consider 

Ayodhya as birth place of Lord Rama 

but the disturbing thing is that while 

accepting that the incidents of putting 

the idols of Rama Lalla in the mosque 

as well as razing of the Babari Masjid 

in 1992 was ‘an egregious violation of 

the rule of law”, very little is being 

done to punish the guilty of these two 

crimes. 

L K Advani, Vinay Katiyar, Uma 

Bharti, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan 

Singh; VHP leaders Ashok Singhal 

(deceased), Giriraj Kishore (deceased), 

Vishnu Hari Dalmia, Champat Rai 

Bansal; Shiv Sena leaders Bal 

Thackeray (deceased) and Moreshwar 

Save (deceased) are the main accused 

in the Babari Masjid demolition case 

along with many other BJP leaders as 

well as so called Car Sevaks who were 

present there and participated in the 

demolition of the historic mosque. 27 

years have passed since the demolition 

of the mosque and CBI has not been 

able to do anything credible in the case. 

The political fortune of all the 

accused had grown disproportionately 

after the demolition of Babari Masjid 

and BJP tasted powers not only in various 

states but at the center also. It is 

important for the Courts to assert their 

power in such cases and direct for a 

time bound trial. Supreme Court must 

ask the government what has happened 

on the trial and why is CBI unable to 

expedite the case ? 

The court’s silence and merely passing 

reference does not do any justice to 

this. If the court were speaking on the 

entire issue of Ayodhya dispute and 

then it is important for them to speak up 

categorically that the perpetrators of the 

Babari Demolition have not done anything 

‘heroic’ but attacked on the constitution 

of India and must be severely 

punished so that none can do such cowardly 

act in future. 

We must not forget the fact that after 

the demolition of the Babari Masjid, the 

then Prime Minister P V Narsihmarao 

promised the country that the masjid 

would be built at the same place. It was 

not a party promise but a promise made 

by the government. When the court is 

asking the government to expedite the 

temple building process, which means 

asking the government to build the temple, 

which in any secular society is not 

desirable then why nobody reminded 

them that there is a solemn promise of a 

government to build the Babari masjid. 

Though the court asked the government 

to provide the Sunni Waqqf 

Board five acres of land to 

build a mosque, it remained 



silent on the government’s 

promise to the nation that 

Narsimharao made. If the temple is to 

be constructed at exchequer’s money 

then why not the mosque which was 

promised by the government. 

The third vital question is about 

future of such conflicts. Will the 

Ayodhya conflict end all other conflict 

or will it open up windows for more 

places. Will the court become adjudicator 

of the ‘birth’ places of various 

mythological gods. Should the court be 

doing this which is not their domain 

area ? We have thousands of mythological 

issues and every stone in our country 

has a mythological value, not necessarily 

historical. The Hindutva groups 

are not going to sit silently because now 

with this massive power, they will keep 

the pot boiling. The popular slogan that 

‘mandir wahi banayenge, lekin taarikh 

nahi bataayenge’ can not be used as 

Supreme Court has ordered the process 

of temple construction. It means that 

next elections of Uttar Pradesh, temple 

remain the major issue. Though the 

court has categorically said that law and 

order and peace are important for the 

construction of Ram Temple, they 

failed to assure the nation that this was 

a very special case and in future, they 

would warn any citizen or political 

goons to take law unto his hand and 

demolish the place of worship of any 

community. History cannot be undone. 

If Babar had demolished a mandir and 

built up a mosque, which was highly 

unlikely, then the answer is not to correct 

this ‘wrong’ by demolishing the 

masjid and making the mandir at the 

same place. Will the slogan, ‘ abhi to ye 

bas jhaanki hai, kashi, Mathura baaki 

hai’, ( this is just a trailer, the issues of 

Kashi and Mathura will be settled later) 

disappear now ? My opinion 

is that the Supreme Court 

should have spoken categorically 

that it will not allow 

such frivolous and disruptive 

activities in the name of ‘history’ 

and ‘sentiments’. 

Whatever the verdict is and 

people are deliberating on it 

purely on legal basis, the responses 

from the Muslim community as well as 

common Hindus is a welcome step. If 

the building of Ram Temple help us 

resolve the bitterness between Hindus 

and Muslim, then we should welcome 

it. Fact is that attempt were made for a 

out of court settlement though the court 

appointed committee could not reach to 

a conclusion. The fact is the language 

of the judgment is balance which does 

not target the Hindus in harsh word 

though condemn the act of vandalism, 

at the same point of time assure 

Muslims their place in the country and 

equal treatment as per the constitution 

of India. 

Response of political parties is as 

usual. They all took shelter in the garb 

of ‘matter’ being subjudice. Now the 

matter is ‘resolved’, the political parties 

including the Hindutva forces should 

now focus on issues confronting the 

nation. It would be good if the court 

appoint a committee to monitor the 

process and not allow political parties 

to use it for their ulterior political 

motives. Now as the judgment has 

come, parties might seek review of it, 

but if the court has to do anything, I 

hope they must not allow attempt to use 

such toxic and vitiated campaign to vilify 

the minorities particularly Muslims 

who have been at the receiving end. We 

know, this case had gone into such a situation 

that it would not have satisfied 

all the parties. The best part is that the 

court must ensure that no future incident 

like this should happen again. 

Demolishing the place of worship of 

any religion needs not mere condemnation 

but also strong action against the 

perpetrators of the crime. It is in this 

context that we hope the criminals of 

the Babari demolition would be booked 

and brought to justice. Supreme Court 

has a duty to ensure that this task is 

done in a time bound manner as they 

did in the case. Let the court not allow 

this verdict to be misused by the same 

forces who demolished Babari Masjid, 

at the other places. The court has reemphaised 

on constitutional values particularly 

its secular character and it is 

important now that while faith is important, 

the constitution also mandate us 

including courts, to strengthen scientific 

thinking, critical inquiry and humanism 

in our people. All this will remain a 

pipedream if the religious rights dictate 

terms and conditions to us and all institutions 

buckle under their combine 

assault. 

This judgment has numerous important 

observations by the courts and we 

hope, it will be useful in strengthening 

our resolve for a secular, plural and liberal 

society. India need to move ahead 

now, learning its lessons from the failure 

to protect the constitution and 

should not allow such things to happen 

again which may endanger our social 

fabric and rule of law. Let the legal people 

understand the entire verdict reading 

its judgment carefully and take the 

necessary action. If the court hear anything 

in this matter, it must ensure that 

perpetrators of the violence and criminal 

assault on Babari Masjid should be 

prosecuted as soon as possible and for 

that the courts would do well, to monitor 

the CBI court’s proceeding and 

direct it for necessary action. A failure 

on that account will make this verdict 

incomplete and strengthen the perpetrators 

of the crime who are eyeing the 

other such projects and are in a celebratory 

mode. The Court must warn them 

and act. 

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social 

and human rights activist. He blogs 

at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com 

twitter @freetohumanity 

Email: vbrawat@gmail.com

22 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 WORLD 


Pakistan, China agree to 

work on 4 key projects 

Islamabad : Pakistan and 

China have agreed to work on 

four key projects for oil and gas 

cooperation including finalisation 

of feasibility study on South 

North Gas Pipeline Project by 

Power China International Group 

of Companies and upgradation of 

Pakistan Refinery Ltd, Karachi. 

Top official sources told The 

News International on 

Wednesday that under the China- 

Pakistan Economic Corridor 

(CPEC) framework, among several 

projects that were discussed 

at the experts' level, following 

were recommended to be considered, 

in the first instance, for 

early implementation under 

CPEC. It included finalization of 

feasibility study on South North 

Gas Pipeline Project by Power 

Gurugram : China-based 

BBK Group, the parent company 

of OPPO, Vivo, Realme and 

OnePlus brands, achieved 42 per 

cent in the India smartphone 

market in the third quarter this 

year, registering a 23 per cent 

year-on-year (YoY) growth, a 

new report said on Thursday. 

According to CyberMedia 

Research's (CMR) "India Mobile 

Handset Market Review Report 

for Q3 2019," the smartphone 

market grew at 8 per cent, with 

top five smartphone vendors 

now accounting for eight out of 

every nine smartphones shipped 

in India. 

Realme grew an incredible 

511 per cent, while vivo recorded 

87 per cent growth. "The 

major highlight for the quarter is 

the sheer dominance of the BBK 

Group, that now accounts for a 

bulk of the play in the smartphone 

market across price tiers 

China International Group of 

Companies; upgradation of 

Pakistan Refinery Ltd Karachi; 

coal to Liquid Engineering Plant 

based on Thar Coal at Thar 

Sindh; and both sides appreciated 

the concept to include Thar 

Block-VI for Coal gasification to 

Fertilizer projects under CPEC 

and desired to undertake a feasibility 

study for further evaluation. 

Given the proposed projects 

to be helpful in development of 

oil and gas industry, the officials 

said that both sides agreed that 

these projects will be included in 

the "Development Plan for 

Pakistan Oil and Gas Industry". 

Both sides agreed to make the 

Development Plan more actionable 

for quality development of 

CPEC with ready projects. The 

$60 billion CPEC is a key project 

of Beijing's Belt and Road 

initiative that aims to connect 

Asia, Africa and Europe through 

a vast network of highways, rail 

lines and sea lanes. The multibillion 

dollar corridor connects 

the Chinese city of Kashgar with 

Pakistan's Gwadar port on the 

Arabian Sea. 

China's BBK Group logs 42% share 

in India smartphone market in Q3 

On Nehru's birthday, revolt brews in UP Congress 

Lucknow : On the birth anniversary of 

Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress in Uttar Pradesh 

witnessed a revolt-like situation. More than two 

dozen senior party leaders, including former legislators 

and ministers, met at the residence of former 

party MP Dr Santosh Singh and expressed anguish at 

the fact that they had been completely sidelined in 

the present dispensation. 

"We have decided to seek an appointment with 

Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi and we 

will apprise her of our feelings. We are told that the 

party has decided to concentrate only on those below 

the age of 50. Most of us have served the party under 

Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. 

Should we consider ourselves out of the party now?" 

said former Congress MLC Haji Siraj Mehndi. 

Others who attended the meeting included K.K. 

Sharma, Ram Krishna Dwiwedi, Satyadev Tripathi, 

Vinod Chaudhary, Bodh Narain Misra among others. 

Most of the leaders are over 60 years of age but are 

physically active. With the Uttar Pradesh Congress 

focusing increasingly on the youth, the seniors in the 

party have been alienated ever since party general 

secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took charge of the 

state. Senior leaders such as Salman Khurshid, 

Nirmal Khatri, Shri Prakash Jaiswal, R.P.N. Singh, 

Arun Kumar Singh Munna and Raj Babbar have not 

visited the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee 

(UPCC) office in recent weeks and neither has the 

new UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu made any 

efforts to gain their confidence. "Lallu is so caught 

up with the fact that he is Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's 

blue-eyed boy that he feels there is no need to ensure 

the presence of seniors at party events. One by one, 

party leaders are leaving the Congress and Lallu will 

soon find himself isolated. None of the senior leaders 

has even been consulted in nomination of district 

presidents," said a party veteran. Former minister 

and senior Congress leader Ammar Rizvi is the latest 

in the list of those who have quit the Congress 

to join the BJP in UP. Senior Congress leader Vinod 

Chaudhary, who has resigned as member of the 

party's disciplinary committee, said, "The officebearers 

appointed in the new committee are mostly 

unknown faces. Since I do not know majority of 

them, how can I work with them?" 

through clever market segmentation 

strategy aimed at varied 

consumer personas," said Prabhu 

Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence 

Group (IIG), CMR. 

Xiaomi remained the market 

leader in smartphone shipments, 

with one in four users buying a 

Xiaomi smartphone. Despite 

witnessing its growth decline by 

two per cent (YoY), it saw positive 

growth for Redmi K20 

series that contributed to 13 per 

cent of overall premium smartphones. 

Apple returned to the 

top 10 list with a 28 per cent 

YoY growth, on the back of the 

successful iPhone XR and the 

increased shipments of iPhone 

11. "In addition to the BBK 

Group, the presence of Nokia 

and Apple in the top 10 smartphone 

leaderboard also points to 

the shifting market dynamics at 

play," Ram added. 

The market share for affordable 

smartphones (less than Rs 

7,000) declined by 25 per cent, 

while the premium smartphone 

band (above Rs 25,000) grew by 

an impressive 101 per cent. 

The mid-tier value for money 

smartphones (Rs 7,000 -Rs 

25,000) grew by 20 per cent. 

Samsung (22 per cent), itel 

(18 per cent) and Lava (13 per 

cent) rounded off the top three in 

feature phone shipments. 

Samsung saw its market share 

erode by 5 per cent (YoY) during 

Q3 even as the Galaxy A 50, A2 

Core and the M30 did fairly 

well, contributing close to 50 per 

cent of its overall shipments. 

CMR forecasts mobile phone 

shipments to likely touch 280 

million units by the end of fourth 

quarter. "Going forward, on the 

back of the record shipments in 

Q3 2019, we anticipate the 

fourth quarter growth to slow 

down on the back of low consumer 

demand and decreased 

shipments, in light of the existing 

channel inventory," added 

Anand Priya Singh, Analyst-IIG, 

CMR. 

More clarity needed in 

SC verdict on Sabarimala: 

KERALA CM 

Thiruvananthapuram : 

Reacting to the Supreme Court's 

3:2 verdict referring the 

Sabarimala review pleas to a 

larger bench, Kerala Chief 

Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on 

Thursday said 

the government 

is 

attempting to 

get more clarity 

on the verdict. 

"Our government 

is 

fully committed 

to abide 

by whatever the verdict is and 

there are no questions about it. 

At the moment there is some 

ambiguity over the verdict and 

for more clarity, we will seek 

legal help," Vijayan said, while 

speaking to the media, here. 

"Once this verdict undergoes 

legal scrutiny, it will be more 

clear and for that we will do the 

needful. Today's verdict has not 

stayed the September 28th verdict. 

Had one more person in the 

bench opposed it, then things 

would have been different," 

noted Vijayan. The Chief 

Minister, however was non-committal 

on questions about how 

the state government would react 

if women made a renewed 

attempt to enter the temple. 

"Such things we will see, at the 

appropriate time," he said, 

adding that that there is no stay 

on the September 28, 2018, 

judgement, which lifted the ban 

on the entry of women aged 

between 10 and 50. According to 

this verdict, women of all ages 

can visit the 

shrine till a 

larger bench 

decides the 

issue, which is 

actually no 

relief to the 

petitioners who 

had moved the 

top court seeking 

a review of 

its earlier judgement. 

The Chief Justice's majority 

judgement clubbed the issues of 

entry for Muslim women in 

mosques, of Parsi women being 

allowed to enter the Tower of 

Silence, among others, with the 

issue of permitting women entry 

into the Sabarimala temple. 

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson 

Sobha Surendran has cautioned 

Vijayan and said the party will 

strongly oppose any breaching 

of Sabarimala temple traditions. 

Last visiting season, while several 

women, including lady journalists, 

were chased away while 

trying to enter Sabarimala by 

right wing activists, the Kerala 

Police provided complete security 

to two women on January 2nd 

this year and allowed them to 

pray at the temple.


WORLD 


23 

Congress Party sans Gandhis 

Tons of papers by thousands 

of popular writers in India & 

abroad have been written while 

giving advice to the Gandhis on 

how to revive the party. A few 

like Sagarika Ghosh suggested 

forming a new party called the 

“Swatantra Congress Party” 

without ideological baggage. 

Mark Tully, a renowned writer 

has suggested to shed darbari 

culture & centralization of 

power. In my observation, nothing 

of such sorts needs to be followed 

by the Gandhis to run the 

party. 

The BJP is not a party with a 

difference in the matter of politics. 

Not a leaf can budge without 

Narendra Modi and Amit 

Shah`s permission in the BJP. 

Jagat Prakash Nadda, a current 

working President of the BJP 

political strategy has failed partially 

to win a clear cut majority 

in Haryana and Maharashtra for 

the BJP despite marooned media 

and economic resources. Before 

the 2014 general elections, Amit 

Shah and Modi proclaimed to 

make it “Congress Mukt 

Bharat” but the various state as 

well Haryana and Maharashtra 

election results have shown that 

the BJP is no more a political 

party that can be trusted fully 

anymore. People of India now 

know that the BJP and its leaders 

are making false promises. 

Most of the promises made in 

the BJP manifestos are unfulfilled. 

People also know that the 

NDA under Modi`s incompetence 

has no financial capacity 

to carry out those promises. The 

poor farmers have already sent a 

clear & loud message to the BJP 

that no more lies. 

New India under 

the Modi government 

is reeling under economic 

debt. 

We cannot blame completely 

the Gandhis for not winning a 

full majority in various elections. 

Rahul Gandhi in his 

capacity worked hard before the 

2019 elections but the minds of 

the people of India were confused 

by the marooned media 

houses which run stories full of 

lies against Nehru and Gandhis 

24×7. New young voters do not 

read the history of the congress 

party. Neither has the time to 

read because nowadays, the 

majority of youngsters are found 

engaged on social media. The 

news and views against Nehru 

and Gandhis are uploaded by the 

BJP media department 24×7 

thereby young voters get confused. 

The Congress party under the 

leadership of Sonia Gandhi 

chose leaders like Navjot Singh 

Sidhu who quit Congress and 

joined the BJP. There is a long 

list of such political opportunists 

in every political party who 

have no patience. Quick political 

power, social status, wealth 

creation is the mantra of the 

majority of the young political 

– Dr. Rahul Kumar, PhD 

leaders such as Sidhu. When 

young leaders come to the congress 

party they dare to defy the 

senior leaders as such in the case 

of Amarinder Singh, Chief 

Minister of Punjab. I completely 

disagree with Mark Tully (in his 

article, ‘The Congress must bid 

farewell to the Gandhis” published 

in HT when he says that, 

“Amarinder Singh was the only 

Congress chief Minister of a 

major state to resist the BJP. Let 

me remind Mark Tully that it is 

not only Amarinder 

Singh’s political success 

that can be 

applauded for grabbing 

Punjab state 

from the greedy paws 

of the Akali-BJP 

alliance. There are two important 

reasons behind his political 

success; One is the people of the 

state had made up mind against 

the corrupt Badal and His son 

government, other was the 

infighting within the alliance. 

The two terms of the Badal 

family government under the 

nose of the BJP looted the state 

of Punjab with both hands. The 

people of Punjab was tolerating 

the corruption but when Badal 

family and his cronies started 

suppressing socially, politically 

the leader of the opposition parties 

then people got fed up with 

the Badal family and the BJP. 

Dalits girls were raped under 

the nose of the Badal family 

and no concrete action was 

taken against the Sikh uppercaste 

rapists. In many rape 

cases, the victims could not register 

FIR because of political 

and social patronage of the 

Badal family to the rapists. At 

the same time, the RSS workers 

in the state of Punjab got 

immense strength and political 

patronage to torch the members 

of the marginalized communities. 

For example, a Dalit youth 

belonging to Ambedkar Sena 

was shot by the Shiv Sena and 

Hindu Suraksha Samiti. This 

news jolted the state of Punjab 

mainly due to favoritism on 

behalf of the Badal family to 

these Hindu outfits. More 35 

percent Dalits in the state of 

Punjab felt betrayed by the 

Badal Family when it took several 

days to register FIR against 

the shooters. The Akali-BJP 

alliance was rejected 

by the people of 

Punjab because of 

such several factors. 

India`s politics, like 

in the developed 

nations of the world, 

has changed. The role 

of regional political 

parties has got strength 

with the emergence of regional 

leaders who know better local 

issues and are presumed to be in 

a better position to influence the 

voters. The Congress party did 

not indulge in horse-trading like 

the BJP. The winning GOA was 

easily handed over to the BJP by 

the Congress party because the 

congress party has no culture of 

horse-trading. 

The majority of the regional 

party leader is saleable as a 

result the BJP gets a chance to 

buy & form the government. On 

the other hand, the BJP has CBI, 

ED and other law enforcing 

agencies which can bend any 

powerful politician to the BJP 

knees. In the case of Haryana, 

the BJP knows that the Chautala 

family is notorious for corruption. 

Had Dushyant Chautala, 

the JJP chief shook hands with 

the congress, he and his clan 

members would have faced 

CBI, ED by now? Let us evaluate 

the position of Shiv Sena 

today? The Shiv-Sena leaders 

know it very well that if they 

keep on pressuring the BJP for 

Dy Chief Minister post they are 

going to face CBI, ED in the 

coming days. The result will be 

the fragmentation of the Shiv 

Sena. Uddhav Thackeray, the 

chief of Shiv Sena shall not be 

able to prove the source of 

income that he had spent during 

the state election. People, in 

general, do not know what kind 

of business the Uddhav 

Thackeray family runs. And 

what is the source of their 

income? From where they got 

huge money to spend on the 

state election. Of course, The 

BJP has all the necessary information 

to book the leaders of 

Shiv Sena. So, anytime, the BJP 

can launch an inquiry to screw 

the bolt of Shiv Sena chief 

Uddhav Thackeray. 

In the past, the political success 

of the BJP can be attributed 

due to corrupt regional leaders 

who are supposed to be in politics 

only to make wealth not to 

serve the country. If we go 

50years back, there were not so 

many regional political parties 

and regional leaders it is, therefore, 

the congress did not face 

any competition to retain power 

in the center and states. Now the 

scenario has changed. The BJP 

is a two men party that is worse 

than the dynasty. 

In my opinion, Congress not 

required to change the name of 

the party; congress needs not bid 

farewell to the Gandhis. The 

need is to inform the people of 

India about the anti-poor, antifarmers, 

anti-Dalits, anti- 

Muslims, anti-Christians, anti- 

OBCs policies of the Modi government. 

After Haryana and 

Maharashtra results, the dent 

has been made by Congress. 

From two states results in favor 

of Congress partially, God has 

made up mind to help the 

Congress in one way or the 

other Prof Vivek Kumar, teaching 

sociology at the Center for 

the study of social systems, 

school of Social Sciences, 

Jawaharlal Nehru University 

once said, ‘People cannot be 

changed, they change by themselves’ 

– Dr. Rahul Kumar, Ph.D. 

Dr. Rahul Kumar, Ph.D. 

Jawaharlal Nehru University, 

Delhi. India. He is an independent 

researcher and senior media 

columnist. He is working currently 

with the “The Asian 

Independent UK” newspaper as 

a Bureau Chief. 

His book on “Elderly 

Punjabis in Indian Diaspora” 

traces trajectories of Elderly 

Punjabi migration to U.K. He is 

a member of the Editorial 

Committee of Global Research 

Forum for Diaspora and 

Transnationalism (GRFDT) 

New Delhi. India. The views 

expressed by the author in this 

article are personal and does 

not necessarily reflect the official 

policy of the paper.

24 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 WORLD 


Ambedkar 

International 

Mission 

1A Westminster 

Gardens, Barking, 

Essex, IG11 0BJ 

(Charity No. 275170) 

INDIAN BUDDHIST CULTURAL CENTRE 

Under the auspices of Ambedkar International Mission (London) 

Launches Appeal 

for the Construction of Meditation Hall and Library in East London 

Ambedkar International Mission (London) - a registered Charity, is launching this appeal for the benefit of 

the local community to raise funds for the construction of a Meditation Hall and Library in East London. 

The Mission already owns a plot of land adjoining its main building situated in Westminster Gardens, 

Barking, IG11 0BJ. The Meditation Hall will be purpose built to help spread understanding of Meditation, 

through the technique of Vipassana (Insight) as taught by The Lord Buddha over 2500 years ago. 

Meditation has been scientifically proven to free the mind from modern day stresses and anxiety, which 

directly impacts on our health and well being. Meditation can help develop inner peace, calmness and 

tranquillity which has been scientifically proven to enhance physical and emotional well being to bring about 

improvements to our quality of life. 

The funds raised by this appeal will be used to help towards the building of the main Meditation Hall Library, 

, kitchen, bathroom / toilets; installation of a central heating system; Flooring; Electrical re-wiring and other 

ancillary costs. 

Please kindly donate to help the Mission achieve its aim for the benefit of the community. 

Requirements : 

Meditation Hall : Bricks, cement, Timber, roof, windows, doors, central heating Boiler, Radiators, Lights, 

electrical wiring; Ceiling Fans; Flooring; Roof light window, double glazing etc. 

Kitchen : Cooker, Sink, Kitchen Units, doors, central heating Radiators, Lights, Electrical wiring; Extractor 

Fans; Flooring; Window double glazing etc. 

Bathroom / Toilets: 4 Toilet units; Two shower units; Tiles; Wash Basins; Extractor Fans; Plumbing; 

Electricals etc 

External : Metal Gate, Garden Landscaping (front and back) etc 

To donate, 

please contact : 

Most Venerable Dr Siri Sumana 

- Patron, chairman 

- Mobile : 07413-401018 

Mr Subhash Jassal 

Treasurer 

- Mobile : 07958-324894 

Aims and Objects : 

1. To advance the teachings of Buddhism 

(a) to support and maintain Buddhist 

Monks doing Dhamma-Duta work; 

(b) to provide and maintain a place or 

places of worship firstly in London 

and elsewhere thereafter; 

2. To advance education 

3. To relieve poverty 

You may pay directly into Mission's 

Bank Account . Please use your name 

as reference. A receipt will be issued 

in due course. Your donation will be 

gratefully received. 

Bank Account Name : 

Ambedkar International Mission 

Sort Code: 20-67-90 

Account Number: 40966894 

Barclays Bank

The Asian Independent 16 - 30 Nov. 2019

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