The Indian Panorama

Month: October 2021

  • Aryan Khan’s detention outrages India

    Aryan Khan’s detention outrages India

    The Bombay High Court granted bail to Aryan Khan in the Mumbai cruise drugs case on October 28. ‘Bollywood superstar SRK’s son Aryan Khan arrested in drugs case,’ screamed headlines on October 3, 2021, beginning a filmy saga that ultimately saw Aryan Khan cooling his heels at Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail.

    He was arrested in connection with a drugs raid conducted by the Narcotics Control Bureau. Helmed by zonal director Sameer Wankhede, the NCB’s Mumbai unit raided a cruise ship off the city coast. Aryan Khan, along with several others, was arrested and accused of consumption and ‘conspiracy’, among other charges.

    Since the arrest of Aryan, the Khan family has not said anything in public. However, reactions have come from a few Bollywood stars and politicians, who are outraged over his detention.

    Actor Suniel Shetty asked the media to let Aryan Khan breathe and not jump to conclusions. “It is our responsibility to take care of the child,” Shetty said. Film director Pooja Bhatt wrote on Twitter, “I stand in solidarity with you. SRK. Not that you need it. But I do. This too, shall pass.”

    Actor Hrithik Roshan posted a heartfelt letter addressed to Aryan on Instagram. He wrote, “God is kind. He gives only the toughest ones the toughest balls to play.”

    Others, including directors Farah Khan and Karan Johar, were seen visiting Mannat, the Khan family’s home in Mumbai’s Bandra. Actor Salman Khan visited multiple times.

    Among politicians, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said he was “repelled by the ghoulish epicaricacy displayed by those witch-hunting” Shah Rukh Khan.

    Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti claimed that Aryan Khan was being targeted by law enforcement agencies because of his Muslim surname.

    On being asked about the case, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said he would fight for “those who are voiceless and weak, not for those whose fathers are powerful”

    Meanwhile, Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik alleged that the NCB’s raid on the cruise was ‘fake’ and the BJP was using central agencies to “defame Maharashtra, the Maharashtra government and Bollywood.” He questioned the presence during the raid of two people who allegedly have nothing to do with the NCB. One of them, he claimed, was associated with the BJP.

    Mrs Funnybones, Twinkle Khanna commented on Aryan Khan’s arrest by writing that it reminded her of an episode of ‘Squid Game’. ‘I need some heavy-duty psychotropic substances to make sense of this development,’ she wrote. In an Instagram post, Khanna shared a portion of her blog post titled, ‘Let the desi Squid Games begin’. Citing the example from one of the episodes of the popular South Korean drama, she wrote, “Each player is given ten marbles and must get their opponent’s marbles by competing in any game of their choosing. In this episode, one of the strongest candidates is badgered and ultimately bamboozled into losing his marbles. I seem to have misplaced mine as well when I read the news about Shah Rukh Khan’s son’s arrest.” Twinkle Khanna found it unfair that Aryan has been in jail for two weeks without any evidence against him, “While his friend was apparently carrying 6 gm of charas, there is reportedly no evidence of possession by Aryan Khan. Yet, the young boy has been languishing in Arthur Road jail for almost two weeks now.”

    Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’ director Rahul Dholakia tweeted: ‘Outrageous !!! You are saying there is a “possible” connection to his “international” racket based on “WhatsApp” chat recovered from his phone, that you confiscated on a “bust” where he “had nothing” ?And you have been fishing for days and yet not found anything? #FreeAryanKhan’

    The ‘Veere Di Wedding’ actress Swara Bhasker called it ‘pure harassment’.

    ‘Omerta’ director Hansal Mehta wrote, ”Marijuana/cannabis consumption is legal in many countries. It has been decriminalised in many. In our country its consumption is used more for harassment than for narcotics control. A movement like the one to abolish sec 377 is necessary to end this continuing travesty.”

    Actress Tanishaa Mukerji slammed the behaviour of officials, calling it harassment. She told ‘Bombay Times’, “I definitely think that in Aryan’s case, this is harassment. More so by putting the child on a media trial! This is not real journalism, just sensationalism or Bollywood bashing as you would say. Unfortunately, people have become callous towards our stars saying things like, that these are the pros and cons to being a star kid! Really? Obviously they don’t have any compassion. This country is for all of us and people should be more discerning when looking at the evidence and think what if this was happening to my child? What would I do? Is this justice?”.

    Director Prahlad Kakkar claims the reason for the hoopla is because Aryan is a star child. He pointed out that Aryan wasn’t found to be carrying any narcotics and so wondered why he had been kept in remand. “He is being targeted because he is Shah Rukh Khan’s son, why else? There is no proof that he was carrying anything with him. They are looking at his phone, at one-year-old old messages, when he was in England and trying to tell people that he is involved in an international drug cartel. What rubbish!”

    Raveena Tandon defended Aryan Khan and tweeted: “Shameful politics being played out.. it’s a young mans life and future they toying with … heartbreaking.” Raveena and Shah Rukh have appeared in several films together.

    Taking to Twitter, music composer Vishal Dadlani opined that Aryan’s arrest is a smokescreen to distract the public from the 3000 kg Talibani drug procurement from Adani airport. “If Composers count, I am. SRK and his family are being used as a smokescreen, a soft target to distract from the 3000kg Talibani-drug haul at the Adani port, and to distract from the murder of farmers by the son of a BJP member/MLA. Straight-up,” he wrote.

    Veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha claimed that Aryan is being “targeted” because he is SRK’s son. While talking to ETimes, he said, “Shah Rukh is definitely the reason why the boy is being targeted. There are other names like Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant, but nobody is talking about them. The last time such a thing happened, the focus was on Deepika Padukone, although there were other names involved, and known names too, but the focus was on her only.”

  • Myanmar military uses systematic torture across country

    Jakarta (TIP): The soldiers in rural Myanmar twisted the young man’s skin with pliers and kicked him in the chest until he couldn’t breathe. Then they taunted him about his family until his heart ached, too: “Your mom,” they jeered, “cannot save you anymore.”

    The young man and his friend, randomly arrested as they rode their bikes home, had been subjected to hours of agony inside a town hall transformed by the military into a torture center.

    “I’m going to die,” the young man told himself, stars exploding before his eyes. “I love you, mom.’” Since its takeover of the government in February, the Myanmar military has been torturing those it has detained in a methodical and systemic way across the country, The Associated Press has found in interviews with 28 people imprisoned and released in recent months. Based also on photographic evidence, sketches and letters, along with testimony from two military captains and an aide to a high-ranking commander, the AP investigation provides the most comprehensive look since the takeover into a secretive detention system that has held more than 9,000 people.

    While most of the torture has occurred inside military compounds, the military, known as the Tatmadaw, has also transformed public facilities such as community halls into interrogation centers, prisoners said. The AP identified a dozen interrogation centers in use across Myanmar, in addition to prisons and police lockups. AP

  • Islamist party backers throng Islamabad

    Lahore (TIP): Tens of thousands of supporters of a banned radical Islamist party in Pakistan took out a march towards Islamabad on October 28 to press the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to release their party chief Saad Rizvi and expel the French ambassador.

    The rally by members of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which started after the government announced it could not meet its demand for the expulsion of the French ambassador, has reached Gujranwala, some 80 km from here. Gujranwala is over 220 kms from Islamabad.

    Life in the areas surrounding its route continues to remain disrupted as cellphone and Internet services have been suspended. Lahore’s link to Rawalpindi and Islamabad has also been cut off from GT Road.

    For the time being, the government has changed its strategy in the wake of Wednesday’s bloody clashes in which four policemen and as many TLP activities were killed and over 400, including policemen, were injured, he said. — PTI

  • Woman now thought to be Afghanistan’s last Jew flees country

    Woman now thought to be Afghanistan’s last Jew flees country

    Jerusalem (TIP): For years, Zebulon Simentov branded himself as the “last Jew of Afghanistan,” the sole remnant of a centuries-old community. He charged reporters for interviews and held court in Kabul’s only remaining synagogue. He left the country last month for Istanbul after the Taliban seized power. Now, it appears he was not the last one. Simentov’s distant cousin, Tova Moradi, was born and raised in Kabul and lived there until last week, more than a month after Simentov departed in September. Fearing for their safety, Moradi, her children and nearly two dozen grandchildren fled the country in recent weeks in an escape orchestrated by an Israeli aid group, activists and prominent Jewish philanthropists. “I loved my country, loved it very much, but had to leave because my children were in danger,” Moradi told The Associated Press from her modest quarters in the Albanian town of Golem, whose beachside resorts have been converted to makeshift homes for some 2,000 Afghan refugees.

    Moradi, 83, was one of 10 children born to a Jewish family in Kabul. At age 16, she ran away from home and married a Muslim man.

    She never converted to Islam, maintained some Jewish traditions, and it was no secret in her neighbourhood that she was Jewish.

     “She never denied her Judaism, she just got married in order to save her life as you cannot be safe as a young girl in Afghanistan,” Moradi’s daughter, Khorshid, told the AP from her home in Canada, where she and three of her siblings moved after the Taliban first seized power in Afghanistan in the 1990s.

    Despite friction over her decision to marry outside the faith, Moradi said she stayed in touch with some of her family over the years.

    Her parents and siblings fled Afghanistan in the 1960s and 1980s. Her parents are buried at Jerusalem’s Har Menuhot cemetery, and many of her surviving siblings and their descendants live in Israel.

    But until this week, she had not spoken to some of her sisters in over half a century.

     “Yesterday, I saw my sisters, nieces and nephews after around 60 years through a video call. We spoke for hours,” Moradi said. “I was really happy, I saw their children and they met mine.”

    “They said it’s like she came back from the grave,’” Khorshid said.

    During the first period of Taliban rule, from 1996 until the 2001 US-led invasion, Moradi tried to maintain a low profile.

    But she risked her life by hiding Rabbi Isaak Levi, one of the few remaining Afghan Jews, from the Taliban.

    Levi and Simentov lived together for years in the decrepit synagogue in Kabul but famously despised one another and fought often.

    The Taliban usually left them alone, but intervened during one such dispute, arresting them, beating them and confiscating the synagogue’s ancient Torah scroll, which went missing after the Taliban were driven from power.

    . AP

  • Bizenjo elected Chief Minister of Pakistan’s restive region of Balochistan

    Bizenjo elected Chief Minister of Pakistan’s restive region of Balochistan

    Quetta (TIP): Balochistan Awami Party leader, Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, on October 29 was elected Chief Minister of the restive region of Balochistan, five days after his predecessor Jam Kamal Khan Alyani stepped down from the post.

    Alyani submitted his resignation to the Governor of Balochistan Syed Zahoor Ahmad Agha on Sunday, after majority members of the provincial assembly had moved a no-confidence motion against him earlier this month on the issue of allotment and distribution of development funds. Bizenjo, who hails from an influential political and tribal family of the province, secured 39 out of the 64 eligible votes. This is the second stint for Bizenjo as Chief Minister, having previously served in this position from January to July 2018. Governor Agha is scheduled to administer Bizenjo’s oath at a swearing-in ceremony at Governor House, in Quetta later in the evening, a spokesperson said.

    The ceremony will be attended by leaders of other political parties as well as civil and military officials.

    Bizenjo takes over as CM at a time when the province is seeing a rise in terror attacks by separatists, who are specifically targeting security officials as well as Chinese nationals working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects.

    Earlier this week, Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department had killed 15 militants belonging to the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army, Baloch Liberation Front and United Baloch Army in the Mastung and Harnai regions during an operation in which they also seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition.

    Despite being rich in natural resources, Balochistan remains one of the more backward provinces in Pakistan, after being hit by a wave of terror attacks by separatist groups for more than a decade.

    The Pakistan government believes that foreign agencies are working in tandem with these banned outfits to spread terror, create unrest and derail the slew of CPEC projects earmarked for the region. PTI

  • Latest Russian cyberattack targeting hundreds of US networks: Microsoft

    Washington (TIP): The Russian-based agency behind last year’s massive SolarWinds cyberattack has targeted hundreds more companies and organizations in its latest wave of attacks on US-based computer systems, Microsoft said in a blog post. Microsoft, in a blog post dated October 24, said Nobelium’s latest wave targeted “resellers and other technology service providers” of cloud services. Those attacks were part of a broader campaign over the summer, Microsoft said, adding it had notified 609 customers between July 1 and Oct. 19 that they had been attacked. Just a small percent of the latest attempts were successful, Microsoft told the New York Times, which first reported the breach, but it gave no further details.

    US cybersecurity officials could not be immediately reached to confirm the report.

    US officials confirmed to the Times that the operation was underway, with one unnamed senior administration official calling it “unsophisticated, run-of-the mill operations that could have been prevented if the cloud service providers had implemented baseline cybersecurity practices.”

    “This recent activity is another indicator that Russia is trying to gain long-term, systematic access to a variety of points in the technology supply chain and establish a mechanism for surveilling – now or in the future – targets of interest to the Russian government,” Microsoft wrote. Reuters

  • France fines British boats as fishing dispute escalates

    London (TIP): French authorities fined two British fishing vessels and kept one in port overnight on October 28 amid a worsening dispute over fishing licenses that has stoked tensions following the UK’s departure from the European Union. Britain’s government warned France that it would retaliate if French officials followed through on threats made late on Wednesday to block British boats from some French ports and tighten checks on UK vessels. France also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands, British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France. “We believe these are disappointing and disproportionate, and not what we’d expect from a close ally and partner,” UK Environment Secretary George Eustice told lawmakers. “The measures being threatened do not appear to be compatible with the trade and cooperation agreement or wider international law,” he said. — AP

  • Rise in human bird flu cases in China shows risk of fast-changing variants: Experts

    Beijing (TIP): A jump in the number of people in China infected with bird flu this year is raising concern among experts, who say a previously circulating strain appears to have changed and may be more infectious to people.

    China has reported 21 human infections with the H5N6 subtype of avian influenza in 2021 to the World Health Organization (WHO), compared with only five last year, it said.

    Though the numbers are much lower than the hundreds infected with H7N9 in 2017, the infections are serious, leaving many critically ill, and at least six dead.

    “The increase in human cases in China this year is of concern. It’s a virus that causes high mortality,” said Thijs Kuiken, professor of comparative pathology at Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam.

    Most of the cases had come into contact with poultry, and there are no confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission, said the WHO, which highlighted the rise in cases in a statement on Oct. 4.

    It said further investigation was “urgently” required to understand the risk and the increase in spill over to people.

    Since then, a 60-year-old woman in Hunan province was admitted to hospital in a critical condition with H5N6 influenza on Oct. 13, according to a Hong Kong government statement.

    While human H5N6 cases have been reported, no outbreaks of H5N6 have been reported in poultry in China since February 2020.

    China is the world’s biggest poultry producer and top producer of ducks, which act as a reservoir for flu viruses.

    The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could not be reached for comment on the rise in H5N6 human cases. However, a study published on its website last month said the “increasing genetic diversity and geographical distribution of H5N6 pose a serious threat to the poultry industry and human health”.

    Avian influenza viruses constantly circulate in domestic and wild birds, but rarely infect people. However, the evolution of the viruses, which have increased as poultry populations grow, is a major concern because they could change into a virus that spreads easily between people and cause a pandemic. The largest number of H5N6 infections has been in southwestern Sichuan province, though cases have also been reported in neighbouring Chongqing and Guangxi, as well as Guangdong, Anhui and Hunan provinces. At least 10 were caused by viruses genetically very similar to the H5N8 virus that ravaged poultry farms across Europe last winter and also killed wild birds in China. That suggests the latest H5N6 infections in China may be a new variant.  (Reuters)

  • Protesters target London banks ahead of climate summit

    Protesters target London banks ahead of climate summit

    London (TIP): Protesters started gathering on October 29 in the heart of London’s historic financial district to lobby against the use of fossil fuels ahead of the start of the U.N. climate summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow.

    The protests in London, which were to be joined by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, are part of a worldwide day of action before leaders head to Glasgow for the U.N. Climate Change Conference, known as COP26. Many environmentalists are calling the Oct. 31-Nov. 12 gathering the world’s last chance to turn the tide in the battle against climate change. The protest began at the Climate Justice Memorial outside the insurance marketplace of Lloyd’s of London, as demonstrators called for the global financial system to stop investing in the use of fossil fuels.

    They laid red flowers spelling out “Rise Remember Resist” at the site before beginning their march to several high-profile institutions in the City of London. They were being escorted by police. Protesters chanted “Ensure our future, not pollution!” as they made their way to the financial firm Macquarie Capital. Outside the firm, five women dressed as banshees and held cymbals, wailing and lying on the ground clutching white roses.

    The international bank Standard Chartered will be the focus of the main action in the afternoon, followed later by a vigil at the Bank of England. There are also protests planned at British banks Lloyds and Barclays.

    The protesters included people who traveled from the front line of climate change in Asia and the Pacific to call out the banks they say are responsible for financing activities they blame for the destruction of their homes by rising seas.

    Some in London protested about local issues, including the plan to build the Silvertown Tunnel under the River Thames in east London, which they say will attract more vehicle traffic into the British capital.

    Across the world, demonstrators were taking to the streets to urge action now, including in coal-reliant Poland, where city sirens sounded at noon in Warsaw and other major cities. Poland’s conservative government has been slow to embrace new climate goals, arguing that the country needs more time to phase out its heavy dependence on coal and pivot toward more renewable sources.

    The summit in Glasgow is taking place a year late because of the coronavirus pandemic. Six years ago in Paris, nearly 200 countries agreed to individual plans to fight global warming. Under the Paris pact, nations must revisit their previous pledges to curb carbon pollution every five years and then announce plans to cut even more and do it faster. The hope is that world leaders will cajole each other into doing more, while ensuring that poorer nations struggling to tackle climate change get the financial support they need to adapt.

    The headline goal set in Paris was to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times, yet the world has already warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since then. (AP)

  • France seizes British trawler in post-Brexit row over fishing rights

    Paris (TIP): France seized a British trawler fishing in its territorial waters without a licence on October 29 and issued a warning to a second vessel in a dispute over access to fishing grounds after Brexit.

    Furious that Britain has refused to grant its fishermen the full number of licences to operate inside British waters that France says is warranted, Paris announced retaliatory measures on Wednesday if there was no progress in talks.

    The French government said it would from Nov. 2 impose extra customs checks on British goods entering France, raising the prospect of more economic pain before Christmas for Britain, which faces labour shortages and rising energy prices. It is also reviewing a second round of sanctions and does not exclude a review of its exports of electricity to Britain, which left the European Union on Jan. 31, 2020.

    “It’s not war, but it is a fight,” France’s Seas Minister Annick Girardin told RTL radio.

    European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune signalled France would be forceful in the dispute.

    “So now, we need to speak the language of strength since that seems to be the only thing this British government understands,” Beaune told news channel CNews.

    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the detained trawler.

    Britain has said France’s planned acts of retaliation will be met with an appropriate and calibrated response.

    “France’s threats are disappointing and disproportionate and not what we would expect from a close ally and partner,” a British government spokesperson said.

    Barrie Deas, head of Britain’s National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said Britain was issuing licences in line with the terms of the post-Brexit trade agreement and that France appeared determined to escalate the licence row.

    “I suppose we have to wonder why. There is a presidential election coming up in France and I think all the signs are that the rhetoric has been ramped up ahead of that on the fishing issue,” Deas told the BBC. French President Emmanuel Macron has not yet confirmed he will seek a second term in April’s election but is widely expected to run.

    French maritime gendarmes made multiple checks on fishing vessels off the northern French port of Le Havre overnight, the Maritime Ministry said, as France steps up surveillance during negotiations.

    The seized trawler, now under the control of French judicial authorities, had been rerouted to Le Havre under a maritime police escort and was tied up at on the port’s quayside. The vessel’s captain could face criminal charges, with his catch confiscated, the ministry added. (Reuters)

  • UK pledges retaliation to French fishing threats

    London (TIP): Britain’s environment minister pledged on October 29 to retaliate if France carries through on threats to block UK ships from French ports, warning that “two can play at that game” in the worsening dispute rooted in Britain’s departure from the European Union.

    Britain summoned the French ambassador for a dressing-down after French authorities fined two British fishing vessels and kept one in port overnight Thursday.

    Since the UK left the economic orbit of the EU in January, relations between London and Paris have become increasingly frayed as the nations on either side of the English Channel sort out a post-Brexit path.

    France has threatened to block British boats and tighten checks on UK vessels unless French vessels get more permits to fish in UK waters.

    France also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands, British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France. “We will see what they do,” Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News. “But if they do bring these into place, well, two can play at that game and we reserve the ability to respond in a proportionate way.” The UK government said France’s ambassador, Catherine Colonna, would be summoned to the Foreign Office on Friday, in an official sign of displeasure.

    “We regret the confrontational language that has been consistently used by the French government on this issue, which makes this situation no easier to resolve,” the British government said in a statement.

    France vehemently protested the decision last month by the UK and the Channel Island of Jersey to refuse dozens of French fishing boats licenses to operate in their territorial waters. Dozens of other licenses were granted. France says the restrictions are contrary to the post-Brexit agreement that Britain signed when it left the EU. Meanwhile, the European Union’s executive said UK authorities withdrew the impounded vessel’s license to fish off France on March 1. But Macduff Shellfish, which operates the impounded scallop vessel Cornelis, hit back in a statement, saying it had access to French waters under the Brexit deal and that its activities were “entirely legal,” and that it would defend itself against all claims. Its statement did not offer specifics on licenses. “It appears our vessel has been caught up in the ongoing dispute between the UK and France on the implementation of the Brexit Fishing Agreement,” the company statement said. “We are looking to the UK government to defend the rights of the UK fishing fleet and ensure that the fishing rights provided under the Brexit Fishing agreement are fully respected by the EU.”(AP)

  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lost 20 kg but remains healthy: Seoul

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lost 20 kg but remains healthy: Seoul

    Seoul (South Korea) (TIP): North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has recently lost about 20 kg (44 pounds), but remains healthy and is trying to boost public loyalty to him in the face of worsening economic problems, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on October 28.

    The National Intelligence Service gave the assessment during a closed-door parliamentary briefing, saying it used artificial intelligence techniques, an analysis of super-resolution video of Kim and other methods to investigate Kim’s condition, said two lawmakers who attended the session.

    Kim’s heath has been a focus of keen outside attention in recent months because he has appeared noticeably thinner in state media photos and videos. Kim, 37, hasn’t publicly anointed a successor and some experts say an abrupt incapacitation could trigger chaos in the impoverished nuclear-armed country.

    Despite Kim’s thinner appearance, longtime North Korea observers have said Kim has no apparent health problems and his weight loss is likely the result of his efforts to improve his physique. They noted that he has continued his regular public activities and no unusual developments have been seen in North Korean videos.

    But unconfirmed rumours about him have continued to appear, with one tabloid claiming that recent public appearances used an impostor. The NIS dismissed that report as groundless, lawmaker Kim Byung-kee said.

    He said the NIS told the parliamentary session that Kim’s weight has fallen from about 140 kilograms (308 pounds) to 120 kilograms (264 pounds). The NIS has previously said Kim is about 170 centimeters (5 feet, 8 inches) tall.

    It said Kim has been engaged in public activities for 70 days so far this year, a 45% increase from the same period last year.

    The lawmaker said the NIS found that Kim had photos of his late father and grandfather — who ruled North Korea before him — removed from a Workers’ Party conference room.

    Another lawmaker, Ha Tae-keung, quoted the NIS as saying North Korea has begun using the term “Kimjongunism,” a political ideology named after Kim Jong Un that is independent of existing ideologies named after his father and grandfather, “KimJongilism” and “Kimilsungism.”

    After about 10 years in office, Kim is struggling to overcome what appears to be the toughest period of his rule due to economic hardships worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.

    According to the NIS, North Korea’s annual trade with China, its main ally and economic lifeline, declined by two-thirds to $158 million through September this year compared to the previous year, Ha said.

     Korean officials are struggling to deal with soaring prices of goods and shortages of medicine and other essential supplies that have accelerated the spread of water-borne diseases such as typhoid fever. The country has also been unable to import the paper and ink it uses to print banknotes, forcing North Korean officials to issue temporary currency, according to Ha’s account of the NIS briefing.

    While reduced trade has limited the supply of materials needed for industrial activity, North Korean officials are pushing workers hard to increase production. Excessive factory operations caused an explosion at a major fertilizer plant in August, Ha quoted the NIS as saying.  AP

  • US-based Indian journalist narrates rise of ‘phenomenal’ Kamala Harris in his new book

    US-based Indian journalist narrates rise of ‘phenomenal’ Kamala Harris in his new book

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): A new book narrating the rise of “phenomenal” US Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman to occupy this position, and in the process shattering several glass ceilings, by a Washington DC-based Indian journalist and author throws some previously unknown facts about her. For instance, the middle name given to Harris, when she was born and which was mentioned in her birth certificate was “Iyer”—before it was changed to Devi, Chidanand Rajghatta writes in his book “Kamala Harris: Phenomenal Woman” that hits the stands later this month. The drawing room friends of the parents of Harris at the University of California, Berkeley, when she was a child were Lord Meghnad Desai, Amartya Sen and Ajit Singh, economists and contemporaries of former prime minister Manmohan Singh, writes the author. Harris, 57, was born in Oakland, California on October 20, 1964. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, came from a traditional Tamil brahmin family. She immigrated to the US from India in 1958 at the age of 19 to study nutrition and endocrinology at the University of California. It’s there she met Harris’s father Donald Harris, an African-American from British Jamaica.

    In the book, published by Harper Collins India, Rajghatta writes that Donald spent time at the Delhi School of Economics on a fellowship when Harris was a toddler.

    The book begins as a profile of Harris’ mother, partly out of personal interest of Rajghatta, whose father came to the US around the same time as Shyamala Gopalan and studied agriculture and dairy science at Kansas State. The story was so fascinating that it expanded into a larger, longer narrative of Harris’ growing up years, life, and career, he says.

    “It is a biography of sorts, but wider in scope, examining the history of the Indian-American community (of which I’m one—with mixed-race children) and India’s ties with Black America (under-reported and under-chronicled), including exchanges between Black activists such as George Washington Carver, Booker Washington, and W E B Dubois, and Mahatma Gandhi, whose aides Madeleine Slade (Mirabai) and Charlie Andrews visited Howard for lectures that influenced a civil rights activist generation before MLK Jr,” Rajghatta says.

    The book, which runs into more than 300 pages, also looks at the suffragette movement and the barriers and hurdles women face in political representation and ascendancy.

    “For Kamala, cooking is both therapy and art,” Rajghatta writes in the book.

  • Indo- Canadian Anita Anand replaces Harjit Singh Sajjan as Canada’s Defense Minister

    Indo- Canadian Anita Anand replaces Harjit Singh Sajjan as Canada’s Defense Minister

    OTTAWA (TIP): Punjab-origin Canadian politician Anita Anand was on Tuesday, October 26, appointed country’s new Defense Minister in a Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, over a month after his Liberal Party returned power in the snap polls and amid calls for major military reforms. Anand, 54, will replace long-time Defense Minister Indian-origin Harjit Singh Sajjan, whose handling of the military sexual misconduct crisis has been under criticism. Sajjan has been appointed Minister of International Development Agency, a report in a daily said.

    Anand is the second woman in Canada to be appointed Defense Minister.

    Brampton West’s Kamal Khera, another Punjabi, has been named Minister of Seniors.

    Bardish Chaggar, another Indo-Canadian minister, has been dropped from the new Cabinet.

  • Indian-origin UK based founder and CEO Vivek Chadha passes away

    Indian-origin UK based founder and CEO Vivek Chadha passes away

    Nirpal S Shergill

    LONDON (TIP): Nine Group Hotels and Investments, the UK-based company behind a series of hotel brands around the country, on Wednesday announced the sudden death of its Indian-origin founder and CEO Vivek Chadha.

    The company, which paid tribute to Chadha as a “kind, supportive leader”, expressed its shock and sadness at the passing away of the tycoon aged just 33 on Sunday. The cause of death is yet to be confirmed.

    “It is with profound shock and sadness that we announce the death of CEO Vivek Chadha last Sunday, October 24, 2021, at the tender age of 33,” the Nine Group said in a statement.

    “Vivek was a force of nature, helping to grow the business into a national group of hotels and restaurants. A visionary leader, he was tireless in his dedication to the business and its customers. Vivek was also a kind, supportive leader and colleague, and the group’s employees and partners from over the years will mourn his loss,” the statement noted. The company stressed that the hotelier leaves Nine Group as a strong business and that succession plans are in place to take the business forward.

    The statement notes: “Vivek leaves Nine Group as his legacy: a strong and resilient business that withstood the challenges of the pandemic and is set for further growth. “While there will only ever be one Vivek, succession plans are in place and a combination of internal promotions and additional members of the family will continue to ensure business as usual until a new CEO is formally appointed in due course.”

    The company also requested that Chadha’s family be given space and time to grieve in privacy, while funeral arrangements are finalized.

    Chadha, recently married to model Stuttee Chadha in a lavish ceremony in London, was a donor to the UK’s ruling Conservative Party. He also donated GBP 100,000 towards the Mahatma Gandhi statue unveiled at Parliament Square in London in 2015.

    A self-confessed follower of Gandhi, Vivek Chadha graduated as a civil engineer from University College London (UCL) – also the alma mater of the Father of the Indian Nation.

    “I am interested in particular in how Gandhi emphasized the privilege of giving and practiced compassion in creative ways. The fact that Gandhi concentrated all his energy in the service of others is a great example of how all young people should follow this idea in our day-to-day lives,” Chadha said back in February 2015, with reference to his donation to the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust.

  • Indian American Neera Tanden named White House staff secretary

    Indian American Neera Tanden named White House staff secretary

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Indian-American policy expert Neera Tanden, a close confidant of US President Joe Biden, has been named White House staff secretary, eight months after Republican lawmakers scuttled her nomination to another key post. Tanden, 51, a senior adviser to President Biden was named White House staff secretary on a morning staff call on Friday, October 22, the CNN reported.

    The White House staff secretary is a behind-the-scenes but critical role in the West Wing, responsible for managing paper flow to the President from other areas of the administration and federal government. The person filling the job has been viewed as one of the most powerful in the building, it said.

    In addition to her new duties, Tanden will keep her senior adviser title “and will continue to provide leadership on particular projects and initiatives,” Politico reported, quoting a White House official. She will report to White House chief of staff Ron Klain, it said. The appointment does not require Senate confirmation. “The Staff Secretary role is the central nervous system of the White House and moves the decision-making process and manages a wide variety of issues for the President,” the White House official said. Tanden has “over two decades of experience in policy and management which are critical elements of the role. Her experience across domestic, economic and national security policy will be a key asset in this new role,” the official said. Tanden’s appointment as White House staff secretary came eight months after she withdrew her nomination as Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget due to stiff opposition from Republican senators. In March, she faced a tough time for the confirmation of her nomination as Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) over her past social media outbursts against several lawmakers, including those from her own Democratic Party.

  • Indian American astronaut Raja Chari all set to lead NASA’s next mission

    Indian American astronaut Raja Chari all set to lead NASA’s next mission

    NEW YORK (TIP): Indian American Astronaut Raja Chari is all set to lead NASA’s next mission to the International Space Station on Sunday, October 31, the Halloween Day, on his very first space flight.

    The third operational crewed flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, called Crew-3, is slated to lift off before dawn on Oct. 31 from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:21 a.m. EDT.

    If all goes as planned, after a 22-hour journey, Crew Dragon will be in position to rendezvous and dock with the space station at 12:10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 1.

    Strapped inside the gumdrop-shaped SpaceX capsule will be NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, along with German astronaut Matthias Maurer from the European Space Agency (ESA).

    As commander of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and the Crew-3 mission, Chari, 44, is responsible for all phases of flight, from launch to re-entry, according to a NASA press release. He also will serve as an Expedition 66 flight engineer aboard the station.

    This will be the first spaceflight for Chari, who was selected as a NASA astronaut candidate in 2017. It’s also the first time a rookie commercial crew astronaut has been named mission commander.

    A colonel in the US Air Force, Chari joins the mission with extensive experience as a test pilot. He has accumulated more than 2,500 hours of flight time in his career.

    Chari was the commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base in California when he was selected as an astronaut. After two years of astronaut training, he went on to become the Director of the Joint Test Team for NASA’s commercial crew program.

    Chari was also one of the 18 astronauts selected for NASA’s Artemis Team and is now eligible for assignment to a future lunar mission. He was born in Milwaukee, but considers Cedar Falls, Iowa, his hometown.

    The four astronauts are scheduled for a long duration stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, spending several months conducting science and maintenance before they return to Earth in spring 2022, according to NASA.

    The Crew-3 mission will fly a new Crew Dragon spacecraft and will be the first mission to fly a previously used nosecone.

    Lifting off from Launch Pad 39A on a Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon will accelerate its four passengers to approximately 17,500 mph and put it on an intercept course with the International Space Station.

    The Falcon 9 first stage that will be used to launch this mission flew previously on SpaceX’s 22nd commercial resupply mission to the station in June 2021.

    Once in orbit, the crew and SpaceX mission control will monitor a series of automatic maneuvers that will guide the Crew-3 astronauts to their new home in orbit at the forward end of the station’s Harmony module.

    The spacecraft is designed to dock autonomously with the ability for astronauts aboard the spacecraft to take control and pilot manually, if necessary, NASA said.

    The Crew-3 astronauts will spend approximately six months aboard the International Space Station conducting new and exciting scientific research in areas such as materials science, health technologies, and plant science to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and benefit life on Earth, NASA said.

    During their stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, astronauts of Crew-3 will see cargo spacecraft including the SpaceX cargo Dragon in December and the Northrop Grumman Cygnus in early 2022.

    They will also welcome two different private crews to the station, including Japanese tourists aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft at the end of 2021, and the Axiom Mission 1 crew, the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, scheduled to launch no earlier than Feb. 21, 2022.

    The Crew-3 astronauts are scheduled to conduct a series of spacewalks to outfit the station’s power system in preparation for new solar arrays that will increase the station’s total available power supply.

    At the conclusion of the mission, Crew Dragon will autonomously undock with the four astronauts aboard, depart the space station and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.

    After splashdown just off Florida’s coast, a SpaceX recovery vessel will pick up the crew and bring them back to shore to board a plane for return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

  • Diwali Stamp is 5Years Old

    Diwali Stamp is 5Years Old

    Time to Recount How the Stamp was Won

    Diwali Stamp is inaugurated at the Indian Consulate in New York, October 5, 2016.
    Seen the picture, among others are-Hardip Singh Puri then India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and now Union in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet (left foreground), Consul General of India Riva Ganguly Das (first left), Congresswoman Carolyn B Maloney (second left), Congresswoman Grace Meng (third right), Ranju Batra, (second right), Ravi Batra (right foreground) (Photo / Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia)

    Diwali Stamp made its way to the United Nations. Ranju Batra is seen addressing the gathering of diplomats and community leaders at the UN, December 11, 2017. (Photo / Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia)
    Ambassadors, including India’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin, lighted the lamp at the United Nations, December 11, 2017. (Photo / Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia)
    A celebration at City Hall, New York. (Photo / Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia)

    By Indrajit Saluja with Bidisha Roy

    The iconic Diwali Stamp which took years in the embryo, got delivered on October 5, 2016, thanks to the relentless efforts of Ranju Batra, assisted and supported by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney who introduced a bill in the Congress for a Diwali Stamp, and many other politicians and community leaders. On October 5 this year, the Diwali Stamp has completed 5 years. Happy Birthday to the Diwali Stamp!

    The day became very special for millions of Indians living in the USA. It was a moment of great pride for every single Indian American to stand and be counted at the Indian Consulate in New York City at the first day-of-issue dedication ceremony of the ‘Diwali stamp.’ The day calls for a recall of how the daunting task was accomplished.

    The commemorative stamp release was actually a 7-year “saga” of relentless journey of Diwali Stamp Project ChairRanju Batra who had, despite all odds, persevered and won for 1.3 billion Indians a US Diwali commemorative stamp. In her journey Ranju got overwhelming support from the community and everyone was ecstatic to be part of the history making. The ‘fight’ for a Diwali stamp became part of her daily life.  Wherever she went, whomsoever she met – be it President Obama or Prime Minister Modi – she persuaded for the stamp as she felt though Diwali holds a great significance for many Americans and well over a billion people across the globe, the United States Postal Service has not recognized this beautiful festival of lights with a commemorative stamp, although it has done so for other major religious and cultural holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Eid.

    How was the journey? “As many of you know, I was determined to succeed in my goal to get the USPS to issue a Diwali Stamp, knowing all others had tried and given up. I spent nearly 7 years chasing it – peacefully, and using only inclusive and respectful means. Along the way, I got a lot of help from a lot of people, regular and powerful. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney accepted my invitation to partner with me – so that there would be a stamp not only for Hanukkah, Christmas, Eid, and Kwanza, but also for Diwali. I even sought support from PM Modi and President Obama”, recalls Ranju.

    Ranju’s strongest supporter was her husband Ravi Batra, Chair of the National Advisory Council of South Asian Affairs. But Initially Ravi was skeptical about the success of the hard task.

    “From Day 1, when Ranju told me she wanted to work to get United States Postal Service to issue a Diwali Stamp, I discouraged her, as it was an insurmountable task, with no clear path for success”, says Ravi. But Ranju was unstoppable. “If Ranju wants to do something, nothing is going to stop her. She told me in no uncertain terms, she was going to work for it, and not stop until she succeeded – with or without me. So, after some time, I got in line to be supportive, and when she wanted my involvement. Luckily, she did most of the heavy lifting – all be her lonesome self. Many of our dear friends helped. Key supporters among the notables were: then-Amb. Hardeep Singh Puri, Amb. Lakshmi Puri, C.G. Dnyaneshwar Mulay wrote the Official Poem for the Diwali Stamp Project, and Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney accepted Ranju’s invitation to partner with her to provide national political leadership.” Ranju even asked PM Modi to help and wrote to then-President Barack Obama. She designed numerous paper petitions and got all her friends to sign. She got strangers to sign. She even got diplomats of numerous countries and the families to sign. She carried Petitions with her wherever she went, by incorporating it into her daily life. She would get them signed, and then mail them to USPS. In fact, USPS acknowledged in writing that her singular campaign of constantly mailing these paper petitions finally tipped the balance – not all the other stuff that was said and done.

    In her journey Ranju had another ‘partner’ in Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) who also relentlessly fought for this cause as she felt that ‘a relatively small action would hold great meaning for millions of people.’ On January 14, 2015, Congresswoman Maloney introduced H. Res. 32, urging the USPS to issue a commemorative holiday stamp for Diwali. For several years, Congresswoman Maloney has headed efforts in Congress to push the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) to consider issuing a commemorative Diwali stamp. In 2013, Congresswoman Maloney introduced H.Res. 47, expressing the sense of the U.S. House of Representatives that the CSAC should issue a Diwali stamp. The bill had 46 cosponsors. Maloney wrote letters to the CSAC in 2010 and 2012 requesting the same action.

    “Until the stamp was issued, Diwali was the only major holiday for which there was no stamp. There are stamps issued for Christmas, Hannukah, Eid and Kwanzaa, but for some incomprehensible reason, Diwali was never honored. I knew that needed to change. Over the years that we worked for the stamp, we held countless meetings and public events to raise awareness about effort. I introduced three Congressional resolutions in support of a Diwali stamp. We had letter writing campaigns and meetings with postal officials including Postmaster General Brennan. Finally, with the help of the PMG we were successful”, Maloney told The Indian Panorama. And finally, the day came. United States Postal Service released the Diwali Forever stamp at the Indian consulate on Oct 5, 2016. The Consulate probably has never seen before such huge crowd, as on this very special and historic day. The rooms were packed to capacity, with many people standing to watch the proceedings. There were endless lines of people eager to buy Diwali Stamps. USPS ran short of the stamps. Some of those who had already paid also were disappointed, as they could not get the stamps. Incidentally, Congresswoman Maloney at a Diwali celebration in Washington, D.C.  to honor the lawmakers of Indian origin, October 26, said she wouldmove to have the Diwali day as a federal holiday. Thank you, Maloney for your love of Diwali, the Indian American community and India.

    The stamp design is a photograph featuring a traditional diya oil lamp beautifully lit, sitting on a sparkling gold background. Diya lamps are usually made from clay with cotton wicks dipped in a clarified butter known as “ghee” or in vegetable oils.

    Sally Andersen-Bruce of New Milford, CT, photographed the diya. Greg Breeding of Charlottesville, VA, designed the stamp and William J. Gicker of Washington, DC, served as the project’s art director. The Diwali stamp was issued as a Forever stamp. This Forever stamp is always equal to the value of the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.

    Ranju did another miracle. “In 10 days between being informed that the Diwali Stamp would issue and its dedication, she was granted an exclusive status to pre-sell the Stamp on USPS behalf. And in 10 short days, she personally sold over 170,000 Diwali Stamps! She beat USPS’ top seller -Batman stamp, to make our Diwali Stamp the #1 best seller in USPS history of over 200 years!”, says proud Ravi.

    On December 5, 2016, Ranju was honored and the Diwali Stamp was recognized by 24 nations led by Belarus’ now-Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Dapkiunas, along with Georgia and India as Co-Organizers, and with Co-Sponsors –  Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Botswana, Cyprus, France, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malta, Morocco, Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, Permanent Observer State of Palestine, and International Atomic Energy Agency-NY.

    Now that the Diwali Stamp is five years old, how does it feel?

    For Ranju, Diwali Stamp’s celebration is not of a religion, not of a nation, but it is of the spirit of harmonious inclusiveness and cultural understanding that all religions deserve. “While my journey took 7 years, Diwali Stamp is here FOREVER, and it will be a  matter of pride for generations to come, not only because it is a Forever Stamp, but because we did it together – with the support of every faith – because all of us are entitled to a better and peaceful tomorrow, no matter where we were born, and no matter how we pray.  In this digital age a small piece of paper called – Diwali Stamp – celebrates the living heritage of over 1 billion people – actually, has brought together all 7 billion of us as one human family! “

    Ravi salutes Ranju’s unbeatable quest to get an American Holiday for generations yet unborn. “As many have noted, and I wholeheartedly agree: generations yet unborn will celebrate Diwali as an American Holiday, thanks to Ranju’s unbeatable quest to get it. Not bad for a gentle soul that Ranju is. This Stamp makes every Diwali-celebrant “at home” in America; we belong – more than just due to our passport – as we embroider America to be even more beautiful and help Good beat Evil. If I may, I am proud of Ranju, as she has not only enhanced our family, but has enhanced each one of us. That 24 nations came together, led by Belarus’ now-DFM Andrei Dapkiunas -as an outgrowth from a dinner hosted by Georgia’s PR Kaha Imnadze.  in 2016 in the Trusteeship Council Chamber at the United Nations to honor Ranju’s amazing quest – using the highest ideals of the UN – was an honor I will never forget. Both Belarus and Georgia exhibited the finest principle – of respect of a good person and a different faith – and they did it selflessly and with warmest affection. Humanity, as its best.”

    For Maloney,this effort was about far more than just the issuance of a postage stamp though. “It is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil, lightness of over dark, and knowledge over ignorance. These virtues are more relevant than ever, and we can all become better people by embracing these values with one another. I could not be more proud to have played a role in this achievement and am grateful that the Hindu and Sikh communities have finally received the recognition and honor they deserve.”

    The Diwali stamp will be a matter of pride for generations to come!!

    Happy Diwali!

    (With inputs from a story published in The Indian Panorama in 2019, commemorating 3 years of the Diwali Stamp)

  • HISTORY THIS WEEK-October 29 to November 4, 2021

    HISTORY THIS WEEK-October 29 to November 4, 2021

    “What is history? An echo of the past in the future; a reflex from the future on the past.”   – Victor Hugo

    October 29

    October 29, 1618 – British explorer Sir Walter Raleigh was executed in London for treason on orders from King James I.

    October 29, 1929 – The stock market crashed as over 16 million shares were dumped amid tumbling prices. The Great Depression followed in America, lasting until the outbreak of World War II.

    Birthday – Nazi propaganda minister Paul Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) was born in Rheydt, near Dusseldorf, Germany. Considered a master propagandist, he controlled all Nazi newspapers, radio and film production. He was a virulent anti-Semite who advocated the extermination of the Jews. Devoted to Hitler until the end, he died at Hitler’s Berlin bunker in 1945 after poisoning his six children.

    October 30

    October 30, 1905 – To counter the spread of revolutionary movements in Russia, Czar Nicholas II took a step toward constitutional government by allowing for an elected parliament (Duma) with legislative powers and guaranteeing civil liberties.

    October 30, 1938 – The War of the Worlds radio broadcast panicked millions of Americans. Actor Orson Welles and the Mercury Players dramatized the story by H.G. Wells depicting a Martian invasion of New Jersey. Their script utilized simulated radio news bulletins which many listeners thought were real.

    October 30, 1990 – For the first time since the Ice Age, Great Britain was connected with the European continent, via a new rail tunnel under the English Channel.

    Birthday – John Adams (1735-1826) the 2nd U.S. President was born in Braintree, Massachusetts. He served from March 4, 1797 to March 3, 1801. He had been George Washington’s vice president, and was the father of John Quincy Adams, the 6th President. He died on July 4, 1826, the same day as Thomas Jefferson, on the 50th anniversary of adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

    Birthday – Emily Post (1872-1960) was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She wrote influential books on etiquette and a syndicated newspaper column giving advice on manners in specific situations.

    Birthday – Admiral William “Bull” Halsey (1882-1959) was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was the American fleet commander during World War II in the Pacific and played a leading role in the defeat of the Japanese. In 1942, he launched the Doolittle Raid, the first air raid on Japan. From 1942-44, he coordinated successful attacks on the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. In 1944, he led the U.S. fleet to victory at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history.

    October 31st – Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve, an ancient celebration combining the Christian festival of All Saints with Pagan autumn festivals.

    October 31, 1517 – Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg’s palace church, denouncing the selling of papal indulgences and questioning various ecclesiastical practices. This marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

    October 31, 1940 – The Battle of Britain concluded. Beginning on July 10, 1940, German bombers and fighters had attacked coastal targets, airfields, London and other cities, as a prelude to a Nazi invasion of England. British pilots in Spitfires and Hurricanes shot down over 1,700 German aircraft while losing 915 fighters. “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,” declared Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

    October 31, 1941 – Mount Rushmore National Memorial was completed after 14 years of work. The memorial contains 60-foot-tall sculptures of the heads of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt – representing America’s founding, political philosophy, preservation, and expansion and conservation.

    October 31, 1950 – Earl Lloyd became the first African American to play in a National Basketball Association (NBA) game when he took the floor for the Washington Capitols in Rochester, New York.

    October 31, 1952 – The U.S. detonated its first hydrogen bomb at the Elugelab Atoll in the Eniwetok Proving Grounds in the Pacific Marshall Islands.

    October 31, 1961 – The body of Joseph Stalin was removed from the mausoleum in Red Square and reburied within the Kremlin walls among the graves of lesser Soviet heroes. This occurred as part of Russia’s de-Stalinization program under his successor Nikita Khrushchev. Stalin’s name was also removed from public buildings, streets, and factories. Stalingrad was renamed Volgograd.

    October 31, 1968 – During the Vietnam War, President Lyndon Johnson ordered a halt of American bombing of North Vietnam.

    October 31, 1984 – Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by three Sikh members of her bodyguard while walking in the garden of her New Delhi home.

    Birthday – Chinese soldier and statesman Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) was born in Chekiang. Educated at the Wampoa Military Academy, he led the KMT (nationalist) forces in the struggle against the Communist army led by Mao Zedong.

    November 1

    November 1st – All Hallows Day, also known as All Saints Day among Roman Catholics, commemorating those who have no special feast day.

    November 1, 1700 – Charles II of Spain died and was succeeded by Philip V, resulting in the War of Spanish Succession.

    November 1, 1776 – Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded in California. Each year, the swallows of Capistrano leave their nests there around St. John’s Day (October 23rd) and return the following year near St. Joseph’s Day (March 19th).

    November 1, 1848 – The first medical school for women opened in Boston. The Boston Female Medical School was founded by Samuel Gregory with just twelve students. In 1874, the school merged with the Boston University School of Medicine, becoming one of the first co-ed medical schools.

    November 1, 1936 – The Rome-Berlin Axis was proclaimed by Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini following a visit to Berlin by Italian Foreign Secretary Ciano.

    November 1, 1950 – President Harry S. Truman was the target of an unsuccessful assassination attempt by two members of a Puerto Rican nationalist movement.

    November 1, 1963 – South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu were killed in a military coup.

    November 1, 1993 – The European Union came into existence as a result of the Maastricht Treaty.

    November 1, 1995 – The first all-race local government elections took place in South Africa, marking the end of the apartheid system.

    November 2

    November 2, 1721 – Peter I was proclaimed Emperor of all the Russias.

    November 2, 1930 – Haile Selassie was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.

    November 2, 1947 – The first and only flight of Howard Hughes’ “Spruce Goose” flying boat occurred in Long Beach Harbor, California. It flew about a mile at an altitude of 70 feet. Costing $25 million, the 200-ton plywood eight-engine Hercules was the world’s largest airplane, designed, built and flown by Hughes. It later became a tourist attraction alongside the Queen Mary ship at Long Beach and has since been moved to Oregon.

    November 2, 1962 – During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy announced on TV, “the Soviet bases in Cuba are being dismantled, their missiles and related equipment being crated, and the fixed installations at these sites are being destroyed.”

    Birthday – American frontiersman Daniel Boone (1734-1820) was born in Berks County, near Reading, Pennsylvania.

    Birthday – James K. Polk (1795-1849) the 11th U.S. President was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He served from March 4, 1845 to March 3, 1849. He declined to be a candidate for a second term, saying he was “exceedingly relieved” at the completion of his presidency.

    November 3

    November 3, 1534 – King Henry VIII became Supreme Head of the Church of England following the passage of the Act of Supremacy by Parliament.

    November 3, 1839 – The first Opium War between China and Britain began after British frigates blew up several Chinese junks.

    November 3, 1903 – Panama declared itself independent of Colombia following a revolt engineered by the U.S.

    November 3, 1918 – Part of the German fleet mutinied at Kiel in the closing days of World War I.

    November 3, 1948 – Dewey Defeats Truman banner headline appeared on the front page of the Chicago Tribune newspaper. Harry Truman actually defeated Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey for the presidency.

    November 3, 1957 – Soviet Russia launched the world’s first inhabited space capsule, Sputnik II, which carried a dog named Laika.

    November 3, 1983 – White South Africans voted to allow Indians and “Coloreds” (persons of mixed race) limited power in the government, but continued to exclude blacks.

    November 4

    November 4, 1922 – King Tut’s tomb was discovered at Luxor, Egypt, by British archaeologist Howard Carter after several years of searching. The child-King Tutankhamen became pharaoh at age nine and died around 1352 B.C. at age 19. The tomb was found mostly intact, containing numerous priceless items now exhibited in Egypt’s National Museum in Cairo.

    November 4, 1842 – Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois.

    November 4, 1862 – Richard Gatling patented his first rapid-fire machine-gun which used revolving barrels rotating around a central mechanism to load, fire, and extract the cartridges.

    November 4, 1890 – The first electrified underground railway system was officially opened in London.

    November 4, 1942 – During World War II, British troops led by Bernard Montgomery defeated the Germans under Erwin Rommel at El Alamein after a twelve-day battle.

    November 4, 1956 – Soviet Russian troops moved in to crush an uprising in Hungary.

    November 4, 1979 – About 500 young Iranian militants stormed the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, Iran, and took 90 hostages, including 52 Americans that they held captive for 444 days.

    (Photo H 6 here)

    November 4, 1995 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated as he left a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

    Birthday – American humorist Will Rogers (1879-1935) was born in Oologah, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). “All I know is what I read in the newspapers,” he once joked. He was killed in an airplane crash with aviator Wiley Post near Point Barrow, Alaska.

    Birthday – Famed TV journalist Walter Cronkite (1916-2009) was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. He was a leading correspondent for United Press International during World War II. From 1962 to 1981, he was the anchorman of the CBS Evening News and was widely regarded as America’s most trusted journalist.

  • VIRGINIA WILL GO RED ON NOV 3, 2021…!!

    VIRGINIA WILL GO RED ON NOV 3, 2021…!!

    By Dave Makkar

    Unlike other state governors, Virginia governors are not allowed to serve consecutive terms. They have been barred from immediate re-election since the adoption of Virginia’s second constitution, in 1830. However, a former governor is permitted to run for a second term in a future election.

    Since 1830, only Mills Godwin, was elected to additional term. Godwin also became the first ever governor in American history to be elected by both major parties when the former Democrat Governor (1966-70) was re-elected in 1973 as a Republican.

    Virginia has another tradition, for nearly 50 years, with two exceptions;in 1973 when Governor House & White House was with Republicans and in 2013 McAuliffe (D) got elected when Obama (D) was in White House. Virginians have elected governors from the opposite party of the one that controlled the White House. They seem to favor a balance between state and national politics.

    The state population has boomed, it is up by 38 percent since 1990. One in 10 people eligible to vote in the state were born outside the United States, up from 01 in 28 in 1990. For years, Virginia has shifted more Democratic and since after the election of (D) Gov. Ralph Northam in 2018, it has become a solid blue state. According to Amy Walter, national editor of The Cook Political Report, which provides analysis of elections and races; in 2018 Democrats succeeded in places where they didn’t in 2006, but also they did well in places that 10 years ago we never would have considered competitive.” It has not voted Republican in a presidential election since 2004 and it has not elected a Republican to any statewide office since 2009.

    Large swaths of Virginia are still very conservative and Trump is popular in those places. In 2016, he won 93 of Virginia’s 133 counties, but it wasn’t enough to take the state & lost to Clinton by 5.4%. In 2020 election, Biden won Virginia with 54.11% of the vote, and by a margin of 10.11%, the best performance for a Democratic presidential candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944.

    This year the contest for Governorship is between a political newcomer and a businessman Glenn Allen Youngkin on the Republican side and former Democrat Gov. Terrence Richard McAuliffe.

    Terry McAuliffe is a lifelongcarrier American politician and better known as consigliere to the Clinton family, few people epitomize establishment socialism better than Terry McAuliffe. He was the 72nd Gov. of VA from 2014 to 2018, chairman of Hillary Clinton‘s 2008 presidential campaign and Chair of DNC from 2001 to 2005. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2009 VA Gov. elections. If he wins the 2021 election, he would become the first VAGov. since Mills Godwin in 1973 to serve two non-consecutive terms.

    McAuliffe had his bachelor’s degree from the Catholic University of America.  After graduating worked for President Jimmy Carter‘s re-election campaign, becoming the national finance director at age 22. Following the campaign, he attended Georgetown University Law Center, where he obtained his Juris Doctor degree. He is married to his wife, Dorothy (American attorney), for 33 years and the couple has five children.

    Glenn Youngkin is an American businessman, prior to entering politics, he has spent 25 years at the private-equity firm The Carlyle Group, rising to become its Co-CEO. He is an alumnus of Rice University, Harvard University & Harvard Business School. He is married to his wife, Suzanne, for 27 years and the couple has four children.Suzanne is the founder of Normandy Farms and the President of the Phos Foundation. She is a member of the Meadowlark Retreat Center’s Board of Directors and the Shakespeare Theatre Company. She is also a member of the Equine Medical Center’s Advisory Council at Virginia Tech. She not only supports her husband’s policies, also handles issues in the campaign.

    Youngkin, who retired from Carlyle in September 2020, described leaving because he felt “called into public service.” His friends say Youngkin’s rise up the professional ladder hasn’t changed him and he remains down to earth, hardworking and humble.

    Right from the beginning McAuliffe has made tying Youngkin to Trump the central attack of his campaign, hoping to link the Republican to a former President who lost VA in both 2016 and 2020. He was banking on that voters’ distaste for Trump will be enough to weigh Youngkin down.Other than that McAuliffe has focused on his record from his previous term, but he never offered much of an argument as to why he deserves a second term. He attacks Trump with a passion but avoids talking about his friend for 4 decades President Biden, whom he helped carry Virginia by 10 points just a year ago.

    In his effort to tie Youngkin with Trump, he was supported by President Biden on July 28, 2021.  Biden said in the rally that, “Terry and I share a lot in common. I ran against Donald Trump and so is Terry. And I whipped Donald Trump in Virginia and so will Terry,” McAuliffe said in Arlington. “I tell you what, the guy Terry is running against is an acolyte of Donald Trump — for real.” McAuliffe, also calls Youngkin a “Trump wannabe.”

    By August, McAuliffe had a 12 points (46-38) lead over Republican Youngkin in VA Gov. race, according to a Roanoke College poll.  On SEP 17, 2021 during the firstelection debate, McAuliffe made it clear that Virginia has rejected Donald Trump and his right-wing agenda and will reject Glenn Youngkin this November.

    On the other hand, Youngkin’s campaign had a sluggish start but later on moved into high gear. With no experience as a candidate, and few insider connections or public political views. Youngkin started proving to be a natural campaigner, both connecting with voters and deftly seizing on dissatisfaction with Richmond and Washington. Even GOP lawmaker who were not too supportive, started coming around on Youngkin, after seeing his ability to connect with people as his best attribute. Eventually he got the support of 94% of Republicans in the state.

    He started targeting concerns among moderate and swing voters in Northern Virginia about crime, taxes and spending. His support for the police, pledge to protect police officers against individual lawsuits, and effort to paint Democrats as anti-law enforcement were among the issues that forced the voters to take him as a serious challenger.

    The voters started responding to his pitch, that I’ll be honest, I’m not a politician. I am a businessman who’s spent the last 30 years raising my family in Virginia, I firmly believe Virginia should be the best and I’m ready to join together with hard working Virginians to make it happen.

    He wants to divide parents from their kids’ classrooms

    He wants to remove law enforcement from our communities

    He wants to divide Virginia


    I refuse to let it happen, that’s why I’m reaching out to Virginians. I firmly believe conservative policies can bring us together and create a country that will thrive for generations to come.

    Youngkin spokesperson Matt Wolking responded to McAuliffe’s ad against Youngkin, by saying the former governor “opposes requiring a photo ID to vote, which undermines the integrity of our elections and makes it easier to cheat.”

    “Glenn Youngkin will restore Virginia’s photo ID law and make sure it is easy for every eligible person to vote and harder to cheat,” Wolking said. “As an American, Glenn Youngkin is absolutely right that in order for Virginia to do well economically, the foundations of our country must be strong, including confidence in the integrity of our elections and Americans’ willingness to accept the results of our democratic process.”

    On September 28, McAuliffe in a debate with Youngkin, was asked to address parental complaints about sexually explicit books and curricula, McAuliffe said: “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” After the debate on Sep. 30, 2021 Roanoke College Poll was released, showing McAuliffe’s lead came down to 7 points over Youngkin from 12 points in early Aug. 2021.

    Within hours, Team Youngkin made McAuliffe’s quote world famous, via TV ads, social media, Twitter and widespread news coverage.

    A Youngkin spot soon showed McAuliffe, on video, repeatedly stating the same position:

    “You don’t want parents coming in, in every different school jurisdiction.”

    Regarding school agendas: “First of all, this is determined by the State Board of Education and local school boards. And that’s where it should be.”

    “You do not want 25 parents picking books.”

    “We have a Board of Ed, and we have local school boards who make the decisions about teaching.”

    “I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decision.”

    This brought Youngkin and Virginia Gov. election on the Map of America. The Parental involvement is becoming a potent National Issue in the education of their children and it is gaining traction in all major cities of America.

    White fathers and mothers hate Critical Race Theory teaching their sons and daughters that they are genetic racists who must apologize for being born Caucasian. Some black parents loathe CRT for deeming their children eternally oppressed by Whites and, thus, doomed to failure.These parents have packed school board meetings to excoriate CRT, counterproductive mask and vax mandates, gender studies, and more. All of this has driven parents and other voters into the streets.

    McAuliffe’s colossal mistake on Sep 28th, was the final nail in the coffin of his own campaign after Biden’s dismal 52% disapproval at national level because of his fiasco to allow 2 mil unauthorized migrants to enter America, high energy prices and abrupt pull out from Afghanistan by leaving its own citizens &allies and making America a laughingstock of the world. After that the race became a dead-tied at 46 to 46.

    To salvage his dying campaign, McAuliffe brought in DNC Chair, Jaime Harrison,Democrat activist, Stacey Abrams, VP Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, Former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden made his 2nd visit to the state to help him take the lead back. So far, their collective efforts to prop up the candidacy of McAuliffe has failed miserably rather Obama & Biden both have hurt him by making divisive comments, rants against former President Trump, who is not the candidate and tying Younkin to Trump.

    On Oct 23, Former US president Barack Obama urged voters to back the Democrat in a neck-and-neck election touted as a test of the party’s prospects in next year’s midterm elections — casting the Republican as a threat to democracy.

    Oct. 26, Biden’s rant hit Trump on everything from his claims of election fraud, the pandemic and the Jan. 6 insurrection. Biden asked, “How well do you know Terry’s opponent?”  “Well, just remember this. I ran against Donald Trump. And Terry is running against an acolyte of Donald Trump.” Toward the end of his speech, he said extremism could come in many forms, it could arrive in a mob-driven assault on the U.S. Capitol. Then Biden added of Youngkin, “it can come in a smile and a fleece vest.””Virginia, you can’t take anything for granted,” the president concluded his speech. “Show up for democracy, for Virginia, for the United States of America.”Biden said next to nothing about the negotiations on his signature social welfare and infrastructure legislation happening just across the Potomac at the same time.

    In the meantime, Youngkin got elevated to the status of the new conservative face surging against the old establishment. He has succeeded in dismantling Socialism as preached by Democrats. He said, this race has never been this close, we have the chance to start a red wave across this nation. But it starts with winning this race. He told Fox News: “This is no longer a campaign. It’s a movement.”

    During the first three weeks of October, Youngkin outraised McAuliffe, while McAuliffe outspent Youngkin, according to reports compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in state politics.Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, also cited a shift in voters’ top issues away from the pandemic, which tends to favor Democrats, and toward the economy and education, where the politics are murkier.

    Youngkin’s campaign will become a template for the Republicans in 2022 midterm elections, especially for those in blue states. Youngkin will be elected as Gov of VA on Nov. 3, 2021 to capture the governor’s mansion for the Republican’s to make it the first time since 2009.

    The other highlight is the contest between two women of color, Republican Winsome E Sears is facing off against Democrat Hala S Ayala to be Virginia’s next lieutenant governor on November 2, 2021. The Lt. Gov. is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and, unlike the governor, may run for re-election. Of the four lieutenant governors who have been elected since 2002, three were Democrats and one was a Republican. The Lt. Gov. serves as the president of the Virginia State Senate and may cast tie-breaking votes. Virginia is one of 17 states in which the Lt. Gov. is nominated in a separate primary and elected in separate general election from the governor.

    Sears was elected to a majority Black legislative district in 2001! No other Republican has done that in Virginia since 1865: She consequently also became the first (and still only) Black Republican woman elected to the House, the first female Marine veteran, and the first legal Jamaican immigrant woman. She is a mother, wife and has Master’s degree and has built a successful business also. She was also a hard-charging Vice President of the Virginia State Board of Education and received presidential appointments to the US Census Bureau (where she co-chaired the African American Committee) and the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. However, she is most proud of her community work leading a men’s prison ministry and as director of a women’s homeless shelter for The Salvation Army.

    Ayala is an American Hispanic politician representing the 51st district in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2017.  She defeated four-term Republican incumbent Richard L. Anderson. Ayala and Elizabeth Guzman became the first Hispanic women elected to the House. She has an associate’s degree in psychology from the University of Phoenix. Has formerly worked for the United States Department of Homeland Security as a cybersecurity specialist for 18 years. She also formerly led the Prince William County chapter of the National Organization for Women, serving as chapter president in 2014. She was a volunteer for Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012. She also served on the Virginia Council on Women as an appointee of Governor Terry McAuliffe for a term expiring on June 30, 2016.She is a single mother and has two children.She, claims African, Hispanic, Irish and Lebanese ancestry because of El Salvador native father and an Irish and Lebanese mother.

    Sears or Ayala: both would make history in VA election; either candidate would be the first woman as well as the first woman of color to serve in a post that serves as a launching pad to the governor’s mansion. 5 of the past 10 lieutenant governors went on to become governor. In a University of Mary Washington poll conducted between September 7-13, 2021, 47% of likely voters supported Sears while 41% supported Ayala.Since than Sears has been maintaining this lead over Ayala despite being labeled as too extreme by Ayala.

    Sears is voter’s favorite to be elected as Lt. Gov of VA on Nov. 3, 2021.

    (Compiled from various sources on the internet by: Dave Makkar. Dave is a social activist and comments on both the American and the Indian political, social and economic issues. He can be reached at davemakkar@yahoo.com)

     

  • The hunter gets captured by the game: Aryan Khan, Sameer Wankhede and a political slugfest

    The hunter gets captured by the game: Aryan Khan, Sameer Wankhede and a political slugfest

    By Alok Deshpande

    The Aryan Khan case has created ripples everywhere and brought many under the scanner. The son of the famous actor may be out on bail, but with Malik continuing to make allegations against Wankhede and the officer now running to court for protection, the show is yet to get over.

    Following the arrest of superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son in a drugs-related case, allegations of professional and personal impropriety have been made against Sameer Wankhede, the officer heading the investigation. Alok Deshpande reports on the events of the last three weeks which have grown into a political slugfest. In the wee hours of October 3, a crowd gathered outside the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) office in south Mumbai. When an officer stepped out of the building and under the glare of television cameras, reporters, hungry for bites, pounced on him, many almost pushing their mikes into his mouth. “Yes, we have taken eight to 10 people in our custody,” said the officer, Sameer Wankhede, Mumbai Zonal Director of the NCB. “Investigation is in progress.”

    “Eight or 10?” a reporter demanded to know, but this voice got lost in the volley of questions that were being thrown at the officer. Little did anyone in that crowd know that this question would haunt the NCB in general and Wankhede in particular in the coming days. But that is for later.

    On that day, the famed NCB officer had everything under control. Aryan Khan, the 23-year-old son of Shah Rukh Khan, who is one of the biggest film stars in the world, was sitting inside the NCB office. He and his friends Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were being probed by the agency for alleged drug abuse on board the Cordelia cruise ship the day before, at a party organized by Fashion TV. Of the 1,300 guests at the party, the NCB had picked up a few youngsters, later alleging that they were part of an international drug racket. The arrests of the three accused immediately caught the country’s attention. But no one would have expected it to spiral into what it has become today — a bewildering story of accusations and counteraccusations involving politicians, government servants and Bollywood stars.

    In the limelight

    Wankhede’s brush with fame, glamour and controversy is neither new nor surprising. The 2008-batch Indian Revenue Service officer from the Customs and Central Excise branch was posted at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai from 2010 to 2013. In 2011, he made headlines when, as Assistant Commissioner of Customs, he imposed a fine of ₹1.5 lakh on none other than Shah Rukh Khan, who had returned from a family holiday in Holland and London, for excess luggage.

    Besides Shah Rukh Khan, Minissha Lamba and Anushka Sharma and team members of Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Ranbir Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Anurag Kashyap and Mika Singh have come under Wankhede’s radar during his stint at the airport and then at the Service Tax department for reportedly not declaring imported valuables such as watches, perfumes and footwear.

    Many say they were surprised when Wankhede went to the National Investigation Agency on deputation in 2013. In 2017, he was assigned to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. “What attracted the attention of many and resulted in him being deputed to the NCB was that he had a wide network of informants,” an official with the NCB says on the condition of anonymity.

    In 2020, Wankhede began to probe the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. It all began on June 14 when Rajput, 34, was found dead at his Bandra home. The Mumbai Police began an investigation stating that the death was being treated as a suicide. The autopsy report confirmed that the actor had died by suicide. Nevertheless, an unprecedented political storm occurred in the wake of his death, with the Bihar Assembly elections scheduled to take place a few months later. Rajput was a native of Bihar. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saw an opportunity to denounce the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, especially the Shiv Sena. Senior BJP leaders alleged that Rajput had been murdered and that the incident was being covered up to protect an influential, young leader of the Sena. An FIR was registered in Bihar. The allegations, all made without any evidence, received extraordinary media coverage. Rajput’s girlfriend and actor Rhea Chakraborty was blamed for his death and was then accused of killing him. Following the BJP’s claims, which were aided by Rajput’s family members, central investigating agencies were brought in to probe the case. A team of the Central Bureau of Investigation questioned all those related to Rajput, including Chakraborty. In July 2020, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a money laundering case based on the FIR registered in Bihar and the allegations made by Rajput’s father against Chakraborty. According to sources, the ED’s audit showed references to drugs in Chakraborty’s WhatsApp chats. And so, the NCB was brought in.

    On August 31, 2020, Wankhede, who was in the DRI, was inducted into the NCB for six months. The NCB categorically denies that he was brought in especially for the Rajput case. A statement issued by Mutha Ashok Jain, Deputy Director General, South West region, NCB, read, “The vacancy circular for filling the post of ZD/DD was initiated in the year 2019. Sh. Sameer Wankhede applied for the post of ZD in NCB on deputation on 28.11.2019 through DG, DRI. The application was forwarded to NCB on 27.08.2020 by Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. Sh. Sameer Wankhede, IRS was inducted as Zonal Director, Mumbai on 31.08.2020 on loan basis for the period of six months.”

    Within a week of taking charge, Wankhede arrested Chakraborty, despite finding no drugs on her, purely on the basis of her WhatsApp chats which the agency then claimed were related to procuring narcotics for Rajput. The NCB’s investigations based on WhatsApp chats didn’t end there. Actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet Singh were also questioned in connection with an alleged drug racket in Bollywood. Kshitij Prasad, former employee at Dharmatic Entertainment, the digital arm of Dharma Productions, was arrested by the NCB. When he was later granted bail, Prasad claimed that the NCB led by Wankhede had harassed him and coerced him to falsely implicate actors Ranbir Kapoor, Dino Morea and Arjun Rampal. The NCB denied the claim.

    With Wankhede’s arrival, the NCB’s drive to ‘clean up’ Bollywood seemed to gain momentum. “Messages used to go to certain reporters well before the NCB would go to interrogate a celebrity,” a journalist working with a leading private television channel says. WhatsApp chats were leaked to sections of the media, which helped create a narrative against the accused. An agency which was earlier investigating and probing drug cartels and suppliers started making headlines for probing alleged drug users, most of them celebrities, who were found in possession of small quantities of drugs or none at all. Reacting to the criticism that was being directed against him, Wankhede simply said he was following the law.

    The officer who had come to the NCB on “loan basis” for six months has till now received two extensions. Since Wankhede’s induction, the NCB has set a record by arresting over 300 people. The agency claims it has dismantled around 12 drug gangs in Mumbai and Goa. But sources point out that none of the high-profile cases have stood scrutiny in court; in many cases, even the charge-sheets have not been filed. That WhatsApp chats alone are being used as evidence against celebrities has come under the scanner too.

    Wankhede has said in interviews that his mother worked for street children and his father, who is from the uniformed services, always wanted to see him work for the nation. All these personal details have added to his image as a daredevil officer.

    Nawab Malik’s salvos

    Wankhede’s actions were countered for the first time when the NCB arrested comedian Bharti Singh and her husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa in November 2020 and allegedly seized 86.5 grams of ganja from their home and office. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Minister for Minority Affairs and Skills Development Nawab Malik said then that drug addicts should be sent to rehabilitation centers and not jail. “The NCB’s duty is to track down drug traffickers but no action is being taken against them,” said Malik, a five-time MLA who is close to NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

    Two months later, on January 13, 2021, messages were sent to reporters about a “high-profile” interrogation at the NCB office. The accused, the reporters found out on rushing there, was Sameer Khan, Malik’s son-in-law. On January 9, the NCB had seized 200 kilograms of marijuana and arrested British national Karan Sejnani and two sisters — Rahila and Shaista Furniturewala — from Bandra. Sameer was summoned by the NCB after an alleged online transaction of ₹20,000 between him and Sejnani was found. Asked for his reaction then, Malik had said, “Law will take its due course and justice will prevail. I respect and have immense faith in our judiciary.” Sameer remained in jail for nearly eight months.

    Months later, Malik paid keen attention to the visuals that were flashing on television screens of some men with Aryan Khan inside the NCB office. Malik decided to hear what Wankhede was saying in front of the camera. “He said ‘eight to 10 are in our custody’. What is this? A joke? It is either eight or 10. An officer always knows how many are in custody,” Malik said.

    Malik’s eyes were also drawn to the footage of a bearded man on the cruise ship where Aryan Khan was also present. “An officer with a styled beard?” he wondered. Around the same time when Malik’s suspicions rose, a bald and hefty man’s selfie with Aryan Khan went viral on social media. Wankhede, who was now unknowingly being sucked into a whirlpool, quickly responded that the person in the photo was not an NCB officer. The media ran the clarification. But Malik decided to dig deeper. A photo search on Google led him to K.P. Gosavi, an accused in a cheating case in Pune. Through Gosavi, and using his own network of contacts in the Gujarati trading community, Malik also identified the bearded man on the ship as Manish Bhanushali, a BJP worker. Malik knew he had got hold of something. Malik, who Wankhede says harbors a personal grudge against him, does not deny his past altercations with team Wankhede. He says he was quiet when his son-in-law was arrested as he believed that the law would take its course. But when the judiciary found no evidence against Sameer Khan and the court order stated that what was seized was herbal tobacco, he decided to speak out, he said. He alleged that the NCB had framed his son-in-law.

    Following these revelations, the NCB aggressively defended the use of Gosavi and Bhanushali as independent witnesses on the first day of allegations and even hinted that Malik’s outburst was due to personal reasons.

    Undeterred, Malik then addressed Wankhede’s vague statement that “eight to 10 people” had been detained. He said that 11 people, in fact, had been detained by the NCB during the October 2 raid but three of them — BJP leader Mohit Kamboj’s brother-in-law Rishabh Sachdev, Pratik Gabha and Amir Furniturewala — were let off.

    Malik kept the heat up on Wankhede. Two days later, he raised questions about the involvement of a man cited by the NCB as an independent witness in as many as three cases. He asked whether the man, Fletcher Patel, was an independent witness or a close aide of Wankhede’s. The NCP leader also took to Twitter to post a screenshot of an Instagram picture of Fletcher Patel with a woman described as “lady don”. The woman in the picture is Yasmeen Wankhede, Sameer Wankhede’s sister. A few days later, Malik claimed that Wankhede was extorting money from Bollywood celebrities by threatening them and released photos of the NCB official’s trip to the Maldives.

    Malik also alleged that Wankhede is originally Muslim and used a fake caste certificate to get his government job. On the same day, another independent witness, Prabhakar Sail, who was a bodyguard of K.P. Gosavi, filed an affidavit claiming that the NCB had demanded ₹25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan of which ₹8 crore was to go to Wankhede. Sail also said that Wankhede asked him to sign on blank papers. The next day, Malik released the ‘nikahnama’ of Wankhede’s first marriage with Shabana Qureishi where the officer’s father’s name is mentioned as Dawood instead of Dnyandev as per his caste certificate. The Qazi who officiated the marriage in question said that both families involved in the wedding were Muslims.

    NCB officer Sameer Wankhede. (File photo)

    The NCB has been on a defensive mode. For the first time, it has been forced to issue a string of clarifications. Things came to a head with Sail’s affidavit which left the NCB with no option but to form a five-member vigilance team to probe the allegations against Wankhede. The NCB’s Deputy Director General (Northern Region), Gyaneshwar Singh, appealed to Sail to come and depose in front of the agency, but Sail has gone underground.

    Facing the heat

    Meanwhile, the NCB officer’s family says they are being harassed and have been receiving threats ever since Malik claimed that Wankhede’s caste certificate is fraudulent. Wankhede says he is Hindu by birth and was married to Qureishi under the Special Marriage Act. “The nikahnama was done as my late mother, who was a Muslim, wanted Islamic rituals,” he said. His father claims that he never converted to Islam and was lovingly called Dawood by his wife. Wankhede’s wife Kranti Redkar-Wankhede, an actor, has also denied all the allegations. She says Wankhede is a Hindu and an honest officer. She has written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray demanding “justice” while invoking her Marathi roots.

    “I do not have a problem with him being a Muslim or a person from any other religion. We have the freedom to practice the religion of our choice. However, Wankhede, by faking his caste certificate, has denied the right of a hard-working child from the Scheduled Caste community by usurping a seat,” Malik said.

    Malik’s tweets every morning have kept the pot boiling for the NCB. The BJP has targeted Malik, claiming that the MVA government has been working hard to save Shah Rukh Khan’s son. BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar complained to the Kurla Police station alleging that Malik, by claiming that Wankhede was a Muslim, was creating communal disharmony. Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale held a press conference where he termed Malik’s allegations baseless. “Wankhede is a Dalit officer, who is doing good work… and it is not right to target him,” he said.

    A political slugfest

    Following Rajput’s death as well as the bomb scare in Antilia in February this year, where a car laden with explosives was found parked near the house of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, the BJP strongly advocated the use of central agencies for investigations claiming that the Maharashtra Police were being misused by the MVA government. The Union government ensured that central probe agencies took control of the investigations in these cases. All three parties in the MVA government have alleged several times that the BJP is using central agencies to tarnish the State’s image and destabilize the government.

    The BJP’s outburst against Malik came after he exposed the party’s direct connection with the Aryan Khan case. The party could not deny Bhanushali’s presence during the raid. BJP leader Mohit Kamboj, whose brother-in-law was let off by the NCB, has threatened to file a defamation suit against Malik.

    After spending more than three weeks in jail, Aryan Khan was granted bail on October 28. Gosavi, who was on the run after his identity was revealed, has now been arrested by the Pune Police in a 2018 cheating case. Bhanushali is nowhere to be found. Wankhede has approached the Bombay High Court seeking protection from possible arrest by the Mumbai Police on the charge of extortion. A departmental inquiry has been initiated against him too.

    In the midst of the political slugfest, social media has flared up with one section supporting Shah Rukh Khan and the other, Wankhede. Several social media accounts have been running hashtags personally targeting Shah Rukh Khan, demanding rejection of bail to his son and calling for a boycott of all the products he endorses. Attacks were also mounted against Malik using hashtags such as #SendNawabMalikToJail.

    In the blockbuster film Om Shanti Om, Shah Rukh Khan’s character famously says, ‘Picture abhi baaki hai, mere dost (The show is yet to get over, my friend)’. The Aryan Khan case has created ripples everywhere and brought many under the scanner. The son of the famous actor may be out on bail, but with Malik continuing to make allegations against Wankhede and the officer now running to court for protection, the show is yet to get over.

  • SATYAMEVA JAYATE – LET THE TRUTH PREVAIL

    SATYAMEVA JAYATE – LET THE TRUTH PREVAIL

    By Rajender Dichpally

    Just consider this scenario. A 23-year-old man is being shifted from court to court and incarcerated for a crime which has not even been proved. He has been treated like a hard-core criminal, a history sheeter, confined to custody and denied bail for 25 days. Yes, I am talking about the young lad Aryan Khan whose only crime (not proved conclusively) was that he had consumed a miniscule quantity of a particular drug.

    If this logic was applied then probably scores of youngsters residing in our campuses and children of businessmen, politicians and other celebrities shouldalso be put behind bars.

    In Aryan’s defense the following unassailable arguments emerge:

    1. No drugs were recovered from him

    2.Alleged WhatsApp chats unconnected to the current case are being used as evidence. This logic is absurd and a clear case of subversion of facts.

    1. Even if true, allegations pertain to ‘small quantity’ and ‘consumption’ only. And these ‘offences’ no way calls for this kind of harsh punishment.
    2. Aryan has no criminal antecedents – his record is absolutely clean.
    3. There is no likelihood of Aryan fleeing.

    As per the above logic there is absolutely no valid reason to deny the youngster bail. Can the dispensers of justice pause to think what kind of an impact this torture will have on the young man’s psyche. It will leave him scarred for life and make people doubt the efficacy and neutrality of the judicial system in our country.

    Indian law believes in the dictum that a person is innocent till proven guilty.  In Aryan’s case he is being treated as guilty till proven innocent. Why this gross travesty of justice?

    Contrast Aryan’s case with that of Ashish Sharma. Ashish, the Minister of State for Home Ajay Sharma’s son mowed down 8 innocent farmers who were protesting peacefully in broad daylight and bolted. He has not been brought to justice despite a nationwide furor and clinching evidence.

    In our country it is always a case of different strokes for different folks!

    I would also like to point out the reaction of Aryan’s family. They have behaved with such dignity. Shah Rukh Khan could have created a media frenzy using his super star status. But he has set an example of grace even in the face of the toughest crisis impacting his family. Aryan himself has behaved in an impeccable manner.

    Often, as per our judicial system, people in custody are ‘given’ some kind of a benefit for good behavior. Shouldn’t Aryan at least be given bail on the condition he will report regularly to the authorities? Shouldn’t a youngster be united with his family after undergoing torture for so long. Or should he be punished because his father is a superstar with a mind of his own?

    Our country has always believed in the dictum ‘Satyamev Jayate’. Should this glorious ethos be allowed to be further sullied by the powers that be whose hands are tainted by the blood of the innocents in their quest for votes and their lust for power?

    I am amazed at the circus that this issue has created diverting the nation’s attention from more pressing issues that need to be addressed.  The economy is in doldrums, the unemployment rate is the highest since data has been collected. There are serious issues of National Security due to the confrontation with China but the media and this circus has diverted the nation away from serious issues that need to be discussed and addressed immediately. This has been the modus operandi of the Government/ Modi Media for last couple of years. Whenever there is a serious issue facing the nation, the issue is diverted to other news that is given high media visibility and main issues sidetracked and diverted. This is very sorry state of affairs and people should realize that they are being taken for a ride by the Government and the media that is supporting this government in this endeavor.

    (The author is National General Secretary​-​IndianOverseas Congress USA. He can be reached at dichpally@aol.com)

     

  • October 29 New York & Dallas E – Edition

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    Diwali Special Edition

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  • Playing Politics Against the Interests of the Nation is Sedition

    Prof. Indrajit S. Saluja

    The denial of entry into India to Darshan Singh Dhaliwal – a well-known Sikh from USA for his support to Farmers’ protest in India, and similar denial to other Sikhs from abroad in recent times for the same reason has infuriated the Sikh community worldwide. The Sikhs who have been subjected to this treatment are neither separatists nor terrorists. They are not supporting a mutiny, an uprising, an insurrection against India. What they are doing is supporting their families and friends who are agitating against laws which hurt them. Imagine the panic of government of India which is so unnerved by a few NRI’s running langar (free kitchen) for the protesting farmers that it decided to revoke the OCI cards of a dozen of them. It is unimaginable that a sane government will take such cowardly action against the people who have impeccable credentials of being the best sons and daughters of India. The protestersare expressing their unhappiness with the farm laws in   a way permitted by democratic norms and the constitution of India. Any support to them by Indians abroad is permissible under international law and does not transgress the Indian laws. Unfortunately, it has become a fashion with government of India to term any opposition to their whims as an anti-national act. Sedition law has never been used so unsparingly as under the Modi government. India that opposed the British rule for imposing harsh and restrictivelaws that impinged on their liberty under which there was no scope for a lawyer, or an appeal, or an argument (“na vakil, na appeal, na daleel”) is now witnessing the return of those laws under this dictatorial regime.

    May be, the government wants to provoke the Sikh community with a view to creating an atmosphere of violence, particularly in Punjab. A few incidents of violence will give GOI the grounds to impose restrictive laws in Punjab. BSF presence and powers it has been armed with is an indication. Captain Amarinder Singh who has been alleging arrival of drugs and weapons into Punjab from across the border is likely to be an important player in the GOI game plan. Both the BJP and Captain will be happy to create a situation wherein emergency laws are put into effect serving two vital ends: crushing the farmers protest and preventing a State government in which they are not the partners. Both the BJP and Captain Amarinder Singh know well they will be rejected by people of Punjab and have no chance to form a government in Punjab. Playing politics is the business of politicians, no doubt, but playing politics to harm the nation is sedition. All this goes against the long-term interests of the nation as diverse and populated as India is.

  • Silly point: On linking cricket to patriotism

    Support for the national cricket team or its players is no litmus test for patriotism

    People who allegedly celebrated the victory of Pakistan against India in a T20 cricket World Cup match on October 24 are facing the brunt of the state. All of them are Muslims. In Rajasthan, a young schoolteacher has been terminated by a private school and the police have charged her under IPC Section 153B for ‘imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration’. In Jammu and Kashmir, the police have registered two cases against unknown persons under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other sections. In Uttar Pradesh, three students from J&K have been charged under IPC Sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups), 505 (creating or publishing content to promote enmity) and, later, Section 124A, sedition. The wisdom, propriety or acceptability of celebrating Pakistan’s victory is beside the point. From moral, tactical, and practical perspectives, this sweeping policing is unwise. No democracy, least of all a country of India’s size and diversity, can demand unyielding uniformity and conformity from its population, on all questions and at all times. It is unlikely that any of these charges will stand judicial scrutiny, but that only makes this spectacle a ridiculous distraction for the stretched law enforcement system. Far from enforcing national integration as the purported aim of this heavy-handed police action is, it will only brew more resentment and social disharmony apart from derailing young lives.

    An unremitting loyalty test of citizens can be a self-defeating pursuit for a country like India that has global ambitions. People of Indian origin live around the world, with split loyalties. There are U.S. citizens who chant victory for India at gatherings in their home countries addressed by the Indian Prime Minister, and there are British and Australian citizens who boo their own country in favor of India during sporting events. Sports teams around the world have members of foreign origin. Infusion of toxic hyper-nationalism in sports is bad in such a world; more so for India. While the BJP has been championing this link between cricket and nationalism, other parties are not far behind as the incident in Rajasthan, a Congress-ruled State, shows. AAP in Delhi was one step ahead and questioning the Narendra Modi government for allowing the cricket match with Pakistan. Had all this been on account of an unspoken link between cheering for the national cricket team and support for a united India, the police would have also charged those who mercilessly trolled Mohammed Shami, a Muslim in the Indian cricket team. True, it would have been wonderful for the Indian cricket team to enjoy the unqualified support of the entire nation, but, surely, there is no reason to charge those who support another team with sedition. The Indian state looks silly now, and the whole episode bodes ill for cricket, and the country.

    (The Hindu)