The Indian Panorama

Month: February 2022

  • Visa, Amazon announce worldwide payment agreement

    Visa, Amazon announce worldwide payment agreement

    New York (TIP)-Visa Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. announced an agreement on Thursday, Feb 17,  that allows customers to use Visa cards on Amazon sites worldwide without additional fees. The companies also agreed to collaborate on product and technology initiatives for “innovative payment experiences,” Visa said in an email.

    Credit card fees have been a growing source of tension between Amazon and Visa. Last year, Amazon started charging customers in Australia and Singapore who use Visa credit cards a 0.5 per cent surcharge.

    Under the agreement, Amazon’s amazon.co.uk site in Britain will no longer turn off Visa credit cards. Customers in Australia and Singapore will no longer pay the surcharge for using Visa.

    Last month, Amazon’s British website backed away from plans to stop accepting Visa credit cards issued in the United Kingdom, saying the two sides were talking. Amazon had announced the move in November, blaming “the high fees Visa charges for processing credit card transactions.”                    Source: AP

  • What conflict in Ukraine would mean for oil, gas, food

    What conflict in Ukraine would mean for oil, gas, food

    New Delhi (TIP)- Tensions over Ukraine are entering a critical period, driving up prices of raw materials key to the global economy, and piling pressure on governments already struggling with surging inflation.

    The U.S. has warned that Russia could attack its neighbor as early as this week, even though Moscow has repeatedly denied it plans to invade. Markets have been on edge for weeks, and an actual conflict — or sanctions on Russia — could drive energy and food prices even higher, and push Europe into a major supply crisis.

    Crude oil is approaching $100 a barrel and gas in Europe surged. Aluminum is heading toward a record high and palladium has risen this year, while wheat continues to gain. The crisis “could spawn a butterfly effect, sending commodity prices spiraling higher as supply woes multiply,” analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence said in a recent report. “Sanctions could usher in shortages of food and energy, causing prices of both to soar.”

    Where Military Forces Are Assembling Around Russia and Ukraine

    With traders and policymakers scrutinizing every move and comment in the standoff, here’s a look at the potential consequences for key raw materials.

    One of the biggest impacts so far has been on Europe’s gas markets. Geopolitical tensions have been amplified by already limited supplies from Russia and below-average stockpiles, with prices in the region jumping nearly fivefold in the past year.

    A full-blown conflict could disrupt the massive volumes that Russia sends to Europe, about a third of which comes through Ukraine. Sanctions could hit trade and keep a new pipeline, Nord Stream 2, from bringing Russian gas to Europe. That could all have a big impact on refilling inventories in the summer, making next winter difficult as well. Prices could surge even higher, and send Europe’s economy reeling. Russia would also lose huge amounts of revenue.

    Still, many think it’s unlikely gas supplies would stop, or even be cut significantly.

    A major casualty could be even higher food prices. Ukraine and Russia together are heavyweights in global wheat, corn and sunflower oil trade, leaving buyers from Asia to Africa and the Middle East vulnerable to more expensive bread and meat if supplies are disrupted. That would add to food-commodity costs that are already the highest in a decade.           Source: Bloomberg

  • CBI quizzes NSE’s former CEO, bars her from travelling abroad

    Mumbai (TIP)- After indictment by the Security Exchange Board of India (SEBI), troubles for former MD and CEO of National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna appears to have compounded, as the CBI today questioned her in view of fresh revelation of facts in connection with its ongoing probe into alleged abuse of co-location facility in the capital market, officials said.

    Meanwhile, the probe agency has also issued lookout circulars against Ramkrishna, another former CEO Ravi Narain and former Group Operating Officer Anand Subramanian to prevent them from leaving the country, they added.

    The officials said the agency had booked owner and promoter of Delhi-based OPG Securities Pvt Ltd Sanjay Gupta and others in connection with alleged abuse of NSE co-location facility to make gains by getting early access to the stock market.

    “It was alleged that the owner and promoter of said private company abused the server architecture of NSE in conspiracy with unknown officials of the NSE. It was also alleged that unknown officials of the NSE, Mumbai, had provided unfair access to the said company using the co-location facility during 2010-2012 that enabled it to login first to the exchange server that helped the entity to get the data before any other broker in the market,” the CBI has alleged in its FIR. The CBI officials said in the high-frequency algorithmic trading in the NSE, an edge of a few seconds to a stock broker in a trade could give a huge advantage over others.

    Following investigation into the case it was revealed that Gupta was the first to log in 90 per cent of cases which prompted murmurs in the stock broker circuit, and resulted in a load balancer being introduced by the NSE, they added. Gupta once again managed the data centre staff of NSE to get connected to the backup servers which were with zero load and provided far better and faster access of market feed to OPG Securities in comparison to other brokers, the CBI has alleged in its FIR.              Source: TNS

  • Maruti, Quiklyz tie up for vehicle subscription

    New Delhi (TIP)-Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Thursday, February 17, said it has tied up with Mahindra Finance’s vehicle leasing arm Quiklyz for its vehicle subscription program, Subscribe.

    Under the partnership, Quiklyz will offer a white plate subscription, wherein the vehicle is registered under the user’s name and hypothecated to the subscription partner, for a range of Maruti Suzuki vehicles.

    It has also added the Kolkata market to its subscription program, MSI said in a statement.

    The car manufacturer had launched its Subscribe programme in July 2020, as part of which a customer can choose to use a vehicle without owning it from a range of the company’s vehicles for multiple tenure options, for an all-inclusive fixed monthly rental.

  • U.S. adds e-commerce sites operated by Tencent, Alibaba to ‘notorious markets’ list

    WASHINGTON (TIP)-E-commerce sites operated by China’s Tencent and Alibaba Group were included on the U.S. government’s latest “notorious markets” list of entities that allegedly sell or facilitate the sale of counterfeit goods, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said on Thursday, February 17. The list identifies 42 online markets and 35 physical markets that are reported to engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy.

    “This includes identifying for the first time AliExpress and the WeChat e-commerce ecosystem, two significant China-based online markets that reportedly facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting,” the USTR office said in a statement. China-based online markets Baidu Wangpan, DHGate, Pinduoduo, and Taobao also continue to be part of the list, along with nine physical markets located within China “that are known for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of counterfeit goods,” the USTR office said. The list highlights online and physical markets that reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy. Alibaba said it will continue working with government agencies to address concerns in intellectual property protection across its platforms.        Source: Reuters

  • Hijab not essential practice of Islam, Karnataka tells High Court

    Hijab not essential practice of Islam, Karnataka tells High Court

    Bengaluru (TIP)- Wearing the hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam and preventing it does not violate the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom, the Karnataka government contended before the high court on Friday, February 18, as it defended orders banning the headscarves in classrooms.

    “We have taken a stand that wearing the hijab is not an essential religious part of Islam,” Advocate General of Karnataka Prabhuling Navadgi told the court of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice JM Khazi and Justice Krishna M Dixit.

    The top state government lawyer said that there was nothing unlawful about a February 5 order which banned clothes “which disturb equality, integrity and public order” amid spiralling protests and counter-protests over a ban on hijabs in many schools and colleges in the state.

    “There is no issue of hijab in the government order. The government order is innocuous in nature. It does not affect the petitioners’ rights,” he said, adding that colleges can decide if they want to allow the hijab in the classroom.

    “Conscious stand of the state is that we do not want to intervene in religious matter. We could have said the hijab was against secularism and order and could have said it is not permissible. We have not. It is a stated stand of the state we did not want to intervene,” he said.

    However, he admitted that the portion prescribing clothes “in consonance with unity and equality” could have been worded better.

    “Here the draftsman went a bit enthusiastic. What was meant was, in case no uniform is prescribed, please wear decent clothes. I agree it could have been worded better,” he said.

    The Advocate General rejected the charge of some Muslim students, who had challenged the Karnataka government’s order on February 5, saying that it violated Article 25 of the Constitution.

    Article 25 gives freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion to the citizens of India. The government order also does not violate Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution which guarantees to all its citizens the right to freedom of speech and expression, Mr Navadgi argued.

    The hijab controversy has been playing out in the Karnataka High Court since last week following weeks of escalating tension over orders banning the hijab in classrooms that started spreading in the state since late December.      Source: NDTV

  • 2008 Ahmedabad bomb blast case: 38 sentenced to death, 11 get life imprisonment

    2008 Ahmedabad bomb blast case: 38 sentenced to death, 11 get life imprisonment

    Ahmedabad (TIP)-A special court in Gujarat on Friday, February 18,  sentenced 38 people to death and 11 others to life imprisonment for serial bomb blasts that killed 56 people and injured 200 more in Ahmedabad 14 years ago. This is the first time that an Indian court has handed out capital punishment to so many convicts in one go, said legal experts.

    The 49 convicts, which included former Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) chief Safdar Nagori, were punished for carrying out 21 blasts that ripped through the city during the busy evening hours of July 26, 2008 within a span of 70 minutes.

    In the 7,000-page judgment, judge AR Patel said it was a rarest of rare case, according to public prosecutor Amit Patel.

    As per Section 368 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the entire record of the proceedings will be now sent to the Gujarat high court for confirmation of the death sentences, the court said in its 59-page order on Friday. Till the high court decides on the case, all the accused will remain in jail, the order said.

    On February 8, the court convicted 49 of the 77 accused, acquitting 28 people.

    The public prosecutor said 38 people were convicted under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) and provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Eleven others were held guilty for criminal conspiracy and under various sections of the UAPA, he said. The court imposed a fine of Rs 2.85 lakh on 48 convicts and of Rs 2.88 lakh on another one.

    The court also awarded compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the families of those who died in the blasts, Rs 50,000 to those who were seriously injured and Rs 25,000 to those who received minor injuries.

    The families of the victims said justice was finally done. “I lost my son in the terror attack. There are many like me who have lost their dear and near ones on this fateful day. We have gone through a lot in these 14 years. Today, I can sleep in peace,” said Daxaben Modi, the 64-year-old mother of 18-year-old Ankit Modi, who died in the blasts in the old city area of Ahmedabad.

    According to a government lawyer, it was the first time in the history of independent India that so many convicts were awarded the death sentence. In 1998, a Tamil Nadu Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court awarded the death penalty to 26 people accused of assassinating Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. “In one case (Rajiv Gandhi assassination), 26 people were given death sentence. But in this case, the number is 38,” said the public prosecutor Amit Patel.

  • NIA arrests IPS officer for ‘leaking’ secret documents to LeT terror group

    NIA arrests IPS officer for ‘leaking’ secret documents to LeT terror group

    New Delhi (TIP)-  The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday, Feb 18,  arrested its former Superintendent of Police (SP) and IPS officer Arvind Digvijay Negi for allegedly leaking secret documents to an over ground worker of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, its official spokesperson said. The spokesperson said that Negi, a police officer who was promoted to the IPS batch of 2011, was arrested in connection with a case registered by the NIA on November 6 last year.

    The case pertains to the spread of network of over ground workers (OGWs) of the banned Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) for providing support in planning and execution of terrorist activities in India.

    The NIA had earlier arrested six people in the case.

    “During investigation, the role of A D Negi, IPS, SP posted at Shimla (since repatriated from NIA) was verified and his houses were searched. It was also found that official secret documents of the NIA were leaked by A D Negi to another accused person who is an OGW of LeT in the case,” the spokesperson said.  Source: PTI

  • India logs decline in daily infections with 22,270 new cases, 325 deaths

    New Delhi (TIP)- In view of Covid-19 cases stabilizing in the country, India has registered a further decline in daily infections with 22,270 new cases and 325 deaths in last 24 hours. Active cases stood at 2,53,739, accounting for 0.59% of the total infections, as per Union Health Ministry updated data on Saturday, Feb 19.

    Additionally, Thane district inMaharashtra reported 100 new coronavirus positive cases, taking the infection count to 7,07,777, an official said. These cases were recorded on Friday, he said. With the virus claiming the lives of two persons during the day, the death toll in the district stood at 11,861. Thane’s mortality rate is 1.67 per cent, he added. In neighbouring Palghar district, the caseload has grown to 1,63,277, while the death toll is 3,391, another official said.

    Meanwhile, the country’s capital on Friday reported 607 fresh Covid-19 cases and four deaths while the positivity rate dropped to 1.22 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.

    With this, the national capital’s case count increased to 18,54,774 and the death toll climbed to 26,095. The number of Covid-19 tests conducted a day ago stood at 49,928.        Source: Livemint

  • India, UAE sign FTA, resolve to jointly fight extremism

    New Delhi (TIP)-India and the UAE signed a free trade agreement (FTA) coinciding with a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Friday, Feb 18. The first FTA — a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement — in 10 years and the first by the Modi government was signed by Commerce Minister Piyush Goel and UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri at a ceremony here. Earlier, the PM and Sheikh Mohammed issued a Joint Vision Statement in which they agreed to enhance maritime cooperation, jointly fight against extremism and terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, increase bilateral trade from $60 billion to $100 billion in five years and promote energy cooperation. Two MoUs signed between Indian and UAE entities were also announced. One MoU between APEDA and DP World and Al Dahra was for a “food security corridor initiative’ while another was between Gift City and Abu Dhabi Global Market on cooperation in financial projects and services.    Source: TNS

  • 204 players sold for over Rs 550 cr; Ishan Kishan most expensive

    204 players sold for over Rs 550 cr; Ishan Kishan most expensive

    The 10 teams bought as many as 204 players after shelling out a total of Rs551.70 crore at the mega-auction in Bengaluru. Ishan Kishan was the most expensive buy at Rs15.25 crore on day one when Mumbai bought the wicketkeeper-batsman back to their franchise that has won a record five titles.

    IPL 2022 Auction summary

    –              Chennai Super Kings – 25 players, 8 overseas, Rs2.95 crore remaining

    –              Delhi Capitals – 24 players, 7 overseas, Rs10 lakh remaining

    –              Kolkata Knight Riders – 25 players, 8 overseas, Rs45 lakh remaining

    –              Mumbai Indians – 25 players, 8 overseas, Rs10 lakh remaining

    –              Punjab Kings – 25 players, 7 overseas, Rs3.45 crore remaining

    –              Rajasthan Royals – 24 players, 8 overseas, Rs95 lakh remaining

    –              Royal Challengers Bangalore – 22 players, 8 overseas, Rs1.55 crore remaining

    –              Sunrisers Hyderabad – 23 players, 8 overseas, Rs10 lakh remaining

    –              Lucknow Super Giant- 21 players, 7 overseas, Rs0 remaining

    –              Gujarat Titans- 23 players, 8 overseas, Rs15 lakh remaining

    List of players sold

    –              Liam Livingstone – Punjab Kings for Rs11.5 crore

    –              Tim David – Mumbai Indians for Rs8.25 crore

    –              Jofra Archer – Mumbai Indians for Rs8 crore

    –              Romario Shepherd – Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs7.75 crore

    –              David Miller – Gujarat Titans for Rs3 crore

    –              Chris Jordan – Chennai Super Kings for Rs3.60 crore

    –              Aiden Markram – SRH for Rs2.6 crore

    –              Ajinkya Rahane – KKR for Rs1 crore

    –              Mandeep Singh – Delhi Capitals for Rs1.10 crore

    –              Dominic Drakes – Gujarat Titans for Rs1.10 crore

    –              Jayant Yadav – Gujarat Titans for Rs1.70 crore

    –              Vijay Shankar – Gujarat Titans for Rs1.40 crore

    –              Odean Smith – Punjab Kings for Rs6 crore

    –              Marco Jansen – SRH for Rs4.20 crore

    –              Shivam Dube – CSK for Rs4 crore

    –              Karun Nair – Rajasthan Royals for Rs1.4 crore

    –              Sam Billings – KKR for Rs2 crore

    –              Matthew Wade – Gujarat Titans for Rs2.4 crore

    –              Wriddhiman Saha – Gujarat Titans for Rs1.9 crore

    –              K Gowtham – Lucknow Super Giants – Rs90 lakh

    –              Mayank Markande – Mumbai Indians – Rs65 lakh

    –              Shahbaz Nadeem – Lucknow Super Giants – Rs50 lakh

    –              Maheesh Theekshana – CSK – Rs70 lakh

    –              Rinku Singh – KKR – Rs55 lakh

    –              Manan Vohra – Lucknow Super Giants – Rs20 lakh

    –              Chetan Sakariya – Delhi Capitals for Rs4.2 crore

    –              Sandeep Sharma – Punjab Kings for Rs50 lakh

    –              Dushmantha Chameera – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs2 crore

    –              Khaleel Ahmed – Delhi Capitals for Rs5.25 crore

    –              Jaydev Unadkat – Mumbai Indians for Rs1.30 crore

    –              Navdeep Saini – Rajasthan Royals for Rs2.60 crore

    –              Lalit Yadav – Delhi Capitals – Rs65 lakh

    –              Ripal Patel – Delhi Capitals – Rs20 lakh

    –              Yash Dhull – Delhi Capitals – Rs50 lakh

    –              M Thilak Varma – MI for Rs1.70 crore

    –              Mahipal Lomror – RCB for Rs95 lakh

    –              Anukul Roy – KKR – Rs20 lakh

    –              Darshan Nalkande – Gujarat Titans for Rs20 lakh

    –              R Sanjay Yadav – MI – Rs50 lakh

    –              Raj Angad Bawa – Punjab Kings for Rs2 crore

    –              Rajvardhan Hangargekar – CSK for Rs1.5 crore

    –              Yash Dayal – Gujarat Titans – Rs3.20 crore

    –              Simarjeet Singh – CSK for Rs20 lakh

    –              Chamika Karunaratne – KKR for Rs50 lakh

    –              Evin Lewis – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs2 crore

    –              Finn Allen – RCB for Rs80 lakh

    –              Devon Conway – CSK for Rs1 crore

    –              Rovman Powell – Delhi Capitals for Rs2.8 crore

    –              Rishi Dhawan – Punjab Kings for Rs55 lakh

    –              Dwaine Pretorius – CSK for Rs50 lakh

    –              Sherfane Rutherford – Rs1 crore

    –              Daniel Sams – MI for Rs1 crore

    –              Mitchell Santner – CSK – Rs1.90 crore

    –              Jason Behrendorff – RCB – Rs75 lakh

    –              Obed McCoy – Rajasthan Royals – Rs75 lakh

    –              Tymal Mills – MI for Rs1.50 crore

    –              Adam Milne – CSK for Rs1.90 crore

    –              Lungi Ngidi – Delhi Capitals for Rs50 lakh

    –              Subranshu Senapathi – CSK for Rs20 lakh

    –              Praveen Dubey – Delhi Capitals for Rs50 lakh

    –              Prerak Mankad – Punjab Kings for Rs20 lakh

    –              Suyash Prabhudessai – RCB for Rs30 lakh

    –              Vaibhav Arora – Punjab Kings for Rs2 crore

    –              Mukesh Choudhary – CSK for Rs20 lakh

    –              Rasikh Salim Dar – KKR for Rs20 lakh

    –              Chama Milind – RCB for Rs25 lakh

    –              Prashant Solanki – CSK for Rs1.20 crore

    –              Varun Aaron – Gujarat Titans for Rs50 lakh

    –              Mohsin Khan – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs20 lakh

    –              Rasikh Salam Dar – KKR for Rs20 lakh

    –              Chama Milind – RCB – Rs25 lakh

    –              Aneeshwar Gautam – RCB for Rs20 lakh

    –              Baba Indrajith – KKR for Rs20 lakh

    –              Ayush Badoni – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs20 lakh

    –              Alzarri Joseph – Gujarat Titans for Rs2.40 crore

    –              Daniel Sams – Mumbai Indians for Rs2.6 crore

    –              Sean Abbott – SRH for Rs2.40 crore

    –              Riley Meredith – MI for Rs1 crore

    –              R Samarth – SRH for Rs20 lakh

    –              Abhijeet Tomar – KKR for Rs40 lakh

    –              Pradeep Sangwan – Gujarat Titans for Rs20 lakh

    –              Writtick Chatterjee – Punjab Kings for Rs20 lakh

    –              Pratham Singh – KKR to Rs20 lakh

    –              Karn Sharma – Lucknow Super Giants – Rs20 lakh

    –              Ansh Patel – Punjab Kings for Rs20 lakh

    –              Ashok Sharma – KKR for Rs55 lakh

    –              Anunay Singh – Rajasthan Royals for 20 lakh

    –              Shashank Singh – SRH for Rs20 lakh

    –              Baltej Dhanda – Punjab Kings for Rs20 lakh

    –              Saurabh Dubey – SRH for Rs20 lakh

    –              Mohammad Arshad Khan – MI for Rs20 lakh

    –              Kyle Myers – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs50 lakh

    –              Alex Hales – KKR for Rs1.50 crore

    –              Glenn Phillips – SRH for Rs1.5 crore

    –              Tim Seifert – Delhi Capitals for Rs50 lakh

    –              Nathan Ellis – Punjab Kings – Rs75 lakh

    –              Tim Southee – KKR for Rs1.5 lakh

    –              Benny Howell – Punjab Kings for Rs40 lakh

    –              C Hari Nishaanth – CSK for Rs20 lakh

    –              Anmolpreet Singh – MI for Rs20 lakh

    –              N Jagadeesan – CSK for Rs20 lakh

    –              Vishnu Vinod – SRH for Rs50 lakh

    –              Karn Sharma – RCB for Rs50 lakh

    –              Kuldeep Sen – Rajasthan Royals for Rs20 lakh

    –              Ramandeep Singh – MI for Rs20 lakh

    –              Fazalhaq Farooqi – SRH for Rs50 lakh

    –              Bhanuka Rajapaksa – Punjab Kings for Rs50 lakh

    –              Gurkeerat Singh – Gujarat Titans for Rs50 lakh

    –              Rahul Buddhi – MI for Rs20 lakh

    –              Ramesh Kumar – KKR for Rs20 lakh

    –              Hrithik Shokeen – MI for Rs20 lakh

    –              K Bhagat Varma – CSK for Rs20 lakh

    –              Arjun Tendulkar – MI for Rs30 lakh

    –              Shubham Garhwal – Rajasthan Royals to Rs20 lakh

    –              Nathan Coulter-Nile – Rajasthan Royals – Rs2 crore

    –              Rassie Van Der Dussen – RR – Rs1 crore

    –              Vicky Ostwal – Delhi Capitals for Rs20 lakh

    –              Siddarth Kaul – RCB for Rs75 lakh

    –              Dary Mitchell – RR for Rs75 lakh

    –              B Sai Sudharsan – Gujarat Titans for Rs20 lakh

    –              David Willey – RCB for Rs2 crore

    –              Aman Khan – KKR for Rs20 lakh

    –              Luvnith Sisodia – RCB for Rs20 lakh

    –              Fabian Allen – MI for Rs75 lakh

    –              James Neesham – RR for Rs1.5 crore

    –              Umesh Yadav – KKR for Rs2 crore

    –              Mohammed Nabi – KKR for Rs1 crore

    –              Aryan Juyal – MI for Rs20 lakh

    –              Kuldip Yadav – RR for Rs20 lakh

    –              Mayank Yadav – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs20 lakh

    –              Fazalhaq Farooqi – SRH for Rs50 lakh

    Unsold players

    Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan, Adam Zampa, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Ishant Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Aaron Finch, Saurabh Tiwary, Cheteshwar Pujara, Tabraiz Shamsi, Qais Ahmed, Piyush Chawla, Virat Singh, Pawan Negi, Ben Cutting, Martin Guptill, Kane Richardson, Sandeep Lamichhane. Sachin Baby, Ricky Bhui, Sheldon Cottrell, Arzan Nagwaswalla, Akash Singh, Charith Asalanka, Ben McDermott, Rece Topley, Sandeep Warrier, Tanmay Agarwal, Sameer Rizvi. Andrew Tye, Duan Jansen, Prashanth Chopra, Tejas Baroka, Yuvraj Chudasama, Pankaj Jaiswal, Ben Dwarshius, Midhun Sudhesan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rohan Rana, Khizar Dafedar, Rohan Kadam, Blessing Muzarabani, Tom-Kohler Cadmore.

    The 15th edition of the IPL begins in late March, with the final in May.    Source: Livemint.com

  • India in history this Week-February 18, 2022, to February 24, 2022

    India in history this Week-February 18, 2022, to February 24, 2022

    18 FEBRUARY

    2007       68 people were killed in the Samjhauta Express going from Delhi to Lahore.

    1905       Shyamji Krishnavarma founded the India Home Rule Society in London in 1905.

    1911       The world’s first official airmail delivery took place on February 18, 1911, in Sangam, India.

    1964       The Royal Indian Navy (Navy) rebellion occurred in 1946 in Mumbai.

    1971       India established its first satellite contact with Britain in 1971 through the Arvi satellite station.

    1979       The US gave India a check for Rs 1664 crore in 1979, which is considered to be the largest check in the world.

    19 FEBRUARY

    1891       Daily publication of Amrit Bazar Patrika started.

    1630       Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the first ruler of the Maratha Empire, was born.

    1389       In 1389, Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq II of Delhi was assassinated.

    1986       In 1986, the first computerized railway reservation ticket was introduced in India.

    20 FEBRUARY

    1987       Mizoram, India’s northeastern state got the status of 23rd state. It was a part of the state of Assam before it became a union territory.

    1983       A large-scale violence erupted before the assembly elections to be held in the north eastern state of Assam. It also led to the death of 600 people.

    1968       The first heart transplant was done in 1968 at KEM Hospital in Mumbai.

    1950       In 1950, Sharat Chandra Bose, the elder brother of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, passed away.

    1999       Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee took a historic bus tour of Pakistan in 1999.

    1999       The sports channel started on Doordarshan in 1999.

    1986       Himachal Pradesh became the 24th state of the Indian Union in 1986.

    21 FEBRUARY

    1996       Birth of great poet and writer Suryakant Tripathi Nirala in 1896.

    1959       Press Club of India established in 1959 in New Delhi.

    1999       Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif signed the Lahore Declaration in

    2008       On February 21, 2008, Anil Ambani’s Anupam Global Soft was acquired by Reliance Communication,

    2008       Private Airlines Jet Airways entered into a strategic alliance with Air Canada on 21 February 2008.

    2013       A series of bomb blasts took place in Hyderabad on February 21, 2013, in which around 17 people died and 119 were badly injured.

    22 FEBRUARY

    1944       Mahatma Gandhi’s wife Kasturba Gandhi died.

    1958       Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the country’s first Education Minister, died.

    1999       India’s popular economist Jagdish Bhagwati was appointed as the head of the Center for Indian Politics Economy in Columbia on February 22, 1999.

    2006       Japan prohibited imports of all poultry products, including meat and eggs, from India in 2006.

    23 FEBRUARY

    2006       In 1952, the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act was passed.

    2010       India’s famous painter MF Hussain was granted citizenship of Qatar in 2010.

    24 FEBRUARY

    1882       The infectious disease TB was identified to this day.

    2001       Pakistan agrees to negotiate nuclear deterrence with India.

    2009       Central government announced reduction in service tax and excise duty.

    1822       The world’s first Swami Narayan Temple was inaugurated in Ahmedabad in 1822.

    1924       Mahatma Gandhi released from jail in 1924.

  • Deep Sidhu, actor-activist, dies in car crash

    Deep Sidhu, actor-activist, dies in car crash

    Punjabi actor and activist Deep Sidhu, who shot into the limelight following the Red Fort violence during the farmers’ rally on Republic Day last year, died in a road accident on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) highway near Sonepat in Haryana on Tuesday, February 15, night. Born on April 2, 1984, to a Punjabi family in Muktsar, Punjab, Sidhu was a  barrister, actor, and activist who worked in Punjabi  films. Sidhu  started his film career with the Punjabi film Ramta Jogi which was produced by actor Dharmendra under his banner Vijayta Films. His delivered hits also include the movie titled Jora 10 Numberia. Sidhu became the winner of Kingfisher Model Hunt and then he took part in Grasim Mr. India and became Grasim Mr. Personality and Grasim Mr. Talented.

    Sidhu  walked the ramp in Mumbai for designers like Hemant Trivedi, Rohit Gandhi and others. Somehow he could not connect with the modelling world so he started practising as a lawyer since he has studied law.

    His first placement was with Sahara India Pariwar as legal advisor. Then he worked with British law firm called Hammonds. They managed Disney, Sony Pictures and other Hollywood Studios. Then he became legal head of Balaji Telefilms for three and half years. That’s where Ekta Kapoor told him to act but he didn’t start.

    Sidhu entered politics during 2019 Indian general election and campaigned for Gurdaspur BJP MP Sunny Deol. He was said to be close to Deol and in December 2020, during farmers protest, farmer unions used Sidhu’s pictures with Prime minister Narendra Modi and Sunny Deol to show the link of BJP and RSS in protests—a claim which was later denied by Sidhu.

    Sidhu, arrested on February 9 last year, was named in the charge sheet filed by the Delhi Police in connection with the the violence at the Red Fort on January 26, 2020, following a tractor rally taken out by farmers protesting against the now-repealed three farm laws. The rally descended into chaos after the protesters broke barriers and entered the city, diverging from the pre-decided route, and clashed with security personnel at several places.

    Hundreds of them reached the Red Fort and vandalised the monument, and clashed with the police there. On January 25 evening, the actor allegedly delivered a provocative speech at Singhu border. According to the Delhi Police, Sidhu was also seen among those who stormed the Red Fort.

    In the charge sheet, the police have attached a video allegedly showing Sidhu throwing away the national flag. “At the very same time (after rioters climbed the ramparts) another member from mob handed him (Sidhu) over the national flag to hoist it alongside the Nishan Sahib, but the individual (Sidhu) over the pole threw away the national flag,” it said. The actor-activist was granted bail on April 17 last year after being interrogated by the Delhi Police and remaining in custody for 70 days.

    Man of many shades, loved and hated in equal measure

    The world’s opinion about him seemed evenly divided. Lawyer, actor, activist Deep Sidhu attracted admirers and critics in almost equal measure. It was the farmers’ tractor march and the Red Fort violence on Republic Day last year that put Sidhu in the limelight and brought him widespread criticism in its wake. Leading up to that day, Sidhu was seen as a significant social media commentator in Punjab with 5.5 lakh followers on his Facebook page.

    He had emerged on the farmers’ agitation stage by organising a massive protest at Delhi’s Shambhu border on September 25, 2020.

    The national media, however, noticed him after a video of him arguing with the police in English and terming farmers’ protest ‘a revolution’ went viral. After the Red Fort violence, he remained on the run for several days after being booked by the police. But all through, he never expressed any regret over the events and always insisted that no disrespect was caused to the Tricolour by hoisting of the Nishan Sahib at the Red Fort.

    These days, Sidhu was busy campaigning for the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) candidate Simranjit Singh Mann in Amarnath. A few days back, he had even addressed an impressive gatherings in support of Mann. But that’s not all that was keeping him busy. Before being snatched away by the road accident, Sidhu was preparing for life post the farmers’ agitation.

    Talking to The Indian Express last month on the first anniversary of the farmers’ tractor march, Sidhu, who was out on bail, had said that he was working on three Punjabi movies including one on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.

    His first movie was Ramta Jogi was released in 2015. Sidhu, however, became a star with filmmaker Amardeep Gill’s Jora Das Numbria, in which he played lead role of a young gangster.

    The release of second chapter of Jora Das Numbria was affected due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

    He had told The Indian Express that during the lockdown he read several books by author Ajmer Singh, who wrote mostly about alleged tempering of Punjab and Sikh history and its impact on the state and its politics. He also spoke with admiration for former militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

    It was during this period that he uploaded several videos on social media on Punjab’s history, culture and economy.

    The route to this social media stardom involved different feats.

    Sidhu also ran a Mumbai-based law firm ‘Lex Legal’ which dealt with intellectual property rights and international law. He then turned to movies.

    Sidhu had also won the Kingfisher Model Hunt award before starting his acting career.

    His popularity, however, took a hit after the tractor parade. Some farmer unions distanced themselves from Sidhu accusing him of a conspiracy over his links with the BJP MP Sunny Deol. Deep Sidhu had campaigned for Sunny Deol in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

    Sidhu always denied allegations of being part of any conspiracy to defame the farmers’ movement, and stayed popular among a big section of the farmer protesters till the very end of the agitation.

    The actor-activist’s family had shifted to Bathinda, while their ancestral village was Udekaran in Muktsar. His brother, Mandeep, who lives in Ludhiana, too had received NIA summons during the farmers’ agitation.

    (With inputs from Kamaldeep Singh Brar, The Indian Express)

  • Ravi in Pakistan is the most polluted river in the world: Study

    Ravi in Pakistan is the most polluted river in the world: Study

    Lahore (TIP): River Ravi in Pakistan is the most polluted river in the world, followed by water bodies in Bolivia and Ethiopia, a US-based research academy has said, warning that local populations in these areas are exposed to serious risks.

    In its study, the University of York monitored 1,052 sampling sites along 258 rivers in 104 countries across all continents to quantify the presence of pharmaceutical ingredients – paracetamol, nicotine, caffeine and epilepsy and diabetes drugs – in these ecological environments, the Dawn newspaper reported on February 15.

    The study concluded that contaminants in surface water posed a threat to environmental and/or human health in more than a quarter of the studied locations globally – mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and South America.

    The highest mean cumulative concentration was observed in Lahore, capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province, at 70.8 µg/L, with one sampling site on the Ravi River reaching a maximum cumulative concentration of 189 µg/L.

    This was followed by La Paz river in Bolivia (68.9 µg/L mean, 297 µg/L maximum) and the river system in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (51.3 µg/L mean, 74.2 µg/L maximum), according to the study.

    The most common contaminants were paracetamol, nicotine, caffeine and epilepsy and diabetes drugs in the river, according to the study which was published in the journal of Washington-based National Academy of Sciences.

    Rivers in Iceland, Norway and the Amazon rainforest were recorded as the cleanest. The findings of the University of York’s research came as a shock to the environmentalists and local administration of Lahore – which in 2021 earned the ignominious title of the world’s most polluted (air) city by leading air quality monitoring company, IQAir. Speaking to Dawn News, environmentalist Afia Salam said river Ravi, a transboundary river of India and Pakistan, had been turned into a drain. “We have laws about dumping wastewater and industrial wastage but no law is being implemented in the country,” she told the newspaper. (PTI)

  • Reports of differences between Imran Khan, his wife not true, says close friend of First Lady

    Islamabad (TIP): A close friend of Pakistan’s First Lady BushraBibi on February 12 dismissed rumours about any differences between Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, clarifying that the couple is living together. Farah Khan, a close friend of BushraBibi, took to Twitter to announce that the First Lady was living with her husband Prime Minister Khan at the Bani Gala residence here.

    “Fake propaganda was being spread through Whatsapp messages about the first couple,” she said. “The First Lady is not living in my house but at Bani Gala in Islamabad,” she said. She admonished political rivals of the prime minister for spreading mischief about his private life. “One shouldn’t stoop so low in politics as to spread lies about the personal life of people,” she said.

    On Saturday, Khan’s spokesman Shahbaz Gill also rejected the rumours on social media about any difference between the prime minister and his wife. “Strict legal action will be taken against those who are still spreading false news about the First Lady. Both the First Lady and the Prime Minister are present in Islamabad,” he had tweeted.

    Gill also said that “we are already in court against (journalist) NajamSethi for giving false and fabricated news about Prime Minister and First Lady Bushra Imran Khan.” Sethi in a TV talk show in 2019 had claimed that the first couple was passing through a rough patch and that BushraBibi had shifted to Lahore. Prime Minister Khan rejected the report, saying the marriage with Bushra was a blessing of God and would last forever. Khan in 2018 married BushraBibi – the mother of five and his spiritual guide or pirni (a title used in Islam for a woman spiritual guru), who was divorced by her first husband. She is his third wife after the first two marriages ended in divorce.

    According to his former second wife Reham Khan, Imran Khan is highly superstitious and it was said that the marriage was more about spiritual connection than physical attraction. Khan, who was considered as a political loner, won election and became prime minister after marrying BushraBibi. However, experts say that he won after winning the sympathy of the powerful establishment of the country. (PTI)

  • Sri Lanka resumes on arrival visa for tourists, except from Pakistan and 9 other countries

    Colombo (TIP): Sri Lanka has announced resumption of visa on arrival facility for international tourists, except travellers from 10 countries including Pakistan and Nepal. The on arrival visa facility for foreign tourists was on hold since the pandemic broke out in the country in 2020. The move is expected to give a much-needed boost to the island nation’s tourism industry, a major forex earner, which has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic. “Issuance of on arrival electronic travel authorisation (ETA) for tourists at the port of entry to Sri Lanka has been activated from 8 February 2022. This is to facilitate the tourists who experience difficulties when obtaining the online ETA due to the time constraints of arranging their journey to Sri Lanka,” according to a recent government statement. However, the facility would not be available for passport holders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Myanmar, Nepal and North Korea, it said. Sri Lanka is one of Asia’s most popular travel destinations. In the pre-pandemic days, India was Lanka’s biggest inbound tourism market. (PTI)

  • Nepal’s Chief Justice CholendraShamsher JB Rana faces impeachment motion

    Kathmandu (TIP): Nepal’s ruling coalition lawmakers on February 12 filed an impeachment motion against Chief Justice CholendraShamsher JB Rana over allegations of corruption. Spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat RajnathPandey said the impeachment was registered at 11 am. Rana, who had assumed the post of Chief Justice on January 2, 2019, has been suspended from his post following the registration of impeachment motion against him at the House of Representatives. A total of 98 lawmakers from ruling alliance have signed the proposal to impeach the Chief Justice. There is a provision for automatic suspension of the Chief Justice with the registration of the impeachment motion. Gurung said the impeachment was registered against the top judge because the court was not functioning properly and there were charges of corruption against the CJ.  (PTI)

  • Canadian police arrest 2 leaders of protesting truckers

    Canadian police arrest 2 leaders of protesting truckers

    Ottawa (TIIP): Police arrested two of the leaders of hundreds of truckers who clogged the streets of Canada’s capital on February 17, standing their ground and defiantly blasted their horns as police threatened to break up the nearly three-week protest against the country’s Covid restrictions. Busloads of police arrived near Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, and workers put up extra fences around government buildings. Police also essentially began sealing off much of the downtown area to outsiders to prevent them from coming to the aid of the protesters. “The action is imminent,” said interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell. “We absolutely are committed to ending this unlawful demonstration.” Police arrested organisers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber around Parliament Hill, but officers were not moving in force on the demonstrators. Police took Lich into custody on Thursday.

    Police continued negotiating with the protesters and trying to persuade them to go home, Bell said.

    “We want this demonstration to end peacefully,” he said, but added: “If they do not peacefully leave, we have plans.”

    Many of the truckers in the self-styled Freedom Convoy appeared unmoved by days of warnings from police and the government that they were risking arrest and could see their rigs seized and bank accounts frozen.

    “I’m prepared to sit on my ass and watch them hit me with pepper spray,” said one of their leaders, Pat King. As for the trucks parked bumper-to-bumper, he said: “There are no tow trucks in Canada that will touch them.”

    King later told truckers to lock their doors. Amid the rising tensions, truckers outside Parliament blared their horns in defiance of a court injunction against honking, issued for the benefit of neighbourhood residents. Ottawa represented the movement’s last stronghold after weeks of demonstrations and blockades that shut down border crossings into the US, inflicted economic damage on both countries and created a political crisis for Trudeau. The protests have shaken Canada’s reputation for civility and rule-following and inspired similar convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands.  (AP)

  • UK scraps ‘golden visas’ amid Russian money concerns

    UK scraps ‘golden visas’ amid Russian money concerns

    London (TIP): Britain’s government said on February 17 it is scrapping so-called “golden visas” offering residency to wealthy foreign investors amid security concerns and renewed calls for the UK to review its links with Russia. The Home Office said the Tier 1 investor visa route has given opportunities for “corrupt elites to access the UK”. It said that in some cases, the visas have “given rise to security concerns, including people acquiring their wealth illegitimately and being associated with wider corruption”.

    The visa route, which was introduced in 2008, offered residency to people investing 2 million pounds ($2.7 million) or more in the UK and allows their families to join them. It will be shut to all new applicants from all nationalities with immediate effect, the government said.

    Many of those who acquired such visas were Russians, and critics have long questioned whether the policy facilitated money laundering in the UK. Concerns about Moscow’s reach in the UK have intensified as the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine looms.

    Home Secretary Priti Patel said the move was part of the government’s crackdown on illicit finance.

    “I want to ensure the British people have confidence in the system, including stopping corrupt elites who threaten our national security and push dirty money around our cities,” Patel said in a statement.

    Asked Thursday about cracking down on Russian money in the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to bring in “tough sanctions” against Russia.

    “Clearly, it’s time to bring in some tough sanctions against the Russian regime, against big Russian companies — organisations of strategic importance. And also making sure that we stop the raising of funds by Russian companies on London financial markets,” Johnson said. AP

  • Russia misleading world on troop pullout

    Russia misleading world on troop pullout

    Kyiv (TIP): NATO allies have accused Russia of misleading the world and disseminating “disinformation” by saying it was returning some troops to bases, charging that Moscow has instead added 7,000 more troops near its tense border with Ukraine. With western fears high that Russia is planning to invade, tensions also spiked on February 17 along the line that separates Ukrainian forces from Russia-backed separatists in the country’s east, with the parties accusing each other of intensive shelling. After a handful of positive signals from Russia that lowered the temperature in the crisis earlier in the week, the pendulum appeared to be swinging in the opposite direction again. With an estimated 1,50,000-plus troops massed near Ukraine, the Kremlin offered to keep pursuing diplomatic solutions — an overture the NATO chief welcomed, even as he and others warned that the US-led alliance has still seen no sign of the military withdrawal that Moscow announced. “We have seen the opposite of some of the statements. We have seen an increase of troops over the last 48 hours, up to 7,000,” said British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace ahead of a meeting on Thursday of the western alliance in Brussels. That squared with what a US administration official said a day earlier. British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey even called Russia’s claim to be withdrawing troops “disinformation”.

    While the West warned the threat of invasion remains high, no attack materialized Wednesday, as some had feared. Moscow said several times this week that some forces are pulling back to their bases, but it gave virtually no details that would allow for an independent assessment of the scope and direction of the troop movement, and Western leaders quickly cast doubt on those statements.

    “The consequences of this mass buildup – nearly 60% of Russia’s land combat forces on the border of a sovereign nation – will get you the opposite effect,” Wallace said. — AP

  • Mudslides, floods kill at least 18 outside Rio de Janeiro

    Rio De Janeiro (TIP): Extremely heavy rains set off mudslides and floods in a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro state, killing at least 18 people, authorities reported late February 15. There was widespread concern that the death toll could surge as teams searched damaged areas in the Petropolis region, which saw hundreds of deaths from heavy rainfall in 2011. Rio state’s firefighter department said in a statement that more than 180 soldiers were working in the stricken region. The department said the area got 25.8 centimeters (just over 10 inches) of rain within three hours during the day—almost as much as during the previous 30 days combined. Footage posted on social media showed cars and houses being dragged away by landslides and water swirling through the city of Petropolis and neighbouring districts. Petropolis’ city hall said in a statement that the heavy rains left “a high number of incidents and victims” and that rescue and recovery efforts were continuing. (AP)

  • France, EU to withdraw troops from Mali, remain in region

    Paris (TIP) : France will withdraw its troops from Mali nine years after it first intervened to drive Islamic extremists from power but intends to maintain a military presence in neighbouring West African nations, President Emmanuel Macron said on February 17.

    Macron accused Mali’s ruling military junta of neglecting the fight against Islamic extremists and said it was logical for France to withdraw since its role was not to replace a sovereign state on the battlefield.

    “Victory against terror is not possible if it’s not supported by the state itself,” the French leader told a press conference with EU and African Union officials. The so-called Barkhane force is also involved in Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. A French Armed Forces spokesman said France ultimately aimed to reduce the number of its troops in the Sahel to 2,500-3,000. — AP

  • Senator John Liu welcomes extension of High School application deadline

    Senator John Liu welcomes extension of High School application deadline

    NEW YORK  (NY) (TIP): State Senator John C. Liu, chairperson of the Senate Committee on NYC Education, stated the following about February 16  Department of Education announcement that the DOE will extend the high school application deadline until March 11, 2022. Liu has held protracted discussions with DOE officials on this matter. “It’s only right that the DOE is extending this year’s high school application deadline to March 11th, from the original March 1st deadline announced on January 27th along with substantial changes to the admissions criteria. Many parents have articulated concern and some outrage at the new criteria more resembling a random lottery process rather than admissions based on merit and achievement. However, extending the deadline is only the first step. The DOE must further modify its admissions criteria to consider academic performance and better reflect achievement so as not to penalize the students who have pursued excellence under the previous long-standing admissions criteria. If in fact admissions criteria warrant changes, parents must be engaged prior to announcing such substantial changes in policy.”

    —

  • Legislator Joshua A. Lafazan calls for an immediate public hearing in the wake of new Nassau County Data breach

    Legislator Joshua A. Lafazan calls for an immediate public hearing in the wake of new Nassau County Data breach

    MINEOLA, N.Y. (TIP):  Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan (D-Woodbury) , on February 18, held a press conference to address cyber security concerns within Nassau County. Lafazan called for an immediate public hearing to be convened in the Legislature’s Government Services and Operations Committee regarding Nassau County’s cyber security and cyber infrastructure. Lafazan’s call comes after Nassau County Legislators were informed by the Commissioner of Information Technology that the Nassau County Department of Assessment was subject to an internal data breach that included sensitive information of county employees such as employee social security numbers and medical records. Lafazan called on his colleagues in the Legislature to convene an immediate public hearing of the Committee on February 28th, in which he is formally asking for testimony from the Commissioner of IT, the Commissioner of Public Works, Commissioner of Health, the Police Commissioner, and other relevant department heads and staff to testify on Nassau County’s cyber security infrastructure network. Cyber attacks have been on the rise in Nassau County, New York State, and the US. There have been thirteen Long Island School Districts alone that have been the targets of cyber attacks between 2018 and 2020. In October 2019, cyber scammers stole $710,000 from the Office of the Nassau County Comptroller, which was followed by another cyber attack in December that same year.

    “Any breach of confidential employee information is one too many,” said Lafazan. “And this breach is especially egregious, given the fact that exposed social security numbers are often the key to identity theft, and medical records are especially sensitive and should always be kept confidential. Our employees deserve to have both their data as well as their privacy respected.”

  • Queens District Attorney Katz hosts Black History Month  Celebration

    Queens District Attorney Katz hosts Black History Month  Celebration

    Notable Queens community members honored

    QUEENS, NY (TIP): Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz hosted a celebratory program in honor of Black History Month at the Black Spectrum Theater on February 16, 2022. The program included live music and dance performances from local artists, special guest remarks from City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, and  a keynote address by National Action Network founder, Reverend Al Sharpton. The District Attorney  honored several notable individuals for exemplifying the “Best of Queens.”

    District Attorney Katz said, “Honoring Black History is an important statement every year. We have to celebrate and pay tribute to the often-overlooked contributions of African Americans in our own  borough of Queens and across the nation. This program has been a great opportunity for reflection and celebration with our honorees and featured guests.”

    Reverend Al Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network, made a keynote speech and discussed the importance of commemorating Black History throughout the nation. Rev. Sharpton also urged the audience to support black elected officials and become individually engaged themselves. “The best way to celebrate Black history is to continue to make some and to use what we have in our hands and use what we have available to us,” Rev. Sharpton said. “Every generation before us found a way to give the next generation a better life. I am determined that my children and grandchildren will live a better life than me. Because at the end of the day, you will not be judged by what you said … you will be judged by what you did. So, your commitment tonight ought to be that I will make some Black history.”

    The District Attorney also recognized Mr. Carl Clay, founder and owner of the Black Spectrum Theater, on the auspicious occasion of the Theater’s 50th Anniversary. Since 1970, The Black Spectrum Theater has grown into a multifaceted performing arts and media company in Southeast Queens that has produced and presented over 150 plays, 30 films, and numerous works of music, dance, and performance art.

    The evening’s honorees included:

    • Ralph McDaniels, hip hop legend and founder of the Voice Music Box, honored for his outstanding achievements in broadcast media and music.
    • Mr. Larry “Love” Moore, community activist, honored for his long-time advocacy on behalf of Southeast Queens
    • The BlaQue Resource Network and founder Aleeia Abraham, honored for their work in uniting predominantly Black neighborhoods and local businesses in Queens.
    • Allison Wright, Supervising Assistant District Attorney, Major Economic Crimes Bureau, honored for her more than 20 years of dedicated service.
    • Sharon Walker, Secretary, Felony Trial Bureau II, honored for her tireless support and 36 years of service at the Queens District Attorney’s Office.

    The evening also included dynamic performances by the Devore Dance Company, soloists June Rodgers and Jared Davidson, and a powerhouse number from the Queens Alliance Drumline. The evening’s festivities began with an invocation by Dr. Philip Craig of the Springfield Community Church and ended with a benediction by Dr. Maria L. Hubbard of Agape Bethel Community Development Corporation.

    (Based on a press release)