WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): The US “got involved directly” when India and Pakistan went to war and President Donald Trump was able to deliver peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed. Rubio, in an interview to EWTN’s ‘The World Over’ on Thursday, said that Trump was committed to ensuring peace and being the “president of peace”. “And so, we saw that when India and Pakistan went to war, we got involved directly, and the president was able to deliver on that peace,” Rubio said.
Since May 10, Trump has repeated his claim many times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan and told the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors that America will do a “lot of trade” with them if they stopped the conflict. India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations of the two militaries.
Rubio also listed other conflicts that he said Trump helped resolve. “Cambodia and Thailand more recently; Azerbaijan and Armenia, hopefully… DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo)-Rwanda – a 30-year war, 7 million people killed – we were able to bring them here to sign it,” Rubio said. He added that the US was proud of those initiatives and “we’re looking for more – obviously, the big one being in Ukraine and Russia”. “We dedicate a significant amount of time to stopping and ending wars,” Rubio said.
(Source: PTI)
NEW DELHI (TIP): Over Rs 67 crore (USD 7,746,345) was incurred on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to five countries, including the US and France, in 2025, while the total expenditure figures related to his foreign trips from 2021 till 2024 stood at nearly Rs 295 crore (USD 34,114,449) , according to data shared by the government, says a PTI report.
As per the country-wise and year-wise data, the corresponding figures for Modi’s visits to Mauritius, Cyprus, Canada and Croatia, and Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil and Namibia this year were not available.
For these visits, the column for ‘total expenditure’ in the data shared by Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh on Thursday, in his written response to a query by TMC MP Derek O’Brien in Rajya Sabha, said, “Bills under settlement. Total expenditure is not yet available.” Of these visits, the costliest one was to France, which incurred over Rs 25 crore (USD 2,890,009) , while the one Modi undertook to the US in June 2023 incurred over Rs 22 crore (USD 2,542,900) .
On March 20, the ministry had shared data in in Rajya Sabha, according to which nearly Rs 258 crore ( USD 29,821,291) was incurred on 38 foreign visits of Modi between May 2022 and December 2024.
In 2025, Modi had travelled to France and the US from February 10-13. In Paris, he held bilateral talks with President Emmanuel Macron and attended an AI Summit, while in the US he met and held talks with President Donald Trump, among other engagements.
According to the data shared, the country-wise figures for these five countries Modi visited in 2025 are–Rs 25,59,82,902 (France); Rs 16,54,84,302 (US); Rs 4,92,81,208 (Thailand); Rs 4,46,21,690 (Sri Lanka) and Rs 15,54,03,792.47 (Saudi Arabia).
The cumulative figures for the preceding four years are–about Rs 109 crore (2024) spanning 16 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, the US and Brazil; nearly 93 crore (2023); Rs 55.82 crore (2022) and about Rs 36 crore (2021).
In 2021, Modi visited Bangladesh (Rs 1,00,71,288–total expenditure); the US (Rs 19,63,27,806); Italy (Rs 6,90,49,376); and the UK (Rs 8,57,41,408). His trips in 2022 included visits to Germany (Rs 9,44,41,562); Denmark (Rs 5,47,46,921); France (Rs 1,95,03,918); Nepal (Rs 80,01,483) and Japan (Rs 8,68,99,372), it said. For Modi’s 2023 visit to Egypt, the expenditure on advertising and broadcasting was Rs 11.90 lakh, according to the data.
COLOMBO (TIP): Sri Lanka’s customs authorities arrested on Friday a woman and seized the largest haul of cocaine ever detected at the country’s main international airport, an official said. The unnamed 38-year-old Thai woman was carrying nearly 10 kilogrammes (22 pounds) of cocaine stuffed into three soft toys, Customs Additional Director-General Seevali Arukgoda said. “This is the biggest attempt at cocaine smuggling stopped by Sri Lanka Customs at the airport,” Arukgoda said in a statement.
Customs officials at Bandaranaike International Airport posed for photos with the cocaine, which had been neatly stuffed into just over 500 plastic capsules, with an estimated street value of $1.72 million. The seizure follows three other hauls this month totalling nearly 60 kilogrammes of synthetic cannabis.Three foreign nationals —- from Britain, India, and Thailand — were arrested in separate cases.
The Briton, identified as Charlotte May Lee, 21, a former cabin crew member from London, was produced before a magistrate on Friday and further remanded until June 13, court officials said.
She was arrested on May 12 when officials discovered that her two suitcases were packed with 46 kilogrammes of kush, a synthetic drug.
All four suspects, including the Thai woman arrested on Friday, could face life imprisonment if convicted.
Sri Lankan authorities have previously seized large quantities of heroin off the country’s shores, suggesting the island is being used as a transit hub for narcotics destined for other locations.
In October, a Sri Lankan court sentenced 10 Iranian men to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to smuggling more than 111 kilogrammes of heroin. In 2023, nine Iranians received life sentences in a separate drug smuggling case.
Sri Lanka’s largest single seizure of narcotics occurred in December 2016, when Customs found 800 kilogramme (1,760 pounds) of cocaine in a transhipment container of timber addressed to a company in neighbouring India. (AP)
The year 2024 has seen a horrifying variety of natural disasters resulting in tragic deaths and destruction that have shocked the world. Events, including everything from earthquakes to hurricanes and landslides, have left in their wake grieving survivors and destroyed homes and livelihoods. Of course, natural disasters have afflicted humanity since the dawn of time—but now we have a sinister extra factor to contend with: climate change.
Noto Earthquake
A powerful earthquake struck on New Year’s Day, heralding a disastrous start to 2024 for the people of the Noto Peninsula in western Japan. NASA’s Earth Observatory reported, “The 7.5 magnitude main shock was followed by dozens of strong aftershocks in the following minutes, hours, and days.” The principal quake struck at 4:10 in the afternoon.Just to make a bad situation worse, there was heavy snowfall in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and the resulting fires, hampering rescue efforts. NASA geophysicist Eric Fielding said that some areas of the Noto Peninsula were lifted as much as 13 feet (4 meters). Around 84,000 homes were damaged, leaving a repair bill that may be as high as $17.6 billion, with 14,000 people directly affected by the destruction. And grimly, 281 people lost their lives, with many more badly injured.
Spain Floods
On October 29, as much as 20 inches (51 cm) of rain fell on the southeastern Spanish province of Valencia in just eight hours. Unsurprisingly, this massive deluge resulted in flash floods and devastating destruction. The city of Valencia, which lies on the Mediterranean coast, and the surrounding towns and farmland were heavily flooded, and a total of 216 people died, almost half of them over the age of 70. The rain turned streets into rivers, and cars were tossed aside as if they were toys.NASA’s Earth Observatory reports that the exceptionally high levels of rainfall “came from a high-altitude low-pressure weather system that became isolated from the jet stream.” This happened when a cold front collided with warm air over the Mediterranean. In the aftermath of the floods, public outrage at a perceived lack of warning and poor response from rescue services spilled over into angry demonstrations. When King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited Valencia, angry survivors pelted the royal couple with mud as they toured the streets.
Uganda Garbage Landslide
The Kiteezi garbage dump, clearly visible on Google Maps satellite view, is the only place to dispose of garbage in Uganda’s capital city, Kampala. The satellite pictures also reveal the fact that there are homes nestled cheek-by-jowl with the festering mountain of trash, which covers a 36-acre site in the city. Some of the residents of those homes were the victims of a garbage landslide in August when torrential rain caused a substantial portion of the trash mountain to collapse.Around 1,000 people were forced to leave their homes, but it turns out that by escaping with their lives, they were the fortunate ones, even though many lost everything. Meanwhile, rescuers dug their way through tons of garbage in a desperate effort to locate survivors. A few days after the Kiteezi disaster, the Kampala police announced a confirmed death toll of 35, with 28 people still unaccounted for.
Hurricane Helene
Helene, the deadliest hurricane since Katrina 20 years ago, swept in from the Atlantic in late September, making landfall in Florida. From there, it worked its way across Georgia, both Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, and Alabama. As it tracked across the southeastern states, it left a terrible trail of destruction in its wake. Rescue and recovery efforts continued for days after Helene had completed its bout of devastation.More than a week after the hurricane had blown through, the Associated Press reported that more than 230 people had lost their lives in the fearful storm. Those who survived Helene had to cope with widespread power outages, intense flooding, and massive destruction of infrastructure. North Carolina’s Governor Roy Cooper highlighted the ferocious strength of Helene, saying, “We knew storms could cause damage, but we weren’t expecting the magnitude of this one – water raging in rivers all over in a way we’ve never seen before.”
Wayanad Landslide
In July, it was the Wayanad district in India’s Kerala region on the country’s southwestern coast that experienced just how devastating the forces of nature can be. Torrential rain, 22 inches (56 cm) in two days, caused landslides, and by early August, the grim death toll had risen to 392, with 150 people reported as being missing. The casualties came in small villages on steep hillsides where many of the inhabitants worked on local tea plantations.The Hindu website told the tragic story of two of the villages that were engulfed by the landslide, Mundakkai and Chooralmala, both places previously best known for their “scenic landscapes and waterfalls.” However, in the massive landslide, which originated in a nearby mountaintop and barreled some 5 miles (8 km) down the course of the Iruvaniphuza River, these two villages were virtually wiped out. Weeks later, the gruesome task of identifying bodies continued, with some of the dead only identified with the use of DNA testing.
Indonesian Volcano
Volcanic Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Indonesia’s Flores Island erupted in early November, sending hot ash soaring 6,500 feet (1,981 meters) into the skies. A flow of deadly lava and cascading rocks hit villages on the mountain’s slopes, about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the eruption. The Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation called for a complete evacuation for all those living within a four-mile radius of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki “due to the ejection of incandescent material.” The evacuation came after ten people had already lost their lives.BBC News reported that a video shot by people at the scene of the eruption showed survivors “covered in volcanic ash, rock showers and homes ablaze, as well as the scorched aftermath of the disruption.” In fact, there had been considerable advance warning of a likely eruption as Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki had been emitting clouds of smoke and ash since December 2023. As a result, many people had previously left the area or the casualty level would almost certainly have been higher.
Typhoon Yagi
Typhoon Yagi raged across several Asian countries in early September, including Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, but Vietnam was the worst affected country. The overall death toll of Yagi was 600, with 42 fatalities in Thailand, 242 in Myanmar, and 300 in Vietnam. The majority of the casualties were caused by flash floods and landslides resulting from the extreme rainfall that Yagi brought to the region. The Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) reported that there were “still people missing who are presumed dead.”CDP cited the case of one especially tragic incident in the Vietnamese village of Lang Nu in Lao Cai province. There, the torrential rain caused a landslide, which overwhelmed the hamlet’s population of 158. At least 48 of the villagers lost their lives, while a further 17 were injured. Some 39 were missing and assumed to be dead, so that less than half the people of the village had survived to tell the horrifying tale. As well as a high death toll overall, Vietnam also suffered the destruction of around 237,000 homes.
Drought in Zambia
A severe drought got underway in the African nation of Zambia in January 2024, and the following month, the African country’s president, Hakainde Hichilema, declared an official national disaster. The United Nations has said that the landlocked South African nation experienced the worst water shortage during the growing season in three decades. This has caused food shortages in Zambia, but it’s not just the agricultural sector that has been damaged.Up to 80% of Zambia’s electric power is generated by one hydroelectric scheme, the Kariba Dam, with its mighty 420-foot (128-meter) wall creating the world’s largest man-made lake. But thanks to the drought, water levels have fallen too low to power the turbines fully, severely curtailing the electricity supply. In November, the Guardian reported that the drought continued with no sign of rains, and that meant the Kariba generator might have to close altogether. Already, Zambians are reduced to just three hours of electricity each day.
Ethiopian Landslide
It was on July 21 and 22 that two massive landslides, triggered by torrential rainfall, engulfed several Ethiopian villages in the Gofa Zone region. Within a couple of days of the catastrophe, the death toll stood at 257, with the UN warning that the total number of fatalities was likely to increase to perhaps as high as 500. Some 15,000 people were evacuated from the Kencho Shacha Gozdi district as further landslips were a distinct possibility. Harrowing reports emerged of survivors desperately digging through deep mud with their bare hands in an effort to find those buried by the disastrous landslides. Speaking to Agence France-Presse, survivor Tseganesh Obole told how she and her six children had been buried in the mud. Although she had escaped with two of her youngsters, a distraught Tseganesh explained that “four of my children died and remained buried.”
Las Vegas Heat Wave
Las Vegas residents know that summer inevitably brings high temperatures that can be hard to bear. But the heatwave that baked the city in 2024 was way beyond normal. During the three summer months—June, July, and August—the average daily temperature was 96.2°F (35.7°C), the hottest summer Las Vegas has experienced since records began in 1937. Weather service meteorologist Morgan Stessman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that, “We blew [the summer] record out of the water.”In December, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Clark County coroner’s office had confirmed that 491 deaths could be attributed to the exceptionally hot summer, up from 309 heat fatalities in 2023. Grimly, the coroner’s office also pointed out that nearly all of those killed by heat and aged under 40 had a contributing cause of death of drug or alcohol abuse.
NEW DELHI (TIP): Four people survived and two are unaccounted for after a Russian plane crashed in mountainous northeastern Afghanistan, the air transport agency Rosaviatsia said.
The Falcon 10 business jet was believed to be carrying six people on a hospital flight to Uzbekistan and Russia before communication was lost on Saturday evening.
“Of the six people on board the aircraft, tentatively, four are alive. They have various injuries. The fate of two people is being clarified,” Rosaviatsia said, citing the Russian embassy in Afghanistan. The ministry of airport transport and aviation in Afghanistan said that the aircraft crashed in Koof-Aab district of Badakhshan province, and claimed that four passengers survived the crash. A provincial government official in Afghanistan told AFP the aircraft came down in Badakhshan province, which borders China, Tajikistan and Pakistan. The aircraft had taken off from Thailand and had made a brief technical stopover in Gaya airport for refueling,’’ according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. (AFP)
“The ideals of Diwali are the ideals of UN Charter” : Chair of Diwali Foundation USA Ranju Batra
UNITED NATIONS (TIP): Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and three veteran diplomats were honored with the annual ‘Diwali Power of One Awards’, hailed as the ‘Oscars of diplomacy’, for their selfless efforts to “help form a more perfect, peaceful, and secure world for all”. The former UN chief was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 Diwali Stamp — The Power of One Award ceremony organized by the Diwali Foundation USA. The other awardees for the year 2023 are former permanent representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the UN Ambassador Mirsada Colakovic, former permanent representative of South Korea to the UN Ambassador Kim Sook and 72nd UN General Assembly president and EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak. They were honored at a special ceremony held in the UN Headquarters on Monday, December 11.
Former Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addressing the gathering after receiving the award. Seen, among others, are India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj ( extreme left) , Ranju Batra (4th from left), and Ravi Batra (behind Mr. Ban Ki-moon) (Photo : Mohammed Jaffer / SnapsIndia)
Ban commended the work and “forward-thinking vision” of the Diwali Foundation USA “for advancing vital light in a world of increasing darkness”.
Ban said the world of today “seems fractured like never before” as he cited the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis and regional conflicts, particularly “regional crisis as we see today in the Middle East and Ukraine”.
“But it is exactly at times such as these that the work of the United Nations is indispensable. The United Nations and its pursuit of peace, human rights and sustainable development exemplifies the values and principles that we should all espouse to replicate,” he said. Ban was the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving two terms as the world’s top diplomat from January 2007 to December 2016.
He said that as the world moves into 2024 and beyond, “we share a common destiny illuminated by peace, sustainability and prosperity. Let us work together and expand our unified efforts to realize this shared destiny for all. This is your political responsibility and for me, my moral responsibility as a former Secretary General” and as an awardee of the Power of One honor.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, in her address to the event attended by UN diplomats, envoys, civil society members and policy experts, said that Diwali is a celebration that holds a very special place in the hearts of over a billion Indians across the globe.
Diwali “is more than just a festival. It is a sentiment that embodies the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance and hope over despair”, she said.
Kamboj said, “as we light the lamps of Diwali, let us remember that every small light, no matter how small, can make a significant difference in dispelling the shadows”.
Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Mohan Pieris said “Deepawali has become truly a secular festival in the world, since its message is not exclusively restricted to any religious creed.
“This festival has united the global community with the central message that we need more than ever the humanistic ideals to engage the inglorious wars, which are bleeding the innocence of humanity,” he said.
Pieris underscored that for the world to have peace, it is important that the whole world must be united to save the higher ideals of humanity, which have evolved since the millennium in various religious traditions.
Chair of Diwali Foundation USA Ranju Batra, who had spearheaded efforts for over seven years to get a commemorative ‘Forever Diwali’ stamp issued by the US Postal Service in 2016, said: “Diwali is a message of peace.” She said her journey for the Diwali stamp is seen as a “metaphor of peace and harnessing its power to promote excellence in diplomacy. The ideals of Diwali are the ideals of UN Charter”.
She noted that the 2023 Power of One awardees have clearly demonstrated that “one person can make a difference”. The Diwali stamp celebration is not of a religion or nation but of the spirit of harmonious inclusiveness and cross-cultural understanding that all religions deserve, she said.
Eminent Indian-American attorney and Chair of National Advisory Council South Asian Affairs and moderator of the award ceremony Ravi Batra said the UN transcends borders and boundaries.
“The need to acknowledge excellence is critical, generally, but in diplomacy, which is on life support in today’s world, it is essential and that’s how these awards are – the Power of One,” he said, adding that they honor “world class diplomats who have changed the world by what they did”.
Awardees and organizers of Power of One Awards (Photo : Mohammed Jaffer / SnapsIndia)
Hailed as the ‘Oscars of Diplomacy’, the awards are presented to former Permanent Representatives or former high-level members of the UN Secretariat or member state, or soon to be “former”, who have “toiled selflessly to help form a more perfect, peaceful and secure world for all”.
The 2023 Award ceremony was co-organized by the Diwali Foundation USA and Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, and the Permanent Missions of Chile, Eritrea, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Morocco, Oman and Sri Lanka to the United Nations. The co-sponsors included the Permanent Mission to the United Nations of Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Cyprus, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, South Africa, Spain, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkiye, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Palestine, and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA-NY) among others.
Diwali Foundation USA was established in 2017 to promote a peaceful and consensus-based process to achieve societal “good, as befits the high hopes and ideals of humanity enshrined in the United Nations Charter”.
The Foundation established ‘The Power of One’ awards to celebrate and highlight the important work done in a peaceful manner, especially at the United Nations.
Previous honorees include former UN assistant secretary general and deputy executive director of UN Women, Lakshmi Puri, former UK Ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, former permanent representative of Georgia to the UN, Kaha Imnadze, and former permanent representative of Grenada to the UN Keisha McGuire.
(Source: PTI)
The traditional lamp lighting . Mr. & Mrs. Ban Ki-moon with organizers of Power of One Award lighted the lamp. (Photo : Mohammed Jaffer / SnapsIndia)
On International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies (September 7), there is urgent need to address risks posed by pollution
By Benno Boer, Srishti Kumar, Neha Midha
“The world is not just grappling with climate change, but also with another silent killer — air pollution. Global health statistics reveal a disturbing scenario with lung cancer claiming 10 million deaths worldwide in 2020, as stated in the World Health Organization (WHO) factsheet published in 2023. This could soar by another 3.2 million by 2050 according to a report, ‘Mapping of global, regional and national incidence, mortality and mortality-to-incidence ratio of lung cancer in 2020 and 2050’, by the Indian National Institute of Health. South Asia, home to two billion people, is also home to nine of the world’s 10 most polluted cities, including Delhi, where the air quality continues to pose a perilous long-term threat putting its inhabitants at risk each day. While policy measures have led to statistical improvements in the Air Quality Index (AQI), the health risks associated with Delhi’s polluted air persist. Delhi is knocked to its knees every winter facing hazardous levels of air pollution.”
Youngsters around the world are taking charge of environmental advocacy, running marathons, and tracking real time data of air quality, creating environmental awareness. But the absence of a specific Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for ‘Clean Air to Breathe’ indicates a lack of global attention.
Dr. Benno Boer
According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the earth has entered the era of global boiling. Scorching heatwaves, devastating floods and erratic weather patterns are stark reminders for an urgent need to address the triple-planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution.
The world is not just grappling with climate change, but also with another silent killer — air pollution. Global health statistics reveal a disturbing scenario with lung cancer claiming 10 million deaths worldwide in 2020, as stated in the World Health Organization (WHO) factsheet published in 2023. This could soar by another 3.2 million by 2050 according to a report, ‘Mapping of global, regional and national incidence, mortality and mortality-to-incidence ratio of lung cancer in 2020 and 2050’, by the Indian National Institute of Health. South Asia, home to two billion people, is also home to nine of the world’s 10 most polluted cities, including Delhi, where the air quality continues to pose a perilous long-term threat putting its inhabitants at risk each day. While policy measures have led to statistical improvements in the Air Quality Index (AQI), the health risks associated with Delhi’s polluted air persist. Delhi is knocked to its knees every winter facing hazardous levels of air pollution.
Lung cancer, cardiovascular disorders, respiratory ailments, and mental health issues continue to destroy lives. Delhi’s air, a lethal mix of SO2 (sulphur dioxide) and NOX (nitrogen oxides), along with high particulate matter concentrations (2.5 or even 10µg/m3), carbon monoxide and ozone, deprive over 30 million residents of their human right to breathe clean air.
The air pollution toll is troublesome especially for immunocompromised individuals, pregnant women, children, and the elderly. As per a Lancet Report, 1.67 million pollution-related deaths were attributed to air pollution in India in 2019, accounting for a staggering 17.8% of the total deaths in the country.
Efforts to combat this crisis are already being made. State governments, research institutions, and NGOs are pioneering solutions such as the PUSA Decomposer, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), employing biotechnology to address agricultural pollution. State-level policies such as GRAP 3 (Graded Rapid Action Plan), monitoring air quality in hotspots, and establishing Green War Rooms, have shown some potential. Many innovative startups involving young entrepreneurs are turning agricultural waste into valuable products.
Viable solutions
Acknowledging the existence of air pollution remains the primary step towards solutions. Next comes a debate on viable solutions and actions, many of which are already known. Eventually, these best practices need to be implemented. Without implementation, the best laid out plans will not lead to any improvement. Globally, cities such as Ljubljana (Slovenia), Accra (Ghana), Seville (Spain), Bogota (Colombia), Medellin (Colombia), epitomize the power of prioritizing human health and environmental sustainability. Car-free zones, green spaces, smart urban designs, electrified public transportation, nature-based solutions, and innovative biotechnology demonstrate positive results. China’s shift to clean energy and e-mobility after battling severe pollution, Indonesia’s project on ‘Carbon Efficient Farming’ assessing biomass to reduce CO2 emissions, Thailand and Vietnam undertaking measures to reduce open straw burning, are all gleams of hope.
UNESCO’s initiatives to combat air pollution include implementing an internal carbon tax on all flight tickets, and investing in emission reduction measures. The World Air Quality Project allows residents to make informed decisions by real time Air Quality data. In collaboration with UNEP, environmentally conscious practices have been introduced such as digital working via the ‘Virtual Meetings’ project. Clean-Air-For-Schools is spreading education among all for clean air. Other laudable activities include switching to electric vehicles, replacing lighting systems to greener LED arrangements, implementing solar powered offices, protecting historical sites by developing strategies to curb air pollution, and effective green solutions ( urban forests, parks, green corridors).
Youngsters around the world are taking charge of environmental advocacy, running marathons, and tracking real time data of air quality, creating environmental awareness. But the absence of a specific Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for ‘Clean Air to Breathe’ indicates a lack of global attention.
However, in 2019, laying emphasis on the interest of the international community for clean air, and the need to improve air quality, the UN General Assembly decided to designate September 7 as the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies. Nevertheless, clean air remains a long stride in many mega-cities and other places. We hope that a concerted action to systematically improve the air quality including in Delhi will receive priority attention. The problem has been caused by people, so it should be people who will find and apply solutions, supported by innovative adequate air quality policies and action plans. As we inhale the consequences of our actions, the ultimate question beckons: are we the torchbearers of change for the future of our planet or will we be silent bystanders who let pollution script a tragic ending?
(Benno Böer is the Chief of the Natural Sciences Unit, UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Neha Midha is the National Programme Officer, UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Srishti Kumar is a UNESCO Natural Sciences Intern. UNESCO is a member of Team UN in India, together helping deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals)
Reiterating the Centre’s zero-tolerance policy on the drug menace, Home Minister Amit Shah has announced that big criminals involved in narcotic trafficking would be put behind bars in the next two years. He has admitted that profits from the drug trade are being used to finance terrorism, while expressing concern that the ‘dirty money’ thus generated is hurting the country’s economy. According to the minister, the mapping of drug routes has been done in 472 districts, even as narcotic contraband is entering the country from across the border through drones, tunnels, ports and airports. Shah’s statement in the Lok Sabha came hours after the Border Security Force (BSF) recovered around 26-kg heroin from a field in Fazilka, a border district of Punjab. Suspected Pakistani smugglers had abandoned the drug packets and escaped after the troops opened fire. On the intervening night of December 20-21, the BSF had shot down a drone near Amritsar and seized over 4 kg of narcotics.
Attempts by smugglers to push narcotics and weapons into India through drones and other means have increased during the ongoing winter season, when dense fog envelopes the region. The BSF says it has stepped up vigil near the India-Pakistan border in Punjab, but the frequent seizures don’t seem to be deterring drug traffickers. Most of the drugs smuggled into India originate from the ‘Golden Crescent’ (comprising Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan) and the ‘Golden Triangle’ (including areas of Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand). There are reports that the illicit drug trade continues to flourish in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, which had promised a crackdown on narcotics after it grabbed power in August last year. India has proactively used multilateral platforms this year to push for a joint fight against terror funding.
There is a need to up the ante and call out nations aiding or abetting narco terror. On the ground, the security forces should be equipped with state-of-the-art counter-drone technology to block the aerial route of drug supply. Synergy among agencies and governments holds the key to breaking the back of drug cartels.
Bangkok (TIP): A former policeman killed 37 persons, including 22 children, in a knife-and-gun rampage at a daycare centre in Thailand on October 6. He later shot dead his wife and child at their home before turning his weapon on himself, the police said, identifying the suspect as 34-year-old PanyaKamrap. In one of the world’s worst child death tolls in a massacre by a single killer in recent history, most of the children who died in UthaiSawan, a town 500 km northeast of Bangkok, were stabbed to death, the police said. The age range of children was from two to five years, a local official said.
The police said the attacker was a former member of the force who was dismissed from his post last year over drug allegations and he was facing trial. The man had been in court earlier in the day and had then gone to the daycare centre to collect his child, said police spokesperson PaisalLuesomboon. When he did not find his child there, he began the killing spree, Paisal said. “He started shooting, slashing, killing children.” Videos posted on social media showed sheets covering what appeared to be the bodies of children lying in pools of blood in the garden of the daycare centre. When the attacker arrived, about 30 children were at the facility, fewer than usual, as heavy rain had kept many of them away, district official JidapaBoonsom said. “The shooter came in around lunch time and shot four or five officials at the centre first,” Jidapa said. The attacker forced his way into a locked room where the children were sleeping, Jidapa said, adding that a teacher who was eight months pregnant was also stabbed to death. The massacre is among the worst involving children killed by one person. In Norway, Anders Brevik killed 69 persons, mostly teenagers, at a summer camp in 2011, while the child death toll in other cases include 16 at Dunblane in Scotland in 1996 and 19 at a school in Uvalde, Texas, this year. The Beslan school hostage crisis in Russia in 2004 saw 186 children killed by a group of hostage takers. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, in a statement on Facebook, called Thursday’s shooting a “shocking incident”. Gun laws are strict in Thailand, where possession of an illegal firearm carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. But ownership is high compared with some other countries in Southeast Asia. The police, however said the gun used in the shooting had been obtained legally. Mass shootings in Thailand remain rare, although in 2020, a soldier angry over a property deal gone sour killed at least 29 persons and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations. — Reuters
NEW DELH/NEW YORK (TIP): VFS Global on Thursday, Oct 22 said it has been appointed as the exclusive service provider for visa, OCI (overseas citizens of India), passport, renunciation of Indian citizenship, and Global Entry Programme (GEP) verification services for the government of India in the United States.
From next month, the Indian diaspora and other applicants across the US can apply for these services at any one of VFS Global’s India Centers, it said, adding “due to COVID-19 restrictions, India visa services remain suspended. The re-start date will be announced according to directives of the Embassy of India in USA .”
India consular application centers will be located in six cities: Washington DC, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston. At these centers, VFS Global said, it will provide for Indian or US citizens, and for third-country nationals, from November 2020 services like: OCI application, passport application, renunciation of Indian citizenship and GEP verification services. The US has over 40 lakh-strong Indian diaspora. “The US is the 12th country in which VFS Global will provide passport, visa and consular services for the Indian ministry of external affairs. At present, VFS Global manages 44 passport and visa application centers for the government of India in 11 countries: Australia, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and UK,” VFS said in a statement. VFS Global regional group COO (South Asia, Middle East and North Africa and Americas) Vinay Malhotra said that “as a company that has its origins in Mumbai, India – where the first VFS Global application center was set up close to two decades ago – it is a matter of immense pride for us to be given the opportunity to serve our customers right across the US.” VFS Global is the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services provider for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide. It has 3,430 application centers in 144 countries across five continents and partners 64 client governments.
BANGKOK (TIP): The Supreme Court of Thailand on Friday issued an arrest warrant against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra after she failed to appear for the verdict in her trial over a rice subsidies scheme.
The court scheduled the hearing for September 27 and issued the arrest warrant after her lawyer failed to provide documents proving her state of health, reports Efe news.
Yingluck is accused of negligence as part of the rice subsidies scheme which an anti-corruption commission said cost the country 600 billion baht ($18 billion) in losses and also led to corruption.
The scheme, introduced in 2011, pledged to pay farmers well above the market rate for their crop, and ended up costing the country billions, reports CNN.
Yingluck said the rice subsidy scheme was “beneficial for the farmers and the country” and that claims it lost money were wrong and motivated by political bias against her.
If convicted, the former leader faces upto 10 years in prison.
Thousands of Yingluck’s supporters gathered in front of the Supreme Court here despite a plea from her on Facebook to stay away due to security concerns.
More than 3,000 officers have been deployed to the streets outside the court.
When she was inaugurated in 2011, Yingluck became Thailand’s first female Prime Minister and its youngest in over 60 years.
The sister of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck was ousted by a coup in 2014 and was later impeached by Thailand’s military-appointed National Legislative Assembly.
The ruling barred her from political office for five years.
NEW DELHI (TIP): As many as 7,620 Indian nationals are lodged in foreign jails, with the highest number in Saudi Arabia. Of them, at least 50 are women
In response to a question raised in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, August 9, minister of state for external affairs M J Akbar said due to strong privacy laws prevailing in many countries, local authorities do not share information on prisoners unless the person concerned consents to the disclosure of such information.
Of the 7,620 prisoners lodged in 86 jails, at least 50 are women, shows data available with the government. Most of these women are in prisons in south-east Asia, neighboring Sri Lanka, China and Nepal, the Gulf countries, the US and UK.
The Gulf countries account for 56% of all Indian nationals in foreign jails. The prisons in Saudi Arabia have the highest number of Indian nationals, with 2,084 of them confined on charges of financial fraud, burglary and bribery.
A number of them have also been arrested for drinking and selling alcohol in the country. It is illegal to produce, import or consume alcohol in Saudi Arabia.
In countries in south-east Asia – Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia – most of the 500 immured Indian nationals were charged with offences related to drug and human trafficking and immigration and visa violation.
In Pakistan, according to a list handed over by the government to the India envoy in Islamabad, at least 546 Indian nationals, including nearly 500 fishermen, are in Pakistani jails.
Fishermen in the southern parts of India have also entered troubled waters and landed in jails in alien soil, especially in Sri Lankan jails. Tamil Nadu prisoners were tracked in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei and Ethiopia too.
In Australia and Canada, countries that see high migration from India, 115 prisoners are Indian nationals. Most of their offences relate to murder, sexual assault, money laundering and road accidents.
Most European countries like Germany, Italy, Greece and France did not furnish details of Indian nationals in their prisons.
The minister said since the enactment of the repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003, 170 applications for repatriation had been received and 61 Indian prisoners had been repatriated from foreign prisons.
So far, India has signed treaties with 30 countries, under which Indian prisoners have been brought back. Besides this, India has also ratified the Inter American Convention by which India can receive and send requests to member countries for release of prisoners.
BANGKOK (TIP): A Thai court found dozens of people guilty of human trafficking offences today in a mass trial exploring links between corrupt officials, including a senior army general, and the grim but lucrative trade in Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants.
Thailand’s junta launched a crackdown in May 2015 on a network funnelling desperate migrants through southern Thailand and onto Malaysia, holding some for ransom in jungle camps.
It unspooled a crisis across Southeast Asia as gang masters abandoned their human cargo in the camps where hundreds died from starvation and malaria, and at sea in overcrowded boats which were then “ping ponged” between Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian waters.
Rights groups long accused officials of ignoring – and even orchestrating – the trade in humans through Thailand’s southern provinces. The area was the crucial link in a criminal trail that stretched from Myanmar to Malaysia. The crackdown revealed a lattice of military, police, local political and mafia figures acting as traffickers, agents and logistics men, all soaking up cash from some of Asia’s poorest and most vulnerable migrants.
On Wednesday judges at Bangkok Criminal Court began delivering a stream of verdicts for the 102 defendants. One other accused died while on remand.
The offences include human trafficking, ransom and murder. All deny the charges. Media were barred from the court itself, relying instead on an audio relay of the complex proceedings. Judges placed heavy reporting restrictions on much of the testimony, citing national security concerns. But the case has still lifted the lid on the power networks dominating southern Thailand.
Army Lieutenant-General Manas Kongpan, a top figure in the security apparatus covering the south, is the highest ranking official on trial. In 2013 he was promoted to head the Internal Security Command (ISOC) for the south. Current junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha was army chief at the time.
Another well-connected alleged kingpin is Pajjuban Aungkachotephan, better known as Ko Tong or ‘Big Brother Tong’. Police accused him of using private Andaman Sea islands, close to tourist spots such as Koh Lipe, to shift boatloads of migrants to the mainland, where they were packed into lorries and taken to the fetid camps straddling the Malaysia border.
An army captain, four ranking police officers, a nurse and several officials, including the mayor of Pedang Besar in Satun province, are also among the accused. By the lunch break a drip feed of 38 defendants had been convicted for a range of offences including human trafficking and slavery. Among them were guards at the jungle camps where migrants were held, including a Rohingya man who acted as an interpreter, and a string of local officials. (AFP)
NEW YORK (TIP): On July 4, Ravinder K. Bansal, a retired entrepreneur of Indian origin, will embark on a solo flight around the world in a single-engine Cessna 400 to raise money for a hospital in Haryana. He hopes to raise $750,000 to purchase an MRI machine for a hospital in his hometown Ambala.
The 100-bed hospital Rotary Ambala Cancer and General Hospital has been built with donations from philanthropists both in the US and India. The contribution is also a tribute to his elder brother Subhash Bansal’s wife, Sneh Bansal, who died of cancer in India, in 2005.
“I am excited to start my round the world trip from Buffalo Niagara International Airport on July the 4th. This mission for me is very personal as it not only is an adventure that I have been dreaming about for a while, but will also get the hospital a needed piece of MRI equipment now and help bring awareness about cancer in rural community around Ambala. Above all, it will generate publicity for the hospital that will hopefully continue to bring donations/support from the local and international community and Rotarians to keep the hospital operating and growing in future”, Bansal wrote in his blog.
Ravi Bansal, a resident of Buffalo, New York, is the pilot/owner of Cessna 400. The Cessna 400 is the fastest FAA-certified fixed-gear, single-engine piston aircraft in production today, reaching a speed of 235 knots (435 km/h) true air speed at 25,000 feet (7,600 m). The 19,878-mile trip will have several stops in different countries including England, France, Italy, Greece, Jordan, UAE, Oman, and India while going; and while returning Bansal would come via Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Russia, and Canada.
Mothers are everything for us when we are small…our lives revolve around her. For everything that we need we call mother. To protect us from all perceivable dangers we want her around us. To take us out we hold her arms.
Mother’s Day is a holiday honoring motherhood that is observed in different forms throughout the world. The American incarnation of Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Jarvis would later denounce the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar. While dates and celebrations vary, Mother’s Day most commonly falls on the second Sunday in May and traditionally involves presenting mothers with flowers, cards and other gifts.
HISTORY OF MOTHER’S DAY
Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the clearest modern precedent for Mother’s Day is the early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday.” Once a major tradition in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, this celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their “mother church”—the main church in the vicinity of their home—for a special service. Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation. This custom eventually faded in popularity before merging with the American Mother’s Day in the 1930s and 1940s.
ANN REEVES JARVIS AND JULIA WARD HOWE
The origins of Mother’s Day as celebrated in the United States date back to the 19th century. In the years before the Civil War, Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia helped start “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” to teach local women how to properly care for their children. These clubs later became a unifying force in a region of the country still divided over the Civil War. In 1868 Jarvis organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day,” at which mothers gathered with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation.
Another precursor to Mother’s Day came from the abolitionist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe. In 1870 Howe wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” a call to action that asked mothers to unite in promoting world peace. In 1873 Howe campaigned for a “Mother’s Peace Day” to be celebrated every June 2.
Other early Mother’s Day pioneers include Juliet Calhoun Blakely, a temperance activist who inspired a local Mother’s Day in Albion, Michigan, in the 1870s. The duo of Mary Towles Sasseen and Frank Hering, meanwhile, both worked to organize a Mothers’ Day in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some have even called Hering “the father of Mothers’ Day.”
ANNA JARVIS
The official Mother’s Day holiday arose in the 1900s as a result of the efforts of Anna Jarvis, daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Following her mother’s 1905 death, Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother’s Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children. After gaining financial backing from a Philadelphia department store owner named John Wanamaker, in May 1908 she organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia.
That same day also saw thousands of people attend a Mother’s Day event at one of Wanamaker’s retail stores in Philadelphia. Following the success of her first Mother’s Day, Jarvis—who remained unmarried and childless her whole life—resolved to see her holiday added to the n a t i o n a l calendar.
Arguing that American holidays were biased toward male achievements, she started a massive letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians urging the adoption of a special day honoring motherhood.
By 1912 many states, towns and churches had adopted Mother’s Day as an annual holiday, and Jarvis had established the Mother’s Day International Association to help promote her cause. Her persistence paid off in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Anna Jarvis had originally conceived of Mother’s Day as a day of personal celebration between mothers and families. Her version of the day involved wearing a white carnation as a badge and visiting one’s mother or attending church services. But once Mother’s Day became a national holiday, it was not long before florists, card companies and other m e r c h a n t s capitalized on its popularity. While Jarvis had initially worked with the floral industry to help raise Mother’s Day’s profile, by 1920 she had become disgusted with how the holiday had been commercialized. She outwardly denounced the transformation and urged people to stop buying Mother’s Day flowers, cards and candies.
Jarvis eventually resorted to an open campaign against Mother’s Day profiteers, speaking out against confectioners, florists and even charities. She also launched countless lawsuits against groups that had used the name “Mother’s Day,” eventually spending most of her personal wealth in legal fees. By the time of her death in 1948 Jarvis had disowned the holiday altogether, and even actively lobbied the government to see it removed from the American calendar.
MOTHER’S DAY AROUND THE WORLD
While versions of Mother’s Day are celebrated worldwide, traditions vary depending on the country. In Thailand, for example, Mother’s Day is always celebrated in August on the birthday of the current queen, Sirikit.
Another alternate observance of Mother’s Day can be found in Ethiopia, where families gather each fall to sing songs and eat a large feast as part of Antrosht, a multi-day celebration honoring motherhood.
In the United States, Mother’s Day continues to be celebrated by presenting mothers and other women with gifts and flowers, and it has become one of the biggest holidays for consumer spending. Families also celebrate by giving mothers a day off from activities like cooking or other household chores.
At times, Mother’s Day has also been a date for launching political or feminist causes. In 1968 Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., used Mother’s Day to host a march in support of underprivileged women and children. In the 1970s women’s groups also used the holiday as a time to highlight the need for equal rights and access to childcare.
Thank your Mother
There is simply no way we can ever really thank mother for all she has done for us. She is the one who will be awake all night when we are sick. Praying to God to make us well and be ever ready to bear the pain that we may be experiencing. She is the one to wake up early in the morning to make the nicest tiffin and endure all our tantrums. Mothers are the ones who would forever complain that we are not eating enough or not eating right. They would cook all sorts of things so that we be strong and healthy. Mothers infact, worry more for our examinations than we must. They would take pains to complete our school projects leaving all other works behind while we play around with friends or just while away time watching movies.
Apologise to your Mother
Mothers are the one on whom we put all the blame for our failures. We would not hesitate once to point her single faux pas though she would not miss even a slightest opportunity to praise us. Isn’t it tough to imagine how she must have borne our temper tantrums when we were teenagers. And how hard we must have made her life by behaving so rude and difficult. And yet she was so astonishingly cool. It it easy for the kids to be so demanding from parents, specially mothers as we take her affection and care so much for granted. Most often to the extent of selfishness. Mothers Day is the right time to apologise for all the troubles that we gave to our moms, without even realising at most times how troublesome we must have been to her.
BANGKOK (TIP): He’s a mercurial army general known for penning saccharine ballads and angry tirades against his critics. Now Thailand’s junta chief has launched a new eye-catching project: trimming the waistlines of the kingdom’s civil servants.
Former army chief turned Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha ditched his fatigues for a tracksuit and trainers Wednesday as he led hundreds of bureaucrats in an mass exercise session.
As music blasted out of loudspeakers he boxed, played volleyball and led an aerobics class, complete with star-jumps and squats, alongside hundreds of employees of Government House.
The trim 62-year-old, who seized power in 2014, has ordered all civil servants to exercise every Wednesday afternoon following concerns that Thailand’s famously laid back attitude to life has thickened their waistlines.
Prayut revels in being macho, plain-speaking and unpredictable — a demeanour that creates many amusing press appearances and is a gift to social media meme-makers.
Highlights have included him kicking a muay thai boxer, throwing a banana at a cameraman, tickling a reporter’s ear and riding a bike around Government House as his security detail jogged behind in the tropical heat.
Each Friday night he delivers a nationally broadcast “bringing happiness back” speech in which he doles out advice to Thais — anything from how to get foreigners to appreciate pungent durian fruit to the best Korean soap opera.
He has also written two ballads since his coup emphasising love for the nation and what it means to be Thai.
Thailand has been politically divided since the military launched a coup in 2006 that toppled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his elected government.
Years of debilitating street protests and another coup in 2014 that toppled Yingluck Shinawatra — Thaksin’s sister – followed.
The Shinawatra clan is loved by Thailand’s rural and urban poor.
But they are loathed by Bangkok’s middle classes and military elite, who say the family were corrupt.
Prayut has vowed to bridge the country’s divides but reconciliation seems far off.
His critics see him as the most authoritarian ruler Thailand has had in a generation. Some have likened him to Field Marshal Phibunsongkhram, a Second World War-era dictator who famously issued decrees on how Thais should behave, including how long they should sleep for, how they should spend their days off and how they should dress. (AFP)
PARIS (TIP): Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy advanced to the second round with straight-game wins but it was curtains for Ajay Jayaram in the$300,000 French Open Super Series badminton tournament on Wednesday.
In a 45-minute gruelling contest, Sindhu, who had suffered a loss in second round in Denmark Open last week, dished out a gritty performance to prevail 21-9 29-27 over Hong Kong’s Yip Pui Yin in a women’s singles match.
The two-time World Championship bronze medallist Indian will next take on the winner of the match between China’s He Bingjiao and Denmark’s Mette Poulsen.
Swiss Open champion Prannoy also disposed of Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana 21-16, 21-18 in a 41-minute clash to set up against Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen, seeded fifth.
However, it turned out to a disappointing day for Jayaram, who squandered a first game advantage to go down fighting 22-20, 10-21, 18-21 to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia in another men’s singles match.
BEIJING/WASHINGTON: Soaked in patriotism, hundreds of Indians today proudly marked the country’s 70th Independence Day, as the national flag fluttered and the national anthem reverberated at Indian missions across the world.
Indians in countries like China, the US, Thailand and Singapore joined people in India to celebrate the day with recital of patriotic songs and dance performances representing the diverse ethnicity of India.
In Beijing, Indian Ambassador Vijay Gokhale hoisted the tricolour in the embassy premises at a function that was attended by members of the Indian community.
A large of number of Indian professionals besides embassy staff took part in the flag hoisting ceremony along with their families.
Mr Gokhale also read out President Pranab Mukherjee’s address to the nation followed by recital of patriotic songs. In Shanghai, Consulate General of India Prakash Gupta hosted the celebrations. Gupta unfurled the tricolour besides reading out excerpts from the President’s address. A similar celebration was held at the Indian Consulate in Guangzhou led by Consulate General Y K Sailas Thangal.
In the US, the Independence Day was celebrated on a large scale in Fremont in California and Edison in New Jersey where thousands of people attended the event amid a colorful cultural extravaganza.
In cities like Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Orlando and Minneapolis, community organisations held cultural events over the weekend to celebrate the Independence Day. The patriotic fervour also gripped Indian missions across Southeast Asia, as hundreds of Indian nationals, ethnic Indians and India lovers gathered.
In Bangkok, Indian Ambassador Bhawant Singh Bishnoi said, “2016 has been a most significant year for our bilateral relationships”.
Mr Bishnoi, in his speech to over 500 people gathered at the embassy premises, said Thailand remains one of India’s “closest” friends.
“People to people linkages are one of the most important aspects of our bilateral relationships. Central to this is the role played by the Indian community,” he said and commended the significant contribution by ethnic Indians and Indian nationals to the economic and social development of Thailand.
Indian Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates echoed with melodious strains of the national anthem as children and the hundreds of Indians joined to sing patriotic songs in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Yangon, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei.
In Singapore, India’s High Commissioner Vijay Thakur Singh celebrated the day, reading out President Mukherjee’s Independence Day message to some 600 Indians.
Students from local Indian schools also sang patriotic songs and staged dance performances in a cultural show. In a congratulatory message on the Independence Day of India, Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam reaffirmed strong bilateral relations and underlined that “relations between Singapore and India remain strong and will grow despite challenges in the global economy”.
“As our people-to-people relations flourish, I am delighted by the excellent progress in bilateral projects and initiatives on various fronts including trade, skills development, defence cooperation, and Smart Cities development,” said Mr Tan.
In Kuala Lumpur, High Commissioner TS Tirumurti hoisted the flag at India House. About 350 people attended the ceremony that also witnessed a Carnatic singing performance. The High Commissioner also flagged off a Malaysia- Thailand-Myanmar-India car rally by Vinayak Mission that will cover 46,000 Kms and end in Salem Tamil Nadu.
In Hanoi, around 250 members of the Indian community and friends of India attended the hoisting of the flag by Ambassador P Harish, who also read out the President’s address.
It’s queer but true – women have a longer lifespan compared to men.
Researchers Steven Austad and Kathleen Fischer of the University of Alabama explored this riddle in their latest perspective piece.
“Humans are the only species in which one sex is known to have a ubiquitous survival advantage,” the researchers write in their review covering a multitude of species.
“Indeed, the sex difference in longevity may be one of the most robust features of human biology,” they added.
Though other species, from roundworms and fruit flies to a spectrum of mammals, show lifespan differences that may favour one sex in certain studies, contradictory studies with different diets, mating patterns or environmental conditions often flip that advantage to the other sex.
With humans, however, it appears to be all females all the time.
“We don’t know why women live longer. It’s amazing that it hasn’t become a stronger focus of research in human biology,” said Austad.
One of the evidences of the longer lifespan for women includes ‘The Human Mortality Database,’ which has complete lifespan tables for men and women from 38 countries that go back as far as 1751 for Sweden and 1816 for France.
Again, longer female survival expectancy is seen across the lifespan, at early life (birth to 5 years old) and at age 50. It is also seen at the end of life, where Gerontology Research Group data for the oldest of the old show that women make up 90 percent of the super centenarians, those who live to 110 years of age or longer.
Longevity may relate to immune system differences, responses to oxidative stress, mitochondrial fitness or even the fact that men have one X chromosome (and one Y), while women have two X chromosomes.
But the female advantage has a thorn.
“One of the most puzzling aspects of human sex difference biology,” write Austad and Fischer, “something that has no known equivalent in other species, is that for all their robustness relative to men in terms of survival, women on average appear to be in poorer health than men through adult life.”
This higher prevalence of physical limitations in later life is seen not only in Western societies, they say, but also for women in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand and Tunisia. But this is just one of several plausible hypotheses for the mystery of why women live longer, on aver age, than men.
Dream to Open Hotels in Nashville, Dallas, Palm Springs, Times Square, Long Island City and Doha, Qatar
NEW YORK, NY (TIP) : Renowned hotel brand and management company Dream Hotel Group LLC signed, May 3, its first hotel in the Middle East with Qatar-based Al Alfia Holding to develop a Dream Hotel in Doha, the state capital.
Sant Singh Chatwal with Sheikh Sultan Bin Jassim Bin Mohamed Al-Thani with whom he signed $300 million Dream -Doha deal in New York, May 3.
To cap off a red letter day, Dream Hotel Group took the opportunity to announce $1.5 billion in new hotel development, including Doha and five other locations, all with independent hotel development partners. Future U.S. locations include Nashville, Dallas, Palm Springs, and two additional New York properties in Times Square and Long Island City.
“We are thrilled that the Dream brand of hospitality, marked by vibrant nightlife and dining opportunities, has resonated so widely,” said Dream Hotel Group CEO Jay Stein. “These six new developments double the footprint of our founding brand and give our loyal guests many more options to explore the other side of themselves.”
The new locations mark a thrilling new chapter for Dream Hotels, the group’s founding luxury lifestyle brand–positioning them as international hospitality innovators. The Dream Hotels brand is on track to have five hotels operating in renowned U.S. cities by early 2019, with an additional opening in Doha, Qatar, Dream Hotels’ first foray into the Middle East.
Sant Singh Chatwal and Sheikh Sultan Bin Jassim Bin Mohamed Al-Thani with Dream Hotel team pose for a photograph, after the signing of deal, in New York. Seen from left to right: Jay Stein, Sheikh Sultan Bin Jassim Bin Mohamed Al-Thani, Sant Singh Chatwal, Johnny De Gouveia
“We’ll be announcing additional properties in the coming months, continuing to solidify our burgeoning portfolio,” added Stein. “The expansion stands as testimony to the passion that the Dream team shows me every day in bringing rich experiences to our guests.”
“We always believed in the Dream brand, but it’s exciting to see so many of our development partners believing in the same dream and turning it into a reality,” noted David Kuperberg, Chief Development Officer, Dream Hotel Group.
The news follows that of the highly anticipated David Rockwell-designed Dream Hollywood slated to open this fall in the heart of Hollywood on the corner of Selma Avenue and N. Cahuenga Boulevard at 6417 Selma Ave.
Dream Hollywood will be a driving force in the ongoing revitalization of Hollywood. The hotel features 179 guest rooms and suites, five dining and nightlife venues in or adjacent to the property, and a spacious 11,000-square-foot rooftop. Developed by FC Development in partnership with Dream Hotel Group, the property is expected to open in September 2016.
Dream Nashville will be located in the heart of the city’s historic downtown–featuring 169 rooms. Designed by Meyer Davis, the property is expected to open in mid-2018, developed by locally owned 4PANT, LLC, which is led by Royal Investments and City Development in partnership with Dream Hotel Group.
Opening in the second half of 2018, Dream Dallas will be a 260-room Dream Hotel Group development.
Slated to open in 2018, Dream Palm Springs will have 175 rooms and will be developed by Praetor Investments/Selene Developments in collaboration with Dream Hotel Group.
The first of two planned New York openings for the group, Dream Times Square will open in the second half of 2018. Designed by Meyer Davis, the 239-room property located in New York’s iconic entertainment destination will be developed by SoHo Properties in partnership with Dream Hotel Group.
Dream Long Island City will see the lifestyle hotel group’s foray into the city’s underutilized Queens Borough, a gallant follow-up to the celebrated Dream Hotels properties in Midtown and Downtown. The 254-key property is expected to open in 2019, developed by Barone Management in Partnership with Dream Hotel Group. Times Square and Long Island City will double the Dream Hotels footprint in New York, totaling four properties in the city.
Dream Doha, which is 300 million dollars project a development with Al Alfia Holding with design by Meyer Davis, will open in late 2019. The ambitious 325-room property, featuring nine dining and nightlife venues, is the first Middle Eastern development for the brand and a pivotal step in the expansion strategy. Joining Dream Phuket Hotel & Spa and Dream Bangkok in Thailand, Dream Doha marks the third international property for the group.
Born in 2004, Dream Hotels are rooted in the insatiable human need to explore the other side of oneself, and the provision of a playground to do just that. With strong foundations in delivering the maximum and highest level experience to guests, each property has upscale amenities, obsessive-meets-compulsive service, built-in nightlife that seems to come naturally, and rare raw energy drawn from some of the most stimulating cities in the world. A far cry from just another bed to lay your head on for a night or two, Dream Hotels offer an introduction to another you. The creation of a new persona for all who experience their properties, Dream Hotels’ visitors push the boundaries of their expectations for hotel stays. For more information or to book your stay, please visit www.dreamhotels.com.
About Dream Hotel Group
Dream Hotel Group is a hotel brand and management company with a rich, 30-year history of managing properties in some of the world’s most highly competitive hotel environments. Home to its Dream Hotels, Time Hotels, The Chatwal and Unscripted Hotels brands, Dream Hotel Group encompasses three business lines: Proprietary Brands, Hotel Management and Dining, and Nightlife. The Company is committed to the philosophy that forward-thinking design, service and guest experiences should be available across market segments. Dream Hotel Group is dedicated to offering travelers an authentic connection to their chosen destination through a truly original approach.
After thoughtful evaluation, and to leverage its world-renowned Dream Hotels brand, the Company decided to sunset both the Hampshire Hotels Management and Debut Hotel Group names. The change to Dream Hotel Group will capitalize on the Company’s most recognized assets to help raise awareness among guests, hotel owners and hotel developers.
WASHINGTON: Two Indians in the United States have been charged with allegedly smuggling people from India into America and could face up to 20 years of imprisonment.
Nilesh Kumar Patel, 41, and Harsad Mehta, 66, appeared in federal court yesterday and have been charged with one count of conspiracy to bring in and harbor aliens and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Mr Patel and Mr Mehta were arrested on October 21 last year upon their arrival at the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and the duo remain detained pending the outcome of the charges.
According to federal prosecutors, beginning in April 2014, an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a smuggler began meeting with Mr Patel and Mr Mehta in Bangkok, Thailand.
Mr Patel and Mr Mehta stated that they were involved in the smuggling business and had multiple Indian nationals that they were intending to smuggle into the United States.
Both of them agreed to transport the Indians from India to Thailand, at which point the undercover law enforcement officer would presumably use his contacts to smuggle the Indians into the United States via commercial airline flights.
Mr Patel and Mr Mehta agreed to wire a USD 10,000 down payment for each individual to be smuggled into the US and to pay a balance of tens of thousands of dollars for each individual once the foreign nationals arrived in the country, federal prosecutors alleged.
In total, Mr Patel and Mr Mehta arranged for six Indian nationals to be brought to Thailand for smuggling into the US via Newark Liberty International Airport on three occasions.
The conspiracy to bring in and harbor aliens charge carries a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison. The money laundering conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison.
BANGKOK: Add aging western bridge players to the list of desperadoes in Thailand’s seaside resort of Pattaya, a sin city rife with prostitution, corruption and foreign and home-grown gangsters.
The bridge players, mostly British but also from Scandinavia, the Netherlands and elsewhere, were busted by a task force of soldiers, police and local officials as they played cards at eight tables in an apartment above a restaurant, police Col Sukathat Pumpanmuang, superintendent of the Pattaya police station, said on Thursday. He said the law enforcement agents were acting on a tip that illegal gambling was taking place there.
Those arrested on Wednesday afternoon — including an 84-year-old Dutch woman, according to the Pattaya One news website — were released on bail of 5,000 baht ($140) each in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Sukathat said they would not be charged with gambling, but might be charged under a law limiting individuals to possession of 120 unregistered playing cards.
The officer said police didn’t see money changing hands, but seized as evidence computers, decks of cards and a book with results of the bridge games. He said most of the players were in their 60s or older.
The card players’ plight was eased after the president of the Contract Bridge League of Thailand, Chodchoy Sophonpanich — a civic activist who is a member of Thailand’s most prominent banking family — went to Pattaya on Thursday morning to advise police that bridge was treated under the law as a sport rather than gambling.
“Police know that bridge is a sport because a similar case happened before, but this time it was military and district officials who initiated the raid and they probably didn’t know,” said Chaiyut Assanaiyarat, the bridge league’s manager.
MUMBAI (TIP): A former journalist & social worker S Balakrishnan bought underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s Mumbai restaurant for Rupees 4.28 crores in an auction of the property on December 9.
The government auctioned the restaurant “Delhi Zaika” which was owned by India’s “most wanted man” Dawood Ibrahim in Mumbai on Wednesday, December 9. The restaurant was one of the seven properties of Ibrahim that was put for auction.
S Balakrishnan, who bought the restaurant, wants to make it an education centre for the poor.
Ibrahim is a fugitive in India and has been charged with masterminding the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings.
Some 257 people died and more than 700 others were wounded in the attacks.
India alleges that Ibrahim lives in the Pakistani city of Karachi, but Islamabad has always denied the charge.
Mr Balakrishnan needs to pay the sum he bid on the restaurant within 30 days to acquire it, and is seeking donations to do so.
“I want to open a computer centre for children and also a legal aid centre for women of the area,” he said.
The former journalist said that the government’s earlier attempts to sell the property had failed because people were afraid to buy the underworld don’s property.
“But this time we decided to show courage,” he said.
“I got a message from Chhota Shakeel asking what you are up to. The intention behind the message was quite clear, but we decided to join the auction because if we don’t, then it is a shame for the country,” Balakrishnan told NDTV.
Earlier he had told to India Today, “I am bidding on behalf of my NGO Desh Seva Samiti which works for child welfare and women’s empowerment. We will run English speaking and computer training institute at the place. It will be named after great patriot Ashfaqullah Khan. He should be the role model for kids, not Dawood.”
Ibrahim was named a “global terrorist” in October 2003, and in June 2006, then US President George W Bush labeled him a “foreign narcotics trafficker”.
He is accused of smuggling narcotics from Afghanistan and Thailand to the US, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.
MUMBAI (TIP): Emerging markets guru Mark Mobius said India could overtake China in the Templeton Emerging Markets group’s equity investments over the next five years, given the strong growth prospects of Asia’s third-largest economy and provided much-awaited reforms see the light of the day.
Mobius, who is executive chairman of the Templeton Emerging Markets Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, said China accounts for 8% of the group’s equity investment, followed by India with a 3% share. But, he added, the gap could close in time to come.
“If you look at where we are invested China is at the top of the list, followed by India and Thailand, will be the next two,” Mobius said in an interview on the sidelines of an event. “Going forward India is going to become more important, simply because it’s got better growth prospects,” said Mobius, adding that it was important that reforms went through as well.
India’s economic growth accelerated to 7.4% in the second quarter of the current financial year, riding on a spike in manufacturing and a pickup in investment demand, government data showed on Monday.
The ongoing reforms process was also key to Mobius’ rationale for investments in India. “The demographics are in favour. It’s a young population, and a growing population. Secondly, the reforms process is moving ahead. Modi has set an agenda for reforms,” he said. Although some people were concerned about the speed, he said, it was not as important as the direction of reforms.
“These things (reforms) take time, but the direction is very clear,” added Mobius. The reforms process initiated by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was off to a slow start—compared with expectations—with a political logjam in previous Parliament sessions stalling the passage of crucial legislation. Hopes have risen now that things may move ahead better than expected from here on.
Mobius does not expect the opposition Congress party to put barriers in the path of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to get the reforms through. Last week, leaders of the BJP and Congress met at Modi’s residence, spurring hopes that the constitutional amendment bill to enable the goods and services tax (GST) will finally get Parliament’s nod. Modi invited Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss issues related to the winter session of Parliament, including the GST bill.
Mobius said Modi’s performance as Prime Minister has been more or less in line with what he had expected, but added that he is capable of doing more.
“I didn’t expect much more, (than what has happened), but I would say that in terms of what he could do, maybe we are talking about 75-80%,” said Mobius.
According to him, investors could wait for another year for the government to deliver on reforms, and GST was the key reform. “If that’s delivered, that would be a watershed. That would be something.”
The key risk to Indian markets was also deliveries on the reforms front, at this point.
“Its really these reforms at the end of the day,” he said adding that rural electrification and reforms of the tax system were the big issues facing the Indian markets.
There has been a debate on whether there is rising intolerance in the country, and the rising intolerance has dampened the sentiment for Modi, added Mobius.
“It already is a hurdle. It is a problem for him, and it very difficult for him,” said Mobius. “I think his policy of not talking about it is probably a good one, because when it comes to religion, faith, class, these are emotional subjects.”
“All these conflicts have their base in economics. When people don’t have jobs, if their standard of living is not good, and see what other people have and they don’t have it, they get angry,” he said.
“So, I think it is definitely a problem for him but he is probably wisely trying to keep away from that and focus on his job at hand.”
Mobius likes the consumer and infrastructure sectors in the Indian market, while he would avoid natural resources at this time. He expressed concern over state-owned banks, and emphasized that privatization was key.
“They’ve got to get these state-owned banks out from under government control and put them on a stable basis with market-oriented policies, and that would be a giant step forward for not only for the banks, but also the government,” Mobius said.
He said the recent outflows from emerging markets could reverse after the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision.
“It is true that emerging markets have underperformed for the last three years and therefore a lot of investors have pulled money out of the emerging market funds,” said Mobius.
“I believe that once the uncertainty caused by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy is out, then money will begin to flow again back in to emerging market.”
LONDON (TIP): A high-flying businessman has quit his job, taking a 90% pay cut, so he can show his terminally ill daughter around the world. John Silk, from Croydon, South London, who successfully managed his own employment agency for 13 years, gave up his lucrative business to take a part-time job as a school bus-driver so he could see his daughter Vicky every day .
Vicky, 21, has Down’s Syndrome and pulmonary hypertension and receives support from Dreams Come True, a charity dedicated to helping terminally ill children. Silk was initially told Vicky would not live beyond age 15, however she has defied doctors’ predictions and Silk now uses all his earnings to take her on trips around the world, ITV reports. The family ha ve been on 24 trips in the last 14 years countries. and visited 15 countries.
So far, with the help of Dreams Come True, Vicky has visited Florida’s Disney World, Niagara Falls, Barbados, Thailand and Hawa. Silk said the trips had broadened Vicky’s horizons and boosted her confidence.
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