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Southeast Asian Swifties are on a pilgrimage to Singapore Millions of Taylor Swift's South East Asian fans are competing for about 330,000 seats that went on sale on Friday for her only stop in the region. The pop star's Eras Tour includes six shows in Singapore in March 2024. Devoted fans have skipped work, charged up their devices and joined long queues for the coveted tickets. The tense situation which is unfolding both on and offline, will end with either Bad Blood or with some seeing their Wildest Dreams come true. Swift is also performing in Japan and Australia, but nowhere else in East or South East Asia, where her fans or "Swifties" are legion. Singapore, the Indonesian capital Jakarta and the Philippines' most densely packed city, Quezon, are among the world's top locations for streaming Swift's songs, according to Spotify. So for fans in this corner of Asia, Singapore which is closer, offers visa-free or visa-on-arrival and plenty of cheap flight options, is an easy pick. The country has long been a po[CENSORED]r stop for big music acts because of its impressive public transport and infrastructure - Coldplay is performing at the expansive National Stadium a month before Swift. This is Swift's first post-pandemic concert outing. She has not toured since her 2019 Lover album and there's a wealth of material from three records she has released since then - Evermore, Folklore and Midnights. Lines are already snaking outside Singapore post offices, where fans can buy tickets offline. Given the demand, the daily Straits Times suggested four sleepy spots on the island's outskirts where the chances of getting tickets could be higher. "It's Taylor Swift, I just have to see her," says Joan Ng, who along with a group of her 15-year-old friends has camped out overnight at the post office in a Singapore mall to buy tickets. The girls say Joan is the biggest Swiftie among them. They couldn't skip school during the pre-sale, so they convinced their parents to lend them their credit cards and allow them to stay at the mall. They hopped from one shop to another to stay inside and then took turns napping at Haidilao, a po[CENSORED]r hot pot chain, until daybreak. They shared a bowl of soup for dinner. L-R: Kean Teo and Kenneth Lim got hold of tickets after a 31-hour wait "She's the best music artist of all time," says Levincia Ong who considers Swift's country album about teenage love and heartbreak, Fearless, to be the soundtrack to her life. Sajani Rajikumar says they have to get the tickets because they have "spent so much effort being here". But the line is moving slowly because the system keeps crashing. At the front, 18-year-old friends Kean Teo and Kenneth Lim were the first to get hold of the tickets. "We feel very lucky. It was a long wait," says Kenneth, grinning. They had wandered around the building for 31 hours, also taking turns to sleep at Haidilao. It has been no less harrowing online. A competitive pre-sale on Wednesday, which was exclusive to cardholders of Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB), offered a preview of the hunger games that could unfold later in the week. Over a million fans joined the virtual line and UOB reported a surge in credit and debit card applications in the weeks leading up to the pre-sale. The excruciating wait played out on WhatsApp chats, TikTok and Twitter as people swapped strategies and tips - these included logging on ahead of time, perhaps even a day before, unlocking devices, and turning off sleep mode. Groups of friends, meanwhile, plotted to aim for different dates and seats so they so they could maximise their chances. Some even took a day off work, or cleared their schedule for the entire day. Others queued up using multiple devices and waited to see which one of them - laptop, tablet or mobile phone - would get to the virtual ticket counter first. "Oh my god, this pre-sale was so exhausting," says Endro who lives in Jakarta. The 31-year-old did not wish to share his last name. He was glued to his devices all day, but his attempt ended in failure and a dispiriting queue number: 493,901. "For now, I think I will still try, but I have to be realistic... I don't want to make myself more miserable by hoping too much." Agniya Kh, a 29-year-old Jakartan who snagged tickets in the pre-sale, says it reminded her of a hit from Swift's most recent album, Midnights: Great War. "This is definitely the Great War for Swifties in [South East Asia]. Can we just ask for more dates, please?" She used both her laptop, which put her 22,987 in the queue, and her smartphone, which placed her much further behind at 896,813. Link : Clickhere!

Seema Ghulam Haider met Sachin Meena through PUBG The love story of a Pakistani woman and an Indian man who met through po[CENSORED]r online game PUBG has been making headlines in India after the couple landed up in jail. Seema Ghulam Haider, 27, met Sachin Meena, 22, through the virtual gaming platform a couple of years ago and recently travelled to India so that she could live with him. She entered India illegally in May along with her four young children and they were staying with Mr Meena in Greater Noida - a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh - for over a month, police said. On Tuesday, the couple was arrested. A court has remanded them in jail for 14 days. The woman's children are with their mother. The couple have told reporters that they want to get married and live together. Police say they are carrying out a detailed investigation into the case. The India-Pakistan love story has sparked conversations around the role the virtual world plays in fostering real-life relationships across geographical borders. Sparks fly on PUBG Ms Haider married Ghulam Haider, a resident of Pakistan's Sindh province, in February 2014. The couple had four children - three daughters and a son - together. Five years after their marriage, her husband moved to Saudi Arabia for work. Ms Haider began playing PUBG to keep herself occupied. "I used to play PUBG for two to three hours a day and I got to know Sachin while playing the game," she told BBC Hindi. The two exchanged phone numbers and began speaking regularly. The rented room where the couple stayed. After their relationship had progressed over three years, Ms Haider decided to move to India to marry Mr Meena. She has accused her husband of beating her and has told police that she had divorced him. Mr Haider has denied the domestic violence allegations and the divorce. He has accused Ms Haider of selling their house in Pakistan and running away with their children and jewellery. Link : Clickhere!

A video showing Ansari pleading for his life has been widely circulated on social media. A court in India has given 10-year jail terms to 10 men for beating a Muslim man to death four years ago. Tabrez Ansari, 24, died days after being attacked by people who accused him of stealing a motorcycle in the eastern state of Jharkhand. A video showing Ansari being forced to say chants praising Hindu gods while pleading for his life had gone viral and led to huge outrage in India. His family alleged that police denied him treatment despite his injuries. The state police denied any wrongdoing. The video footage from the night of 19 June 2019 showed a terrified Ansari tied to an electricity pole and being assaulted by the mob, with blood and tears streaming down his face. His attackers forced him to repeatedly chant "Jai Shri Ram", which translates from Hindi to "hail Lord Ram" or "victory to Lord Ram". Ansari did as told, but the mob kept assaulting him through the night. He was handed over to police the next day who then arrested him for theft. His family had alleged that they were not allowed to see him. The Hindu chant that became a murder cry Beaten and humiliated for being a Muslim in India On 22 June, Ansari complained of nausea, vomiting and chest pain and was transferred to a hospital but he died from injuries sustained during the attack. Last week, trial court Judge Amit Shekhar convicted the 10 men ruling they were "guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder". The police had been criticised initially for not invoking the more stringent murder charge. Later on they did invoke murder charges against all the accused in a supplementary charge sheet. However, the judge said there was not enough evidence to convict the accused of murder. Ansari's lynching by a Hindu mob was not an isolated incident - there have been several similar incidents reported in India in recent years where Muslims have been attacked by so-called "cow vigilantes" over rumours that they had eaten beef, or that they were trying to smuggle cows - an animal many Hindus consider holy - for slaughter. Cow slaughter is illegal in many Indian states. The attacks on the minority community have been condemned by opposition politicians. Senior Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi had described Ansari's lynching as a "blot on humanity". Critics say anti-Muslim violence has risen since 2014 under the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They say the prime minister has not condemned such attacks quickly or strongly enough. The government denies this and points out that days after Ansari's killing, Mr Modi said he was "pained" by the assault. Link : Clickhere!

A statue of Hachiko has stood outside Shibuya station in Tokyo since 1948 The Chinese tagline on the movie poster says it all: "I will wait for you, no matter how long it takes." It tells the true story of Hachiko, the faithful dog that continued to wait for its master at a train station in Japan long after his death. The cream white Akita Inu, born 100 years ago, has been memorialised in everything from books to movies to the cult science fiction sitcom Futurama. And the Chinese iteration - the third after a Japanese version in 1987, and the Richard Gere-starrer in 2009 - is a hit at the box office. There have been tales of other devoted hounds such as Greyfriars Bobby, but none with the global impact of Hachiko. A bronze statue of him has stood outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo, where he waited in vain for a decade, since 1948. The statue was first erected in 1934 before being recycled for the war effort during World War Two. Japanese schoolchildren are taught the story of Chuken Hachiko - or loyal dog Hachiko - as an example of devotion and fidelity. Hachiko represents the "ideal Japanese citizen" with his "unquestioning devotion", says Professor Christine Yano of the University of Hawaii - "loyal, reliable, obedient to a master, understanding, without relying upon rationality, their place in the larger scheme of things". The story of Hachiko Hachiko was born in November 1923 in the city of Odate in Akita prefecture, the original home of Akitas. A large-sized Japanese dog, the Akita is one of the country's oldest and most po[CENSORED]r breeds. Designated by the Japanese government as a national icon in 1931, they were once trained to hunt animals like wild boar and elk. "Akita dogs are calm, sincere, intelligent, and brave [and] obedient to their masters," said Eietsu Sakuraba, author of an English language children's book about Hachiko. "On the other hand, it also has a stubborn personality and is wary of anyone other than its master." The year Hachiko was born, Hidesaburo Ueno, a renowned agricultural professor and a dog lover, asked a student to find him an Akita puppy. Hachiko became nationally known in Japan after a newspaper article in 1932 After a gruelling train journey, the puppy arrived at the Ueno residence in Shibuya district on 15 January 1924, where it was initially thought dead. According to Hachiko's biographer, Prof Mayumi Itoh, Ueno and his wife Yae nursed him back to health over the next six months. Ueno named him Hachi, or eight in Japanese. Ko is an honorific bestowed by Ueno's students. Link : Clickhere!

Rahul Gandhi arrived in Manipur's capital Imphal on Thursday Senior leader of India's opposition Congress party Rahul Gandhi's tour of the violence-hit Manipur state has been stopped abruptly by the police. Mr Gandhi is in the north-eastern state on a two-day visit to meet people displaced by the violence and leaders of civil society groups. For the past two months, Manipur has been convulsed by clashes between the majority Meitei and Kuki communities. More than 100 people have died and over 400 have been wounded so far. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held a meeting with top government officials to review the situation in Manipur but he has been criticised for not visiting the state or commenting on the situation there. Almost a month after violence began, Home Minister Amit Shah visited the state to put in place a plan to restore normalcy, but fresh incidents of violence continue to be reported almost daily. After arriving in capital Imphal on Thursday morning, Mr Gandhi had shared a Facebook post saying that "restoration of peace is the top priority. Manipur needs healing, and only together we can bring harmony". But soon, senior Congress leader KC Venugopal told reporters that Mr Gandhi's convoy had been stopped by police near Bishnupur district while he was on his way to Churachandpur town to visit relief camps. "Police say that they are not in a position to allow us. People are standing on both sides of the road to wave to Rahul Gandhi. We are not able to understand why have they stopped us?" Mr Venugopal said. Police said the convoy had been stopped for Mr Gandhi's security. "Seeing the ground situation, we stopped him from moving forward and advised him to travel to Churachandpur via a helicopter," Heisnam Balram Singh, a senior police official at Bishnupur, told ANI. Mr Gandhi's convoy was stopped by the police Congress leaders have reacted sharply to the incident. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of "using autocratic methods to stall a compassionate outreach" by Mr Gandhi. "This is totally unacceptable and shatters all Constitutional and Democratic norms. Manipur needs peace, not confrontation," he tweeted. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said Mr Gandhi's two-day visit to the state was in the spirit of his Bharat Jodo Yatra - a five-month long unity march across the country. "The Prime Minister may choose to remain silent or be inactive but why stop Rahul Gandhi's efforts to listen to all sections of the Manipuri society and provide a healing touch?" he said. However, some BJP leaders have criticised the timing of Mr Gandhi's visit, calling it politically motivated. Nearly 60,000 people have been displaced due to violence in Manipur and are taking shelter in some 350 camps. Mr Gandhi's visit comes amid the opposition's demand for the resignation of the state's chief minister, N Biren Singh, who is from the BJP. Congress leaders have criticised Mr Singh for not being able to "restore peace and normalcy" in the state and have asked for federal rule to be imposed. Link : Clickhere!

Protests jolted India when the Miss World pageant was last held there in 1996 A recent announcement that the next edition of the Miss World pageant would be held in India has revived memories of its last visit to the country - which involved violent protests, threats of self-immolation and predictions of a cultural apocalypse. The BBC's Zoya Mateen revisits that tumultuous time, and examines what has changed since then. The year was 1996. India had moved away from protectionist policies a few years ago, opening its markets to the world. International brands such as Revlon, L'Oreal and KFC were setting up shop in the country, sometimes sparking tensions with local activists and manufacturers. Beauty pageants were already po[CENSORED]r in India by then - two years ago, Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai had become Miss Universe and Miss World, respectively, and would go on to become Bollywood stars. Millions of young women aspired to follow them and embark on glittering careers, though others criticised the emphasis these competitions placed on physical beauty. But weeks before the event, violent protests broke out - the objectors ranged from militant farmers to feminists to right-wing politicians - and made global headlines. The swimsuit round had to be moved to Seychelles for fear of the contestants' safety. "Defenders of the pageant - and they enjoy the sympathy of most Indians - find it hard to believe that an event so trivial has provoked such a tumult," the Los Angeles Times wrote. Filmmaker Paromita Vohra says that the reactions pointed to a tussle between conservative beliefs and the allure of a modern, glitzy world. "Miss World came to India at the same time as the globalised market. It churned the culture and there was reaction to that churn," she says. India's Sushmita Sen (left) was crowned Miss Universe in 1994 To be sure, things have changed in India since 1996. The country has won at least half-a-dozen more international pageants and is home to a million-dollar fashion industry which is globally recognised for its imaginative work and detailed craftsmanship. Films and web shows routinely deal with risqué topics; and conversations around women's clothes and beauty standards have become more nuanced. The 1996 pageant was organised in India by a company owned by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. According to reports, the firm hired more than 2,000 technicians, 500 dancers and even 16 elephants for the event. But weeks before the show, violent protests broke out in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) city, the venue. Members of a women's organisation threatened mass suicide, saying that competitions like Miss World would "increase promiscuity and prostitution". "Wearing miniskirts is not part of our traditional culture," a leader of the group told The Washington Post. One man died by suicide "in protest", CNN reported. The pageant was also opposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - which now governs India - as well as a farmers' group which threatened to burn down the cricket stadium where the pageant would be held (it wasn't carried out). Link : Clickhere!

Scoop is a gripping tale of a real-life crime, Mumbai's mafia and the role of the police and the press The sensational murder of India's best known crime reporter in June 2011 and the subsequent arrest of a female crime journalist on allegations of being involved in the murder had stunned the country. Jyotirmoy Dey, po[CENSORED]rly known as J Dey, was shot dead in Mumbai by men on motorcycles on orders from one of India's most notorious gangsters, Chhota Rajan - he was convicted in 2018 and is serving a life sentence for the killing. But somehow, Jigna Vora, a newspaper journalist, got caught up in the storm and was charged - falsely - for involvement in the murder. She spent over nine months in Byculla jail before being released on bail. A single parent to a 10-year-old boy, Ms Vora was acquitted in 2018 since the police failed to produce any evidence against her. This story of a journalist's murder - and of another's wrongful confinement - is the subject of Scoop, a new webseries on Netflix that is wowing critics and viewers alike. Based on Ms Vora's 2019 memoir - Behind The Bars In Byculla: My Days in Prison - Scoop is a gripping tale of a real-life crime, Mumbai's mafia and the role of the police and the press. Many of the real-life incidents have been replicated, but Ms Vora says "the series makers have exercised cinematic leverage". Jyotirmoy Dey was shot dead in Mumbai by men on motorcycles on orders from one of India's most notorious gangsters, As Ms Vora's screen avatar Jagruti Pathak, who lives by chasing scoops that would get her a byline on the front page, ends up in a prison cell with those she once reported on, she also begins to reflect on her life and priorities. Ms Vora told the BBC that she's pleased with the way the series has turned out but watching it was difficult. "It was like revisiting the whole trauma. It was difficult to see on screen what I went through, the humiliation and character assassination I faced. But I'm happy that the series got made because people needed to see the truth that I was not guilty. A few months after J Dey's murder, rumours started swirling around that a female crime reporter was involved in the murder. Some of it was reported in the media, attributed to police sources. "We were also wondering who it could be? It didn't even cross my mind that it could be me," she told me. In October-end when one newspaper carried a report naming her, she says her first reaction was of shock. She then knew that her arrest was imminent - and she was arrested on 25 November. "It was a very tough period for me, I was scared, I even thought of committing suicide, but my family inspired me to fight. They told me that if I killed myself, then people would think that I was guilty. If I wanted to clear my name, I had to fight." J Dey's murder, Ms Vora says, changed her life forever. The police said she was involved with the underworld and had helped the murderers by providing them information about J Dey. She was charged under the draconian Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (Mcoca) - a law that carries the death penalty in serious cases. Link : Clickhere!

Two of the world's most high-profile technology billionaires - Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg - have agreed to fight each other in a cage match. Mr Musk posted a message on his social media platform Twitter that he was "up for a cage fight" with Mr Zuckerberg. Mr Zuckerberg, the boss of Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta, then posted a screenshot of Mr Musk's tweet with the caption "send me location". "The story speaks for itself," a Meta spokesperson told the BBC. Mr Musk then replied to Mr Zuckerberg's response with: "Vegas Octagon." The Octagon is the competition mat and fenced-in area used for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bouts. The UFC is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mr Musk, who turns 52 later this month, also tweeted: "I have this great move that I call 'The Walrus', where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing." He later tweeted short videos of walruses, perhaps suggesting his challenge to Mr Zuckerberg may not entirely be serious. He also tweeted: "I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids & throwing them in the air." Meanwhile, 39-year-old Mr Zuckerberg has already been training in mixed martial arts (MMA) and has recently won jiu-jitsu tournaments. Twitter did not provide a statement when contacted by the BBC for comment. The exchanges have gone viral with social media users debating who would win the bout, while others have posted memes including mocked up posters advertising the fight. For example, business consultant Seyi Taylor tweeted: "Choose your fighter" with pictures of the two tech bosses. Skip twitter post 2 by ST (∞,∞) 🏴‍☠️ Broadcaster and fight sports journalist Nick Peet told the BBC's World at One programme that Dana White, the president of the UFC, would be "licking his lips at the possibility of putting this fight on". He said he thought there was a decent chance it could actually go ahead, "mostly because of Elon Musk and his personality and his eccentric character. His career kind of suggests he's not somebody who willingly steps down." However, asked who he thought would come out on top, he replied: "Zuckerberg all day! He's 12 years younger. He is a lot smaller. I think he's 5ft 7, Elon's probably around 6ft. And Elon's probably got a couple of stone in weight on him. "But unfortunately Mr Musk has got no training whatsoever. Even though Zuckerberg's only been training Brazilian jiu-jitsu for 18 months, it wouldn't be difficult for him to take his back, wrap his arms around his neck and give him a good old cuddle and choke him out!" Mr Musk has a history of making statements that are not serious or which fail to happen. For example, he told the BBC in April he had made his dog chief executive of Twitter. In 2017 he tweeted he had "verbal government approval" for a so-called hyperloop - a kind of train system - to connect New York City with Washington DC, Philadephia and Baltimore. This has yet to materialise. In 2018 Mr Musk was forced to step down as Tesla chair by regulators after Tweeting that he intended to take the firm private. Mr Musk has also made good on some of his pronouncements, including stepping down as Twitter chief executive this year after Twitter users voted in favour of his resignation in a poll he ran. He had already said he wanted to step back as chief executive in November 2022, however. Link : Clickhere!

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit has been billed as a turning point for bilateral relations Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US has assumed huge significance amid global economic and geopolitical headwinds. The White House is pulling out all the stops to welcome Mr Modi - it's a state visit, the highest level of diplomatic protocol the US accords to visiting leaders. Mr Modi will be given a ceremonial welcome at the White House on Thursday before he holds direct talks with President Joe Biden. Then there is the state dinner, a meeting with CEOs, an address to a joint session of Congress and speeches to Indian-Americans, which have been highlights of Mr Modi's past US visits. All this for a leader once denied a visa to travel to the US because of concerns over human rights - now the US sees Mr Modi as a crucial partner. Behind the carefully crafted ceremonies lie discussions that have the potential to not only infuse new energy into India-US relations but also have an impact on the global order. The Indo-Pacific is where the US possibly needs India's influence more than anywhere else right now. The US has long viewed India as a counterbalance to China's growing influence in the region, but Delhi has never been fully comfortable with owning the tag. It may still be reluctant to do so but China continues to be one of the main catalysts driving India-US relations. The China factor at the heart of Quad summit But India has not shied away from taking decisions that irk China. It held a military drill with US forces last year in Uttarakhand state, which shares a Himalayan border with China. Delhi has also continued to actively participate in the Quad - which also includes the US, Australia and Japan - despite angry reactions from Beijing. Indian diplomacy has been getting more assertive about saying that this is the country's moment on the global stage. It has good reason - India is one of the few economic bright spots in the world right now.Geopolitics is also in its favour - most countries want a manufacturing alternative to China, and India also has a huge market with a burgeoning middle class. This makes it a good option for countries and global firms pursuing a China plus one policy. Can India replace China as the world's factory? Tanvi Madan, director of The India Project at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, says that what matters to the US is what India does and not what it publicly says about China. "At the end of the day, whether or not India has publicly embraced the tag, it is very clear that Indian governments have seen the US relationship as helpful as they deal with China," she said. Mr Modi will hold talks with President Biden during the visit Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center think-tank in Washington, added that the two countries had now started "seeing eye to eye on the broader Indo-Pacific theatre". "We are starting to see the US recognise the importance of western components of the Indian Ocean region. For many years, India's main concern, for good reason, was the Indian Ocean region. Whereas for the US, it was the Pacific and the South China Sea. They will look at maritime security for the region now," he said. The joint statement may not mention China directly but it will be high on the agenda as the two leaders discuss ways to consolidate their presence in the Indo-Pacific. But while they agree on China, the two countries have had differing approaches to the Ukraine war. Delhi has not directly criticised Russia, which analysts say is largely due to its huge dependency on Russian defence imports and its "time-tested ties" with Moscow. India relies on Moscow for nearly 50% of its defence needs, but that's not the only reason. India has always taken pride in following its policy of non-alignment - or strategic autonomy, as it has been called in recent years. It doesn't want to be confined to a specific power centre in the global order, which irked Washington diplomats in the early months of the invasion. But the US has softened its stance in recent months - it has even overlooked India's continuous purchase of crude oil from Russia. India leads demand for cheaper Russian oil India's Russia oil imports jump tenfold, bank says India too has gone a step forward by publicly calling for an end to the war. Ms Madan added that the different responses to the invasion weren't a deal-breaker in India-US relations. "When there is strategic convergence, the two countries are incentivised to manage their differences. Maybe not eliminate them, but manage their differences. And I think that has happened with their differing stands on Russia," she said. Link : Clickhere!

Rohit Singh (left) and his sister help their parents run Avani Wines Rohit Singh speaks in an accent that's markedly different from his mother's. He's a second-generation Indian immigrant living in Mornington Peninsula, a beachy cape that's about an hour's drive from Melbourne. Over the past two years, he has been helping his parents run Avani, a boutique winery they founded after migrating to Australia in the 1990s. Mr Singh says that in the past decade, the South Asian community in Melbourne has burgeoned, so Avani has started hosting wine pairing events that spotlight Indian dishes - meen pollichathu (a baked fish recipe from southern India) is served with Pinot Gris; dal makhani (a slow-cooked, creamy black lentil dish) is paired with a Pinot Noir. The chefs and restaurateurs behind these experiments are among more than 710,000 Indians who live in Australia, one of the world's biggest "immigrant nations". Their numbers have been increasing rapidly over the past few years - according to the country's last census, Indians are now the second-largest migrant group in Australia, having overtaken the Chinese and second only to the English. The new wave of Indian immigrants has largely been driven by the tech sector, as the country has a high demand for skilled workers. Census reveals how Australia is changing Aarti Betigeri, a journalist who is currently editing an anthology on the experiences of Indians growing up in Australia, says that when her parents moved there in the 1960s, Indians were hardly a part of public life. "It was rare to find another Indian on the street," she says. Today, things are different. "They're in jobs across sectors, run their own businesses and are even entering politics," she says. The recently-elected New South Wales government has four Indian-origin politicians, including Daniel Mookhey, who in March became the first politician of Indian origin to become the treasurer of an Australian state. There is still a long way to go, though - Indian-Australians, along with others with a non-European lineage, are still underrepresented in politics, especially at the federal level. PM Modi interacted with the Indian diaspora in Australia during his visit in May Ms Betigeri says that soft power exports have played a powerful role in uniting the two countries. At a recent rally in Sydney - which was attended by thousands from the Indian diaspora - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about how the TV show MasterChef Australia, cricket and films were bringing people together. Experts say that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which has been in power in India since 2014, has played a key role in strengthening bilateral ties. Mr Modi's visit to Australia in November 2014 was the first by an Indian prime minister in nearly three decades. During his recent visit to Sydney in May, the two countries announced a migration deal to make it easier for students, academics and professionals to travel and work in India and Australia. They also restated their commitment to concluding a comprehensive economic co-operation deal - which is set to build on the outcomes of an agreement signed last April. In March, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid his first official visit to India since entering office, and the two prime ministers discussed defence and security, economic co-operation, education and bilateral trade. "The frequent meeting of the prime ministers and ministers has deepened bilateral ties that was not seen in earlier days," says Pradeep S Mehta, who works at CUTS International, a global public policy research and advocacy group. Observers say that this partnership is being seen as beneficial to both nations, who are also part of the four-member Quad grouping aimed at constraining China's dominance in the Indo-Pacific region. A string of attacks on Indian students sparked protests in the late 2000s While the connection between India and Australia dates back millions of years - a supercontinent called Gondwana once physically connected the two present-day nations - the history of Indians migrating to the country is far more chequered. Early immigrants arrived in Australia in the 1800s as labourers or servants of British subjects moving from India. In the 1900s, a broader range of Indians began migrating and their numbers significantly increased after the White Australia policy - a racist law that limited non-white immigration - was scrapped in 1973. "Even then, Australia remained choosy with the kind of migrants it welcomed; only skilled migrants, like tech workers, doctors, nurses and academics were welcomed, and that too on a very small scale," says Jayant Bapat, a researcher who has co-authored a book on the Indian diaspora in Australia. The real game-changer came in 2006, when the John Howard-led government opened Australia's doors to Indian students and introduced policy measures that made it easier for them to get permanent residency. "Indian students still form a very large part of temporary migrants. After they get their degrees, many of them are allowed to settle in Australia," Mr Bapat says. Link : Clickhere

The Daily Mirror previously obtained and published still images from the same party A video has emerged showing some Conservative Party workers drinking and dancing at a Christmas party during the Covid pandemic. In the video, published by the Mirror, one person is heard saying it is OK to film "as long as we don't stream that we're, like, bending the rules". The paper says the video sheds new light on a gathering that police had previously looked into. The Conservatives said disciplinary action had already been taken. The video, taken at the Conservative party's headquarters in Westminster, dates from December 2020 when London was in Tier 2 restrictions. This meant people were banned from socialising indoors, except with members of their household or a support bubble. People in London who did want to socialise at that stage of the pandemic had to do so in a garden or at a pub with outdoor seating - but such gatherings were limited to groups of six people. Police investigated the event last year and no fines were issued. Shaun Bailey, who was given a peerage in Boris Johnson's resignation honours list this week, was running for London mayor in December 2020, and members of his campaign team attended this gathering inside the Tory party's HQ. The event has been reported before, but only still photographs were published by the Daily Mirror. Although Mr Bailey was photographed surrounded by party workers in those images, he is not seen in this newly-obtained video. In November 2022, Scotland Yard said it was taking no action against Mr Bailey nor other people who attended the gathering. The Conservative Party said four people seconded to Mr Bailey's campaign were disciplined. In the 45-second video on the Mirror website, people can be seen drinking and standing in groups, while a man and a woman can be seen holding hands and dancing. Cabinet minister Michael Gove said he would like to "apologise to everyone" over the video, adding it was "terrible" and "completely out of order". "The fact this party went ahead is indefensible," he told Sky News. Labour's Angela Rayner said the attendees had "openly mocked" the rules of Covid pandemic. "The Tories think it's one rule for them and one rule for everyone else," added the deputy leader. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper Tory MPs and ministers should be "sick to their stomachs" seeing this new footage. "While families grieved and NHS staff worked on the front line, Conservative Campaign Headquarters partied." The Metropolitan Police have not yet responded to the new video footage. Link : Click

Foxconn chairman and CEO Young Liu iPhone maker Foxconn is betting big on electric cars and redrawing some of its supply chains as it navigates a new era of icy Washington-Beijing relations. In an exclusive interview, chairman and boss Young Liu told the BBC what the future may hold for the Taiwanese firm. He said even as Foxconn shifts some supply chains away from China, electric vehicles (EVs) are what will drive its growth in the coming decades. As US-China tensions soar, Mr Liu said, Foxconn must prepare for the worst. "We hope peace and stability will be something the leaders of these two countries will keep in mind," 67-year-old Mr Liu told us, in his offices in Taipei, Taiwan's capital. "But as a business, as a CEO, I have to think about what if the worst case happens?" The scenarios could include attempts by Beijing to blockade Taiwan, which it claims as part of China, or worse, to invade the self-ruled island. Mr Liu said "business continuity planning" was already under way, and pointed out that some production lines, particularly those linked to "national security products" were already being moved from China to Mexico and Vietnam. He was likely to be referring to servers Foxconn makes that are used in data centres, and can contain sensitive information. Foxconn, or Hon Hai Technology Group as it is officially known, started off in 1974, making knobs for TVs. Now it is one of the world's most powerful technology companies, with an annual revenue of $200bn (£158.2bn). It is best known for making more than half of Apple's products - from iPhones to iMacs - but it also counts Microsoft, Sony, Dell and Amazon among its clients. For decades, it has thrived on a playbook perfected by multinational corporations - they design products in the US, manufacture them in China and then sell them to the world. That is how it grew from a small component-making business to the consumer electronics giant it is today. But as global supply chains adjust to souring ties between Washington and Beijing, Foxconn finds itself in an unenviable spot - caught between the world's two biggest economies, the very nations that have powered its growth until now. The US and China are at loggerheads over many things, from trade to the war in Ukraine. But one of the biggest potential flashpoints is Taiwan, where Foxconn is headquartered. Caught in the middle Taiwan has been a thorny issue for a long time but Chinese leader Xi Jinping's repeated pledges of "reunification" have upset the uneasy status quo. Meanwhile, the US, under President Joe Biden, has been more vocal in its support for Taiwan in case of an attack. Some US voices have crossed China's red line, calling for independence, although the White House has reaffirmed its position that it maintains diplomatic relations with Beijing and not Taipei. There are hopes of a thaw with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting China this weekend. But there are also fears of a conflict - one US general has estimated it could happen as soon as the next few years. "The United States and China are engaged in what we see as strategic competition," said Shihoko Goto, the deputy director for the Asia programme at the Wilson Center in Washington DC. "Foxconn wants to do business with both, but there can only be one winner." But Mr Liu does not think it is that simple. For one, he said, Foxconn's business model, which relies on US designs and Chinese manufacturing, is far from over. "We hire a lot of workers and most countries, including China, want to support their workers," Mr Liu said, adding that the Chinese government wants companies like Foxconn to keep going because of the huge number of jobs they create. Foxconn's manufacturing plant in Zhengzhou, China, was hit hard by Covid restrictions Are rising tensions putting pressure on the model? "So far? We haven't seen it," he told us. But the West and its allies have called for countries and companies to "de-risk" from China - a long-term shift to curb global reliance on China that is yet to play out. When asked if that was impacting business, Mr Liu responded cautiously. Some overseas clients had pushed to move production out of China, he said, but this was their decision to make, not Foxconn's. "They get the push from their government about de-risking, and then they will let us know." Link : Clickhere

Top Indian wrestler Sakshi Malik spoke to the BBC about the protests Indian wrestler Sakshi Malik says she is "hurt" that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not yet commented on the allegations of sexual misconduct against the outgoing wrestling federation of India (WFI) chief. "When we won medals, he [Mr Modi] invited us home for lunch, he treated us with so much love and respect. It does hurt that he is now silent over this issue," Malik, the first Indian woman to win an Olympic wrestling medal, told the BBC. She is among a group of top Indian wrestlers who have been protesting for months, demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is also an influential MP from Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mr Singh denies all the allegations against him. Delhi police have opened two cases against the MP based on the testimonies of seven athletes who accuse Mr Singh of harassing them for years. As one of the complaints is from a minor, police have invoked the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. Mr Singh has said that the law was being misused. He has been questioned by police but not arrested yet. Malik and other top wrestlers temporarily suspended their agitation last week after they met Sports Minister Anurag Thakur who promised to complete the investigation against Mr Singh by 15 June. "Depending on how strong the charges against him are, we will decide our next course of action. But our fight for justice is far from over," Malik said. "Mr Modi should definitely get involved and ensure that the police investigation is impartial. All we really want is a fair and proper investigation," she added. The government has also promised that neither Mr Singh, nor any of his close associates, would have a role in the new wrestling federation which will be elected by 4 July. But the wrestlers say he's an influential man and only his arrest would stop him from interfering in the federation's affairs. Indian wrestlers risk Olympic dream for '#MeToo' protest Is Indian sport seeing its #MeToo moment? The wrestlers first began protests in January but called it off the same month after India's sports ministry stripped Mr Singh of his administrative powers for a few weeks and the government promised to investigate their complaints. But the protests restarted in April, with the wrestlers calling for his arrest. Last month, the protest site was cleared and several wrestlers were briefly detained as they tried to march to India's new parliament. The police also filed cases including of rioting against them. Visuals of the athletes being dragged and carried off in buses went viral, sparking criticism from top athletes and opposition politicians. The International Olympic Association also weighed in, calling for an impartial probe. On 30 May, the wrestlers threatened to dump their medals into the Ganges - India's holiest river - following which a delegation of protesters met Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence last week. Malik said it was hurtful to watch the prime minister do nothing throughout this period: "We were on the streets for about 40 days... There was nothing even though he was well aware of what we were protesting about." Last week, Indian media reported that the minor athlete had withdrawn her allegations against Mr Singh. Malik said she was not in touch with the complainant, but believed that "the player was pressurised into withdrawing the charges". "Even if charges under Pocso are not applicable, there are still plenty of complaints against Mr Singh for which he should be arrested. But it seems that laws are not equal for everyone," she added. Link : Clickhere

Everest expeditions often end in tragedy or triumph Just before reaching the summit of Mount Everest, Australian engineer Jason Kennison told his mum in a FaceTime call that he would see her when he got back. He was fulfilling a lifelong dream to stand on top of the world and raise funds for his favoured charity, Spinal Cord Injuries Australia. But that static-filled video call was the last time Gill Kennison would see her son alive. As the 40-year-old descended from the summit, he caught high-altitude sickness and died. Mr Kennison is among 12 confirmed fatalities from the spring climbing season, one of the deadliest in recent years. It has just concluded but five mountaineers remain missing. The deaths already exceed the 11 lives lost in 2019, when overcrowding on the picturesque yet treacherous terrain was highlighted by a viral photo of one long queue to the summit. This year's victims succumbed to the perennial risks of climbing Everest - three Sherpas died in a serac or ice fall, and the others fell ill like Mr Kennison. But the high number has renewed scrutiny on overcrowding after a record number of climbing permits were issued in Nepal, and deepened concerns about the impacts of climate change on the mountain. Traffic jams Locals in Nepal - the most po[CENSORED]r jump-off point for climbers - attributed the unprecedented 900 permits to pent-up travel demand from the pandemic. Having so many people puts pressure on "traffic jams" on the climbing route, Garrett Madison of US-based Madison Mountaineering company told Reuters news agency. Lines form when mountaineers need to catch a window of favourable weather to reach the summit. They need to avoid jet streams or narrow bands of strong wind in the upper atmosphere. Queues can also be held up by inexperienced and unprepared climbers. Extremely thin air on peaks higher than 8,000m (26,000 ft) makes it difficult to breathe and climbers often use oxygen canisters to survive, but logjams put pressure on supplies. The peak season for Everest climbers has just concluded High altitudes can cause the body to produce excess fluid and cause swelling in the lungs and brain. This can lead to fatigue, breathlessness, and loss of co-ordination. Adrian Ballinger of US-based Alpenglow Expeditions, which leads climbers from the China side, said some companies from the Nepal side have been taking climbers to Everest even if they do not have enough experience to navigate the death zone. Everest expeditions are a major source of income for Nepal, whose government is often criticised by some Western climbers for allowing anyone who can pay the $11,000 (£8,800) fee for a permit to go up. The government denies this. On top of the permit, each climber spends at least $26,700 on an expedition in Nepal, including on permit fees, gas, food, guides and local travel, according to sherpas. Yubaraj Khatiwada, director at Nepal's Department of Tourism, rebuffed criticism of the number of permits awarded. Speaking last month, he said a team of doctors and government officials would be stationed at the Everest base camp for the first time to manage climbing activities throughout the season. "We are concerned for their safety and are well prepared to cope with the crowd, by spreading summit bids as long as the good weather window provides to ensure the climbing goes smoothly as far as possible," Mr Khatiwada told AFP. Lukas Furtenbach, whose Austria-based tour company has brought 100 people to the summit since 2016, stressed the need for readily available oxygen, given the threat of overcrowding. He said his company has measures in place to make sure that their clients never run out of oxygen and that they have recorded zero accidents. "Proper oxygen logistics are super important if there are many people climbing at the same time. I am convinced that with minimum safety, equipment and logistic standards for all operators, we could avoid many of the deaths that happen today on Everest," he told the BBC. Other concerns While this year has seen no deaths due to avalanches, these events have accounted for roughly 40% of fatalities in recent years, according to The Himalayan Database. An avalanche in 2014 killed 16 people, in what is considered the worst accident on the mountain in modern history. Climbers have also had to contend with warmer temperatures, that have melted glaciers and caused lakes to form. Scientists noted that due to climate change, temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau, where Everest is located, have increased by around 2C over 40 years from 1979. And when the snow melts, glacier ice loses its cover from the sun, causing it to either turn into water that goes down the slopes or vaporise into the air due to strong winds, according to research published in 2022 by the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute. Melting glaciers have caused lakes to form or swell Climate effects will "change the experience" of Everest climbs as more bedrock is exposed in place of snow and ice, and icefalls and avalanches become more "dynamic", the study said. Melting glaciers could also "destabilise" base camp that houses about 1,000 climbers and logistics team during the peak season. But plans to move the camp have been recently shelved. Last month, Sherpa leaders told the BBC that proposals to shift it were impractical. The changing terrain has been jarring for guides who have traversed the area for years. "They're saying that every time they go back, the mountain looks different. So where there used to be ice last year, there's water, where there used to be hard snow, now it's soft snow," veteran guide Pasang Yanjee Sherpa said in a podcast after the 2022 spring season. This year saw unusual snowfall that normally occurs during the winter months, Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, told AFP. This heightened the risk of an avalanche since fresh snow is soft, he said. For Mr Furtenbach, climate change impacts seem "remarkable and never seen before". "I assume that for the next five to 10 years, we will slowly start to see if and how the climbing route on Everest will be affected by global warming," he told the BBC. Link // Clickhere!

By Nadine Yousif in Toronto & Sam Cabral in Washington BBC News Tens of millions of people in North America have woken up to dangerous air quality levels as intense wildfires burn across Canada. Smoke blanketed large areas of Ontario and Quebec, while an orange haze hung over much of the north-eastern US through Tuesday and into Wednesday. Some cities including Toronto and New York briefly had the worst air quality in the world overnight. Much of the smoke is coming from Quebec, where 160 fires are burning. Canadian officials say the country is shaping up for its worst wildfire season on record. Experts have pointed to a warmer and drier spring than normal as the reason behind the trend. These conditions are projected to continue throughout the summer. Environment Canada issued its strongest air quality warning for Ottawa on Tuesday, deeming it a "very high risk" to people's health. In Toronto and its surrounding areas, the air quality was classified as "high risk". Four ways climate change is affecting the weather Meanwhile, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified the air quality in much of the north-east as "unhealthy" especially for people who already have respiratory issues. In total, some 100 million people around North America are thought to be under a form of air quality warning. The air quality in Toronto was deemed "high risk" on Tuesday In New York, an orange haze blanketed the city's skyline and shrouded landmarks including the Statue of Liberty. All outdoor activities at the city's public schools have been indefinitely suspended, with Mayor Eric Adams warning that conditions are expected to deteriorate later on Wednesday. "We recommend all New Yorkers limit outdoor activity to the greatest extent possible," he said. Local residents in the city said the smell of smoke on Wednesday morning was like a campfire. On Wednesday morning, air quality levels in the Washington DC area were labelled "code red", while Detroit was listed as the fifth worst location in the world on IQAir's air pollution rankings. Public health officials have cautioned people not to exercise outside and to minimise their exposure to the smoke as much as possible, as the air poses immediate and long-term health risks. Deteriorating air quality has also forced at least one region in Quebec - the Atikamekw community of Opitciwan, 350km (217 miles) north of Montreal - to transfer people with asthma and other respiratory issues away from the smoke. Fires across Canada have already burned more than 3.3m hectares of land - an area 12 times the 10-year average for this time of year. Thousands of people have been evacuated across the country. As well as Quebec, major fires have also been burning in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories. link // Clickhere!

Sidhu Moose Wala performed at the UK's Wireless Festival in the UK Sidhu Moose Wala wasn't your average hip hop artist. He wore a turban, he spoke in deep Punjabi, he was a politician and a philanthropist. His music had made him a household name in his home state, and earned him international recognition. He counted superstar rapper Drake as a friend, and collaborated with Tione Wayne, Bohemia, Steel Banglez and Burna Boy. So his shocking death, aged 28, in a gun ambush last May was felt around the world. This week marked a year since his death and fans, friends and family members in the UK have been holding ceremonies to remember him. So how did a singer-songwriter from Moosa, a tiny village in India, grab the attention of stars like Drake and make waves around the world? Who was Sidhu Moose Wala? Moose Wala, real name Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, graduated in the Punjab and moved to Canada for further studies. That's where his music career kicked off with his first single, G Wagon, in 2017. Later that year that he delivered his breakthrough soundtrack, So High. In 2020 he launched his own label, 5911 Records, and the following year performed at Wireless Festival - said to be the first Indian singer to do so. Burna Boy gave Sidhu Moose Wala's family a crystal portrait in memory of their son Moose Wala was criticised by some for promoting gun culture in his early material. His lyrics were often controversial and centred around the politics of Punjab and the history of his Sikh faith. In 2021, he joined the Congress Party - the Indian government's main opposition party. At the time of his death he was engaged, and had just postponed his marriage ceremony, originally planned for the previous month. Following a flood of tributes from fellow musicians, Afrobeats star Burna Boy visited Moose Wala's village last month, and gave his parents a crystal portrait of their son. 'Something new' BBC Asian Network presenter and producer Dipps Bhamrah says Moose Wala brought a fresh sound and persona to Punjabi music: "For us here in the UK, we were at a point when artists from our parents' generation were still around, other singers were doing the same thing," he says. "There was nothing new or interesting. "But then this new guy from Canada comes along with a unique voice, a style we hadn't heard before. "It was something different and it just connected with us. "Not just young Punjabis but all ages and people who don't even speak Punjabi were drawn in." Dipps Bhamrah was the first UK broadcaster to interview Moose Wala The breadth of Moose Wala's fanbase was evident at memorial events in the UK this week - prayer services in London, Gravesend, and a candlelit vigil in Birmingham. BBC Asian Network spoke to Sandeep Kaur and her niece Manveer at one. "I've been listening to him from day one," says Sandeep. "He meant a lot to British Punjabis born and raised here because they got closer to their language, their culture, their roots. "I have a nephew who didn't know anything about Punjab and after listening to Sidhu's music he's been asking questions. "He's made the young generation more connected to our Punjab and Sikhism." Manveer says: "His songs were very powerful and he meant a lot to the young generation." link : Click here

Foxconn manufactures the majority of Apple's phones Apple's biggest supplier Foxconn will start manufacturing iPhones in the southern Indian state of Karnataka by April next year, the state government has said. The project will create around 50,000 jobs, it said. Taiwan-based Foxconn manufactures the majority of Apple's phones. The firm has been making older versions of iPhones at a facility in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu since 2017. Last month, the company announced it had bought 1.2m sqm (13m sqft) of land near Bengaluru city in Karnataka. Bloomberg reported Foxconn planned to invest $700m (£566m) on a new factory in the state. On Thursday, the Karnataka government said the project was valued at $1.59bn. Land for the factory would be handed over to company by 1 July, it said in its statement. According to Reuters, Foxconn has set a target of manufacturing 20 million iPhones a year at the plant in Karnataka. Apple's decision to manufacture their flagship model in India and diversify its supply chains away from China comes as trade tensions rise between Washington and Beijing. Apple makes most of its phones in China. In India, iPhones are assembled by several Apple suppliers, including Foxconn. It currently accounts for 5% of total iPhone production. The company struggled to compete in the Indian market which is dominated by the much cheaper South Korean and Chinese smartphones. Apple CEO Tim Cook was in India in April to launch the country's first two Apple stores. link : Clickhere

Australian PM Anthony Albanese called India a "key strategic partner" India and Australia have announced a migration deal as they aim to strengthen their economic cooperation. The announcement came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his counterpart Anthony Albanese in Sydney on Wednesday. The deal aims to "promote the two-way mobility of students, graduates, academic researchers and business people". They also discussed regional security amid rising tensions in the region. India and Australia are part of the four-member Quad group, which also includes Japan and the US. A scheduled meeting of the group in Sydney was cancelled last week after US President Joe Biden had to return to Washington for debt ceiling talks. Mr Modi, however, continued his planned visit to Sydney after attending the G7 summit in Japan and travelling to Papua New Guinea. This is Mr Modi's first visit to Australia since 2014, and comes two months after Mr Albanese visited India in March. Negotiations for the migration agreement had been going on for a couple of years. Australia already has a significant number of people who have migrated from India - census data shows that of more than a million people who moved to Australia since 2016, almost a quarter were from India. According to a statement, the finalised migration agreement will also lead to the creation of a new scheme called MATES (Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early Professionals Scheme), which has been "specifically created for India". On Tuesday, the Indian prime minister said the two countries had also discussed increasing cooperation on mining and critical minerals and made progress in establishing an Australia-India Green Hydrogen Taskforce. India and Australia are also working towards a comprehensive economic cooperation deal for which negotiations began more than a decade ago. On Tuesday, thousands of people from the country's Indian diaspora had turned up at one of Sydney's biggest indoor stadiums, where Mr Modi was speaking at a rally. "The last time I saw someone on this stage was Bruce Springsteen and he did not get the welcome that Prime Minister Modi has got," Mr Albanese said at the event. Mr Modi called the Indian community in Australia "a living bridge" between the two countries. "The relationship between India and Australia is based on mutual trust and respect," he said. link : Clickhere

Shubman Gill has scored back-to-back centuries in the IPL. Fans are big on identifying baton-change moments in sport. In his final Test innings just under a decade ago, when Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed for the last time, in came Virat Kohli. Kohli began with a boundary first ball, and the whispers gained in volume at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai that the future is here, Tendulkar's successor is ready and able, the Kohli era has just begun. Something similar happened last week when Shubman Gill's second successive IPL century for Gujarat Titans topped Kohli's second successive century for Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Chinnaswamy Stadium audience, disappointed at the home side's defeat, however said with a knowing nod: the baton is being passed on, the future is ready, long live the king. For so long has Gill been seen as the natural successor to Kohli that this was an easy one to hang a label on. Transitions are usually recognised only in hindsight, but here was an opportunity to see it happening before one's own eyes. Neither fans nor critics could resist the temptation. Gill will be 24 in a few days' time and is two years younger than Kohli was during the earlier baton passing. In sport, we love inevitabilities just as much as we enjoy. Gill celebrates after scoring a century and winning the IPL game against RCB last week. When he was named India's Under-19 vice captain for the 2018 World Cup, it came as no surprise. He had already made his Ranji Trophy [India's main domestic tournament] debut for Punjab. And when he hit an unbeaten 102 against Pakistan in the semi-final, everything seemed to be going to plan. He emerged as player of the tournament. Gill has been enjoying an incredible 2023, becoming the youngest double centurion in one-day internationals, India's highest centurion in T20 internationals and now scoring back-to-back centuries in the IPL (His team, Gujarat Titans, was defeated by Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday. They will have another shot at the final when they play a qualifier later this week). India like their best batsmen to be all-format players. It is an old bias that T20 hasn't been able to erase. At 20, Gill took on Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood and Nathan Lyon, in a chase that saw him make 91 and take India to a Test win in Brisbane. His natural sense of timing, instinctive understanding of where the fielders are and ability to play between any two of them are hallmarks of a very special player. With the confidence that comes from having run up big scores in all formats, he knows that he belongs. And he should, for another decade and more while the Indian team undergoes the inevitable transition. There might be something of the young Dilip Vengsarkar in his batting, but Gill is not your typical Indian batsman, all wristy flair and mischief. Like the greats of the past, he is a backfoot batter, pulling to leg and stroking to the off in unexpected ways. It all looks effortless because the power is married to aestheticism, and there isn't an extra note in the composition. For a predominantly bottom-handed player who loves to play the pull, he can drive like the best of them on either side of the wicket. And even the pull comes with a wide range. The ball can finish anywhere from the right of square leg to the left of mid-on.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60657127 Refugees arriving at the Polish border. The World Bank has approved $723m (£551m) in loans and grants for Ukraine, as the country fights against a Russian invasion. The bank said it is continuing to work on another $3bn package of support in the coming months for the country. It also promised extra help for neighbouring countries that are taking in more than 1.7m refugees, which are mostly women, children and the elderly. The financial package for Ukraine includes a $100m pledge from the UK. "The World Bank Group is taking quick action to support Ukraine and its people in the face of the violence and extreme disruption caused by the Russian invasion," the bank's president David Malpass said in a statement. The bank said the funds would help Ukraine's government provide critical services, including wages for hospital workers, pensions for the elderly and social programmes for the vulnerable. Russia says it may cut gas supplies if oil is blocked War is unleashing 'hell on earth' for food prices McDonald's and Coca-Cola boycott calls grow The package includes a $350m loan, augmented by about $139m through guarantees from the Netherlands and Sweden. It is also made up of $134m in grants from Britain, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Iceland, as well as $100m of financing from Japan. Last week, Mr Malpass told the BBC that the war was "a catastrophe" for the world which will cut global economic growth. "The war in Ukraine comes at a bad time for the world because inflation was already rising," he said. He stressed that his biggest concern was "about the pure human loss of lives".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-60606648 India is the world's third largest consumer of oil, behind US and China. With Brent crude - the international benchmark for oil prices - surging to $113 a barrel sparked by the war in Ukraine, is India headed for an oil price shock? The price rise, the highest since June 2014, is worrying India no end. Guzzling up to 5.5 million barrels every day, India is the world's third largest consumer of oil, behind US and China. But India imports 85% of its oil from more than 40 countries. The bulk of supplies come from the Middle East and the US. (India imports only 2% of its supplies from Russia.) Imports include oil which it converts to petroleum products after refining. India exports petroleum products - accounting for more than 13% of its total exports - to more than 100 countries. Oil price rises again as buyers shun Russian fuel Demand for oil is growing at 3-4% every year in the country. In a decade, India could easily end up consuming more than 7 million barrels a day, say experts. Much of the oil goes into keeping some 300 million vehicles on the road and for different industries such as petrochemicals and plastics. India uses diesel to produce some 80,000 mega-watts of electricity. Diesel generators provide electricity to a lot of private housing. India's tax revenues are also heavily dependent on oil. Oil accounts for more than 50% of federal excise duties - tax collected on goods produced within the country. States depend on oil taxes to shore up their revenues. "We are the hottest market for oil. And there is no other country among large emerging economies which is more vulnerable to high oil prices than India," Narendra Taneja, a leading energy expert, said. a exports refined petroleum products to more than 100 countries The health of India's economy is inextricably connected to oil. The government's latest Economic Survey has projected 8-8.5% growth on the assumption that oil prices would remain between $70-$75 a barrel. "Oil prices at anything more than $68-$70 a barrel is bad news for our economy," Mr Taneja said. For one, it widens India's current account deficit when the value of imports of goods, services and investment income exceeds exports. Second, it puts pressure on prices at a time when inflation has already climbed to above 6%. High oil prices also hurt growth and slow down the economy as people end up spending more money on energy and spend less on other things. And when growth sputters, the government's fiscal calculations can go completely awry. The pandemic battered Asia's third-largest economy, which was already in the throes of a prolonged slowdown. It is still struggling: growth slowed down to 5.4% in October-December 2021. Joblessness is rife. A further slowdown triggered by an oil price shock will leave the government with less money to spend on a planned massive infrastructure push to spur growth and welfare benefits and subsidies. Russian oil makes up around 8% of global supply "At the end of the day, high oil prices end up shrinking the government's resources", said Dharmakirti Joshi, chief economist at Crisil, a ratings and analytics firm. Many believe that India's ample $633bn (£473bn) foreign exchange reserves provide a good cushion to weather an oil price shock. Also, oil-producing countries could ramp up production to bring prices down and offer relief. Experts believe the rise in oil prices over fears of supply disruptions from the war in Ukraine shows that India needs to decentralise its energy policy by letting states come up with their own initiatives - seaboard states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal could harness the plentiful wind energy, for example - and push "every single source of energy" that is available. Per-capita consumption of energy in India is still among the lowest in the world. "The war in Ukraine is a major wake-up call for us to plan our energy security better," Mr Taneja said. The last time oil prices surged past $100 in 2014, India battled high inflation, the current account deficit shot through the roof and growth slowed. "How long this war will continue and how high the prices will rise to we don't know. There's so much uncertainty. It is like driving in the fog. You don't really know what lies ahead," Mr Joshi said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-60552273 Ukrainian troops take a grenade launcher from a destroyed Russian infantry vehicle in Kharkiv. India has had to walk a diplomatic tightrope over Ukraine in the past few days as it tried to balance its ties with Moscow and the West. Delhi's first statement in the UN Security Council (UNSC) did not name any country directly but it said it regretted that calls from the international community to give diplomacy and dialogue a chance had not been heeded. It, however, stopped short of criticising Russia. And before the UNSC voted on a draft UN resolution to condemn the invasion, Delhi faced calls from Russia, the US and Ukraine "to do the right thing". Ukraine and Russia even issued public appeals for Delhi to take a clear stand. India chose to abstain from the vote but a careful reading of its statement suggests that it did go a step further and indirectly asked Moscow to respect international law. India talked about the importance of "the UN Charter, international law, and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states", adding that "all member states need to honour these principles in finding a constructive way forward". But India's decision to abstain raised questions, particularly in the West, over whether the world's largest democracy should have taken a clearer stand. Former Indian diplomat JN Misra says India "has bad and worse options to pick from". "One can't tilt both ways at the same time. India has not named any country, which shows it won't go against Moscow. India had to be subtle in picking a side and it has done that," he adds. There are several reasons for India's quest to find a diplomatic balance over Ukraine. The most important are India's time-tested defence and diplomatic ties with Moscow. The S-400 missile system is seen as crucial for India's defence needs Russia continues to be India's largest arms supplier even though its share has dropped to 49% from 70% due to India's decision to diversify its portfolio and boost domestic defence manufacturing. Also, Russia is supplying equipment like the S-400 missile defence system which gives India crucial strategic deterrence against China and Pakistan, and that is the reason why it went ahead with the order despite threats of looming US sanctions. Defence supplies matter Moreover, it's hard for Delhi to overlook decades of history of diplomatic co-operation with Russia on several issues. Moscow has vetoed UNSC resolutions over disputed Kashmir in the past to help India keep it a bilateral issue. In this context, India appears to be following its famed strategy of non-alignment and promoting dialogue to resolve issues. Michael Kugelman, deputy director at think tank the Wilson Center, says India's stand is not surprising as it's consistent with its past strategy. He adds that Delhi doesn't "seem comfortable with what is happening in Ukraine but it's not likely to change its stand". "It simply can't afford to do so at the moment because of its defence and geopolitical needs," he says. Though he adds that Delhi has chosen some strong words in the UNSC to show it's not comfortable with the situation in President Putin and PM Modi share good relations India also has the tough task of trying to evacuate 20,000 citizens, mostly students, from Ukraine. Former Indian diplomat Anil Triguniyat, who served in Moscow and also in Libya where he oversaw the evacuation of Indian citizens when conflict broke out in 2011, says safety assurances are needed from all parties in a conflict to run a successful evacuation operation. "India can't take a side at the risk of endangering the safety of its citizens. Moreover, it's seeing the holistic picture which involves keeping channels open with everyone," he adds.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-60474292 The first of three Air India flights to Kyiv left on Tuesday morning A special flight left for Kyiv on Tuesday morning to evacuate Indian nationals stranded amid an escalating crisis between Russia and Ukraine. Air India's Dreamliner B-787 aircraft with a capacity of over 200 seats has been deployed, reports ANI news agency. This comes as 150,000 Russian troops are positioned close to Ukraine's borders. Russia's Vladmir Putin has denied planning to attack Ukraine but the US believes he will soon. India has told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that the safety and security of its nationals is essential. "More than 20,000 Indian students and nationals live and study in different parts of Ukraine, including in its border areas. The well-being of Indians is of priority to us," India's Permanent Representative to United Nations, TS Tirumurti said, according to ANI news agency. Air India had announced on 18 February that it would operate three flights between India and Ukraine's Boryspil International Airport on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday this week. The first of the three flights from Ukraine will land in capital Delhi on Tuesday night, ANI reports. The Embassy of India in Kyiv issued an advisory on the special flights on Monday, tweeting that additional flights are being organised "in view of the continued high level of tensions and uncertainties of the current situation in Ukraine". The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter Presentational white space The Indian government had removed restrictions on flights to and from Ukraine earlier this month. The move from Delhi comes amid increasing tensions in the region. According to the US, Russia has moved more than 150,000 troops close to Ukraine's borders, both in Russia and Belarus. Russia says it has no plans to invade Ukraine but on 18 February, US President Joe Biden said he believed Mr Putin had decided to attack "in the coming days". Several Western nations accuse Russia of cooking up a fake crisis in certain regions in Ukraine to give it a reason to launch an offensive. At an emergency meeting called by the UNSC, India said the escalation of tensions "is a matter of deep concern". "We call for restraint on all sides. We're convinced that this issue can only be resolved through diplomatic dialogue. We need to give space to recent initiatives undertaken by parties which seek to diffuse tensions," Mr Tirumurti said. India said it strongly emphasises the "vital need for all sides to maintain international peace and security by exercising the utmost restraint and intensifying diplomatic efforts to ensure that a mutually amicable solution is arrived at the earliest."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-60412116 The guests were sitting on a metal slab covering the well At least 13 people have died after falling into a well during a wedding ceremony in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Police said the victims - all women and children - were sitting on a metal slab covering the well when it collapsed under their weight. Two more people have been injured in the accident, which took place in Kushinagar district. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the deaths "heart-wrenching". The tragedy took place on Wednesday evening during the traditional "haldi" ceremony, in which relatives apply turmeric paste to the faces of the bride and groom as a marker of prosperity. When the slab broke, other guests ran to rescue the victims and took them to a nearby hospital. While 11 people were declared dead immediately, two others died later during treatment, police said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-60257952 Mangeshkar was cremated in Mumbai city with full state honours Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar died on Sunday. A prolific artist, she recorded more songs than the Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined - and she will be remembered as one of the world's greatest singers. But for many South Asians around the world, she leaves another legacy. I remember the first time I heard her voice - it was mesmerising. I was about eight years old and I was watching a black and white Bollywood film, when the leading lady burst into song. The sound was unlike anything I'd heard before - high-pitched yet perfect, the voice didn't strain as it travelled up the octaves hitting the top notes. "It's not the actress singing, it's Lata Mangeshkar," my mum informed me. "She's the voice of Bollywood". In Indian films, which are largely musicals, "playback singers" lend their vocals to actors who lip sync the lyrics. And Lata Mangeshkar's was a voice actresses coveted most. As I started to listen to more of her music, it was easy to understand why she was so revered - her voice was filled with an intensity that conveyed both passion and pain. If you listen, you'll know what I mean. You don't even have to understand the lyrics (I often don't) to appreciate her songs. And to so many South Asians around the world, her songs represented much more than a mere melody - she was the voice of a faraway land many of us barely knew, but wished we did. As the child of immigrants, born and raised in Milton Keynes, I craved connections to the culture and country my parents called home. Lata Mangeshkar transported me there. As I sat on the garden bench pressing play and rewind on my yellow sports Walkman with its chunky plastic buttons, I closed my eyes and imagined I was in India. And I wasn't alone in this.