Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, inspected the site of Abu Dhabi’s first ever Hindu temple and reviewed its construction progress.
The foundation stone of the temple was laid in April last year and work started from December, which is expected to be completed in 2022, the Khaleej Times reported on Friday.
During the site inspection, Sheikh Abdullah met representatives of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, the community-based social and spiritual organisation building the temple.
The Minister also held discussions with Pujya Brahmavihari Swami, leader of the Hindu community and head of BAPS Hindu Mandir.
Following the meeting, Brahmavihari Swami highlighted how the project team and the entire Hindu community were dedicated to making this long-term contribution to the UAE.
“It is a unique chance to not just preserve ancient art and architecture, but to create new art and a new legacy that will last for thousands of years,” he was quoted as saying in the Khaleej Times report.
“In these challenging times of the Covid-19 pandemic, such a project of global harmony will regenerate faith and hope, and celebrate the unique friendship between India and the UAE and their dedication to progress and peace,” he added.
Pavan Kapoor, Ambassador of India to the UAE, who was part of the discussions, noted how the temple would serve a sizeable population of the UAE and the Gulf.
Pedestrians wearing face masks are seen in Berlin (IANS)
Europe has continued its battle with a second wave of the novel coronavirus, with several countries reporting a record surge in the number of single-day confirmed cases.
On Friday, Germany, Greece and Slovenia set new records for daily cases, a day after Italy, Portugal and Lithuania hit their single-day highs, reports Xinhua news agency.
German national disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), said that new Covid-19 infections in the country broke Thursday’s record with 7,334 cases confirmed within one day, bringing the total number to 348,557.
Thursday’s daily figure of 6,638 had marked a jump of some 1,500 over the day before. The previous daily infection peak, at around 6,300 cases, was registered in March, German news agency dpa reported.
Increased infection numbers were linked particularly to private celebrations with family and friends. However, there were also more Covid-19-related outbreaks reported in older people’s homes and nursing homes, according to the RKI.
A man wearing a face mask walks past a shop in London, Britain
Meanwhile, France confirmed 25,085 Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, increasing the total count to 834,770.
The number of new infections was lower than a record 30,621 registered on Thursday, but it remained at a high level unseen during the first wave.
In Italy, the first European country battered by the pandemic, 10,010 new coronavirus infections were reported on Friday, pushing the total number to 391,611,.
Due to the grim development, countries have started to turn to tougher measures against the second wave.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday defended his government’s coronavirus restrictions as “the right and responsible thing to do” in the fight to curb the spread of the disease in the country.
“Without action, our health service will be overwhelmed,” he said. “I want to avoid another national lockdown.”
Also on Friday, the region of Kozani in northern Greece became the first area of the country to enter lockdown during the second wave of the pandemic.
Authorities announced that until October 29, protective face masks will be compulsory everywhere, and public gatherings and traveling outside the region are forbidden. Retail shops, restaurants, cinemas, and gyms will remain closed for two weeks.
In Cyprus, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said that because of the possibility of the coronavirus to get out of control in the country, President Nicos Anastasiades would chair a meeting of the scientific team advising the ministry to consider new restrictive measures.
eople wearing face masks walk on the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris, France (Xinhua/Gao Jing/IANS)
In Slovenia, new restrictions kicked in as of Friday in the country’s so-called “red” regions.
Two more of Slovenia’s 12 statistical regions have been turned from “orange” into “red” on the coronavirus incidence meter, which means that lockdown restrictions now apply in nine regions in total.
Bars, restaurants and sports facilities will close in all “red” regions on Saturday as part of the tightened coronavirus measures.
Moscow, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin (Sputnik via Xinhua/IANS)
The White House rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal earlier in the day to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for at least one year without conditions.
“President Putin’s response today to extend New START without freezing nuclear warheads is a non-starter,” US President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said on Twitter on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.
O’Brien reiterated the US proposal of an extension of New START for one year, during which both countries cap all nuclear warheads, referring to both strategic and tactical ones.
“We hope that Russia will reevaluate its position before a costly arms race ensues,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Putin proposed to extend the New START without conditions for at least a year for further negotiations.
“I have a proposal, namely, to extend the current Treaty without any conditions for at least a year in order to be able to conduct meaningful negotiations on all issues that are governed by agreements of this kind,” Putin said at a meeting with permanent members of the country’s Security Council.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov earlier this week rebuffed Washington’s position on freezing nuclear arsenals. “The US position in favour of freezing has long been known to us, it is unacceptable to us.”
The Russian chief arms control negotiator also noted that Russia would refuse any agreement on the New START that was timed to coincide with the US presidential election.
In 2010, Washington and Moscow signed the New START, which stipulates the limits to the numbers of deployed strategic nuclear warheads and delivery systems by both. This last remaining nuclear arms control treaty in force between the two nuclear superpowers will expire on February 5, 2021.
The treaty can be extended for at most five years with the consent of the two countries. Without an extension, the US and Russian nuclear arsenals would be unchecked for the first time since 1972.
Lord Rami Ranger CBE, Chairman of the British Sikh Association with
Mr Amritpal Sachdeva (Lucky), Founder of the Zozter
Lord Rami Ranger CBE, Chairman of the British Sikh Association with
Mr Amritpal Sachdeva (Lucky), Founder of the Zozter
Chairman of the British Sikh Association Lord Rami Ranger CBE, has launched “Zozter-the world’s first Business Card Sharing App”. The concept has been developed by a long-standing employee of Lord Ranger’s company, Sun Mark Ltd, Mr Amritpal Sachdeva, fondly known as Lucky. Lucky had started his working life at Sun Mark Ltd and progressed up the ranks to become the Distribution Manager, having worked at Sun Mark for over 18 years.
Lord Ranger CBE, at the launch event, said to local media, “I am very proud to see how Lucky has developed his business acumen and customer service skills whilst at Sun Mark and I am very impressed with his Zozter App. The pioneering Zozter App developed by Lucky provides solutions in today’s digital world. It is reducing the need to use paper and to carry business cards to help the environment. It is challenging to manage so many business cards which one gets daily when going about the businesses. It is child’s play to store the information, all the information one needs to run an effective business. The app helps you network with like-minded professionals and also helps you find suitable employment and business opportunities.”
Lucky said, “ I owe all my success to Lord Ranger who has been my guiding light and mentor and who has made me what I am today. I am proud to have created the start-up Zozter; it is the world’s first online social card sharing application based on the idea of enhancing the sharing of business cards and services to a global community, it is the next level in marketing and business networking ”.
Zozter’s unique features allow it to be used on all platforms. It is a digital business card holder for your old business cards. The mission is to create a global community to help facilitate business networking and to help both employers and employees connect in a seamless way.
Webiste: www.zozter.com
Lord Rami Ranger CBE, Chairman of the British Sikh Association with
Mr Amritpal Sachdeva (Lucky), Founder of the Zozter
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that as the European Union (EU) Summit in Brussels refused to offer London a Canada-style deal, Britain will prepare to embrace a no-trade deal scenario.
Johnson’s remarks came following the EU Summit discussions on Brexit on Thursday. EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said he will continue intensive talks in the coming weeks and the EU hopes to reach a deal with Britain, but not at any price, Xinhua news agency reported.
Johnson said Britain wanted nothing more complicated than a Canada-style relationship. But to judge by the latest EU summit in Brussels, that won’t work for the EU because they want the continued ability to control Britain’s legislative freedom and fisheries.
“And given that they have refused to negotiate seriously for much of the last few months, and given that this summit appears explicitly to rule out a Canada-style deal, I have concluded that we should get ready for January 1 (2021) with arrangements that are more like Australia’s based on simple principles of global free trade,” the Prime Minister said.
The Australia-style arrangement is an euphemism for failure to reach a free trade agreement with the EU, which means the Britain-EU trade will fall back on World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in 2021.
He called on British businesses, hauliers and travelers to get ready since there are only 10 weeks until the end of the transition period due on December 31, 2020.
Boris Johnson (L) meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in London (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua/IANS)
Johnson said Britain is willing to discuss the practicalities with the EU where a lot of progress has already been made, on such issues as social security, aviation, nuclear cooperation and so on.
“But for whatever reason it is clear from the summit that after (more than) 45 years of membership they are not willing — unless there is some fundamental change of approach — to offer this country the same terms as Canada,” he said.
Johnson said Britain will prepare to embrace the Australia-style arrangement with complete confidence, adding that Britain will prosper mightily as an independent free trading nation, controlling its own borders, fisheries, and setting its own laws.
Prior to the EU Summit, Johnson held a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. Both leaders had said an agreement needs to be struck in October to ensure there is enough time for ratification.
Meanwhile, Johnson and Macron also discussed the coronavirus crisis in their bilateral discussions as a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections was reported in their countries.
The discussion took place at a time when Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines to check the spread of the virus in the world.
Britain and the EU started their lengthy and bumpy post-Brexit talks in March after Britain ended its EU membership on Jan. 31, trying to secure a future trade deal before the Brexit transition period expires at the end of the year.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. (File Photo: IANS)
Until now, Pakistan enjoyed an additional cushion as China, an ally, was holding the presidency of Financial Action Task Force (FATF). With the baton passing on to Germany, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is a worried man…reports MAHUA VENKATESH
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. (File Photo: IANS)
With Germanys Marcus Pleyer as president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the going for Pakistan, which is already placed in the grey list, may just get tougher.
Islamabad will now face a tougher scrutiny, sources said, even as reports suggested that the country will remain in the grey list for some time as an on-site visit by the FATF team will not be possible before next year.
Pleyer took over the presidency on July 1 this year from Xiangmin Liu, director general, legal department, at the People’s Bank of China. With the baton passing on to Germany, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is a worried man.
Pakistan, which missed as many as 13 targets out of 27, got a four-month breather in February to complete its goals. In case Pakistan fails to achieve those targets, it may get blacklisted. Iran and North Korea are the only two countries which are currently blacklisted by the FATF.
Until now, Pakistan enjoyed an additional cushion as China, an ally, was holding the presidency.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary meeting in Paris (Photo: Twitter/@FATFNews)
Khan has repeatedly highlighted the grave consequences the country would face in case it is blacklisted.
The country’s economy is already in battered with slowing economic growth.
Pakistan is already finding it difficult to get financial aid from the multilateral agencies including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Asian Development Bank, due to its grey list status.
But once a country is placed on the blacklist, the challenges multiply significantly. In an interview in August, Khan said that Pakistan would suffer huge challenges, much like Iran, in case it was blacklisted.
“People talk about inflation now. If we are placed on the blacklist, we will experience inflation that would ruin our economy,” he said.
According to the World Bank, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth was about 5.83 per cent in 2018. It was down to less than 1 per cent in 2019�a decline of over 4.8 per cent from 2018, leading to rise in unemployment and unrest within the country.
Pakistan until now has been enjoying support from China, and was given two extensions since October 2019 to achieve the targets.
The US has been pushing to blacklist Pakistan. India has also underlined the need to do the same.
“Pakistan has often blamed India on this front but the FATF is a serious platform with many members. It is not possible for one country to charge another if there was no substantial reason,” an analyst who did not wish to be identified told IndiaNarrative.com.
The Paris-headquartered FATF is a global intergovernmental watchman for anti-money laundering and anti-terror financing. It crafts out policies to address money laundering and other illegal activities.
QUETTA (PAKISTAN), May 5, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Workers sit outside a collapsed coal mine in Pir Ismail, Marwar area near Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, southwestern Pakistan, on May 5, 2018. At least 18 people were killed, 13 others injured and about a dozen went missing as two coal mines collapsed in different areas of Pakistan's southwest province of Balochistan on Saturday, local media reported. (Xinhua/Stringer/IANS)
For China, reaching out to the Taliban has many strategic advantages. For one it will be able to extend its sphere of influence in South Asia and the Middle East. Secondly, and equally important, it will ensure that the teeming Islamic terror organizations in the region do not make efforts to reach out to Xinjiang and breed terror or an independence movement there…writes RAHUL KUMAR
Ughurs in Chinese detention camps. (Image Courtesy: @ETAwakening/Twitter)
The magic of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is such that even the Taliban, which carries on with jihad to protect Islam, has turned its face away from the Uyghur genocide and the ethnic cleansing of Muslims by China.
The Chinese influence, which is now extending into Afghanistan through iron-brother Pakistan, has ensured that even die-hard terror groups like the Taliban keep quiet on the Chinese campaign to culturally, ethnically and ideologically change the Uyghurs-the people of East Turkistan province, renamed Xinjiang by China.
With the Americans under President Donald Trump clear about withdrawing from Afghanistan, possibly by year-end itself, China has sensed opportunity to fill up the vacuum. The Doha agreement between the Americans and the Taliban, minus the Afghan government, was a catalyst for China to jump into the Af-Pak region.
Workers sit outside a collapsed coal mine in Pir Ismail, Marwar area near Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. (Xinhua/Stringer/IANS)
For China, reaching out to the Taliban has many strategic advantages. For one it will be able to extend its sphere of influence in South Asia and the Middle East. Secondly, and equally important, it will ensure that the teeming Islamic terror organizations in the region do not make efforts to reach out to Xinjiang and breed terror or an independence movement there.
To ensure that the Taliban takes the Chinese offer seriously, it made an offer to the group through Pakistan to extend the super-sized China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)-the marquee project of the BRI-to Afghanistan. The Chinese offer to the Taliban is to make highways and connect all Afghan cities to each other. Other offers include energy projects to develop Afghanistan while the Taliban has to promise peace in return.
China is also eyeing Afghanistan’s considerable mineral riches. Chinese companies had won contracts to mine copper and explore oil but could not do so due to the internal strife in the country. China would be keenly looking at re-working on the contracts.
Afghanistan’s geographical location as a connecting point between South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East too is tempting for China to step in.
With so much to gain, thanks to the Pakistani influence, China has not overlooked its relations with the Afghan government. Besides talking to the Taliban, it has been engaging with the Afghan government as well. China has been able to persuade the government over a border agreement to allow Chinese troops to patrol the border in the Wakhan region with a view to ensuring that no cross-border movement takes place between the independence-seeking Uyghurs and the militants that flourish on Afghan soil.
Sporadic news reports have come out over China trying to set up a military base in the northern parts of Afghanistan, again with a view to keeping a check on Xinjiang.
The US presence in Afghanistan was a military one-to keep terrorism at bay, and also nurture democratic forces in the country and society. With China, democracy is not going to be a bother. Its interest will be confined to keeping militancy out of Xinjiang and getting away with the ethnic cleaning of Muslims while demolishing their religion and culture. The other interests will be to extend CPEC into Afghanistan, open up trade routes to Central Asia and the Middle East and lastly, get space for its boots on Afghan ground.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan with Chinese Preisident Xi Jinping
All of this is possible once the Americans bid adieu. To ensure this, Pakistan is pulling out all stops to bring the Taliban and China to the negotiating table. A few months back, China had invited Afghanistan to join the BRI, and partake in its benefits just as Pakistan and Nepal had done.
West to Afghanistan lies Iran, which is developing closer relations with China due to the unending American pressure over its support for terrorism and nuclear issues. With a depleting economy and much financial strife, Iran signed a massive deal with China for oil, after which it also invited the Chinese to invest in rail networks linking the Chabahar port-which ironically India had built.
For China, netting Afghanistan will mean a large swathe of contiguous area in the form of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran with access to many ports in Pakistan and Iran, allowing it to bypass South East Asia for its oil supplies.
For India, Chinese presence in Afghanistan will be an added headache considering that the duo of Pakistan and China have not left any table unturned-terrorism, cross-border infiltration, shelling, supporting terror networks in various regions, salami-slicing and even creating a war-like situation-to marginalize India. For most part, it has been effective as well.
The implications for India are enormous. Looking at this complex matrix, it slowly opened up to talks with the Taliban. The group’s spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen, invited Indian participation in the intra-Afghan peace talks during a web-session with an Indian think tank. Significantly, Shaheen added that the group will not interfere in India’s internal issues including Kashmir. Experts interpret this as realization among the Taliban that India’s presence in Afghanistan has been benign and based entirely on development and reconstruction; therefore, India cannot be kept out of the talks. In fact, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar even addressed the first face-to-face intra-Afghan talks that eventually took place in Doha last month, stressing upon all parties to find an all-Afghan solution.
Afghanistan has remained an unpredictable place. It is a quagmire. Once the Americans move out, things will change rapidly-something which the common Afghan fears. Despite the intra-Afghan peace talks, violence and bloodshed have continued unabated violating the spirit of the talks.
At another level, all Afghan governments in the last two decades have maintained positive relations with India. Despite the overtures by China in Afghanistan, it would not be easy to dislodge India from the landlocked country. With the current low in the relations between the two Asian giants, India has to look at China in the eye and take it on. Or, be read to accept irrelevance in the South Asian region, and consequently the world.
MI5 Director General Ken McCallum. (Photo Credit: mi5.gov.uk)
The new chief of the MI5 Ken McCallum directly specified “the differing national security challenges presented by Russian, Chinese, Iranian and other actors” were “growing in severity and in complexity – while terrorist threats persist at scale”…reports Hitesh Tikoo
MI5 Director General Ken McCallum. (Photo Credit: mi5.gov.uk)
The new chief of the MI5, the UK’s domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, has said that spy threats posed by Russia and China against the country were “growing in severity and complexity”, while the terror threats from the Islamic State (IS) and the far right “persists at scale”.
In his first speech since he was announced as the new MI5 Director General at the end of March, Ken McCallum focused on risks from hostile states, including undermining “the integrity of UK research” on a Covid-19 vaccine.
McCallum said the UK faced threats “up to and including assassinations, as the (Russian opposition figure) Alexei Navalny poisoning reminds us; threats to our economy, our academic research, our infrastructure and, much discussed, threats to our democracy”.
He directly specified “the differing national security challenges presented by Russian, Chinese, Iranian and other actors” were “growing in severity and in complexity – while terrorist threats persist at scale”.
The intelligence agency, whose work has been dominated by counter-terrorism in the past two decades, said in its last update that it had thwarted 27 terrorist plots in the past four years, including eight from the far right.
McCallum said the threat posed by the far right was “sadly rising” and that the agency was concerned about young people being attracted to far-right thinking “which does tend to suggest this threat will be with us for some years to come”.
But the MI5 boss said that, unlike with Islamist terrorism, the far right remained fragmented.
“We’re not yet seeing a coherent global movement, we don’t see the same kind of thing we’ve previously seen with Al Qaeda or IS,” he added, although the agency remained alive to the possibility the far right could become “more structured and coherent”.
However, some in Westminster have argued that the agency needs to refocus on countering Russia and China.
Over the summer, parliament’s watchdog intelligence and security committee accused the spy agencies of “taking their eye off the ball” when it came to Russian activities in the UK.
In July, Security Minister James Brokenshire had said that the UK was “more than 95 per cent” sure that Russian state-sponsored hackers targeted the UK, US and Canadian organisations involved in developing a Covid-19 vaccine.
Referring to that, McCallum said MI5 was watching out for “attempts to steal unique intellectual property” or in some way “interfere with what is happening”.
The changing threat includes claims that China tried to spy on the European Union (EU) by targeting a former MI6 officer, Fraser Cameron, who allegedly sold classified information to Chinese undercover operatives.
Cameron had denied the allegations.
China, McCallum added, was beginning to engage in an “interference in politics”.
However, McCallum said the UK needed to proceed carefully on China because of the economic impact of total disengagement.
He said the UK needed “a broad conversation across government and, crucially, beyond, to reach wise judgments around how the UK interacts with China on both opportunities and risks”.
McCallum said the Black Lives Matter protests, which swept across the UK after the death of the African-American man George Floyd in the US, had had an effect within MI5 and vowed to modernise the agency.
He pledged the domestic intelligence service would increase the number of minority ethnic people employed as analysts, agent runners and in other sensitive posts.
Enlightening and Engaging Interview with Amish Tripathi, Director of Nehru Centre and the award-winning author of 8 books including the Shiva Trilogy, conducted by Ani Kaprekar
On 19th September, Manchester based VOICE (Vedic Organisation for Indian Culture and Education) organised an online interview with Amish Tripathi, the newly appointed director of Nehru Centre and a well-known author of several books including the Shiva Trilogy. This interview was watched live by people across many countries – UK, Europe, USA, Canada and of course India. The subject of the interview was ‘Mythology or Ancient History’ and was meant to mark the start of 10th anniversary of VOICE promoting Indian culture in the UK.
The honorary secretary, Dr Poonam Kakkar welcomed Amish Tripathi and thanked him for bringing the long-forgotten stories back to the forefront of Indian culture. The whole event was anchored by Ani Kaprekar who introduced Amish Tripathi as India’s literally pop star and India’s Tolkein, and opened the conversation with a direct question, “What is Amish Tripathi’s mission as an author? Demystifying myths, unravelling Legends or re-visiting Indian History?” Amish Tripathi explained that there was no tradition of history in ancient India as the focus was always on discovery of the Truth not on writing of history.
He reminded the audience that the Hindu civilization is the longest surviving civilization because our ancestors did not surrender. He opined that we lost more of our history in the last 70 years where we seem to have forgotten our own philosophy. When questioned about his own journey he revealed that writing of the ‘Immortals of Melluah’ brought him back to faith. He gave credit to Lord Shiva who pulled him back to faith.
In response to the question “When did Sita change from Janaki to a Warrior Princess?” raised by Dr Archna Gund, who is a medical doctor but an ardent promoter of Indian culture, the author revealed that his own research showed that ancient India was very liberal and equal society where women were not treated as weaker sex. He explained that there was no ‘lakshman rekha’ in the original Ramayan written by Valmiki it was included in later versions. In fact, there was no distinction made between male Gods and female Goddesses – they were equal.
A question was taken from the audience where it was asked why we use the term Lord to address Hindu Gods like Lord Shiva or Lord Ganesha. Amish Tripathi replied that it is the limitation of English language. Lord is often taken to mean Prabhu or Bhagwan. Professor Prinja raised a question about the gap between science and spirituality which is being created by the Indian education system where there is a distance created between science and Sanskrit, the language of our scriptures. As a result, many people do not realise that whatever has been discovered by the modern science does not contradict the teachings of the Upanishads. Amish Tripathi agreed that there remains a gap.
In the West, science emerged as a rebellion against church and religion but in the Vedic tradition science and spirituality merge. This is because the Vedic thought assumes presence of consciousness and explains relationship between matter and consciousness. There are still several questions about creation which remain unanswered by the modern science as there is no theory for everything, but it is possible in the Vedic tradition to seek that answer. We must use our own roots to discover the truth.
Abhilasha Kakkar, a trained psychologist, asked about being an Indian whilst living in the UK. Amish Tripathi’s view was that Indians are comfortable with multiple identities because they are liberal and flexible. They do not impose a straitjacket of culture. He encouraged young Indians not to be anti-UK but be a full-fledged responsible citizen of the UK. He was asked by a young viewer, Soham Bhansali if there is going to be a book on Mahabharata. Amish Tripathi said that he left many hints that there could be a series of books on Mahabharata.
On closer questioning, he revealed that writing these books have had major positive impact on his character. He has become much calmer person. His aim remains to write about ‘itihasa’ which literally translated means ‘as it happened’. We look forward to many more books from him. The event ended by the chairman of VOICE, Dr Hardik Bhansali thanking him and agreeing that voice will work with the Nehru centre to conduct activities in order to promote Indian culture to the wider audience in the UK. The event included a lucky dip for 3 listeners who won a copy of Amish Tripathis’s latest book ‘Suhaldev’.
Businesses of all sizes are invited to join Mayor’s Workforce Integration Network (WIN) to strengthen its network, utilise its resources and help create pathways into living wage employment for young Black men…reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
A man wearing a face mask walks past a shop in London, Britain
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has declared City Hall a committedly anti-racist organisation as he unveiled a toolkit to help businesses cultivate genuinely inclusive working environments.
Sadiq said he is determined to tackle structural and institutionalised racism across London and is urging businesses to follow the new guidance.
The toolkit, which was published recently, offers practical guidance to businesses to help diversify their workforce and foster a truly inclusive workplace culture.
One in five men in the capital is Black, but Black men are significantly more likely to experience unemployment than their White counterparts, with 33 per cent of Black men out of work compared to 15 per cent of White men. Disparities persist even across educational levels with Black graduate unemployment at 13 per cent compared to a rate of just 4 per cent for White graduates, the Mayor’s office said.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan
According to a press release issued by the Mayor’s office, “Sadiq is committed to leading by example in making City Hall an actively anti-racist organisation and has, along with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, (MOPAC) pledged to take the following action, in addition to committing to the actions in the toolkit: launching an organisational-wide cultural change programme underpinned by an independent review into the structural barriers that prevent Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and specifically Black progression; setting targets by gender and ethnicity for the proportion of Black male and Black female staff across the GLA and MOPAC, and specifically the senior leadership teams to, reflect the wider London working age population.”
City Hall has been working to ensure that equality is a key part of its work, and is already reporting on its ethnicity pay gap and developing a pioneering action plan to close it, offering Covid-19 risk assessments across the GLA family including for colleagues from BAME backgrounds and working to increase the trust and confidence of London’s Black communities in the Metropolitan Police Service through the Mayor’s forthcoming Action Plan.
The new inclusive employers toolkit builds on the work of the Mayor’s Workforce Integration Network (WIN) – a City Hall scheme launched in 2018 to tackle disproportionate levels of unemployment among young Black men while seeking to improve access to sectors such as construction and technology where they are typically underrepresented.
Businesses of all sizes are invited to join WIN to strengthen its network, utilise its resources and help create pathways into living wage employment for young Black men.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “Our capital’s diversity is its greatest strength, but the makeup of too many organisations, especially at their highest levels, fails to present a true picture of modern London.
“Your background, gender and ethnicity should have no bearing on what you can achieve which is why part of becoming actively anti-racist involves acknowledging the fact systemic racism remains pervasive across society. Employers and businesses must do more to embed anti-racist practices in their operations and their company culture.
“That is why, in declaring City Hall an actively anti-racist body, I am proud to share this toolkit with London’s business community. Helping them strengthen their workforce through the enrichment diversity brings and building a more resilient capital with genuine inclusivity at its core.”
Sioned Churchill, Director of Grants at Trust for London, said:
“It’s not right that young Black men in London experience more unemployment than young White men. Employers across London can help address these disparities. The WIN ‘inclusive employers toolkit’ supports companies to improve the recruitment, retention and progression of young Black men within the workplace.”
