"The Call of Pashmina": Jammu Kashmir Festival, 22nd Oct 2018 - New Asian Post

“The Call of Pashmina”: Jammu
Kashmir Festival, 22nd Oct
2018
Now in its third year, the Jammu Kashmir Festival 2018
presents Mr Babar Afzal, Founder of the Pashmina Goat Project,
at a discussion on the preservation of pashmina. Highlighting
the issues linked to climate change and injustice in the
pashmina ecosystem across Himalayas, Mr Afzal has been
travelling and living with Pashmina goat shepherds to
understand the challenges faced by these communities. He will
also be showcasing the finest, authentic Pashmina shawls and
paintings inspired by his pashmina journey. There will also be
a film screening during the programme that will highlight his
work with the goat herd community in Ladakh and Kashmir.

Jammu & Kashmir, the northern most state of India, often
referred to as “Heaven on Earth” has been a haven of tourism,
adventure sports with a huge potential for growth and
development. It is perhaps one of the most underrepresented
states of India in the UK. The variety of folk arts,
traditional handicrafts and paintings, music, dance, theatre
and oral storytelling traditions of the region are fast moving
towards extinction. Situated in the lap of the majestic
Himalayas, Jammu & Kashmir is the crowning glory of India with
a mysticism and beauty that remains unmatched, the world over.

About Babar Afzal

Babar Afzal’s journey is one which intertwines several
different threads. Of the community that has protected the
pashmina goat from centuries. Of a textile so pure that it
rests atop everything the world calls luxury. Of a place that
is being hit by the severe impact of Climate Change. Of a
state that is known only for terrorism. It’s about a man who

quit his corporate career and took upon himself to guard the
roots of the ecosystem and gift the perfection that is
pashmina, to the world and became a shepherd. And in the
process give back as much to the community that has selflessly
given us the finest fabric known to man.

Babar is a pashmina Artist, pashmina Activist and a pashmina
goat shepherd. He is the founder of the Global Pashmina Goat
Project; featured regularly in state, national and
international media, he has been referred many a time as “the
most credible voice on Pashmina in the world” . Babar is a
proud recipient of the Shri. Rabindranath Tagore Award, Dr. B
R Ambedkar Award, Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award, The Karmaveer
Chakra and Bharat Gaurav Awards.

“The Call of Pashmina”: Jammu Kashmir Festival, takes place
on Monday, 22 October 2018 from 18:00 to 20:00 (BST) at
the Grimmond Room, Portcullis House, London SW1A 2JR. Click
here to book a place

Longlist announced for the
DSC Prize for South Asian
Literature 2018
The much anticipated longlist for the US $25,000 DSC Prize for
South Asian Literature 2018 was announced today by eminent
historian and academic Rudrangshu Mukherjee, who is the chair
of the jury panel for the distinguished prize. The longlist of
16 novels which was unveiled at the Oxford Bookstore in New
Delhi includes 4 translated works where the original writings
were in Assamese, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. The longlist
features six women authors and three women translators, and

two outstanding debut novels that find place alongside the
works of several established writers.

The longlist represents the best of South Asian fiction
writing over the last year and includes submissions from a
diverse mix of publishers and authors of different backgrounds
writing on a wide range of issues and themes. The novels
include stunning portrayals of migration, war and the pain of
displacement, poignant love stories, the exploration of new
found relationships and identities, and vivification of the
personal struggles, hopes and aspirations that symbolize the
urgent and divisive realities of contemporary South Asian
life. Apart from authors based in South Asia there are writers
based outside the region who have incisively and evocatively
brought alive the subtle nuances of South Asian life and
culture. The longlist announcement event was attended by
publishers, authors and literary enthusiasts who welcomed the
selection of the longlist.

This year the DSC Prize, administered by the South Asian
Literature Prize & Events Trust, received 88 eligible entries
and the five member international jury panel diligently went
through these entries to arrive at this year’s longlist of 16
novels which they feel represent the best works of fiction
related to the South Asian region.

The longlisted entries contending for the DSC Prize for South
Asian Literature 2018 are:

• Anuradha Roy: All The Lives We Never Lived (Hachette, India)
• Arundhati Roy: The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness (Alfred
Knopf, USA and Hamish Hamilton, Canada)
• Chandrakanta: The Saga Of Satisar (Translated by Ranjana
Kaul, Zubaan Books, India)
• Deepak Unnikrishnan: Temporary People (Penguin Books,
Penguin Random House, India)
• Jayant Kaikini: No Presents Please(Translated by Tejaswini
Niranjana, Harper Perennial, HarperCollins India)

• Jeet Thayil: The Book Of Chocolate Saints(Aleph Book
Company, India and Faber & Faber, UK)
• Kamila Shamsie: Home Fire (Riverhead Books, USA and
Bloomsbury, UK)
• Manu Joseph: Miss Laila Armed And Dangerous (Fourth Estate,
HarperCollins, India)
• Mohsin Hamid: Exit West (Riverhead Books, USA and Hamish
Hamilton, Penguin Random House, India)
• Neel Mukherjee: A State Of Freedom (Chatto & Windus,
Vintage, UK and Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House, India)
• Perumal Murugan: Poonachi (Translated by N Kalyan Raman,
Context, Westland Publications, India)
• Prayaag Akbar: Leila (Simon & Schuster, India)
• Rita Chowdhury: Chinatown Days (Translated by Rita
Chowdhury, Macmillan, Pan Macmillan, India)
• SJ Sindu: Marriage Of A Thousand Lies (Soho Press, USA)
• Sujit Saraf: Harilal & Sons (Speaking Tiger, India)
• Tabish Khair: Night Of Happiness (Picador, Pan Macmillan,
India)

Speaking on the occasion, Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Chair of the
jury commented, “It gives me enormous pleasure to announce
this longlist of 16 works of fiction for the DSC Prize for
South Asian Literature 2018. My fellow jurors and I read
through over 80 works of fiction and then arrived at this list
of 16 which we will further prune to prepare a shortlist and
then finally a winner. It was an exhilarating and an
exhausting exercise reading these books and then preparing
this list. Exhausting because of the work involved and I don’t
need to emphasize this. Exhilarating because of the plethora
of extraordinary talent that we encountered. Writers were
willing to experiment with form, with unusual themes and to
express themselves with elegance. I encountered touching
poignancy, wit and verve and great inventiveness. In many ways
trying to judge such a talented group of writers is a humbling
experience. I am certain when we finish the entire judging
process, I, at least, will emerge from it an enriched human

being.”

The jury will now deliberate on the longlist over the next
month and the shortlist of 5 or 6 books for the DSC Prize 2018
will be announced on 14th November, 2018 at the London School
of Economics & Political Science (LSE) in London. Thereafter
the jury would meet once again to arrive at the final winner
that would be announced at a special Award Ceremony to be
hosted in a South Asian city.

Surina Narula, co-founder of the DSC Prize said, “I commend
the jury panel for going through all the entries and coming up
with such an excellent longlist for the DSC Prize for South
Asian Literature 2018. I find the longlist exciting and feel
that each of the novels is a must read as they successfully
bring out the nuances and challenges of the ever evolving
South Asian life. It is heartening to note that this year’s
longlist of 16 novels includes 4 translations which highlight
the language diversity of the writing about this region. I am
delighted that over the last eight years, the DSC Prize has
been successful in its objective of bringing the immense
talent writing about the South Asian region to a larger global
audience. I would like to congratulate each of the longlisted
authors and translators, and wish them the very best. Given
such a strong longlist, it will be interesting to see which
books make it to the shortlist from here.”

The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature jury
panel
The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature prides itself on a
thorough and transparent judging process and is modeled on
global best practices. The 5 member international jury panel,
which comprises literary luminaries drawn from diverse
geographies and expertise, is solely responsible for deciding
and arriving at the longlist, the shortlist and the ultimate
winner and their adjudication is final.

This year’s international jury panel includes Rudrangshu
Mukherjee, Jury Chair and Professor of History and the
Chancellor of Ashoka University and an internationally
acclaimed historian of the revolt of 1857 in India, Nandana
Sen, a writer, actor and child-rights activist and author of
six books, who has worked as a book editor, a poetry
translator, a screenwriter, and a script doctor, Claire
Armitstead, Associate Editor, Culture, for the Guardian in
London who has been a theatre critic, arts editor and literary
editor, Tissa Jayatilaka, who has been the Executive Director
of the United States-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission and is the
author of several publications and has translated and edited
many journals, and Firdous Azim, Professor of English at BRAC
University, Bangladesh, whose research has focused on women’s
writings in the early twentieth century Bengal.

About the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
The US $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature which was
instituted by Surina Narula and Manhad Narula in 2010, is one
of the most prestigious international literary awards
specifically focused on South Asian writing. It is a unique
and coveted prize and is open to authors of any ethnicity or
nationality as long as the writing is about South Asia and its
people. It also encourages writing in regional languages and
translations and the prize money is equally shared between the
author and the translator in case a translated entry wins.

Now in its 8th year, the DSC Prize has been successful in
bringing South Asian writing to a larger global audience
through rewarding and showcasing the achievements of the
authors writing about this region. Past winners of the DSC
Prize have been H M Naqvi of Pakistan, Shehan Karunatilaka of
Sri Lanka, Jeet Thayil and Cyrus Mistry from India, American
author of Indian origin Jhumpa Lahiri, Anuradha Roy from
India, and Anuk Arudpragasam of Sri Lanka who won the prize
last year.

In line with its South Asian essence, the DSC Prize Award
ceremony is held in various South Asian countries by rotation.
The winner of the DSC Prize 2015 was announced at the Jaipur
Literature Festival in India, the winner of the DSC Prize 2016
was announced at the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka, the
winner of the DSC Prize 2017 was announced at the Dhaka Lit
Fest in Bangladesh, whereas the winner of the DSC Prize 2018
would be announced in a South Asian country which is being
finalized.

For more information, visit: www.dscprize.com

About Oxford Bookstores
Established in 1919, Oxford Bookstore is the best equipped
‘base-camp’ for journeys of the mind offering its customers
the widest range of outstanding titles and consistently
courteous and informed service for close to a century. Today,
with stores in major metros, India’s first of its kind tea
boutique, Cha Bar, India’s only literary festival created by a
bookstore, Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, Oxford Bookstore
offers booklovers access to the very best in publishing
enhanced by a variety of events which salute books, visual &
performing arts and celebrate the word. Oxford Bookstore
measures its success by the smiles on millions of happy
customers that the brand has served over the last nearly 100
years.

There are a few treats as sumptuous as a visit to Oxford
Bookstore in India. Each time you walk into our iconic store
in Kolkata where the brand started in 1919, its charm leaves
you wanting for more. Our fleet of happy to help expert
booksellers and informed hosts work day and night to bring to
customers world class reading experience be it through our
books or our fine teas and live by the brand’s motto – Much
more than a bookstore – at every Bookstore.

For   more   information,     please    also    log   on   to:

www.oxfordbookstore.com

Singer Navin Kundra receives
a Society Global Icon Award
for music
Singer Navin Kundra was recognised with an Global Icon Award
for outstanding achievement and excellence in music by
lifestyle magazine, Society, which held its annual awards in
London on 10th October 2018. The awards ceremony were held in
the UK for the first time and showcased the success stories of
Indian achievers from different walks of life, across the
globe. For over four decades, Society magazine, which is part
of the Magna Publications Group India, has profiled Indian men
and women who have excelled in a range of fields spanning from
business, politics, sports, film, entertainment, music and
art.

Other Icon Awards recipients included Mr Subodh Agarwal, and
Mr Pankaj Saxena, Chairman of Venus Gulf international Ltd,
who revealed his upcoming projects including a five star hotel
in London. Awarded for his outstanding contribution to global
peace, Dr M Chairman of Singapore Film Fund said: ‘Existing
and future global icons should work together and give a
message to humanity that we must remove boundaries in order to
achieve the peace we all desire.” Legendary Cricketer Sir
Clive Lloyd added: “I have a great affinity with India, and
I’m proud to be amongst so many great people this evening.”

Sir Clive lloyd at the Society Global Icon Awards 2018.

The ceremony was hosted by TV and Radio personality Anushka
Arora, with performances from Arunima Kumar Dance Company, and
British Singer/Songwriter Navin Kundra.

Society Global Indian Icon Awards Winners 2018
Dr. Modi – Award for outstanding achievement and excellence as
a Global Leader for Global Peace

Sanjay Jhunjhunwala – Award for outstanding achievement and
excellence in Business

Pankaj Saxena –     Award for outstanding achievement and
excellence in Entrepreneurship

Subodh Agarwal – Award for outstanding achievement and
excellence in Business

Sunil Vaswant – Award for      outstanding   achievement   and
excellence in Business

Navin Kundra – Award            for   outstanding   achievement   and
excellence in Music

Gindy & Taj Bhogal (RWS) – Award for outstanding achievement
and excellence in International Events

Barrister Sudhanshu Swaroop – Award                 for   outstanding
achievement and excellence in Law

Chef Atul Kochhar – Award for outstanding achievement and
excellence in Food and Cuisine

Paresh Rughani – Award for outstanding achievement and
excellence in Motivational Speaking

Sir Clive Lloyd – Award for outstanding achievement and
excellence in Sports

Nick Kotecha – outstanding achievement and excellence in
Business and Entrepreneurship

IHC Y.K Sinha – Farewell Facilitation to Indian Commission
services.

Arunima     Kumar   –   Award   for   outstanding   achievement   and
excellence in Performing Arts.

Sarosh Jailwalla – Award for outstanding achievement and
excellence in Law.

About Magna Publishing Co.Ltd (MPCL)
Magna Publishing Company Limited (since 1971) is one of
India’s leading multi-dimensional media conglomerate with
diverse business interests in magazines, books, digital,
events entertainment and printing. The MPLC group sets the
benchmark of quality and excellence through its portfolio of
highly successful and iconic magazines like Stardust, Savvy
and Society among many others.

About Dr.M Singapore Film Fund
Dr. M Singapore Film Fund is an integrated full service film
Production, Co-production, Marketing, Distribution and
Celebrity Management company of Smart Entertainment, a
division of Smart Global, formerly known as Spice Global, a $2
billion conglomerate with diversified investments in various
sectors i.e. mobility, finance, entertainment and healthcare.

Teacher Prize winner launches
the Science Museum Group
Academy
The 2018 Global Teacher Prize winner Andria Zafirakou, an Arts
and Textiles teacher at Alperton Community School in Northwest
London, today helped the Science Museum Group launch a major
new initiative to help address the challenge of low engagement
with science and tackle the STEM skills shortage which costs
UK businesses around £1.5 billion a year. Supported by
Founding Partner BP, the Science Museum Group Academy will be
the UK’s first dedicated centre of excellence for
practitioners in the informal STEM sector.

Rooted in 25 years of experience delivering informal science
training across the world, the Academy will provide research-
led science engagement training, support and resources for
thousands of teachers, museum and STEM professionals,
improving the quality and provision of informal science
learning experiences in the UK and beyond.

By regularly bringing together these practitioners at the
Science Museum in London, the Science and Industry Museum in

Manchester (from spring 2019) and other locations across the
UK, delivering more effective science engagement training and
launching an online hub to share resources, research and best
practice, the Academy will empower thousands of dedicated
individuals to create a more STEM literate society.

At the core of the Academy’s work is the concept of science
capital – a measure of how people’s relationship with science
can be deepened through formal and informal experiences. The
Academy builds on the legacy of Enterprising Science – a five-
year partnership between the Science Museum Group, King’s
College London, University College London and BP – and the
Group’s own extensive expertise to convert academic research
into practise at scale and transform science engagement.

Launching during the Year of Engineering, the Academy will
help address an urgent need across the UK. The Gatsby
Charitable Foundation estimates 700,000 additional STEM
technicians will be needed to meet demand within a decade.

Susan Raikes, Director of Learning for the Science Museum
Group, said:

‘Helping more people find meaning and relevance in science is
at the heart of the Science Museum Group’s mission to inspire
futures. The Academy’s vital work – which is only possible
thanks to BP’s support – is a critical part of this mission.
Each STEM practitioner supported by the Academy will gain the
tools to create incredible science engagement opportunities
for a much wider audience, helping to address the challenges
of low engagement with science across the UK.’

Sam Gyimah MP, Minister of State for Universities, Science,
Research and Innovation, said:

‘It’s promising to see the increasing uptake in STEM subjects
in undergraduate and postgraduate roles, helping to create the
Rosalind Franklins, Alan Turings and Stephen Hawkings of the

future.

‘Our modern Industrial Strategy sets out our ambitions to
foster the right environment for science to thrive in the UK,
with skilled experts pioneering emerging technologies. The
Science Museum Group Academy will equip teachers, museum staff
and STEM professionals with further expertise to continue to
inspire the next generation.’

Peter Mather, Group Regional President, Europe and Head of
Country, UK at BP, said:

‘Continuing BP’s 50 years of support for STEM education in the
UK, we are delighted to be working with the Science Museum
Group to build deeper engagement across the UK with the STEM
subjects. As we make the transition to a lower carbon future,
the STEM skills essential for our future sustainability are in
scarce supply. Our work with schools, communities, families
and teachers has an important role to play in helping to
maintain and grow the talent needed for our shared future.’

« ‹ 1 of 6   ›   »

The Science Museum Group Academy
The Science Museum Group Academy is the UK’s first dedicated
centre of expertise for practitioners in the informal STEM
sector. Research-informed science engagement training courses
will be delivered free of charge to over 2,500 UK teachers,
museum and science centre professionals and STEM practitioners
(including STEM ambassadors) each year by the Academy.

The training will be delivered at the Science Museum in
London, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester (from
spring 2019) and at other locations across the UK. To access
the       Academy’s        online             hub        visit
group.sciencemuseum.org.uk/academy.

Further information on science capital and the Science Museum
Group’s leading role in science engagement research can be
found at group.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sciencecapital.

About the Science Museum Group
The Science Museum Group is the world’s leading group of
science museums, welcoming over five million visitors each
year to five sites: the Science Museum in London; the National
Railway Museum in York; the Science and Industry Museum in
Manchester; the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford;
and Locomotion in Shildon.

It shares the stories of innovations and people that shaped
our world and are transforming the future, constantly
reinterpreting our astonishingly diverse collection spanning
science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.
Standout objects include the record-breaking locomotive Flying
Scotsman, Richard Arkwright’s textile machinery, Alan Turing’s
Pilot ACE computer and the earliest surviving recording of
British television.

Its mission is to inspire futures – igniting curiosity among
people of all ages and backgrounds. Each year, the group’s
museums attract more than 600,000 visits by education groups,
while our touring exhibition programme brings our creativity
and scholarship to audiences across the globe.

More information can be found at group.sciencemuseum.org.uk.

About BP
BP is a global energy business with wide reach across the
world’s energy system. The energy we produce serves to power
economic growth and lift people out of poverty. In the future,
the way heat, light and mobility are delivered will change.

We aim to anchor our business in these changing    patterns of
demand, rather than in the quest for supply. We    have a real
contribution to make the world’s ambition of a      low carbon
future. We operate in 70 countries worldwide,       and employ
around 74,000 people.

In the UK, we supported around 141,000 jobs in 2017 –
approximately 1 in every 226 across the whole of the UK
economy. www.bp.com/uk

‘The Sun’ opens in London,
6th Oct 2018 – 6th May 2019
The Science Museum today opened its blockbuster exhibition,
The Sun: Living With Our Star, which reveals the power,
beauty, and dark side of the Sun and sheds fresh light on our
evolving relationship with our closest star.

From beautiful early Nordic Bronze Age artefacts that reveal

ancient beliefs of how the Sun was transported across the sky,
to details of upcoming NASA and ESA solar missions, this
exhibition will chart humankind’s dependence upon and ever
changing understanding of our star.

Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum, said, ‘Since
people first looked up at the sky the Sun has been a source of
fascination, awe and inspiration and I am sure that this
exhibition will delight, inspire and amaze visitors of all
ages when it opens in October. The Sun: Living With Our Star
will take people on a richly visual and action-packed
adventure filled with remarkable stories, people and
artefacts. I would like to thank our sponsor and all our
partners for making this exhibition possible.’

Dr Harry Cliff, Lead Curator of the exhibition, said, ‘The
fact that the Sun has had such a profound influence on the way
we live makes it an incredibly rich subject for an exhibition,
crossing huge expanses of time and place. It’s also a subject
that is increasingly relevant for the way we live now, from
the threat of solar storms to the upcoming space missions that
will allow humankind to touch the Sun for the first time.’

Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator said via a video link at
the exhibition’s launch: “Since the beginning of civilisation
humanity has been fascinated by the power and influence of our
Sun. Over the last several decades NASA and researchers from
around the world have harnessed space technologies to bring us
closer to understanding our star than ever before. I am
delighted that the UK’s Science Museum’s new exhibition, The
Sun: Living With Our Star, will tell these stories and engage
many more people in the amazing science of our Sun.”

Highlights from the Science Museum collection will include an
astronomical spectroscope made for Norman Lockyer – who
campaigned for the founding of the Science Museum – who used
it to identify the element helium in the Sun’s atmosphere in
1868. The exhibition in October will coincide with the 150th

anniversary of Lockyer’s discovery, the first of an “extra-
terrestrial” element, as helium had not yet been found on
Earth. Also on display will be the original orrery, a
mechanical model of the Solar System, made for the Earl of
Orrery in 1712 to demonstrate the motions of the Earth and
Moon around the Sun.

The exhibition will look at the ongoing work to recreate the
nuclear reactions that power the Sun here on Earth. Visitors
will get up close to a Tokamak ST25-HTS, a prototype nuclear
fusion reactor which successfully created and sustained plasma
for a record-breaking 29 hours in 2015.

                        « ‹ 1 of 8   ›   »

As the days become shorter this autumn, exhibition visitors
will literally be able to bask in the Sun while sitting in
deck chairs under palm trees. This is one of several unique
interactive experiences designed for visitors to experience
and explore the power of the Sun, including a huge illuminated

wall display that allows them to see the Sun rise in different
seasons and different locations around the world, and a
digital mirror that lets visitors virtually try on a range of
sunglasses from the Science Museum collection.

Over many centuries people have worked to unlock the secrets
of the Sun, and this exhibition will explore the great
advances made since the invention of the telescope in the
early 1600s. Detailed and beautiful sketches, prints,
paintings and photographs of the Sun reveal the important
observations recorded by artists and astronomers between the
mid-1800s and mid-1900s, including the sunspot paintings of
James Nasmyth and photographs by Elizabeth Beckley, one of the
first female employees of an astronomical observatory.

Alongside this exhibition the Science Museum and a team of
scientists at Reading University have launched a new citizen
science project to research patterns in solar storm activity
and ultimately try to improve space weather predictions. This
project has seen thousands of images of solar storms analysed
and the early results are already looking promising. Further
details of the findings will be announced shortly.

A new book, The Sun: One Thousand Years of Scientific Imagery,
by Lead Curator Dr Harry Cliff and Curator of Art Collections
Dr Katy Barrett will be available to accompany the exhibition.
Published by Scala, this lavishly illustrated volume explores
our fascination with the Sun through a rich selection of
scientific imagery.

About the Science Museum
As the home of human ingenuity, the Science Museum’s world-
class collection forms an enduring record of scientific,
technological and medical achievements from across the globe.
Welcoming over 3 million visitors a year, the Museum aims to
make sense of the science that shapes our lives, inspiring
visitors with iconic objects, award-winning exhibitions and

incredible stories of scientific achievement.

In the late 19th century, the Science Museum was home to the
South Kensington Solar Physics Observatory, established under
the leadership of Norman Lockyer to unlock the secrets of the
Sun. Famous as the co-discoverer of helium in the Sun in 1868
and as the founding editor of the English science journal
Nature, Lockyer was also a key player in the establishment of
the Science Museum, assembling a wide range of scientific
instruments that became a cornerstone of the Science Museum
Group’s world-leading collections. For more information about
the Science Museum visit sciencemuseum.org.uk.

The Sun: Living With Our Star opens on Saturday 6 October 2018
and runs until 6th May 2019. Tickets are available now. For
further                   information                   visit
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/the-sun-living-with-our-st
ar.

Saif Ali Khan and Radhika
Apte in ‘Baazaar’, out 26th
Oct
Baazaar, releasing on 26th October 2018, sees Saif Ali Khan
play Shakun Kothari, a big business boss man with nothing but
quick money on his mind. The trailer also gives the audience a
good look at actress Chitrangaha Singh who stars as Saif’s
love interest. Audiences are also introduced to Bollywood
newcomer Rohan Mehra who plays the role of Rizwan Ahmed, a
young man trying to get a foot into the stock market industry,
as well as Radhika Apte, who stars as an employee with less
than noble intentions.

Directed by Gauravv K Chawla, Baazaar is releasing in UK
cinemas on 26th October 2018.

Tory London Mayoral hopeful
Shaun Bailey angers Hindus
The Conservative Party candidate for the London Mayoral 2020
elections, Shaun Bailey, has angered the Hindu community with
derogatory comments about multiculturalism. In a 2005 paper
titled ‘‘No Man’s Land: How Britain’s inner city young are
being failed” for the Centre for Young Policy Studies with
support from Institute for Policy Research, he wrote “You
bring your children to school and they learn far more about
Diwali than Christmas. I speak to the people who are from
Brent and they’ve been having Muslim and Hindi (sic) days off.
What it does is rob Britain of its community. Without our
community we slip into a crime riddled cess pool.”

He also voiced concerns about the marking of Muslim and Hindu
festivals, and argued that Britain “removing the religion that
British people generally take to” had allowed immigrants to
bring their countries’ cultural problems with them.

Multiculturalism could make UK a ‘crime-riddled
cesspool’
In a statement issued on 5th October 2018, The Hindu Council
UK   (HCUK)    expressed    its   disappointment      at   the
misrepresentation of the Hindu faith. “This recent issue
reaffirms the view of most Hindus that we continue to face
systematic disadvantage and discrimination. We face a legacy
of inequality, targeting and stereotyping in daily life and by
the media.

Two core tenets of the Hindu faith are, “Ekam Sat Viprah
Bahudha Vadanti (meaning: “That which exists is one” –
Rigveda) and “Vasudhaiva Kutambakam” (meaning: “The Entire
World is One Family”). “

Hindus have had a presence in the UK since the early 19th
century. According to the 2011 Census of England and Wales,
more than 97% of the UK Hindu population living in urban
areas, with more than half living in London and the South East
where they make up 5% of the population.

The Hindu diaspora in Britain has flourished. Hindus are well
established in professional fields such as law, media,
medicine, engineering, and accounting – and in many branches
of business. Hindu students often top the charts in academic
achievement. The Hindu faith and tradition, with its rich
culture, accommodating nature, and emphasis on personal
spirituality, not only endures but makes a positive
contribution towards British life. Hindus have integrated well
and developed high degrees of social and cultural competence
in a pluralistic society.

The Hindu community has played a great role
in integration and progressive cohesion
The Hindu community’s diversity and the strength of its
voluntary and community sectors continue to play a great role
in its successful integration and progressive cohesion. The
sheer range of groups and organisations meeting social needs,
from faith-based initiatives to campaigning groups contributes
to the richness of civic life in this country and are
essential to the representation of a range of interests in
local communities. Activities like ahimsa (non-violence),
meditation, yoga, ayurveda (holistic medical treatments) and
sewa (selfless service) – all of which have the origins in
Hindu culture – have also been taken up by the wider British
community with enthusiasm.

“Britain today is a multi-faith society as much as it is a
multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. British life has been
greatly enriched by the contributions of all faith
communities, “ the HCUK added, “furthermore, London is the
most diverse and vibrant city in the world, made up of people
from all walks of life which make our Nation what it is. We
hope that understanding and mutual acceptance flourishes among
all people.”

“Regardless of whichever Political Party in the UK a
Politician represents – it is important that every Politician
should take due care and attention and not undermine or
discriminate against any faith or religion. With the recent
increase in discriminative comments by Politicians from all
Political Parties – it is high time that all Politicians must
have diversity training as a mandatory requirement to serve in
public office.”

Mr Bailey’s comments have been reported in The Guardian and
The Independent newspapers and in other media.