Podcasts about Uttar Pradesh

In this episode of Only Business, The StarMaker breaks down how to read and understand a balance sheet and profit & loss statement—without the jargon. Learn how to interpret the numbers that drive your business, spot financial red flags, and make smarter decisions with confidence. Whether you're just starting out or scaling fast, this episode is your crash course in financial fluency every entrepreneur needs.

Why do some entrepreneurs get chosen over and over again—while others get passed up, even when they're talented? In this episode of Only Business, we break down the real reasons people say yes. You'll learn how to position your offer so it stands out, create instant trust without overselling, and become the obvious choice in any room. Whether you're struggling to land clients, tired of being overlooked, or just want to tighten your messaging, this episode gives you the exact mindset and strategy to stop chasing—and start getting picked.

Most public speaking advice is surface-level: make eye contact, speak clearly, don't say “um.” This episode throws all that out the window. In The Public Speaking Playbook, we unpack 11 advanced, real-world tactics that separate amateurs from impact-makers. You'll learn how to weaponize silence, anchor your message in rhythm, command the room with physical intent, and close with lines that echo long after the mic drops. And we're not stopping at delivery—this episode reminds you of the one thing most people forget: you actually need something worth saying. Whether you're pitching to investors, leading a team, or stepping onto your first stage, this is your blueprint for becoming unforgettable.

Title: BarisheinText and Voice: Poonam AhmedPoonam Ahmed, born and raised in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, is the daughter of teacher parents and holds an M.A. in Fine Arts from Meerut. Active in writing for over 15 years, her work includes nearly six hundred stories and around two hundred articles published in magazines like Grihashobha, Sarita, Mukta, Femina, Women's Era, and others.Her story collections include Kabhi Apne Liye, Chidiya Ka Bachcha, Ishq Iska Uska, Upar Wali Khidki, and Moongate. A memoir, Us Din (Kuch Man Kahi), and several audiobooks and Kindle editions are also part of her published work.She has received honors such as the Smt. Sneh Prabha Shukla Memorial Award, Punjab Sahitya Kala Manch Award of Honor, and the Salila Sahitya Ratna for Moongate. Her stories have been adapted for stage and a short film, Konewali Table, available on YouTube. Poonam currently lives and writes in Thane.Curator: IrfanJoin the Art of Reading:Share Your Story on Listen with IrfanDo you have a passion for reading literature or narrating captivating prose? Here's your chance to shine! I'm thrilled to announce a new collaborative series, Art of Reading, on my podcast channel, Listen with Irfan.If you love bringing stories to life, I'm offering you a platform to showcase your talent.Record a short story of your choice (maximum 8 minutes) and share it with a community of like-minded narrators and listeners. This is a free, non-commercial initiative to connect aspiring narrators, promote storytelling, and build a creative community. No monetization, just pure love for the art of narration.How to Participate:- Choose a short story or piece of prose you're passionate about.- Record it with clear audio using a mobile phone or audio recorder. Do not include your name or the story's title in the recording.- Background music is optional, but avoid copyrighted tracks to prevent hosting issues.- Send your recording via email to ramrotiaaloo@gmail.com or WhatsApp at +91 9818098790.Full credit to the writer and narrator will be given on the Listen with Irfan podcast channel. Take inspiration from the sample recording by narrator Munish (attached).Join us to share your voice, connect with an audience, and celebrate the art of storytelling!Let's create something beautiful together!Cover: IrfanWe respect creative ownership. If you believe this is your work or if appropriate credit hasn't been given, kindly get in touch at ramrotiaaloo@gmail.com

Afsar | Written and Narrated by Shalini S SharmaShalinee Srivastava Sharma is an experienced social worker with over 13 years of dedicated service to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in schools and hospitals. Appointed by the Department of Education, she currently works as a social worker in a government school in Delhi.Holding a Master's degree in Business Economics, Shalinee's professional journey includes roles with a chartered accountancy firm and Indiabulls before she transitioned to the social sector.Born in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, and raised in Bathinda and Nangal (Bhakra Nangal Dam), Punjab, she spent three years in Chandigarh for work before settling in Delhi, where she has lived for the past two decades. Known for her compassion, curiosity, and commitment to meaningful change, Shalinee continues to work towards creating a positive impact in the community.Curator: IrfanJoin the Art of Reading:Share Your Story on Listen with IrfanDo you have a passion for reading literature or narrating captivating prose? Here's your chance to shine! I'm thrilled to announce a new collaborative series, Art of Reading, on my podcast channel, Listen with Irfan.If you love bringing stories to life, I'm offering you a platform to showcase your talent.Record a short story of your choice (maximum 8 minutes) and share it with a community of like-minded narrators and listeners. This is a free, non-commercial initiative to connect aspiring narrators, promote storytelling, and build a creative community. No monetization, just pure love for the art of narration.How to Participate:- Choose a short story or piece of prose you're passionate about.- Record it with clear audio using a mobile phone or audio recorder. Do not include your name or the story's title in the recording.- Background music is optional, but avoid copyrighted tracks to prevent hosting issues.- Send your recording via email to ramrotiaaloo@gmail.com or WhatsApp at +91 9818098790.Full credit to the writer and narrator will be given on the Listen with Irfan podcast channel. Take inspiration from the sample recording by narrator Munish (attached).Join us to share your voice, connect with an audience, and celebrate the art of storytelling!Let's create something beautiful together!Cover: IrfanWe respect creative ownership. If you believe this is your work or if appropriate credit hasn't been given, kindly get in touch at ramrotiaaloo@gmail.comBECOME A PATRON : Work on Listen with Irfan takes time, money and hard work to produce. As of now it is being done voluntarily with the family, friends and listeners who came forward for hand holding from its inception.  If you like the Podcasts, admire it, and benefit from its content, please consider awarding us an honorarium to make the future of this Podcast Channel robust and assured.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠यहाँ आपको मिलती हैं वो दुर्लभ आवाज़ें खुद बोलती, गाती और बहस करती। मनोहर श्याम जोशी, कमलेश्वर, कृष्णा सोबती, बी वी कारंत, शमशेर बहादुर सिंह, बलराज साहनी, अज्ञेय, रसूलन बाई, निर्मल वर्मा, मंगलेश डबराल, राजेंद्र यादव, चंद्रकांत देवताले, भवानी प्रसाद मिश्र, इस्मत चुग़ताई, सत्यदेव दुबे, त्रिलोचन, अमरीश पुरी, इब्राहीम अल्क़ाज़ी, मोहन उप्रेती, गोरख पांडेय, नैना देवी, वीरेन डंगवाल, मन्नू भंडारी, भीष्म साहनी, देवकी नंदन पांडे आदि के अलावा अनगिनत भारतीय और विदेशी समकालीन विचारक, कलाकार, लेखक, कवि और सांस्कृतिक लड़ाके। किताबों पर चर्चा के पॉडकास्ट, संगीत, फिल्म रिव्यू और स्ट्रीट रिकॉर्डिंग्स का एकमात्र पॉडकास्ट मंच। Details to support this Podcast Channel i.e. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen with Irfan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ :-Bank Name: State Bank Of IndiaName: SYED MOHD IRFANAccount No:32188719331Branch: State Bank of India, Vaishali Sec 4, GhaziabadIFSC–SBIN0013238UPI/Gpay ID irfan.rstv@oksbiPayPal ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠paypal.me/farah121116⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RazorPay etc ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://irfaniyat.stck.me/⁠⁠⁠

Story Shahtoot by Jyotsana Milan | Narrated by Salman Elahi KhanSalman Khan, originally from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, has professional experience in the telecom and agrochemical industries. He now manages a school in his hometown. A passionate admirer of cinema, music, and literature, he is also an avid collector of vintage books, periodicals, and records.Curator: IrfanJoin the Art of Reading:Share Your Story on Listen with IrfanDo you have a passion for reading literature or narrating captivating prose? Here's your chance to shine! I'm thrilled to announce a new collaborative series, Art of Reading, on my podcast channel, Listen with Irfan.If you love bringing stories to life, I'm offering you a platform to showcase your talent.Record a short story of your choice (maximum 8 minutes) and share it with a community of like-minded narrators and listeners. This is a free, non-commercial initiative to connect aspiring narrators, promote storytelling, and build a creative community. No monetization, just pure love for the art of narration.How to Participate:- Choose a short story or piece of prose you're passionate about.- Record it with clear audio using a mobile phone or audio recorder. Do not include your name or the story's title in the recording.- Background music is optional, but avoid copyrighted tracks to prevent hosting issues.- Send your recording via email to ramrotiaaloo@gmail.com or WhatsApp at +91 9818098790.Full credit to the writer and narrator will be given on the Listen with Irfan podcast channel. Take inspiration from the sample recording by narrator Munish (attached).Join us to share your voice, connect with an audience, and celebrate the art of storytelling!Let's create something beautiful together!Cover: IrfanWe respect creative ownership. If you believe this is your work or if appropriate credit hasn't been given, kindly get in touch at ramrotiaaloo@gmail.comBECOME A PATRON : Work on Listen with Irfan takes time, money and hard work to produce. As of now it is being done voluntarily with the family, friends and listeners who came forward for hand holding from its inception.  If you like the Podcasts, admire it, and benefit from its content, please consider awarding us an honorarium to make the future of this Podcast Channel robust and assured.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠यहाँ आपको मिलती हैं वो दुर्लभ आवाज़ें खुद बोलती, गाती और बहस करती। मनोहर श्याम जोशी, कमलेश्वर, कृष्णा सोबती, बी वी कारंत, शमशेर बहादुर सिंह, बलराज साहनी, अज्ञेय, रसूलन बाई, निर्मल वर्मा, मंगलेश डबराल, राजेंद्र यादव, चंद्रकांत देवताले, भवानी प्रसाद मिश्र, इस्मत चुग़ताई, सत्यदेव दुबे, त्रिलोचन, अमरीश पुरी, इब्राहीम अल्क़ाज़ी, मोहन उप्रेती, गोरख पांडेय, नैना देवी, वीरेन डंगवाल, मन्नू भंडारी, भीष्म साहनी, देवकी नंदन पांडे आदि के अलावा अनगिनत भारतीय और विदेशी समकालीन विचारक, कलाकार, लेखक, कवि और सांस्कृतिक लड़ाके। किताबों पर चर्चा के पॉडकास्ट, संगीत, फिल्म रिव्यू और स्ट्रीट रिकॉर्डिंग्स का एकमात्र पॉडकास्ट मंच। Details to support this Podcast Channel i.e. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen with Irfan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ :-Bank Name: State Bank Of IndiaName: SYED MOHD IRFANAccount No:32188719331Branch: State Bank of India, Vaishali Sec 4, GhaziabadIFSC–SBIN0013238UPI/Gpay ID irfan.rstv-2@oksbiPayPal ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠paypal.me/farah121116⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RazorPay etc ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://irfaniyat.stck.me/⁠⁠⁠

This is the Catch Up on 3 things by The Indian Express and I am Ichha SharmaToday is the 8th of May and here are today's headlinesA day after India struck Pakistan terror camps, during a special briefing on Operation Sindoor the government said today that the “Pahalgam attack was the first escalation,”. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh addressed the media again on a day India neutralised an air defence system in Lahore. This comes on a day of fast-paced developments after India asked OTT platforms, media streaming platforms and intermediaries operating in India to discontinue the web-series, films, songs, podcasts and other streaming media content originating from Pakistan. Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh warned that those trying to test India's patience should be ready to face ‘quality action' like yesterday's in a reference to Operation Sindoor. The day started with India's reveal that Indian Armed Forces neutralised an air defence system in Lahore after Pakistan attempted overnight strikes on multiple Indian cities.India said today that an “Air Defence system at Lahore” is “reliably learnt” to have been “neutralised” after Pakistan “attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India”. “Today morning Indian Armed Forces targeted Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. Indian response has been in the same domain with same intensity as Pakistan. It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised,”  a Press Information Bureau statement read. Earlier in the day, sources had told The Indian Express that any military target in Lahore or other parts of Pakistan will only be hit in response to any offensive action from their side.The Border Security Force (BSF) troops in Punjab's Ferozepur sector shot dead an unidentified Pakistani intruder when he tried to enter the Indian territory on the intervening night last night and today, said officials. The body has been handed to the police, and investigations are going on to ascertain his identity. According to officials, the incident occurred near Gate No. 207 at the Lakha Singhwala Hithar BSF checkpost in the Mamdot sector of the Ferozepur district, one of the six border districts in Punjab.Built as a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya, the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles form a crucial part of India's arsenal, with Uttar Pradesh set to be the centre of its production. On May 11, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate a BrahMos missile manufacturing unit in Lucknow whose target is to produce 80 to 100 missiles annually. The unit, whose foundation stone was laid in 2021, is part of a Defence Industrial Corridor that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced in 2018 during the global investors' summit.Ukraine's parliament voted today in favour of ratifying a minerals deal signed with the United States, an agreement Kyiv hopes will secure future military assistance from Washington in its fight to repel Russian troops. Despite misgivings by some Ukrainian lawmakers over whether the government had provided them with all the information on the deal and over some of its compromises, 338 voted in favour of ratifying the agreement, with none against. Some lawmakers had raised concerns over the lack of detail of some of the deal's provisions, such as how an envisaged investment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction would be governed or how any contributions would be made.

India Gears Up for Worst-Case Scenarios As Indo-Pak tensions soar post the deadly April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, India's Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered nationwide civil defence mock drills on May 7. These include air raid sirens, crash blackouts, evacuation rehearsals, and camouflaging critical infrastructure—measures not seen at this scale since the Kargil conflict. The drills follow India's sweeping diplomatic retaliation: suspension of visas for Pakistani nationals, revocation of the Indus Waters Treaty, sealing the Attari border, and banning Pakistan Airlines. Pakistan hit back by halting all trade and closing its airspace. PM Modi has granted the military full operational freedom to respond. As cross-border ceasefire violations stretch into their 10th day, India is clearly preparing for all possibilities. Cyber Frontline: Hackers Hit Indian Defence SitesA digital war is brewing alongside border tensions. Pakistani hacker groups have claimed to breach key Indian defence-linked websites, including the Military Engineer Services and Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses—claims the institute denies. One group alleged access to 10GB of user data. Meanwhile, defacement attempts were made on websites like Armoured Vehicle Nigam and Army Public Schools. Another group, Internet of Khilafah, targeted welfare platforms for ex-servicemen. While cybersecurity teams have foiled most attacks, these waves of digital aggression are adding another layer to the Indo-Pak crisis. Union Territories Join Centre's Capex Push Starting FY26, India's Union Territories (UTs) will finally be eligible for the Centre's 50-year, interest-free capital expenditure loan scheme—originally introduced post-pandemic for states only. With ₹1.5 trillion allocated for FY26, 60% of funds will go toward infrastructure, while 40% will be linked to reforms. UTs like Puducherry and Delhi can now tap into this pool to fund critical projects. States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh already top the borrowing list under this scheme. Economists say the move aims to spur public investment and balance development across regions amid slow private capital inflow. Taj Hotels Bets Big on India's Travel Boom Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), owner of the iconic Taj brand, is doubling down on India's tourism wave with a ₹1,200 crore investment plan for FY26. After a 53% jump in FY25 net profit to ₹2,038 crore, the company plans to open 30 new hotels, most under an asset-light model. TajSATS, its catering arm, added ₹716 crore to revenues. With rising demand from leisure, business, and MICE segments, IHCL is eyeing higher occupancy rates and room prices, forecasted to cross ₹10,000 by 2026. From legacy luxury to next-gen growth, IHCL is charting a bold path forward. Skechers to Go Private in $9.4 Billion Deal Footwear giant Skechers is being acquired by 3G Capital in a $9.4 billion all-cash deal, valuing shares at $63—a 30% premium. Shareholders can also choose $57 cash plus equity in a new private entity. The move comes as global shoemakers brace for US tariffs under President Trump's trade reset. Despite record revenues of $9 billion in 2024 and $640 million in earnings, Skechers hopes that going private will help it weather geopolitical headwinds, especially as China contributes 15% of its revenue. CEO Robert Greenberg and team will stay on, with headquarters remaining in California.

#nationalinterest ‘The announcement of caste census has come in the build-up to the Bihar elections. The census may conclude just ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections. The reason we call this move a bad idea is because nobody has figured out what to do with the data, except Rahul Gandhi'— Watch this week's #NationalInterest with Shekhar Gupta --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read this week's National Interest: https://theprint.in/national-interest/caste-census-is-a-bad-idea-whose-time-has-come-much-worse-lies-ahead/2613185/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To visit ThePrint Store: https://store.theprint.in/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Produced By: Mahira Khan

In this episode of Cyrus Says, we sit down with rising MMA star Siddharth Singh, who hails from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and began his martial arts journey at just 18, transitioning from a strong base in wrestling and boxing. Now training at Soma Fight Club, Bangkok, Siddharth has honed a powerful hybrid style of aggressive striking and technical grappling, under elite international coaches. With an impressive professional record of 8 wins and 2 losses, Siddharth fights in the Welterweight division (77 kg) and has made his mark as a former SFL Welterweight Champion, defending his title twice before stepping into the cage with Brave Combat Federation in 2022, notably facing Algerian contender Malik Bara. Known for his rear-naked chokes and devastating overhand right, he brings a calculated, crowd-pleasing style to every fight. He was named SFL Fighter of the Year in 2021, and his talent has earned him partnerships with Under Armour India and NitroX Sports Nutrition. This fun and insightful conversation also features hilarious takes on emotional strength, patience versus Delhi traffic, charm overload, and sibling rivalries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn about the state that is home to the Taj Mahal.

In this powerful episode of our leadership series, we focus on something that truly defines great leaders: how they carry the weight of the call. Not the call they wanted—but the one that shows up mid-crisis, when there's no script and no time to stall. We're talking clarity over comfort, presence over panic, and mission over ego. If you're building something that matters, this is the episode that helps you lead when the pressure is highest, the stakes are real, and your next move will echo far beyond the moment.

This week, host Anmol Pritam is joined by Newslaundry's Shivanarayan Rajpurohit, independent journalists Ashfaque EJ and Saurabh Kumar. Shivnarayan talks about his report that uncovers how an Adani subsidiary gained access to its controversial power plant site in Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur through a forest department road – without obtaining the required forest clearance that would precede such arrangements. “Experts say that the project and road leading up to it will cause a lot of damage to the surrounding flora and fauna,” he says.Saurabh and Ashfaque's documentary follows five of the 18 anti-CAA activists accused of orchestrating violence during the 2020 Delhi riots.“Through our documentary, we wanted to show that the Delhi police, to cover up its inefficiency in containing the violence during the 2020 Delhi unrest, booked these activists,” says Saurabh. He adds that the FIRs against the activists is not based on “concrete proof” and has “several loopholes”.Tune in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Only Business, we break down exactly what's going on with the stock market as of April 7, 2025—in plain English. From rising tariffs and tech volatility to sector shifts and IPO trends, you'll get a real-time, no-fluff market update made for business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn what these market moves mean for your business, how to position yourself, and where the smart money is heading next.

Yogi Adityanath to Seize 98% Waqf Properties in Uttar Pradesh | Bill पारित होते ही Yogi Dhamaka!

For the citizens of Delhi, the Yamuna, the city's most prominent river, has become one of the many symbols of just how polluted their city is. Despite it being a hot topic during every election that the city sees, the change is hardly ever visible. However, even with the existing pollution levels, the river remains to be a lifeline for those who live on its banks.Today, The Indian Express' Sophiya Mathew and Devansh Mittal join us to talk about everything that they witnessed as they travelled from  from Palla, where the Yamuna enters Delhi from Haryana, to Okhla where the river flows into Uttar Pradesh.Hosted by Niharika NandaProduced and written by Niharika Nanda and Shashank BhargavaEdited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

This is the Catchup on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Ichha SharmaToday is the 26th of March and here are the headlines.In a late-night order on Tuesday, former Enforcement Directorate chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra was appointed a full-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). The EAC-PM, an independent advisory body, has had one vacancy since the death of its former chairman Bibek Debroy in November 2024. The former Ed chief had a high-profile stint, and somewhat ignominious end, as the ED Director. After he took over in 2018, the agency went about pursuing money laundering investigations at a break neck pace. By 2022, 65% of all asset attachments carried out by the ED in the previous 17 years had been made under his signature, with the agency carrying out more than 2,000 raids.The Assam police arrested journalist Dilwar Hussain Mozumdar last night after detaining him for several hours following his coverage of a protest against the Assam Co-operative Apex Bank (ACAB). Hussain is a reporter with the Assam-based digital media portal The CrossCurrent, known for its investigative reportage on the state government. He is also the assistant general secretary of the Guwahati Press Club. The grounds for his arrest, which were presented to his family hours after he was detained, state that he was arrested for alleged criminal intimidation and violation of provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for “offensive remarks” against the complainant.A spate of chain-snatching incidents in Chennai, executed within an hour on yesterday culminated in the fatal police shooting of one of the suspects near Taramani railway station today. Police said the men, part of a notorious gang, targeted elderly women and morning walkers in neighbourhoods along East Coast Road, Adyar and Besant Nagar. According to the police, two suspects, both from Uttar Pradesh, were intercepted at Chennai International Airport as they attempted to board a flight to New Delhi.A day after what Donald Trump termed as “the only glitch in two months”, US National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, said he took full responsibility for leak of military plans in a Signal chat. He said quote, “I take full responsibility. I built the group. My job is to make sure everything is coordinated,” unquote in an interview with Fox News, in which he conceded: “it's embarrassing”. Waltz's comments came a day after Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, revealed that he was added to a group on Signal, a private messaging app, that included vice-president JD Vance, defense secretary Pete Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio and other high-profile figures discussing “operational details” of US airstrikes on Houthis in Yemen.South Korea's government has been held responsible for multiple human rights violations for fabricating birth records, falsely reporting that children had been abandoned over decades for a programme which sent about 200,000 children and babies abroad for adoption, a landmark enquiry by the truth commission has found. Private agencies were able to export babies and children due to government's lack of oversight and the agencies were driven by profit which enabled the “mass exportation of children” and numerous examples of coercion, false records and fraud have been found in the scheme.This was the Catch Up on 3 Things by the Indian Express.

Crossing Lines: Cross-Ethnic Coalitions in India and Prospects for Minority Representation (Routledge, 2024) explains why, how, and where ethnic political parties unexpectedly seek votes from non-coethnics and when voters support non-coethnic parties. It draws on case studies of three Indian states (Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan) and of Indian national elections to demonstrate how differences in party systems impact political party strategies and voter choices. It shows that multipolar party systems encourage political parties to provide physical security, representation, and economic benefits for minorities, especially Muslims, in India and as a result, foster cross-ethnic links between parties and voters. However, as political arenas become dominated by two or even one party, advocacy for the interests of marginalized groups declines, weakening cross-ethnic linkages. The book thus explains why representation and advocacy for Muslims in Uttar Pradesh and at the national level has alternated dramatically in the 21st century. Yash is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the School of Public and International Affairs, University of Cincinnati. His research is focused on the interactions of political mobilization and anti-minority violence within Hindu nationalist organizations in India. Twitter Email: sharmaym@mail.uc.edu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Shashank Mani, MP & visionary leader, shares his journey from corporate leadership to grassroots politics, driving change through the Jagriti Movement. From empowering young entrepreneurs to advocating for national development, his insights inspire action. Discover his take on India's future, technology, and people-led transformation.00:38- About Shashank ManiHe is a member of Parliament from India, from the Deoria, Uttar Pradesh constituency.He's the founder of the Jagriti Movement. He's the author of a book titled India –A Journey through a Healing Civilisation and the Middle of Diamond India.He is developing his region as an MP by nurturing the Spirit Of Udyamita (Responsible and Ethical Entrepreneurship), Ushering in Bargad Kranti that is Initiating a National Renaissance through participation and enterprise where Middle becomes the New Bottomline contributing to Amrit Kaal.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has made it clear that he is about to take a ‘big' step, sparking speculation about a significant move to further strengthen law and order in the state. Meanwhile, Sambhal Masjid's Imam Zafar Ali has been arrested by the police, raising questions about the reasons behind his detention and its potential political impact. As developments unfold, this incident is likely to stir discussions on governance and security in Uttar Pradesh.

Crossing Lines: Cross-Ethnic Coalitions in India and Prospects for Minority Representation (Routledge, 2024) explains why, how, and where ethnic political parties unexpectedly seek votes from non-coethnics and when voters support non-coethnic parties. It draws on case studies of three Indian states (Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan) and of Indian national elections to demonstrate how differences in party systems impact political party strategies and voter choices. It shows that multipolar party systems encourage political parties to provide physical security, representation, and economic benefits for minorities, especially Muslims, in India and as a result, foster cross-ethnic links between parties and voters. However, as political arenas become dominated by two or even one party, advocacy for the interests of marginalized groups declines, weakening cross-ethnic linkages. The book thus explains why representation and advocacy for Muslims in Uttar Pradesh and at the national level has alternated dramatically in the 21st century. Yash is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the School of Public and International Affairs, University of Cincinnati. His research is focused on the interactions of political mobilization and anti-minority violence within Hindu nationalist organizations in India. Twitter Email: sharmaym@mail.uc.edu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Crossing Lines: Cross-Ethnic Coalitions in India and Prospects for Minority Representation (Routledge, 2024) explains why, how, and where ethnic political parties unexpectedly seek votes from non-coethnics and when voters support non-coethnic parties. It draws on case studies of three Indian states (Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan) and of Indian national elections to demonstrate how differences in party systems impact political party strategies and voter choices. It shows that multipolar party systems encourage political parties to provide physical security, representation, and economic benefits for minorities, especially Muslims, in India and as a result, foster cross-ethnic links between parties and voters. However, as political arenas become dominated by two or even one party, advocacy for the interests of marginalized groups declines, weakening cross-ethnic linkages. The book thus explains why representation and advocacy for Muslims in Uttar Pradesh and at the national level has alternated dramatically in the 21st century. Yash is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the School of Public and International Affairs, University of Cincinnati. His research is focused on the interactions of political mobilization and anti-minority violence within Hindu nationalist organizations in India. Twitter Email: sharmaym@mail.uc.edu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

In this deeply enriching episode of the Think Wildlife Podcast, we delve into the transformative journey of Trishala Ashok—an award-winning jewelry designer turned conservation filmmaker and founder of True Story Media Productions LLP. Through an inspiring and heartfelt conversation, Trishala takes us on a voyage that beautifully bridges creativity and science, forging a path that is not just about capturing wildlife through the lens, but about safeguarding it through purpose-driven narratives. From the forests of Karnataka to the banks of the Girwa River and the unseen corridors of airport security, Trishala's commitment to ecological filmmaking has established her as a pioneer in the realm of biodiversity conservation.Her story begins in the world of shimmering gemstones and 3D-printed designs, but a fateful encounter with a tiger in Jim Corbett National Park changed everything. That single moment stirred something within—a deep calling that led her away from the glittering world of fashion to the raw, untamed wilderness of India's biodiversity hotspots. What followed was a courageous decision to abandon a successful business in jewelry design, and leap into the unknown world of conservation without a roadmap—armed only with passion, empathy, and an unwavering desire to make a difference.In this episode, Trishala opens up about her early experiences with wildlife rescue in Bangalore, where she worked with monkeys, black kites, lorises, and snakes. She shares riveting accounts of her collaborations with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and Karnataka Forest Department, tackling wildlife trade and urban wildlife rescues. These foundational years, filled with on-ground exposure and grassroots outreach, eventually gave rise to the storyteller in her—a voice determined to counter deep-rooted misconceptions about wildlife, particularly snakes, through the power of conservation filmmaking.Trishala's first film, DEFANG, born out of a need to debunk snake-related myths like the existence of the mythical "nagamani," marked her official entry into wildlife documentary filmmaking. Created in partnership with the Karnataka Forest Department and Kalinga Center for Rainforest Ecology, DEFANG not only garnered support from the highest forest authority but also signaled the beginning of her journey into biodiversity filmmaking. It's not just the subject matter that makes this documentary unique—it's the impact-driven storytelling that weaves science with empathy and curiosity with community action.From there, Trishala's work continued to evolve. One of her most notable contributions is a public service announcement featuring Gauri Shankar, a renowned herpetologist, and a young boy from a rural village. This short film reached thousands across Karnataka and successfully altered local perceptions about snakes—encouraging empathy, curiosity, and coexistence. In a moving anecdote, Trishala recalls returning to the village a year later to find local children guarding a burrow of snake eggs, a testament to the behavioral shift her work helped inspire. This moment solidified her belief that wildlife filmmaking can do more than just document nature—it can mobilize communities, change narratives, and ultimately protect species.Trishala's philosophy is rooted in the idea that storytelling should not end with the credits; instead, it should catalyze action. This belief inspired her to found True Story Media Productions LLP, a media platform focused not only on nature documentaries and sustainable filmmaking, but also on social change. At True Story, storytelling transcends screen time, extending into conservation outreach campaigns, policy change, and educational efforts. Whether working with schoolchildren or policy-makers, the mission remains the same: inspire action through compelling narratives grounded in truth.One of True Story's recent standout projects is Girwa ke Gharial, a short film blending fiction with conservation messaging to spotlight the critically endangered gharial in Uttar Pradesh. Featuring local children and forest officers as actors, the film connects audiences with the riverine ecosystem in a relatable and accessible way. Through engaging storytelling and community inclusion, the project helped redefine public attitudes toward gharials—prompting viewers to see them not as obscure reptiles, but as proud icons of their region's natural heritage.But Trishala's commitment to conservation extends beyond rivers and forests. In a groundbreaking new project titled Hidden Routes: Detecting Wildlife Crime Through Airports, she explores a darker, lesser-known side of conservation: wildlife trafficking. With a focus on training customs officers to detect illegal wildlife trade, this non-public film represents a pioneering step in biodiversity management. Drawing from nearly a decade of work with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and other enforcement agencies, Trishala's investigative lens now serves as a vital tool in safeguarding endangered species from organized crime syndicates.Another fascinating initiative she shares is an upcoming wildlife documentary on marine mammal strandings along the Indian coast. This film, made in collaboration with marine mammalogist Dipani Sutaria, is designed to educate coastal communities and fisheries departments in both Malayalam and English. By providing clear, culturally grounded guidance on how to handle strandings, the project exemplifies Trishala's unique approach to sustainable filmmaking: hyper-local, inclusive, and rooted in both science and storytelling.Also in the pipeline is a passion project centered on the enigmatic Indian chameleon. After three years of research and development, Trishala is finally moving into production on this highly anticipated 4K video that will highlight the ecological significance and conservation needs of this visually stunning yet vulnerable reptile. Through this project, she hopes to draw attention to a species that often goes unnoticed in mainstream conservation conversations.Throughout the episode, Trishala also reflects on the challenges and joys of being a female filmmaker in a niche, often under-resourced field. She talks about the technical hurdles of filming in remote locations, the difficulties of acquiring permits, and the unpredictable nature of shooting in the wild. Despite these challenges, she maintains that filmmaking—when done with integrity, vision, and community collaboration—can drive real-world impact.For aspiring filmmakers, she offers invaluable advice. She emphasizes the importance of knowing your gear inside out, even when projects are few and far between. She encourages budding storytellers to explore all aspects of ecological filmmaking, from scriptwriting to editing, directing to producing. By honing a broad range of technical and narrative skills, young filmmakers can build sustainable careers that both support and advocate for the planet.What sets Trishala apart is her refusal to compromise on emotional truth, even when facing logistical hurdles or skepticism from peers. In a moment of doubt during the production of Girwa ke Gharial, mentors advised her to simplify the project. But she stuck to her creative instincts, refusing to dilute the story for convenience. That leap of faith paid off when the film deeply resonated with its target audience—young children and local villagers who had never before seen their culture and environment reflected so vividly on screen.One particularly heartwarming story she shares is from her time volunteering with the Kalinga Center for Rainforest Ecology. While accompanying a film crew to document a king cobra, she spent days engaging with a family who initially wanted the snake removed. By the end of the week, their fear turned to fascination. One villager even suggested leaving curd rice at the snake's burrow, a traditional Indian gesture of care. This moment, rich in cultural nuance and personal transformation, exemplifies the kind of impact conservation filmmaking can have when it's rooted in empathy and respect.From addressing climate change to amplifying underrepresented voices in conservation, Trishala's work embodies a powerful synergy between media, science, and community. Her films are not just stories—they are instruments of change. With each frame, she invites us to see the world not only as it is but as it could be: interconnected, thriving, and deeply worth protecting.So whether you're a student of environmental science, an aspiring wildlife photographer, or simply a lover of stories that matter, this episode is for you. Join us in this immersive conversation with Trishala Ashok as we explore the evolving landscape of biodiversity conservation through the lens of one of India's most passionate and visionary storytellers.#conservationfilmmaking #conservation #wildlifephotography #wildlifefilmmaking #filmmaking #femalefilmmaker #naturedocumentary #wildlifedocumentary #biodiversity #sustainablefilmmaking #biodiversityhotspots #conservationoutreach #biodiversityfilmmaking #4kvideo #ecologicalfilmmaking #climatechange #biodiversityconservation #biodiversitymanagementMeet the HostAnish Banerjee: https://x.com/anishwildlifeThink Wildlife Foundation: https://thinkwildlifefoundation.com/Meet the GuestsTrishala Ashok: https://trishalaashok.com/Recommended Wildlife Conservation BooksWildlife Conservation in India by HS Pabla: https://amzn.to/3Ypx9ZhIndian Mammals: A Field Guide by Vivek Menon: https://amzn.to/4fhMiCLAt the Feet of Living Things by Aparajita Datta: https://amzn.to/3BZmtsN Get full access to The Think Wildlife Podcast at anishbanerjee.substack.com/subscribe

Inflation can squeeze profit margins and shake up even the strongest businesses—but only if you're unprepared. In this episode, we're breaking down how to protect your business from rising costs, shifting markets, and economic uncertainty. From pricing strategies to smarter spending, we'll cover real, actionable ways to stay profitable and resilient no matter what the economy throws your way.

Yogi Adityanath has sent a strong and clear message to the Muslim community, emphasizing law and order while addressing the growing concerns over religious symbolism in public spaces. In Sambhal, mosques have now started "wearing hijabs," raising questions about changing narratives and increasing polarization. What does this signify, and how does it impact the socio-political landscape of Uttar Pradesh? Anupam Mishra and Sanjay Dixit break down Yogi Adityanath's stance, the symbolism behind the mosque coverings, and the larger implications for communal harmony and governance.

Josh Malihabadi (born Shabbir Hasan Khan; 5 December 1898 in Malihabad, Uttar Pradesh, India – died 22 February 1982, Pakistan) popularly known as Shayar-e-Inqalab (poet of revolution) was a poet of Urdu.Known for his liberal values and challenging the established order, he wrote over 100,000 couplets and more than 1,000 rubaiyaat in his lifetime. Yaadon ki Barat, his autobiography, is noted for its frank and candid style. The first Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru held him in high esteem and frequently attended the mushaira at Lala Kishan Lal Kalra's United Coffee House where Josh recited his poetry.Some of his works were translated to English like The Unity of Mankind elegies by Josh Malihabadi by Syed Akbar Pasha Tirmizi.The lifelong mission of Josh can be summed up in his own words:Kaam hai mera taghayyur Naam hai mera shabaab, Mera naara inquilab-o-inquilab-o-inquilabMy task is change, my name is youth! My slogan: revolution, revolution and revolution! Abdul Raoof Siddiquiemail: raoof3@yahoo.comThanks for listening! Follow us on instagram @urdu.ghazal and visit our website www.mstn.in

It's Monday, March 10th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Police arrest Christians in India for evangelism On February 23rd, police arrested nine Christians in two locations in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India for holding Sunday prayer meetings, which Hindu groups alleged were intended to convert Hindus, reports ChurchinChains. Five Christians, including a pastor, were arrested in Sitapur district, where a case was registered following a complaint by Anuj Bhadauria, the district coordinator of a Hindu nationalist organization named Bajrang Dal.  Plus, four others, including a pastor, were arrested in Raebareli district. In each case, the Christians had gathered for regular Sunday prayers in a home when a Hindu mob barged in and alleged that they were defaming the Hindu religion, and its deities, and offering inducements to convert people. Police seized Bibles and other religious materials as evidence of conversion activities. Over one hundred Christians are reportedly being held in different jails across Uttar Pradesh state, with 35 jailed so far in 2025. Christians make up less than one percent of the 200 million people who live in the state there in India. The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 2021, a strict anti-conversion law, was amended last year to include harsher punishments including life imprisonment for religious conversion activities. Many Indian Christians find solace in Joshua 1:9 which says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Trump's pro-America speech wins accolades Last Tuesday night, President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress.  (Read the transcript here) TRUMP: “America is back! (applause) Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden age of America.” CBS News polled Americans and discovered that 91% said the 47th president actually discussed issues that were important to them, and 74% said the address was entertaining.  Overall, a total of 71% said the speech was inspiring. Trump used humor to address the border and wasteful spending No doubt, Trump's description of his policies was indeed entertaining.  Listen to what he had to say about the border. TRUMP: “The media, and our friends in the Democrat Party, kept saying we needed new legislation. We must have legislation to secure the border, but it turned out that all we really needed -- was a new president.” (cheers) He was equally entertaining as he described the waste that the Department of Government Efficiency has identified under the leadership of Elon Musk. TRUMP: “Just listen to some of the appalling waste we have already identified. “$22 billion from HHS to provide free housing and cars for illegal aliens. $45 million for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion scholarships in Burma. $40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. (laughter) $8 million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of. (laughter) $8 million for making mice transgender. (laughter) This is real. … “Under the Trump administration, all of these scams have been found out and exposed and swiftly terminated by a group of very intelligent, mostly young people, headed up by Elon [Musk]. And we appreciate it. We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud.” (applause) Post-abortive women have higher suicide rate In a new topic-blind study, 2,829 American women, between ages 41 and 45, were surveyed about their reproductive health and suicide attempts, reports LifeNews.com. Authored by Elliot Institute Director David Reardon and published in The Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, the study found that women who had abortions or natural pregnancy loss were twice as likely to attempt to end their lives. The research sought to discern whether post-abortive suicide attempts are “entirely incidental and most likely fully explained by pre-existing mental illness,” as some have claimed, or directly related to the loss of life in the womb. To garner unbiased results, the respondents were completely in the dark as to what the purpose of the research was. Among women with a history of abortion, 35% of them had attempted suicide. Even women who did not have abortions, but lost their babies due to miscarriages or problematic pregnancies, had suicide attempt rates of roughly 30%. Notably, the research found that women who were coerced into having abortions had the highest rates of suicide at 46% of whom tried to end their own lives. Only 13% of women who had successful deliveries with no abortions, no miscarriages, no problems within the pregnancies were found to have made suicide attempts — the lowest rates among all surveyed women. Trump DOJ ends Biden lawsuit to force Idaho to allow ‘emergency' abortions The Trump administration has ended a Biden-era attempt to force Idaho pro-life doctors to participate in so-called “emergency” abortions, but a federal judge is still attempting to delay the law's enforcement, reports LifeSiteNews.com. Idaho's Defense of Life Act bans all abortions except those deemed “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.”  On Wednesday, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America reported that the new Justice Department under President Donald Trump has moved to drop the case, ending the federal government's efforts to invalidate the Idaho Defense of Life Act.  Actor Chris Pratt: “I care enough about Jesus to take a stand!” And finally, Chris Pratt has built a career on playing heroes — from the lovable goofball Andy Dwyer on "Parks and Recreation" to Marvel's Star-Lord, he's won over audiences with his humor and charm. But his greatest mission, said the “Guardians of the Galaxy” star, is far bigger than Hollywood, reports The Christian Post. After having listened to the entire Bible, Leah Klett asked Pratt which Scripture has had the most profound impact on his life. PRATT: “Matthew 5:14. Being a light in this world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden. I'm being called to be that city on the hill at this moment in my life. I feel like you take a risk. I think being in the entertainment world, being vocal about anything that's divisive, religion is divisive. I do care enough about Jesus to take a stand, even if it cost me. If it costs me everything, I don't care. It's worth it to me, because this is what I'm called to do, is where my heart is. “I'm a father of four. I want to raise my children up with an understanding that their dad was unashamed of his faith in Jesus, and with a profound understanding of the power of prayer and the grace and the love and the joy that can come from a relationship with Jesus. That's something that's really important to me. You don't hear that a lot from people in entertainment, but it's who I am. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. So, get back to Matthew 5:14.” Now there's a Hollywood star whose knee bends to his Savior Jesus Christ. Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, March 10th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Dans cet épisode Andréa Brusque vous fait découvrir une femme à la destinée extraordinaire. Féroce, puissante et redoutée partout où elle allait, elle était un symbole de révolte pour le peuple indien. Certains voyaient même en elle l'incarnation de la déesse hindoue de la force et de la guerre… Son nom : Phoolan Devi. Une figure féminine saisissante Été 1980, Uttar Pradesh, Nord de l'Inde. La rivière sacrée du Gange scintille sous les derniers rayons du soleil. Les pêcheuses rentrent sans échanger un mot. Soudain, des bruits de moteur se font entendre au loin. Et moins d'une minute plus tard, dans un grand nuage de fumée, trois camionnettes se garent brusquement sur la place principale. L'instant d'après, une dernière silhouette émerge de l'un des véhicules. Ses bottes épaisses s'écrasent dans la poussière. C'est une femme, mais comme personne autour n'en a jamais vue. Sa bouche est crispée dans un rictus terrifiant. Ses petits yeux sombres sont plissés comme deux lames de rasoir. Aujourd'hui, justice sera faite. Mais sa justice, à elle, ne fait pas de prisonniers.  Pour découvrir d'autres récits passionnants, cliquez ci-dessous : [INEDIT] Battling Siki, le champion de boxe français effacé de l'histoire : la vie devant soi (1/4) [INEDIT] Battling Siki, le champion de boxe français effacé de l'histoire : le survivant (2/4) [INEDIT] Battling Siki, le champion de boxe français effacé de l'histoire : un adversaire invincible (3/4) [INEDIT] Battling Siki, le champion de boxe français effacé de l'histoire : un combat à vie (4/4) Un podcast Bababam Originals Ecriture : Elie Olivennes Voix : Andréa Brusque Production : Bababam (montage Célia Brondeau, Antoine Berry Roger) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Harsh Kumar and Sanjay Dixit break down Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's sharp attack on Arvind Kejriwal. They also delve into the legal and political dimensions of the Sambhal Masjid dispute, analyzing its broader implications. The conversation further explores the evolving political landscape in Punjab, shedding light on key power shifts and strategies. Additionally, they preview Mayawati's plans for Uttar Pradesh—will she regain lost ground, or is BSP's influence fading?

As Yogi Adityanath's popularity continues to rise, Akhilesh Yadav is seeking an alliance with Mayawati to counter the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. With shifting political equations, will the SP-BSP join hands once again? Meanwhile, Congress faces internal turmoil, with reports of tensions between Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi over the party's future direction. As the opposition struggles to find a strong footing, the BJP remains firmly in control.

This week, host Pratyush Deep is joined by Newslaundry reporters Avdhesh Kumar and Basant Kumar.Avdhesh reported on how voters in Delhi's 12 reserved seats voted in the recent polls. He explains that despite the AAP's massive defeat, a large section of Dalit voters continued to vote for the party.Basant was on the ground in Prayagraj reporting on the stampede at the Mahakumbh. He says the Uttar Pradesh government wasn't being transparent about the actual death toll, and that it failed to manage the crowds that day. Tune in.Timecodes00:00:00 - Introduction00:01:17 - Delhi's reserved seats00:16:06 - Death toll in Kumbh00:38:57 - RecommendationsRecommendationsAvdheshDelhi के जेबकतरे कैमरे पर क्या बोले? सुनिए नशे और चोरी की कहानी, कैसे करते हैं पुलिस से डील?BasantSanam Teri KasamPratyushScam Inc from The EconomistJailed for ‘kidnapping' her own child, a homeless woman's long road to justiceProduced and edited by Saif Ali Ekram, recorded by Anil Kumar. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to the latest updates from India. 28/02/25

This is the Catchup on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Ichha Sharma.Today is the 26th of February and here are the headlines.The central government opposed petitions seeking a lifetime ban on convicted politicians from contesting elections, arguing in the Supreme Court that a six-year disqualification is not unconstitutional. In its affidavit, the Centre stated that various penal laws impose penalties for a limited time to ensure deterrence while avoiding excessive harshness. The submission was in response to Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay's plea challenging the constitutional validity of Sections 8 and 9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Section 8 mandates a six-year disqualification post-release for those convicted of specified offences.In other news, with 12 state presidents appointed, the BJP seems to be on course to choose its new national chief, albeit with a delay. The BJP leaders The Indian Express spoke to across states attributed the delay largely to the recently concluded Delhi polls. A BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh said the party focused all its energies on Delhi. Meanwhile, another leader said, quote “One leader who has managed up to six-seven Assembly seats in our state and in Uttar Pradesh, was given the charge of only one Assembly seat in Delhi. In another constituency, two MPs managed it. The focus of the party on Delhi was unprecedented and that has led to a delay in the organisational elections,” unquote.Meanwhile, in another headline making news, a communal clash broke out over the installation of speakers in Dumraon village in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district this morning. The clash occurred during Shivratri celebrations. According to Ichak Block Development Officer (BDO) Santosh Kumar, a disagreement over installing loudspeakers by the road escalated into stone-pelting and arson. Authorities said there were no injuries or deaths. Hazaribagh Additional Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar told The Indian Express, that an FIR has been registered,adding that three motorcycles and a car were set ablaze.In news from Maharahstra, a man allegedly raped a 26-year-old woman inside a MSRTC bus on the premises of a bus stand in Pune in the early hours of Tuesday. The police identified the accused as a history-sheeter and launched an extensive search for him.The police said the crime occurred around 5.30 am when the woman was at the bus stand to board a bus for her hometown in the Satara district of Maharashtra. The accused, loitering on the premises of the bus stand, allegedly approached her and misled her to another bus, saying that it was the one for her destination. The woman believed the accused and boarded the bus, said the police. The accused allegedly followed her and raped her inside the bus before fleeing from the scene.On the global front, President Donald Trump announced a new immigration initiative aimed at wealthy foreign investors, a “gold card” that offers a path to US citizenship for a fee of $5 million. Replacing the current EB-5 visa program, this scheme will grant investors the privileges of a green card, allowing them to become permanent US residents through financial investment. The existing EB-5 visa program, established in 1990, allows foreign investors to gain US residency if they create or preserve jobs through capital investments. Minimum investments are set at $1.5 million, or $800 thosand for economically distressed areas. The program has drawn criticism over concerns of abuse and fraud, with businesses, including those linked to Trump family members, using it to fund property developments.This was the Catch Up on 3 Things by The Indian Express

Yogi Roars in Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha | Bageshwar Dham & Modi | Sanjay Dixit

This is the Catchup on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.Today is the 24th of February and here are the headlines.Eight workers remain trapped after the SLBC tunnel in Telangana partially collapsed on Saturday. Despite efforts, Telangana Minister Jupally Krishna Rao said survival chances are “very remote”. A team of rat miners, previously deployed in Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel collapse, joined the rescue team. Around 300 personnel, including NDRF, SDRF, and Army members, are involved. However, muck and debris are hampering progress, with rescuers 13 km inside the tunnel, and water blocking access to the trapped workers.Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted Madhya Pradesh's rise as a business hub during the Global Investors Summit 2025 in Bhopal. Praising the state's skilled workforce and growing industrial sectors, Modi noted that India will remain the world's fastest-growing economy. He emphasized Madhya Pradesh's role in the electric vehicle revolution and aerospace sector, assuring investors of the state's lucrative opportunities. He urged global businesses to tap into the state's flourishing market.The Uttar Pradesh government told the Supreme Court that the well near the disputed mosque in Sambhal is on public land and not connected to the mosque. The well, known as 'Dharani varah koop,' is located near, but not inside, the disputed site. Tensions have risen over claims that the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid was built over the demolished Hari Mandir temple. The case continues to stir religious disputes between local communities.In the 2025 German election, the conservative CDU/CSU alliance led by Friedrich Merz emerged victorious, with the far-right AfD securing its best result, placing second with 20.8% of the vote. US President Donald Trump praised the win, calling it a rejection of policies on energy and immigration. Incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD dropped 10 percentage points, finishing in third. Merz is now poised to become Germany's next Chancellor.The Trump administration announced a massive reduction in USAID personnel, putting nearly all employees on leave and eliminating around 1,600 positions. This decision follows a legal battle where Trump sought to cut thousands of USAID jobs but was halted by a federal judge. The judge ruled that the pause would not be permanent. The cuts are part of a broader “reduction in force” effort, impacting the agency's global operations.This was the Catch Up on 3 Things by the Indian Express.

This is the Catchup on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Ichha Sharma.Today is the 19th of February and here are the headlines.In a major development, Bharatiya Janata Party today confirmed after the legislature party meeting that senior leader and Shalimar Bagh MLA Rekha Gupta has been appointed as the new Chief Minister of Delhi, New Delhi MLA Parvesh Verma is set to become the Deputy CM, and Rohini MLA Vijender Gupta was appointed as speaker of the Delhi Assembly. The BJP returned to power in Delhi after 27 years, having won a clear majority of 44 out of 70 seats in the Assembly election, the results of which were declared on 8th of February. The swearing-in ceremony for the new chief minister is scheduled for tomorrow 20th of February at Ramlila Maidan.Moving on to another major story, with many Nepali students who were asked to leave the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology University campus in the aftermath of the suicide of an engineering student yet to return to their hostels. The Indian Express has learnt that senior Nepal embassy officials have raised concerns over their safety and security. Two senior officials from the Nepal embassy in Delhi are in Bhubaneswar to hold discussions with Odisha government representatives over the death of 20-year-old Prakriti Lamsal, an engineering student at Odisha's KIIT, and the safety of protesting Nepali students. Lamsal, who is from Nepal's Kathmandu, died on campus Sunday evening, sparking a standoff between Nepali students and the university administration.In another news making headline, the National Green Tribunal rapped the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and the Uttar Pradesh government for not submitting adequate details on faecal coliform and other water quality parameters, such as oxygen levels, in the river Ganga in Prayagraj. It granted the state government a week to place on record the latest water quality analysis reports from different points of the river at the Maha Kumbh Mela site in Prayagraj. A bench of NGT was hearing the matter on the compliance of a December order, wherein it had directed the UP government and the Central Pollution Control Board to ensure that water quality in rivers Ganga and Yamuna was fit to drink and bathe in during the Kumbh.Meanwhile, in the news from the North, The Uttarakhand Cabinet today approved a new draft law banning people from outside the state from buying agricultural and horticultural land in 11 of the state's 13 districts. The new draft law will be tabled in the ongoing Budget Session of the Assembly. In a tweet, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami called it a “historic step”. Under the new draft law, people from outside the state, except for Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, will not be allowed to purchase horticultural and agricultural land, and district magistrates will no longer have the authority to approve land purchases.On the global front, US President Donald Trump defended the Department of Government Efficiency's decision to cancel a 21-million-dollar grant intended to support voter turnout in India today. Questioning the necessity of such financial aid, Trump cited India's economic growth and high tariffs as reasons why US taxpayer money should not be allocated for this purpose. Trump during a press conference remarked, quote “Twenty-one million for voter turnout in India — why are we giving them this money?” unquote.This was the Catch Up on 3 Things by the Indian Express

The festival of Kumbh Mela is estimated to attract 400 million Hindus and other visitors from around the world. The 45-day festival is a massive economic engine, injecting billions in the economy of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which is hosting the event. And this year, it is a Grand Mela, which only happens once every 144 years. From big businesses to street vendors and hotel owners, to major brands and digital entrepreneurs, all are looking to cash in on the influx of visitors.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: businessdaily@bbc.co.ukPresented and produced by Devina Gupta(Image: Shoppers next to a toy stall at Kumbh Mela in 2023. Credit: Getty Images)

This is the Catchup on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.Today is the 18th of February and here are the headlines.The Supreme Court granted podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia interim protection from arrest over alleged objectionable comments on his YouTube show, "India's Got Latent." Despite this, the court condemned his language, describing it as perverse and shameful. Justice Surya Kant criticized Allahbadia's choice of words, saying they would embarrass parents, brothers, sisters, and society at large. He expressed disgust, asking what other standard of obscenity would apply in this country. Allahbadia's lawyer was reprimanded for defending the program's language, while the court made strong remarks on the perverted content.Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister, criticized the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over the handling of the Maha Kumbh, calling it a "Mrityu Kumbh" (Death Kumbh). She claimed that bodies had been hidden to reduce the death toll and pointed out the lack of proper arrangements for the poor at the event. Banerjee emphasized the need for better planning, stating that while VIPs had tents worth Rs 1 lakh, the poor were left unassisted. She called for measures to prevent stampedes and ensure safety at such religious gatherings.The Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University in Odisha has faced criticism after a 20-year-old engineering student from Nepal died by suicide. The university terminated two security staff members and suspended two hostel officials and an administrative officer. The student had earlier complained about mistreatment from a batchmate, a 21-year-old from Lucknow, who has been arrested. The situation escalated with protests against the university's handling of the incident and allegations of racial behavior. Over 500 Nepali students were initially evicted but were reinstated after intervention from the Nepal embassy.President Droupadi Murmu has authorized the prosecution of AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a money-laundering case investigated by the Enforcement Directorate. The sanction was requested by the Ministry of Home Affairs, citing adequate evidence. Jain, 60, will face prosecution under Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which deals with the prosecution of public servants for crimes committed during official duties. The move follows a thorough investigation by the Enforcement Directorate regarding allegations of corruption and financial misconduct.Following extensive talks in Saudi Arabia, the United States and Russia have agreed on four principles to restore diplomatic relations. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that both countries aim to reestablish functional missions in Washington and Moscow. A high-level team will be appointed to help negotiate a resolution to the Ukraine conflict. The discussions will also explore potential geopolitical and economic cooperation once the conflict ends. Rubio emphasized that ongoing engagement would continue to ensure progress on these issues, with both sides committed to a productive resolution.This was the Catch Up on 3 Things by the Indian Express.

This is the Catchup on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.Today is the 17th of February and here are the headlines.Protests erupted at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar after 20-year-old Nepalese student Prakriti Lamsal was found dead in her hostel room. Lamsal, a B.Tech student in computer science, was suspected to have committed suicide. Police detained a batchmate in connection with the case and filed an FIR under abetment to suicide. Investigations are ongoing, while the university and local authorities face growing scrutiny following the incident.The Supreme Court has issued a notice regarding a plea to hold Uttar Pradesh authorities in contempt for demolishing part of the Madni mosque in Kushinagar. The plea claims the demolition violated the court's November 2024 ruling, which required prior notice. The court has also barred further demolition at the site until further orders. The case draws attention to the clash between local authorities and religious community leaders over the mosque's fate.The Assam Police have filed a case against a Pakistani climate policy expert, following allegations of her involvement in India's internal affairs. The case follows comments by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who raised concerns over Elizabeth Gogoi, wife of Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, and her past work with the Climate Development and Knowledge Network. Sarma and BJP officials have questioned her foreign ties and a 2015 meeting between Gaurav Gogoi and the Pakistani High Commissioner to India.A Sessions Court in Goa sentenced Vikat Bhagat to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of a British-Irish backpacker in 2017. Bhagat was convicted under sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape), and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence). The victim, a 28-year-old dual citizen, was found near a Goa beach during a holiday with a friend. She had previously studied at Liverpool John Moores University and was from Buncrana, Ireland, traveling on a British passport.U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of talks with Russian officials, focused on ending the ongoing war in Ukraine. Rubio's visit follows discussions between U.S. and Russian officials, including a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Alongside national security adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Rubio will meet with Russian officials to address global tensions, including the war and prisoner swaps, during this diplomatic mission.This was the Catch Up on 3 Things by the Indian Express.

In this episode of Only Business, we're breaking down one of the biggest mistakes in sales—asking “What's your budget?” If you're still using this question, you're losing deals before they even start. We'll cover why this approach destroys trust, weakens your position, and limits your earning potential, plus what to say instead to close more sales with confidence. Whether you're a business owner, freelancer, or sales professional, this episode will teach you how to lead the conversation, establish value first, and stop selling like an amateur.No fluff, no gimmicks—just real sales strategy that works.

La ciudad india de Prayag (también conocida como Prayagraj o por su antiguo nombre musulmán, Allahabad) es destino durante estos días de la mayor peregrinación del planeta, la mayor reunión de personas de la historia de la humanidad. Atraídos por la confluencia de los ríos Ganges, Yamuna y el mítico Saraswati, cuatrocientos millones de individuos se movilizan desde todos los rincones del país y del mundo. Su objetivo es bañarse en unas aguas que, según la creencia hindú, procuran la inmortalidad. Para comprender este apabullante fenómeno que se repite en ciclos de 12 años, caminamos junto a Javier Hernández Sinde, autor del libro 'Kumbha Mela, peregrinación a la inmortalidad' (Universo de Letras). Nos acompañan también el escritor, periodista y profesor Narén Herrero, autor de 'Kumbha Mela, la celebración espiritual más grande del mundo' (Kairós), y el sacerdote Juan Carlos Ramchandani (Krishna Kripa Dasa), presidente de la Federación Hindú de España. Con todos ellos esbozamos un retrato de este "festival de la jarra", que se articula en torno al Triveni Sangam, la triple convergencia de cauces sagrados en esta localidad del estado de Uttar Pradesh. Contamos además con la mirada de dos fotógrafos: Gabriel Brau, que recogió con su cámara la cita de 2013, y Alberto Díaz Calvo, inmerso en la presente edición de 2025. Nadie quiere perderse las procesiones del baño, protagonizadas por los llamativos naga babas, ascetas desnudos cubiertos de ceniza. No menos espectacular es el desafío de alojar a los cientos de millones de peregrinos que pasarán por Prayag hasta finales de febrero, para lo que se ha levantado una descomunal ciudad efímera de 40 kilómetros cuadrados conocida como Kumbh Nagri.Escuchar audio

In this episode of Only Business, we're breaking down tariffs—what they are, how they work, and why they're basically a sneaky tax you didn't even know you were paying. This isn't about politics, it's about business, money, and power dynamics that affect your wallet whether you realize it or not. We'll keep it simple, straight to the point, and show you how tariffs quietly shape everything from the price of your groceries to the cost of running a business. No fluff, no political spin—just the real story behind the numbers.

This is the Catchup on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Ichha Sharma.Today is the 5th of February and here are the headlines.A military aircraft from the United States carrying over 100 deported Indian immigrants landed at Amritsar's Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport this afternoon. The deported individuals include 25 women, 12 minors, and 79 men. In addition to the deported Indian nationals, the aircraft also had 11 crew members and 45 US officials on board. Besides Punjab, the deported individuals are from Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra. Among the deportees, 33 are from Gujarat, while 30 belong to Punjab.Two deportees each are from Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh, while three are from Maharashtra.Meanwhile, the high-stakes Delhi election is underway in 70 Assembly constituencies. In the triangular contest between the AAP, the BJP, and the Congress, the ruling party aims for a third consecutive term, while the saffron party hopes to make a return to power after 25 years, and the grand old party strives to make a comeback. As of 1 pm today, the voter turnout stood at 33.31 per cent. Meanwhile, police force was deployed in large numbers outside a polling booth in Seelampur after the BJP alleged fake votes were being cast.In other news, India and the US are expected to start negotiations for a free trade agreement in the coming weeks as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the US to meet President Donald Trump between the 12th and 14th of February. The Prime Minister, who will travel to France and co-chair the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris between 10th - 11th of February, is also expected to travel to Marseille on 12 of February. From there, he is likely to travel to the US to meet President Trump.In another news headline, After submitting a Letter of Intent to host the 2036 Olympics last October, India is learnt to have opened an “informal” dialogue with the Commonwealth Games Federation to host the centenary edition in 2030 — 20 years after the country first held it. Officials involved in the process told The Indian Express, that unlike 2010, when the Games were hosted in New Delhi, Ahmedabad has emerged as the frontrunner, with Bhubaneswar also in the mix. On the sidelines of the National Games opening ceremony in Dehradun, Commonwealth Games Federation president Chris Jenkins also met Indian Olympic Association president P T Usha where the possible Indian bid was discussed.Meanwhile, OpenAI founder Sam Altman during a fireside chat today said that India is the second biggest market for ChatGPT, where it has tripled its user base in the last year. Altman is on a whirlwind world tour and landed in India late on Tuesday night. He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, along with a number of the country's start-ups and venture capital funds. During the chat Altman said, quote, “India is an incredibly important market for AI in general and OpenAI in particular. It is our second biggest market, we tripled our users here in the last year.” This was the Catch Up on 3 Things by the Indian Express

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry's Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Shardool Katyayan are joined by senior advocate Indira Jaising and independent journalist Saurabh Sharma. The discussion starts with tax authorities axing The Reporters' Collective's non-profit status. Indira says the I-T department's action against the investigative news outlet is part of a “strategic and calculated crackdown by the government on independent media and journalism”. She says everyone should stand up for the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression and ensure it is not eroded.The panel also talks about the tragic stampede at the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj. Saurabh breaks down all that went wrong leading up to the tragedy. “There was absolute radio silence from the government for nearly 19 hours about how many people died,” he says. Saurabh adds that he believes the death toll is higher than the official government figure: “I went to the morgue and counted at least 59 bodies.” Raman blames Uttar Pradesh's VIP culture for the chaos at Kumbh. Abhinandan and Manisha take note of how legacy media attempted to drown out the news of the stampede. On the government's PR push, Manisha says, “All you are trying to do is show the good news, but that is not going to get you good global coverage.” This and a lot more. Tune in!Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/5o8WY9UVKGkWe have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Contribute to our latest NL Sena here.Timecodes00:00:00 - Introductions and announcements00:03:35 - Headlines00:13:55 - The Reporters' Collective loses non-profit status00:43:16 - Indira's recommendations00:44:32 - Kumbh stampede01:01:38 - Saurabh's recommendations01:02:25 - Mismanagement at Kumbh, VIP culture in UP01:25:43 - Letters01:43:08 - RecommendationsCheck out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra, Tista Roy Chowdhury, and Anil Kumar. Production assistance by Hanshul Mohan. This episode is outside of the paywall, just for the week and just for you. Before it goes back behind the paywall, why not subscribe? Get brand-new episodes of all our podcasts every week, while also doing your bit to support independent media. Click here to subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode we are taking a trip down the Silk Road--or perhaps even the Spice Road--as we investigate references in this reign to individuals from "Tukara" who seem to have arrived in Yamato and stayed for a while. For photos and more, see our podcast webpage:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-119 Rough Transcript   Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  This is episode 119: The Question of “Tukara”   Traveling upon the ocean was never exactly safe.  Squalls and storms could arise at any time, and there was always a chance that high winds and high waves could capsize a vessel.  Most people who found themselves at the mercy of the ocean could do little but hold on and hope that they could ride out whatever adverse conditions they met with.  Many ships were lost without any explanation or understanding of what happened to them.  They simply left the port and never came back home. And so when the people saw the boat pulling up on the shores of Himuka, on the island of Tsukushi, they no doubt empathized with the voyagers' plight.  The crew looked bedraggled, and their clothing was unfamiliar.  There were both men and women, and this didn't look like your average fishing party.  If anything was clear it was this:  These folk weren't from around here. The locals brought out water and food.  Meanwhile, runners were sent with a message:  foreigners had arrived from a distant place.  They then waited to see what the government was going to do.     We are still in the second reign of Takara Hime, aka Saimei Tenno.  Last episode we talked about the palaces constructed in Asuka, as well as some of the stone works that have been found from the period, and which appear to be referenced in the Nihon Shoki—at least tangentially.   The episodes before that, we looked at the expeditions the court sent to the far north of Honshu and even past Honshu to Hokkaido. This episode we'll again be looking past the main islands of the archipelago to lands beyond.  Specifically, we are going to focus on particularly intriguing references to people from a place called “Tukara”.  We'll talk about some of the ideas about where that might be, even if they're a bit  far-fetched. That's because Tukara touches on the state of the larger world that Yamato was a part of, given its situation on the far eastern edge of what we know today as the Silk Road.  And is this just an excuse for me to take a detour into some of the more interesting things going on outside the archipelago?  No comment. The first mention of a man from Tukara actually comes at the end of the reign of Karu, aka Koutoku Tennou.  We are told that in the fourth month of 654 two men and two women of “Tukara” and one woman of “Sha'e” were driven by a storm to Hiuga.  Then, three years later, the story apparently picks up again, though possibly referring to a different group of people.  On the 3rd day of the 7th month of 657, so during the second reign of Takara Hime, we now hear about two men and four women of the Land of Tukara—no mention of Sha'e—who drifted to Tsukushi, aka Kyushu.  The Chronicles mention that these wayfarers first drifted to the island of Amami, and we'll talk about that in a bit, but let's get these puzzle pieces on the table, first.  After those six people show up, the court sent for them by post-horse.  They must have arrived by the 15th of that same month, because we are told that a model of Mt. Sumi was erected and they—the people from Tukara—were entertained, although there is another account that says they were from “Tora”. The next mention is the 10th day of the 3rd month of 659, when a Man of Tukara and his wife, again woman of Sha'e, arrived.  Then, on the 16th day of the 7th month of 660, we are told that the man of Tukara, Kenzuhashi Tatsuna, desired to return home and asked for an escort.  He planned to pay his respects at the Great Country, i.e. the Tang court, and so he left his wife behind, taking tens of men with him. All of these entries might refer to people regularly reaching Yamato from the south, from a place called “Tukara”.  Alternately, this is a single event whose story has gotten distributed over several years, as we've seen happen before with the Chronicles.  .  One of the oddities of these entries is that the terms used are not consistent.  “Tukara” is spelled at least two different ways, suggesting that it wasn't a common placename like Silla or Baekje, or even the Mishihase.  That does seem to suggest that the Chronicles were phonetically trying to find kanji, or the Sinitic characters, to match with the name they were hearing.   I would also note that “Tukara” is given the status of a “kuni”—a land, country, or state—while “sha'e”, where some of the women are said to come from, is just that, “Sha'e”. As for the name of at least one person from Tokara, Kenzuhashi Tatsuna, that certainly sounds like someone trying to fit a non-Japanese name into the orthography of the time.  “Tatsuna” seems plausibly Japanese, but “Kenzuhashi” doesn't fit quite as well into the naming structures we've seen to this point. The location of “Tukara” and “Sha'e” are not clear in any way, and as such there has been a lot of speculation about them.  While today there are placenames that fit those characters, whether or not these were the places being referenced at the time is hard to say. I'll actually start with “Sha'e”, which Aston translates as Shravasti, the capital of the ancient Indian kingdom of Kosala, in modern Uttar Pradesh.  It is also where the Buddha, Siddartha Gautama, is said to have lived most of his life after his enlightenment.  In Japanese this is “Sha'e-jou”, and like many Buddhist terms it likely comes through Sanskrit to Middle Chinese to Japanese.  One—or possibly two—women from Shravasti making the journey to Yamato in the company of a man (or men) from Tukara seems quite the feat.  But then, where is “Tukara”? Well, we have at least three possible locations that I've seen bandied about.  I'll address them from the most distant to the closest option.  These three options were Tokharistan, Dvaravati, and the Tokara islands. We'll start with Tokharistan on the far end of the Silk Road.  And to start, let's define what that “Silk Road” means.  We've talked in past episodes about the “Western Regions”, past the Han-controlled territories of the Yellow River.   The ancient Tang capital of Chang'an was built near to the home of the Qin dynasty, and even today you can go and see both the Tang tombs and the tomb of Qin Shihuangdi and his terracotta warriors, all within a short distance of Xi'an, the modern city built on the site of Chang'an.  That city sits on a tributary of the Yellow River, but the main branch turns north around the border of modern Henan and the similarly sounding provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi.  Following it upstream, the river heads north into modern Mongolia, turns west, and then heads south again, creating what is known as the Ordos loop.  Inside is the Ordos plateau, also known as the Ordos Basin.  Continuing to follow the Yellow river south, on the western edge of the Ordos, you travel through Ningxia and Gansu—home of the Hexi, or Gansu, Corridor.  That route eventually takes to Yumenguan, the Jade Gate, and Dunhuang.  From there roads head north or south along the edge of the Taklamakan desert in the Tarim basin.  The southern route travels along the edge of the Tibetan plateau, while the northern route traversed various oasis cities through Turpan, Kucha, to the city of Kashgar.  Both routes made their way across the Pamirs and the Hindu Kush into South Asia. We've brought up the Tarim Basin and the Silk Road a few times.  This is the path that Buddhism appears to have taken to get to the Yellow River Basin and eventually to the Korean Peninsula and eastward to the Japanese archipelago.  But I want to go a bit more into detail on things here, as there is an interesting side note about “Tukara” that I personally find rather fascinating, and thought this would be a fun time to share. Back in Episode 79 we talked about how the Tarim basin used to be the home to a vast inland sea, which was fed by the meltwater from the Tianshan and Kunlun mountains.  This sea eventually dwindled, though it was still large enough to be known to the Tang as the Puchang Sea.  Today it has largely dried up, and it is mostly just the salt marshes of Lop Nur that remain.  Evidence for this larger sea, however, can be observed in some of the burials found around the Tarim basin.  These burials include the use of boat-shaped structures—a rather curious feature to be found out in the middle of the desert. And it is the desert that was left behind as the waters receded that is key to much of what we know about life in the Tarim basin, as it has proven to be quite excellent at preserving organic material.  This includes bodies, which dried out and naturally turned into mummies, including not only the wool clothing they were wearing, but also features such as hair and even decoration. These “Tarim mummies”, as they have been collectively called, date from as early as 2100 BCE all the way up through the period of time we're currently talking about, and have been found in several desert sites: Xiaohe, the earliest yet discovered; Loulan, near Lop Nur on the east of the Tarim Basin, dating from around 1800 BCE; Cherchen, on the southern edge of the Tarim Basin, dating from roughly 1000 BCE; and too many others to go into in huge detail. The intriguing thing about these burials is that  many of them don't have features typically associated with people of ethnic Han—which is to say traditional Chinese—ancestry, nor do they necessarily have the features associated with the Xiongnu and other steppe nomads.  In addition they have colorful clothing  made from wool and leather, with vivid designs.  Some bodies near Hami, just east of the basin, were reported to have blonde to light brown hair, and their cloth showed radically different patterns from that found at Cherchen and Loulan, with patterns that could reasonably be compared with the plaids now common in places like Scotland and Ireland, and previously found in the Hallstadt salt mine in Central Europe from around 3500 BCE, from which it is thought the Celtic people may have originated. At the same time that people—largely Westerners— were studying these mummies, another discovery in the Tarim basin was also making waves.  This was the discovery of a brand new language.  Actually, it was two languages—or possibly two dialects of a language—in many manuscripts, preserved in Kucha and Turpan.  Once again, the dry desert conditions proved invaluable to maintain these manuscripts, which date from between the late 4th or early 5th century to the 8th century.  They are written with a Brahmic script, similar to that used for Sanskrit, which appears in the Tarim Basin l by about the 2nd century, and we were able to translate them because many of the texts were copies of Buddhist scripture, which greatly helped scholars in deciphering the languages.  These two languages were fascinating because they represented an as-yet undiscovered branch of the Indo-European language family.  Furthermore, when compared to other Indo-European languages, they did not show nearly as much similarity with their neighbors as with languages on the far western end of the Indo-European language family.  That is to say they were thought to be closer to Celtic and Italic languages than something like Indo-Iranian.  And now for a quick diversion within the diversion:  “Centum” and “Satem” are general divisions of the Indo-European language families that was once thought to indicate a geographic divide in the languages.  At its most basic, as Indo-European words changed over time, a labiovelar sound, something like “kw”,  tended to evolve in one of two ways.  In the Celtic and Italic languages, the “kw” went to a hard “k” sound, as represented in the classical pronunciation of the Latin word for 100:  Centum.  That same word, in the Avestan language—of the Indo-Iranian tree—is pronounced as “Satem”, with an “S” sound.  So, you can look at Indo-European languages and divide them generally into “centum” languages, which preserve the hard “k”, or “Satem” languages that preserve the S. With me so far? Getting back to these two newly-found languages in the Tarim Basin, the weird thing is that they were “Centum” languages. Most Centum languages are from pretty far away, though: they are generally found in western Europe or around the Mediterranean, as opposed to the Satem languages, such as Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Armernian, or even Baltic Slavic languages, which are much closer to the Tarim Basin.  So if the theory were true that the “Centum” family of Indo-European languages developed in the West and “Satem” languages developed in the East, then that would seem to indicate that a group of a “Centum” speaking people must have migrated eastward, through the various Satem speaking people, and settled in the Tarim Basin many thousands of years ago. And what evidence do we have of people who look very different from the modern population, living in the Tarim Basin area long before, and wearing clothing similar to what we associated with the progenitors of the Celts?  For many, it seemed to be somewhat obvious, if still incredible, that the speakers of this language were likely the descendants of the mummies who, in the terminology of the time, had been identified as being of Caucasoid ancestry.  A theory developed that these people were an offshoot of a group called the Yamnaya culture, which may have arisen around modern Ukraine as an admixture between the European Hunter Gatherers and the Caucasian Hunter Gatherers, around 3300-2600 BCE.  This was challenged in 2021 when a genetic study was performed on some of the mummies in the Tarim basin, as well as several from the Dzungarian basin, to the northeast.  That study suggested that the people of the Dzungarian basin had genetic ties to the people of the Afanasievo people, from Southern Siberia.  The Afanasievo people are connected to the Yamnayan culture. It should be noted that there has long been a fascination in Western anthropology and related sciences with racial identification—and often not in a healthy way.  As you may recall, the Ainu were identified as “Caucasoid” by some people largely because of things like the men's beards and lighter colored hair, which differ greatly from a large part of the Japanese population.  However, that claim has been repeatedly refuted and debunked. And similarly, the truth is, none of these Tarim mummy burials were in a period of written anything, so we can't conclusively associated them with these fascinating Indo-European languages.  There are thousands of years between the various burials and the manuscripts. These people  left no notes stashed in pockets that give us their life story.   And Language is not Genetics is not Culture.  Any group may adopt a given language for a variety of reasons.  .  Still, given what we know, it is possible that the ancient people of the Tarim basin spoke some form of “Proto-Kuchean”, but it is just as likely that this language was brought in by people from Dzungaria at some point. So why does all this matter to us?  Well, remember how we were talking about someone from Tukara?  The Kuchean language, at least, is referred to in an ancient Turkic source as belonging to “Twgry”, which led several scholars to draw a link between this and the kingdom and people called Tukara and the Tokharoi.  This leads us on another bit of a chase through history. Now if you recall, back in Episode 79, we talked about Zhang Qian.  In 128 BCE, he attempted to cross the Silk Road through the territory of the Xiongnu on a mission for the Han court.  Some fifty years earlier, the Xiongnu had defeated the Yuezhi.  They held territory in the oasis towns along the north of the Taklamakan dessert, from about the Turpan basin west to the Pamirs. The Xiongnu were causing problems for the Han, who thought that if they could contact the remaining Yuezhi they could make common cause with them and harass the Xiongnu from both sides.  Zhang Qian's story is quite remarkable: he started out with an escort of some 99 men and a translator.  Unfortunately, he was captured and enslaved by the Xiongnu during his journey, and he is even said to have had a wife and fathered a child.  He remained a captive for thirteen years, but nonetheless, he was able to escape with his family and he made it to the Great Yuezhi on the far side of the Pamirs, but apparently the Yuezhi weren't interested in a treaty against the Xiongnu.  The Pamirs were apparently enough of a barrier and they were thriving in their new land.  And so Zhang Qian crossed back again through Xiongnu territory, this time taking the southern route around the Tarim basin.  He was still captured by the Xiongnu, who spared his life.  He escaped, again, two years later, returning to the Han court.  Of the original 100 explorers, only two returned: Zhang Qian and his translator.  While he hadn't obtained an alliance, he was able to detail the cultures of the area of the Yuezhi. Many feel that the Kushan Empire, which is generally said to have existed from about 30 to 375 CE,was formed from the Kushana people who were part of the Yuezhi who fled the Xiongnu. In other words, they were originally from further north, around the Tarim Basin, and had been chased out and settled down in regions that included Bactria (as in the Bactrian camel).  Zhang Qian describes reaching the Dayuan Kingdom in the Ferghana valley, then traveling south to an area that was the home of the Great Yuezhi or Da Yuezhi.  And after the Kushan empire fell, we know there was a state in the upper regions of the Oxus river, centered on the city of Balkh, in the former territory of the Kushan empire. known as “Tokara”.  Geographically, this matches up how Zhang Qian described the home of the Da Yuezhi.  Furthermore, some scholars reconstruct the reading of the Sinic characters used for “Yuezhi” as originally having an optional reading of something like “Togwar”, but that is certainly not the most common reconstructed reading of those characters.  Greek sources describe this area as the home of the Tokharoi, or the Tokaran People.  The term “Tukhara” is also found in Sanskrit, and this kingdom  was also said to have sent ambassadors to the Southern Liang and Tang dynasties. We aren't exactly certain of where these Tokharan people came from, but as we've just described, there's a prevailing theory that they were the remnants of the Yuezhi and Kushana people originally from the Tarim Basin.  We know that in the 6th century they came under the rule of the Gokturk Khaganate, which once spanned from the Liao river basin to the Black Sea.  In the 7th and 8th centuries they came under the rule of the Tang Empire, where they were known by very similar characters as those used to write “Tukara” in the Nihon Shoki.  On top of this, we see Tokharans traveling the Silk Road, all the way to the Tang court.  Furthermore, Tokharans that settled in Chang'an took the surname “Zhi” from the ethnonym “Yuezhi”, seemingly laying claim to and giving validation to the identity used back in the Han dynasty.   So, we have a Turkic record describing the Kuchean people (as in, from Kucha in the Tarim Basin) as “Twgry”, and we have a kingdom in Bactria called Tokara and populated (according to the Greeks) by people called Tokharoi.  You can see how this one term has been a fascinating rabbit hole in the study of the Silk Roads and their history.  And some scholars understandably suggested that perhaps the Indo-European languags found in Kucha and Turpan  were actually related to this “Tokhara” – and therefore  should be called “Tocharian”, specifically Tocharian A (Kuchean) or Tocharian B (Turfanian). The problem is that if the Tokharans were speaking “Tocharian” then you wouldn't expect to just see it at Kucha and Turpan, which are about the middle of the road between Tokhara and the Tang dynasty, and which had long been under Gokturk rule.  You would also expect to see it in the areas of Bactria associated with Tokhara.  However, that isn't what we see.  Instead, we see that Bactria was the home of local Bactrian language—an Eastern Iranian language, which, though it is part of the Indo European language family, it is not closely related to Tocharian as far as we can tell. It is possible that the people of Kucha referred to themselves as something similar to “Twgry”, or “Tochari”, but we should also remember that comes from a Turkic source, and it could have been an exonym not related to what they called themselves.  I should also note that language is not people.  It is also possible that a particular ethnonym was maintained separately by two groups that may have been connected politically but which came to speak different languages for whatever reason.   There could be a connection between the names, or it could even be that the same or similar exonym was used for different groups. So, that was a lot and a bit of a ramble, but a lot of things that I find interesting—even if they aren't as connected as they may appear.  We have the Tarim mummies, which are, today, held at a museum in modern Urumqi.  Whether they had any connection with Europe or not, they remain a fascinating study for the wealth of material items found in and around the Tarim basin and similar locations.  And then there is the saga of the Tocharian languages—or perhaps more appropriately the Kuchean-Turfanian languages: Indo-European languages that seem to be well outside of where we would expect to find them. Finally, just past the Pamirs, we get to the land of Tokhara or Tokharistan.  Even without anything else, we know that they had contact with the court.  Perhaps our castaways were from this land?  The name is certainly similar to what we see in the Nihon Shoki, using some of the same characters. All in all, art and other information suggest that the area of the Tarim basin and the Silk Road in general were quite cosmopolitan, with many different people from different regions of the world.  Bactria retained Hellenic influences ever since the conquests of Alexander of Macedonia, aka Alexander the Great, and Sogdian and Persian traders regularly brought their caravans through the region to trade.  And once the Tang dynasty controlled all of the routes, that just made travel that much easier, and many people traveled back and forth. So from that perspective, it is possible that one or more people from Tukhara may have made the crossing from their home all the way to the Tang court, but if they did so, the question still remains: why would they be in a boat? Utilizing overland routes, they would have hit Chang'an or Louyang, the dual capitals of the Tang empire, well before they hit the ocean.  However, the Nihon Shoki says that these voyagers first came ashore at Amami and then later says that they were trying to get to the Tang court. Now there was another “Silk Road” that isn't as often mentioned: the sea route, following the coast of south Asia, around through the Malacca strait and north along the Asian coast.  This route is sometimes viewed more in terms of the “spice” road If these voyagers set out to get to the Tang court by boat, they would have to have traveled south to the Indian Ocean—possibly traveling through Shravasti or Sha'e, depending on the route they chose to take—and then around the Malacca strait—unless they made it on foot all the way to Southeast Asia.  And then they would have taken a boat up the coast. Why do that instead of taking the overland route?  They could likely have traveled directly to the Tang court over the overland silk road.  Even the from Southeast Asia could have traveled up through Yunnan and made their way to the Tang court that way.  In fact, Zhang Qian had wondered something similar when he made it to the site of the new home of the Yuezhi, in Bactria.  Even then, in the 2nd century, he saw products in the marketplace that he identified as coming from around Szechuan.  That would mean south of the Han dynasty, and he couldn't figure out how those trade routes might exist and they weren't already known to the court.  Merchants would have had to traverse the dangerous mountains if they wanted to avoid being caught by the Xiongnu, who controlled the entire region. After returning to the Han court, Zhang Qian actually went out on another expedition to the south, trying to find the southern trade routes, but apparently was not able to do so.  That said, we do see, in later centuries, the trade routes open up between the area of the Sichuan basin and South Asia.  We also see the migrations of people further south, and there may have even been some Roman merchants who traveled up this route to find their way to the Han court, though those accounts are not without their own controversy. In either case, whether by land or sea, these trade routes were not always open.  In some cases, seasonal weather, such as monsoons, might dictate movement back and forth, while political realities were also a factor.  Still, it is worth remembering that even though most people were largely concerned with affairs in their own backyard, the world was still more connected than people give it credit for.  Tang dynasty pottery made its way to the east coast of Africa, and ostriches were brought all the way to Chang'an. As for the travelers from Tukhara and why they would take this long and very round-about method of travel, it is possible that they were just explorers, seeking new routes, or even on some kind of pilgrimage.  Either way, they would have been way off course. But if they did pass through Southeast Asia, that would match up with another theory about what “Tukara” meant: that it actually refers to the Dvaravati kingdom in what is now modern Thailand.  The Dvaravati Kingdom was a Mon political entity that rose up around the 6th century.  It even sent embassies to the Sui and Tang courts.  This is even before the temple complexes in Siem Reap, such as Preah Ko and the more famous Angkor Wat.  And it was during this time that the ethnic Tai people are thought to have started migrating south from Yunnan, possibly due to pressures from the expanding Sui and Tang empires.  Today, most of what remains of the Dvaravati kingdom are the ruins of ancient stone temples, showing a heavy Indic influence, and even early Buddhist practices as well.  “Dvaravati” may not actually be the name of the kingdom but it comes from an inscription on a coin found from about that time.  The Chinese refer to it as  “To-lo-po-ti” in contemporary records.  It may not even have been a kingdom, but  more of a confederation of city-states—it is hard to piece everything together.  That it was well connected, though, is clear from the archaeological record.  In Dvaravati sites, we see coins from as far as Rome, and we even have a lamp found in modern Pong Tuk that appears to match similar examples from the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century.  Note that this doesn't mean it arrived in the 6th century—similarly with the coins—but the Dvaravati state lasted until the 12th century. If that was the case, perhaps there were some women from a place called “Shravasti” or similar, especially given the Indic influence in the region. Now, given the location of the Dvaravati, it wouldn't be so farfetched to think that someone might sail up from the Gulf of Thailand and end up off-course, though it does mean sailing up the entire Ryukyuan chain or really running off course and finding yourself adrift on the East China sea.  And if they were headed to the Tang court, perhaps they did have translators or knew Chinese, since Yamato was unlikely to know the Mon language of Dvaravati and people from Dvaravati probably wouldn't know the Japonic language.  Unless, perhaps, they were communicating through Buddhist priests via Sanskrit. We've now heard two possibilities for Tukara, both pretty far afield: the region of Tokara in Bactria, and the Dvaravati kingdom in Southeast Asia.  That said, the third and simplest explanation—and the one favored by Aston in his translation of the Nihon Shoki—is that Tukara is actually referring to a place in the Ryukyu island chain.  Specifically, there is a “Tokara” archipelago, which spans between Yakushima and Amami-Oshima.  This is part of the Nansei islands, and the closest part of the Ryukyuan island chain to the main Japanese archipelago.  This is the most likely theory, and could account for the entry talking about Amami.  It is easy to see how sailors could end up adrift, too far north, and come to shore in Hyuga, aka Himuka, on the east side of Kyushu.  It certainly would make more sense for them to be from this area of the Ryukyuan archipelago than from anywhere else.  From Yakushima to Amami-Oshima is the closest part of the island chain to Kyushu, and as we see in the entry from the Shoku Nihongi, those three places seem to have been connected as being near to Japan.  So what was going on down there, anyway? Well, first off, let's remember that the Ryukyuan archipelago is not just the island of Okinawa, but a series of islands that go from Kyushu all the way to the island of Taiwan.  Geographically speaking, they are all part of the same volcanic ridge extending southward.  The size of the islands and their distance from each other does vary, however, creating some natural barriers in the form of large stretches of open water, which have shaped how various groups developed on the islands. Humans came to the islands around the same time they were reaching the Japanese mainland.  In fact, some of our only early skeletal remains for early humans in Japan actually come from either the Ryukyuan peninsula in the south or around Hokkaido to the north, and that has to do with the acidity of the soil in much of mainland Japan. Based on genetic studies, we know that at least two groups appear to have inhabited the islands from early times.  One group appears to be related to the Jomon people of Japan, while the other appears to be more related to the indigenous people of Taiwan, who, themselves, appear to have been the ancestors of many Austronesian people.  Just as some groups followed islands to the south of Taiwan, some appear to have headed north.  However, they only made it so far.  As far as I know there is no evidence they made it past Miyakoshima, the northernmost island in the Sakishima islands.  Miyako island is separated from the next large island, Okinawa, by a large strait, known as the Miyako Strait, though sometimes called the Kerama gap in English.  It is a 250km wide stretch of open ocean, which is quite the distance for anyone to travel, even for Austronesian people of Taiwan, who had likely not developed the extraordinary navigational technologies that the people who would become the Pacific Islanders would discover. People on the Ryukyu island chain appear to have been in contact with the people of the Japanese archipelago since at least the Jomon period, and some of the material artifacts demonstrate a cultural connection.  That was likely impacted by the Akahoya eruption, about 3500 years ago, and then re-established at a later date.  We certainly see sea shells and corals trade to the people of the Japanese islands from fairly early on. Unlike the people on the Japanese archipelago, the people of the Ryukyuan archipelago did not really adopt the Yayoi and later Kofun culture.  They weren't building large, mounded tombs, and they retained the character of a hunter-gatherer society, rather than transitioning to a largely agricultural way of life.  The pottery does change in parts of Okinawa, which makes sense given the connections between the regions.  Unfortunately, there is a lot we don't know about life in the islands around this time.  We don't exactly have written records, other than things like the entries in the Nihon Shoki, and those are hardly the most detailed of accounts.  In the reign of Kashikiya Hime, aka Suiko Tennou, we see people from Yakushima, which is, along with Tanegashima, one of the largest islands at the northern end of the Ryukyu chain, just before you hit Kagoshima and the Osumi peninsula on the southern tip of Kyushu.  The islands past that would be the Tokara islands, until you hit the large island of Amami. So you can see how it would make sense that the people from “Tokara” would make sense to be from the area between Yakushima and Amami, and in many ways this explanation seems too good to be true.  There are a only a few things that make this a bit peculiar. First, this doesn't really explain the woman from “Sha'e” in any compelling way that I can see.  Second, the name, Kenzuhashi Tatsuna doesn't seem to fit with what we generally know about early Japonic names, and the modern Ryukyuan language certainly is a Japonic language, but there are still plenty of possible explanations.  There is also the connection of Tokara with “Tokan”, which is mentioned in an entry in 699 in the Shoku Nihongi, the Chronicle that follows on, quite literally to the Nihon Shoki.  Why would they call it “Tokan” instead of “Tokara” so soon after?  Also, why would these voyagers go back to their country by way of the Tang court?  Unless, of course, that is where they were headed in the first place.  In which case, did the Man from Tukara intentionally leave his wife in Yamato, or was she something of a hostage while they continued on their mission?   And so those are the theories.  The man from “Tukara” could be from Tokhara, or Tokharistan, at the far end of the Silk Road.  Or it could have been referring to the Dvaravati Kingdom, in modern Thailand.  Still, in the end, Occam's razor suggests that the simplest answer is that these were actually individuals from the Tokara islands in the Ryukyuan archipelago.  It is possible that they were from Amami, not that they drifted there.  More likely, a group from Amami drifted ashore in Kyushu as they were trying to find a route to the Tang court, as they claimed.  Instead they found themselves taking a detour to the court of Yamato, instead. And we could have stuck with that story, but I thought that maybe, just maybe, this would be a good time to reflect once again on how connected everything was.  Because even if they weren't from Dvaravati, that Kingdom was still trading with Rome and with the Tang.  And the Tang controlled the majority of the overland silk road through the Tarim basin.  We even know that someone from Tukhara made it to Chang'an, because they were mentioned on a stele that talked about an Asian sect of Christianity, the “Shining Religion”, that was praised and allowed to set up shop in the Tang capital, along with Persian Manicheans and Zoroastrians.  Regardless of where these specific people may have been from, the world was clearly growing only more connected, and prospering, as well. Next episode we'll continue to look at how things were faring between the archipelago and the continent. Until then thank you for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  

Israel continues its attacks on Palestine and beyond Tel Aviv continues its attacks in the region despite a ceasefire with Hamas in the Palestinian territory of Gaza. Israeli troops raided villages near the occupied West Bank town of Ramallah, setting up checkpoints and firing concussion grenades, according to the WAFA news agency. Separately in Lebanon, Israeli strikes wounded 24 people, including 20 in Nabatiyeh al-Fawqa. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on February 4. Netanyahu will be the first foreign leader invited during Trump's second term. Fury in DRC: Protesters target embassies over Goma crisis Anger erupted in Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital Kinshasa as protesters stormed embassies, accusing Rwanda and Uganda of backing M23 rebels in Goma. Following a brutal three-day battle that left over 100 dead and nearly 1,000 wounded, demonstrators damaged diplomatic missions and looted businesses. Chanting "Enough is enough," they denounced the international community's inaction. As tensions rise, African nations condemn the embassy attacks, while Congolese authorities urge calm amid the escalating crisis. Deaths as stampede breaks out at India Hindu festival A deadly stampede has claimed over seven lives and left around 10 injured in Uttar Pradesh as around a million Hindus gathered for the Maha Kumbh Mela religious festival. Chaos erupted in the early hours, with panicked devotees scrambling for safety. Disturbing visuals show bodies on stretchers and abandoned belongings scattered in the aftermath. Authorities deployed crisis forces, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged swift action. The festival attracts more than 400 million visitors over six weeks, both Indians and tourists. Trump plans to withdraw hundreds of US troops from Syria — report US President Donald Trump is planning to withdraw hundreds of US troops from Syria, according to Israeli media. Nation's public broadcaster KAN says White House officials have informed Tel Aviv. The US has some 2,000 troops deployed in Syria in support of YPG/PKK terrorist organisation, creating tensions with its NATO ally Türkiye. EV sales to exceed '20 million' units in 2025 The electric vehicle market is expected to break records. Sales are set to hit a record 20 million units in 2025—an 18 percent jump from 2024, says Rho Motion. China is leading the charge, backed by aggressive global expansion and strong domestic demand. Meanwhile, the EU tightens emissions rules, and Trump's presidency signals policy shifts in the US. Experts call 2025 “the year of legislation” as the EV revolution accelerates worldwide.

Discover Yogi Adityanath's next big agenda following the successes of Sambhal and Kumbh. Dhirendra Pundir and VN Bhatt discuss the transformative vision shaping Uttar Pradesh and the intriguing shift of Akhilesh Yadav embracing Hindu symbolism.

It's Wednesday, January 15th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark India releases imprisoned Christian pastor and wife after 20 months Praise God! The Christian Post reports officials in India released a pastor and his wife from prison at the end of last month. Pastor Ashok Yadav and his wife, Phoola, spent 20 months in prison under an anti-conversion law in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Authorities have used such anti-conversion laws to detain over 1,000 Christians across India. Over 400 Christian leaders recently sent a letter, appealing to the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The letter noted, “Rising hate speech, especially from elected officials, has emboldened acts of violence against Christians. Mobs disrupt peaceful Christian gatherings and threaten carol singers with impunity.”  According to Open Doors, India is the 11th most difficult country worldwide in which to be a Christian. Mega Hindu pilgrimage to draw 400 million Speaking of India, the country is hosting the largest religious gathering in the world starting this week. It is known as the Maha Kumbh Mela which means the festival of the sacred pitcher. (P-I-T-C-H-E-R) It is held every 12 years. The Hindu festival is expected to draw 400 million pilgrims to the city of Prayagraj in the state of Uttar Pradesh. People bathe at the intersection of multiple important rivers, including the Gagnes, which are considered sacred. The Indian Express notes people believe the bathing washes away their sins and gets them spiritual merit. But 1 Corinthians 6:11 says, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 15,343 Canadians died in 2023 by euthanasia Canada released its fifth annual report on medical assistance in dying. The latest report found 15,343 people died in Canada under the Medical Assistance in Dying program in 2023. This brought the cumulative number of euthanasia deaths to 60,000. That's 4.7 percent of all Canadian deaths since the program began in 2016. Since then, the annual growth rate of such killings continues to rise at 15.8 percent. Trump prepared to cut trillions from federal budget Donald Trump's incoming presidential administration aims to cut trillions of dollars from the U.S. federal budget and abolish or consolidate many federal agencies. In light of that, Pew Research released a report on the federal workforce in the United States.  The report noted the number of federal workers has grown over time. But their share of the civilian workforce has remained at about 1.5% of total civilian employment for a decade.  The federal government employs 2.4 million people, not including the Postal Service and active-duty military personnel. That makes the federal government the largest employer in the U.S., outnumbering major companies like Walmart, McDonald's, and Amazon. Amazon and Metz ending their “woke” Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion programs Speaking of Amazon, both it and Meta are among major companies that are ending their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs. Instead of the “woke” diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Meta decided instead to focus on building “the best teams with the most talented people.”  Imagine that. In addition, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the end of their so-called fact-checking program on their platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Inflation up 0.2% The Labor Department reports that U.S. wholesale inflation rose by 0.2 percent last month compared to November. This producer price index measures inflation before it reaches consumers. On an annual basis, producer prices rose 3.3% last month. The wholesale inflation was driven by rising energy prices, especially gasoline prices. YouVersion Bible App experienced 798,000 downloads on one day And finally, the YouVersion Bible App reports it had 798,000 downloads on Sunday, January 5. That's the largest number of installs on a single day for the app. Bobby Gruenewald, founder of YouVersion, told The Christian Post, “We tend to see a seasonal uptick in Bible engagement at the beginning of the year as people start new habits and are interested in reading the Bible for the first time. What's interesting to us is that this year's increase is even higher than this same time last year, and it's a trend we're seeing globally.” The Bible app experienced its largest increases in downloads in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. For example, Bible app activity increased by 297 percent in Northern Africa, and it increased by 166 percent in the Middle East.  In Acts 13:47, the Apostle Paul said, “For so the Lord has commanded us: 'I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the Earth.'” Close And that's The Worldview on this Wednesday, January 15th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Beijing has released strong economic data, reporting its largest-ever trade surplus. Also on the programme, a BBC investigation uncovers 75-hour workweeks endured by workers in Shein's fast-fashion factories in China. Could this affect the company's plans to list on the London Stock Exchange? And Sam Fenwick explores the economic impact of the Kumbh Mela in India, which is expected to generate $3.4 billion in revenue for Uttar Pradesh.You can contact us on WhatsApp or send us a voice note: +44 330 678 3033. We would love to hear from you!

Maharshi Vaishnav, CEO of Educate Girls, discusses the organisation's mission and initiatives to tackle the persistent issue of girls' exclusion from education in India. Maharshi notes that despite significant progress in universalising primary and middle school education through legislative reforms like the Right to Education Act of 2009, structural barriers such as entrenched patriarchy, poverty, and limited access to social welfare programs still keep many girls out of school. Educate Girls operates in these marginalised pockets, focusing on tribal and rural communities where the challenges are most acute. Maharshi elaborates on the organisation's multi-faceted approach: identifying out-of-school girls, enrolling them in educational institutions, ensuring their retention, and addressing learning gaps through a proprietary remedial curriculum. This curriculum emphasises foundational literacy and numeracy in Hindi, English, and mathematics, complemented by life skills training for older girls. The innovative use of open schooling enables girls in areas lacking high school infrastructure to continue their education and achieve formal qualifications equivalent to high school graduation. The organisation's scale is impressive, spanning four states—Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar — covering 35,000 villages and engaging with over 55,000 schools. Educate Girls has enrolled 1.8 million previously out-of-school girls and improved learning outcomes for over 2 million children. These efforts are supported by 3,200 full-time staff and 21,000 community volunteers. A key highlight of the discussion is the evaluation of Educate Girls' impact through a randomised controlled trial (RCT). Conducted in collaboration with IDinsight, this RCT demonstrated substantial learning gains among participating students.  Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 300 case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.