Daily Archives: February 2, 2021

New rights watchdog to survey post-Brexit fears of EU nationals – EURACTIV

Posted: February 2, 2021 at 8:03 pm

The citizens rights watchdog set up to protect the rights of EU nationals living in the UK is conducting its first survey to understand the level of public concern about living in Britain after Brexit.

Kathryn Chamberlain, the chief executive of the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens Rights Agreements (IMA), said on Monday (1 February) that the IMAs survey was one of a range of intelligence-gathering exercises we are carrying out to protect citizens rights.

I want to hear from as many people as possible. Their responses, along with the complaints we receive, help us to build a bigger picture of the issues facing EU citizens, Chamberlain added.

The IMA was set up in January under the terms of the UKs Withdrawal Agreement with the EU at the end of the UKs post-Brexit transition period. Its chairman is Ashley Fox, a former Conservative MEP.

The watchdog is responsible for addressing complaints from EU citizens living in the UK who feel that their rights are not being upheld.

Around 5 million EU nationals have applied for residence in the UK under its new Settled Status scheme. Of those, 97% were offered settled status, which grants indefinite rights to remain in the UK, or pre-settled status, which offers a five year stay, which the option to apply for settled status at the end of it.

The UK government says that the Settlement Scheme is more generous than that offered to Britons by many EU member states but research by a series of campaign groups has suggested that thousands of EU citizens are either unaware of the settled scheme or do not know how to access it.

For its part, the UKs Home Office says that it has a dedicated team of more than 1,500 people working on the EU Settlement Scheme.

However, the system has had many teething problems. The Home Office does not have clear data on precisely how many EU nationals are living in the UK. There has also been confusion over whether citizens with pre-settled status enjoy the same rights to welfare benefits such as universal credit and housing benefit as those with settled status.

A ruling by the UKs Court of Appeal in December confirmed that those with pre-settled status must be treated on an equal basis with other claimants.

We are receiving increasing reports that EU citizens and their families are having difficulty acquiring and proving the rights they are entitled to, said Maike Bohn, Co-founder of the3million, a campaign group seeking to safeguard the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.

[Edited by Frdric Simon]

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Theresa May confused ‘stubbornness with heroism’ during Brexit process, says Philip Hammond – Telegraph.co.uk

Posted: at 8:03 pm

Theresa May confused "stubbornness with heroism" while trying to pass her doomed Brexit deal in Parliament, Philip Hammond has said.

In a damning interview about his former boss, Lord Hammond said Mrs May had a romantic notion of charging into the valley even though you know youre going down to certain defeat as she tried to pass her Brexit agreement amid hostility from her own party.

The former Chancellor recalled how Mrs May battled Tory Brexiteers, who voted her agreement down in successive rounds of parliamentary votes, ultimately forcing her resignation.

She sometimes confused stubbornness with heroism, he said.

In an interview with UK in a Changing Europe, a think tank, Lord Hammond accused Mrs May of launching what was almost a coup against her Remain-leaning Cabinet ministers in her 2016 Conservative Party Conference speech.

During that speech, the Prime Minister ruled out a Norway or Switzerland-style Brexit, committing to leave with a bespoke new deal - what Lord Hammond says was Brexit in the hardest possible terms.

I just remember focusing my entire energy on maintaining a rictus half-smile, and trying not to show any reaction at all, and then get out of the room without speaking to any journalists, he recalled.

I was completely and utterly horrified by what I felt was almost a coup: a definition of Brexit without any proper Cabinet consultation at all.

The speech amounted to a 20-foot hole and Mrs May from that moment onwards, cupful by cupful of earth at a time, was trying to fill it in a bit so that she wasnt in such a deep mess, he said.

Lord Hammond's intervention lays bare the anger in Mrs Mays Cabinet over the proposed terms of her deal and demonstrates the extent of ministers division over the best way forward.

Eighteen months after the conference speech, Mrs Mays Chequers plan lost her two of the hardest Brexiteers in her Cabinet: David Davis and Boris Johnson.

Describing the battle between Mrs May and the hardline European Research Group as like the First World War, Lord Hammond said his former boss would move a few paces in the direction of pragmatism and then give up 90 per cent of the ground to the Brexiteers.

His remarks are his first major criticism of Mrs May since he left Government at the end of her tenure in July 2019.

Mr Johnson, her successor, then suspended the Tory whip from Lord Hammond after he voted against the Government on a motion to block no deal.

Accusing the Conservative Party of becoming an extreme right-wing faction run by unelected advisers, entryists and usurpers, he stood down in the 2019 election.

His political service was rewarded with a peerage in February 2020.

In his interview, Lord Hammond also suggested Mrs May had little personal belief in Brexit as a political project.

On taking power in 2016 she was essentially a pragmatic politician rather than an ideologue on Europe, he said.

I think that she will have been she was very conscious of the fact that she had been nominally a Remainer, although extremely reluctant to put her head above the parapet, he said.

Theresa has always been, country and party first, ideology very much second.

A spokesman for Mrs May declined to comment.

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Newly Invented Fusion Rocket Thruster Concept Might be Our Ticket to Mars and Beyond! – Tech Times

Posted: at 8:01 pm

After the highly-anticipated return of man to the moon, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as well as private space company SpaceX headed by Elon Musk, is planning to finally step on Martian soil for the first time and maybe even create a colony that could thrive in the Red Planet--but how will they do that?

(Photo : Pexels)A trip to Mars might become faster with the new concept fusion rocket thrusters.

Although space travel is rather common, what with astronauts going to and fro the International Space Station (ISS), a trip to Mars would take a long time, given our current technology.

In a previous report byTech Times, studies have found that prolonged space flight can be dangerous for humans, so a trip to Mars could even be deadly, and that is one of the problems scientists are trying to solve before any human could step to Mars.

However, a new invention by a scientist may solve the problem.

Read More: Elon Musk Shares Photos of SN9, SN10 Starships But Not Launching, Calls FAA Regulations 'Broken'

In a report bySky News, Dr. Fatima Ebrahimi, a physicist with the US Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has designed a fusion rocket thruster that could make space travel faster than it currently is.

According to the report, the rocket will be using magnetic fields that will shoot plasma particles, which are electrically charged gas, to go further into the vacuum of space.

The speed of the said rocket would be ten times faster than any comparable devices we have now.

There are currently plasma propulsion engines that have been used in space missions, but they use electric fields to propel the particles, but the rocket designed by Dr. Ebrahimi would be using magnetic reconnection.

The process is actually rather common in our universe, but it's mostly observed on the surface of the sun, whenever magnetic fields converge in the surface of our host star before separating and reconnecting yet again, they produce a massive amount of energy.

The same concept would be found in the physicist's design.

Similar energy would be created by within the rocket's torus-shaped machines, which are called tokamaks, a magnetic confinement device.

According to the scientist behind the concept design, the tokamak produces plasmoids, or magnetic bubbles, during its operation.

The plasmoids move at around 20 kilometers per second, which the physicist believe is a lot of thrust.

"I've been cooking this concept for a while," Dr. Ebrahimi said. "I had the idea in 2017 while sitting on a deck and thinking about the similarities between a car's exhaust and the high-velocity exhaust particles created by PPPL's National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX)."

In computer simulations, Dr. Ebrahimi's rocket thrusters outperformed existing plasma thrusters we currently have as it's able to generate an exhaust with velocities of hundreds of kilometers per second.

With that, a trip to Mars would be achievable, but more than Mars, we might soon reach more distant planets within our solar system.

This may also partially solve the problems with prolonged space travel since astronauts will be in the vacuum of space for a shorter time, but as of now, the design is still a concept, although the scientist is planning to create the prototype.

Related Article: NASA Develops Mars Rover Landing Simulatior for Mobiles and Desktops

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by: Nhx Tingson

2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

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Opinion | Why Biden must pursue space diplomacy with Russia and China – Politico

Posted: at 8:01 pm

Moreover, Russias space program required increased funding that China could provide in exchange for the Russian expertise it craved. The pair even announced they were considering building a lunar research base together. Nevertheless, it is clear this new friendship will create a destabilizing counter-system in space.

To be fair, there is good reason for the United States to pursue the Artemis Accords without Russia and China. Chinas official policy is to become the preeminent space power by 2045. This means a nuclear-powered space fleet, space transport for humans, and mining colonies on the Moon, Mars, and asteroids. President Xi Jinping described the Chinese space program as part of the dream to make China stronger. Furthermore, for nearly a decade the annual Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bills included the Wolf Amendment, which has prohibited NASA from cooperating with China to prevent technology theft.

Russia also represents a serious threat in space and the need for a counter-coalition. In November 2019, Russia launched a single satellite that subsequently and unexpectedly birthed a twin. In January 2020, the pair floated near KH-11, a multi-billion-dollar U.S. military reconnaissance satellite. After the United States complained, Moscow moved the satellites away from KH-11.

However, on July 15, 2020, the birthed satellite launched a missile into outer space. Russia claimed the satellites were non-military, but these Nesting Doll satellites demonstrate the dual nature of space technology: that Russia and China can readily turn allegedly benign infrastructure into military weapons to threaten the United States. Thus, although the Artemis Accords govern commercial space activities, assembling a like-minded coalition ready to challenge American foes seems prudent.

The Sino-Russo partnership not only undermines national security, but also risks the very aim of the Artemis Accords: the expansion of space commerce. A competing alliance in space will prevent the Artemis Accords from developing into customary international law that would increase stability.

For example, under the Artemis Accords, nations agree to increase transparency and employ safety zones for activities like lunar mining. As nations and corporations compete over the best locations on the moon to extract lunar ice to create rocket fuel, it is important that a single system govern who may operate where. Otherwise, potential conflicts lack peaceful means of resolution.

The incoming Biden Administration will have to decide how to proceed under the Artemis Accords. As political commitments, they could readily be abandoned. However, this would be unwise. After four years of the Trump Administration undermining alliances and sowing international distrust of the United States, withdrawal would only continue this course. Additionally, so long as Russia and China continue to challenge the United States in space, smart policy necessitates a NATO-like alliance to check and confront them. Accordingly, the Artemis Accords are not so unlike the Obama Administrations goal to surround China economically via the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The Artemis Accords represent a rare opportunity for diplomacy with two of Americas archrivals. True, tensions with Russia and China remain high and little diplomatic progress has been achieved recently. But progress must start from somewhere. Ultimately, Russia, China, and the United States all want to commercialize space. A single legal system will decrease uncertainty and benefit all three nations. Moreover, American technology and investment outstrips both rivals combined. The United States may currently engage from a position of strength.

Fortunately, the United States and Russia have a long history of working together in outer space. The fact that the Outer Space Treaty was negotiated and ratified at the height of the Cold War demonstrates that diplomacy is possible and can even strengthen national security. More recently, the United States and Russia worked together on the International Space Station (ISS). The trust gained from the ISS is, perhaps, a path forward. In fact, Rogozin recently explained, The most important thing would be to base [lunar exploration] on the principles of international cooperation that were used in order to fly the ISS program. If we could get back to considering making these principles as the foundation of the program then Roscomos would also consider its participation.

Clearly, the door is not shut. At minimum, the United States should use this opening to drive a wedge between a blossoming Sino-Russo space relationship. Diplomacy may fail. But not trying accomplishes nothing. The Biden Administration should engage both Russia and China in space diplomacy while continuing to assemble a strong and durable Artemis Accords coalition that is prepared to counter Americas outer space adversaries should diplomacy fail or the need arise.

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Putting dead heads on ice until the technology catches up – Sifted

Posted: at 8:00 pm

At the age of 18, Emil Kendziorra had a life plan.

First, he was going to become a doctor. Then he was going to make heaps of money. Then he was going to use that money to start a longevity business helping people (and himself) live a much longer life.

One of the things that motivates me is the fear of death, Kendziorra tells Sifted. I dont want to die.

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The first bit of the plan went exactly as imagined.

He became a doctor. Then he made a lot of money in tech founding companies, including software business Solid Media, a restaurant review site Onfeedback and then doctor-on-demand-network Medlanes (which was acquired last month).

But there was a snag. When researching what was happening in the longevity sector to start his new business, he felt pessimistic that the science would go far enough in his lifetime so he and others really could live forever.

One of the things that motivates me is fear of death

This was a tough moment for the 35-year-old, who had to rethink the next stage of his life plans. If you look at how far science has gotten, it is unlikely that a solution will be found within my lifetime, he says.

This prompted him to take a new path, getting into an even more esoteric field: the cryogenic freezing of people on their deathbed.

He now has a business called Tomorrow Biostasis that in exchange for an insurance payment of 30100 per month will freeze users heads or bodies from -130 to -196 degrees celsius with the idea that they will one day be resurrected.

Its part of a growing trend of companies getting into this field. But why is he freezing people? How does it work? And does it even work?

If there is a fair bit of scepticism out there about the whole science of longevity, or living forever, there is even more so about cryonics.

Cryonics is probably best known for showing up in films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Vanilla Sky or the television series Futurama.

The technology was also recently featured in a documentary on Netflix in which the parents of a terminally ill two-year-old decided to cryogenically preserve her brain.

The idea of inducing metabolic stasis in humans using cryogenic temperatures was proposed in the 1960s as a way of preventing structural decay of the brain, following the terminal failure of the body.

Indefinitely preserving the brains physical state was though to leave open the possibility of resuscitating consciousness: in other words, by restoring function to the brain using one of several theorised but as of yet undeveloped techniques such as digital reconstruction or nanobot cellular repair.

The idea of the technology has long been to freeze the human body shortly after pronounced legally dead, replace the blood with a solution designed to preserve the organs and then adding a so-called cryoprotectant solution that freezes cells without causing crystal formation. Then the body is kept in cold storage until the technology has developed enough to successfully revive the body.

The trouble is that this might, of course, never actually work something Kendziorra readily admits. But he says that there are few scientists who say that this will definitely never be possible just different ideas about how likely it is to ever work.

From scientists in the community, that I would all say are good scientists, the range is from, 2%, to 90% [likelihood that it will work], he says.

But just because it is described as science fiction doesnt mean that one should give up, according to Kendziorra.

The first heart transplant was done in 1967 and if you had asked doctors before that, if it was possible, their answer would probably have been no, you are insane.But that is not reason enough not to try making it happen.

In late 2018, Kendziorra set up a company called Tomorrow Biostasis where people all over Europe are able to sign up for cryogenically freezing and storing when they die.

Working with big insurance companies, users pay a monthly fee for the right to be frozen. Similar to life insurance, it only is a guarantee as long as you are under the age of 60 or 70 depending on the plan.

So far the startup has nearly 500 people signed up to be frozen when the time comes.

But even the freezing is hard.

One thing that is very important, logistically speaking, is if someone dies, you need to be there quickly to start the cooldown process, otherwise the cell damage starts to happen, Kendziorra says.

Alcor, one of the leading US companies when it comes to cryopreservation, believes that the process needs to start within minutes of death, however, this rarely happens due to delays at the hospital where the patient died.

Others would argue that severe cell damage caused by a body left dead for several hours, cannot be reversed, not even with the best medical nanorobots of the future.

Kendziorra is a bit more optimistic and Tomorrow Biostasis picks up people across Europe.

We have a medical response team that has a specialised ambulance vehicle, which is basically a mobile operating room, that is dispatched to pick up the patient, he says.

When the patient is ready for long-term storing, Tomorrow Biostasis uses non-profit organisations set up for this work.

According to Kendziorra, 100k is set aside for each patient. That money is then invested with the idea of 23% return of investment per year 2% for inflation and 1% to pay for the storage of the body.

The idea is that over time, even if it takes 50 or 100 years, you only use the interest and always keep the principle that you had in the beginning. Then you have this money available to pay for revival, Kendziorra says.

And some of that money would also be put aside as pocket money after one is revived. Whether money even exists and how one would fit into society a century from now are two different questions.

Apart from Tomorrow Biostasis, there arent a lot of cryonic startups in Europe. According to Kendziorra, the Swiss-Russian company Kriorus had some internal problems that had a negative effect on the reputation of the company.

One thing that is very important, logistically speaking, is if someone dies, you need to be there quick to start the cooldown process, otherwise the cell damage starts to happen

Kendziorra believes that trust and stability are key for a cryonics company. So far Tomorrow Biostasis has only raised an undisclosed amount from angel investors in Berlin and Silicon Valley but is planning for a larger funding round for 2021.

If you want more companies to choose from, youd better turn to the US.

Based in Arizona and by being around for 40 years, Alcor has perhaps helped the reputation of the technology, particularly in Silicon Valley.

To put yourself on ice is something that both PayPal founder Peter Thiel and computer scientist Ray Kurzweil have signed up to. In 2017, the AI-run hedge fund Numerai allowed employees cryonic body preservation as a benefit.

To be afraid of dying is not the only motivator for people that sign up for cryopreservation, according to Kendziorra.

Apart from not liking the idea of non-existence, I believe that people, who want this, think positively about life and therefore want it for longer. Another common motivation is also a curiosity about how life will look in the future. I think its always a combination of these three motivations. And I would say I subscribe to all of them, he says.

Mimi Billing is Sifteds Nordic correspondent. She also covers healthtech, and tweets from @MimiBilling

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Resist the urge to share a picture of your vaccine card – fox4kc.com

Posted: at 7:57 pm

Sharing a picture of your COVID-19 vaccine card on social media is the new popular thing to do. It shows everyone that youve had at least one dose of the vaccine.

But you may want to think twice before uploading, and sharing, your proof.

The Better Business Bureau warned against the idea last week. It says that there is self-identifying information on the card. If you arent careful, it could make it easier for people to steal your identity, or help scammers create fake versions of the vaccine card.

Keep in mind that your vaccination card includes personal information such as your full name, birthday and the location where you received your vaccine. Thats a lot of the info needed to open fraudulent account somewhere.

The Better Business Bureau also reports that scammers in Great Britain have been caught selling fake vaccination cards on eBay and TikTok. The BBB says its only a matter of time before scammers try to start cashing in here in the U.S.

The BBB offers several ideas to safely show others that youve had a vaccine.

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Priyanka Chopra beams with happiness as she signs copies of Unfinished ahead of release – Republic World

Posted: at 7:57 pm

Bollywood Priyanka Chopra Jonas is all excited as her memoir titledUnfinished is gearing up for its release. She has been sharing regularly sharing updates of her autobiography from revealing its jacket to her fans to finally holding the first published copy in her hands. As Priyanka Chopra Jonas' autobiography is inching closer to its release date, The White Tiger star has shared a video of her signing the copies of the book.

Also read |Sunny Leone Asks Netizens A Tasty Question About Photos Of Her 'Yummy' Printed Pyjamas

In the video shared by Priyanka, she appears all happy and excited as she is signing her memoir Unfinished. She is also seen kissing one of her books in the video. She also playfully stretchesher fingers to relax them for the continuous signing. At the end of the video, she gives a big, wide smile to the camera. In the caption of the post, she wrote that she is signing the books for those who are attending her virtual US book tour.

Also read |Anushka Sharma's Daughter Vamika Receives Love From Actor's Doppelganger Julia Michaels

The post garnered a lot of love from her fans and followers. The book signing video garnered over 416K likes within an hour of uploading and is still counting. Her fans, too, could not contain their excitement and have commented on the post to express the same. See their reactions below:

Priyanka Chopra Jonas's autobiography will chronicle the actor's journey of being in the showbusiness for such a long period of time. It will also describe her journey from an actor to a producer.t will also reflect on her journey of being theUNICEFGoodwill Ambassador.Her memoir will also take the readers through her personal life as well.

The fashion star is very busy as she has stared her own hair care products range called Anomaly. As she has introduced a wide range of hair care products on Instagram, Priyanka is very proud that the products are packaged keeping the environment in mind. The bottles of the brand are made from 100 per cent recycled trash so as to protect the environment. The products of the brand are 100 per cent vegan as well. Anomaly is currently not available in India but it will soon be.

Also read |Priyanka Chopra Jonas Twins With Her Pet Dog Diana, Says 'White Tiger And Her Cub'

Also read |NCB Detains Sushant Singh's Friend Rishikesh Pawar After Month Of Being 'absconding'

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.

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We’re a country remarkably tolerant of the fake and fraudulent in every field, writes Anil Singh – Free Press Journal

Posted: at 7:57 pm

The alleged forgery that was recently detected in a file signed by CM Uddhav Thackeray is just the tip of the iceberg of dubious government records in a country that is remarkably tolerant of the fake and fraudulent in every field.

There have been cases where file notings by IAS officers have been tampered with but two big cases show how high the stakes are and how audacious the forgers can get.

When Ajoy Mehta, currently adviser to the CM, was the Mumbai municipal commissioner in 2018, he alleged that forgers had reversed one of his orders, simply by changing should into shouldnt. As a result, the BMC lost a prime plot of land in Jogeshwari worth Rs 500 crore.

In 2019, two Supreme Court employees were sacked for tampering with an order directing the personal presence of industrialist Anil Ambani in a contempt case. While uploading the order, the duo twisted it to imply that Ambani need not appear in person.

In the Uddhav case, someone had allegedly squeezed in a sentence in red ink above his signature, saying that the inquiry (against a PWD superintending engineer) be closed.

The inquiry, which was initiated by the previous government and endorsed by the present PWD minister Ashok Chavan, pertains to repairs at the JJ School of Arts campus. It seems that the art of Plunder Without Detection, as former PM Morarji Desai described the PWD, has been forgotten.

Land records and forgeries

The public works department may have an unenviable reputation but in the common mans mind forgeries are associated with land records. The Bollywood hit, Khosla ka Ghosla, starring Anupam Kher and the just released Kaagaz featuring Pankaj Tripathi, reflect this reality.

Chavan himself was embroiled in the land scandal of the last decade the Adarsh housing society which cost him his chief ministership.

While cases such as Adarsh get prominence, the manipulation of land records in the outskirts of expanding cities by talathis and tehsildars go unreported. The government itself has lost thousands of acres of land through systematic tampering of records. Of late, the National Land Record Modernisation Programme is trying to fix the problem.

The urban talathis and tehsildars are the office-bearers of cooperative housing societies who delay, deny and defraud members -- for instance, transfer of property to the rightful heirs of deceased members. The extent of fraud and forgery here is no less than that in rural areas.

The falsification and skulduggery involved in schemes to redevelop old and not-so-old housing colonies in cities is so intricate and extensive that reputed builders employ a dummy builder and step in only after getting vacant possession of the plot.

Byword for corruption

Staying with real estate, which is a goldmine for unscrupulous builders, the SRA (Slum Rehabilitation Authority) is a byword for corruption in Maharashtra. In Juhu, even filmstars were found to be beneficiaries of this scheme which promises free houses to slumdwellers on government land in lieu of TDR, i.e. rights to construct additional storeys on a plot towards the suburbs.

It is another matter that most of these slums house illegal immigrants, who have managed to get ration cards and Aadhaar cards. The Pakistani hijackers of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 in 1999 had even obtained Indian passports based on fake driving licences made in Mumbai. It was after this that the procedure to get a passport was tightened.

Fake it till you make it seems to be our mantra. Educational institutes are deluged with fake certificates from students and employers struggle to distinguish the genuine from the fake. In fact, we dont see it as forgery but as jugaad.

Included in this fake-in-India cottage industry are forged missives, certificates and recommendations from high offices, including the PMO. So blas are we about such things that the Uddhav file forgery has hardly made a splash in the media. Or, one can blame it on cynicism, given the all-pervasive corruption.

Leading by example

It must be considered that the Government itself sets a bad example when it doesnt bat an eyelid before giving incorrect or one-sided information in a court affidavit. For instance, the Union Government claims that it held pre-legislative consultations on the contentious farm laws. Last year, the Uttar Pradesh government insisted that the alleged gang-rape victim in Hathras had been cremated with the consent of her family.

And karma doesnt catch up with such cheats. Several candidates file false affidavits during the nomination process but the Election Commission of India only threatens them with strict action. Meanwhile, those who have lied about their educational qualifications become education ministers.

By the time it is proved that the victor in a poll had submitted a false caste certificate, chances are that they have already completed their five-year term.

Legal loopholes

The problem is compounded by the fact that it is not easy to prove forgery because of legal loopholes. For instance, it is difficult to pin the blame for a forged document on the person who submitted it but did not make it. Also, the laws against counterfeiting and piracy lack teeth.

The forgery in the Maharashtra CMs file was reportedly detected when PWD minister Ashok Chavan saw the red ink remark and smelt a rat. The file was sent back to the CMs office and was tallied with the scanned copy which did not have the remark.

However, the case may drag on for years, just as in the case of Ajoy Mehta. In fact, the defence lawyer there contended that there was no forgery at all.

Western countries take forgery seriously. The UK has a national document fraud unit, which has a user-friendly website to familiarise people with commonly used identity documents, to provide a basic awareness of document abuse and to give out a simple checklist to verify documents.

Serious Fraud Investigation Office

India is catching up in this area, with the upgrading of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) consisting of experts in the field of accountancy, forensic auditing, law, information technology, investigation, company law, capital market and taxation.

The SFIO, as well as the cybercrime units of police forces have a huge challenge on their hands, given the low level of cyber literacy; even seasoned journalists and premier institutions fall prey to phishing attacks.

In 2019, Rs 12 crore was siphoned off from the bank account of the AIIMS, using cloned cheques. In the Rs 19 lakh e-wallet forgery case of last year it came to light that even fingerprints were sold. Such cases have increased manifold during the lockdown and the cops have a lot of catching up to do even in economic offences.

To end with, a nugget from Maratha history. A forgery is believed to have led to the assassination of the 17-year-old Peshwa Narayan Rao in 1773 in Punes Shaniwarwada.

His uncle Raghunathrao, the regent, sent a missive to his guards to kidnap Narayanrao but it was intercepted by his wife Anandibai, who changed one alphabet in it to convert it an order to murder the teenager.

The writer is an independent journalist based in Mumbai.

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Evening News crossword answers Monday, January 25: Here are the solutions for our daily puzzles – Edinburgh News

Posted: at 7:57 pm

Here are the latest answers for the Edinburgh Evening Newss daily crossword puzzles.

We will be uploading new challenges to the website every day so hopefully you will always find one to enjoy - including crosswords, cryptic crosswords, sudoku and word wheels.

You can also look through the puzzles from the previous two weeks if there is one you missed.

Our puzzles are meant to be tricky - so congratulations to anyone who managed to complete them!

To access all of your favourite puzzles online and help to support quality journalism in Scotland subscribe here.

If you havent already, make sure you also sign up for our daily newsletter so you can keep up to date with the latest news from our trusted journalists.

EVENING NEWS DOUBLE CROSSWORD ANSWERS 25/01/2021:

Cryptic: Across: 1 Arms traffic; 9 Top; 10 Extension; 11 Demon; 13 Funfair; 14 Stripe; 16 Region; 18 Anemone; 19 Since; 20 Close race; 21 Sue; 22 Fertile mind.Down: 2 Rip; 3 Skein; 4 Ratify; 5 Finance; 6 Imitation; 7 At a distance; 8 Entrance fee; 12 Morse code; 15 Poorest; 17 Recall; 19 Steam; 21 Son.

Quick: Across: 1 Misanthrope; 9 Man; 10 Enactment; 11 Refit; 13 Confirm; 14 Glance; 16 Genial; 18 Arrange; 19 Fleet; 20 Lingering; 21 Ado; 22 Desecration. Down: 2 Inn; 3 Alert; 4 Trance; 5 Retinue; 6 Precipice; 7 Impregnable; 8 Stimulation; 12 Fragrance; 15 Concede; 17 Senior; 19 Fight; 21 Ago.

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Evening News crossword answers Monday, January 25: Here are the solutions for our daily puzzles - Edinburgh News

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WandaVision: Heartwarming or heartbreaking? – Cutacut Entertainment News

Posted: at 7:57 pm

KARACHI:All MCU fans were teary-eyed to see Vision die inAvengers: Infinity War.While his return is a pleasant surprise in the latestWandaVisionseries, it does not quite sit well with the entire narrative that the universe is following. How did he suddenly come back to life with no memory of his death and no mention of what their life was before they somehow ended up in a suburban neighbourhood happily married?

The answer is simple, alternate reality. For the first time, MCU looks into a superheros mental health agitated after taking major hits in the past.

Where do Wandas mental health issues stem from?

We didnt give Wanda enough time to grieve. She had lost her (adoptive) parents at a young age. Discovered byBaronWolfgang von Strucker, who had been experimenting on humans to further the evil motives of Hydra, Wanda and Pietra Maximoff live their lives as lab rats in Sokovia. Pietro, who had superhuman speed, and Wanda, who can alter reality with telepathic and telekinetic abilities, soon have a turn of conscience and join the Avengers.

Ultron, the evil sentient robot, creates a more powerful body using the mind stone from Lokis scepter and aims to transfer his mind into the new body. However, Avengers who escape with this new body, bring it to life after uploading J.A.R.V.I.S. (a friendly AI built by Tony Stark) into its body instead. This creates Vision, who soon falls in love with Wanda Maximoff and she reiterates.

Raised in Sokovia, Wanda is extremely close to her twin brother. However, she has to bid him farewell after Ultron kills him. Soon afterwards, inCaptain America: Civil War,Wanda accidentally causes a building to explode. The burden of guilt weighs on her heart strongly especially as she is growing accustomed to life outside the lab. During this time, Vision is her constant source of emotional support.

ByInfinity War,Thanos, who is on a quest to obtain all the infinity stones, kills Vision to obtain the mind stone attached to his forehead. With the source of his power gone, the android dies. Wanda is soon snapped out of reality when Thanos snaps his finger, only for her to reappear five years later with herVisionlost. This could be an enormous blow to Scarlet Witchs mental health. After her reappearance, she possibly does not even get the catharsis she awaited when she attacks Thanos who is from a time several years before the events of the infinity war, saying, you took everything from me. To which Thanos replies, I dont even know you.

The universe of WandaVision

Progressing with a lapse of 10 years in each episode, the superheroes hardly aging, living a peaceful life (often revealing their powers by accident to a group of people who remain oblivious), the universe seems a little out of the ordinary. With its sitcom-like treatment, the universe does take into account the comics, such as Wanda getting pregnant and quickly delivering her children in a days time. It feels heartwarming at first until the sound from the radio starts to address Wanda asking, Who is doing this to you?

Even if it is initially difficult to catch that Wanda is the one rewinding reality, by the third episode when she rewinds a scene with Vision realizing there is something wrong with their surroundings, the audience becomes sure. Heartbreakingly enough, it is extremely likely that Vision is simply a figment of Wandas imagination and a memory she refuses to let go of.

There are ads in between, such as a toaster by Stark Industries, a wristwatch by Strucker, Hydra, and Hydra Soak bath minerals that appear from time to time. This really gives an insight into what is going on in Wandas head. In her subconscious, she holds repressed memories of Hydra, Strucker, and Stark.

In this alternate-reality, Wanda gives birth to twins, and as she does so, she remembers being a twin sibling to a brother she lost. It is possible that Wanda has created her own twins in the loving memory of her brother. As soon as Geraldine states, He was killed by Ultron to Wanda who is singing a Sokovian lullaby to her newborn twins, she makes sure to throw Geraldine out from the world that Wanda aims to keep for herself. Perhaps, this represents her repressed memories resurfacing.

The nosy neighbours

The nosy neighbours who somehow always appear happy and (ironically) ignorant of two superheroes living in their neighbourhood for decades may very well be people from SW.O.R.D. The helicopter with a sword in its logo hints at that. The sound from the radio appears to be of Randall Park, a CIA agent who kept Scott Lang in detention. Either S.W.O.R.D. has penetrated the alternate reality created by Wanda, or are accessing her mind somehow, going allInceptionon her, or it really is an unconscious Wanda accessing her happily ever after, refusing to step out of her imaginary world.

The show also introduces Kathryn Hahn as Agnes. But she could just be the witch Agatha Harkness, an MCU character who wipes her twins out of existence and causes Wanda to go rogue. The twins getting wiped out could really be Wanda coming to terms with the actual reality where neither Vision nor his children with Wanda exist, which could be extremely heartbreaking and could shift her character for the worse. We also see Agnes dressed up as a witch in one of the trailers, hinting at her look from the comics.

Another theory suggests Mephisto lurking in the neighbourhood posing as the snobbish Dottie. Mephisto can alter his appearance and in the comics takes a particular interest in the Scarlet Witch. When Dottie states that she has heard things about Vision and Wanda and does not trust the couple, Wanda feels threatened.

What to expect

What S.W.O.R.D. could really be doing here is protecting Wanda from Mephisto. Wanda, keen on staying in the universe might come face to face with either the evils of Mephisto or simply her own fate. This could possibly loop in Loki and Doctor Strange as Wanda expands her universe.

However, what really seals the deal for MCU this time is their approach to mental health issues. It portrays them as more insidious wars fought internally, often harder than most battles we fight externally in our lives. The WandaVision series tries to convince watchers that trauma does shape our behaviours, whether we choose to confront our mental health problems or deny them.

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WandaVision: Heartwarming or heartbreaking? - Cutacut Entertainment News

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