Wajid Khan’s wife Kamalrukh reveals the late music director threatened to divorce her in 2014 as she wasn’t ready to convert her religion
EU-UK trade talks floundering over fish as cutoff day nears
Deep into a crucial weekend of negotiations, a breakthrough on fishing rights remained elusive for European Union and Britain
BRUSSELS — Deep into a crucial weekend of negotiations, a breakthrough on fishing rights remained elusive for the European Union and Britain, leaving both without a trade agreement that would dull the edge of a chaotic, costly economic break on New Year’s Day.
With hundreds of thousands of jobs at stake throughout the economy, the tiny sector of fisheries continued to drive a wedge between the 27-nation bloc and the U.K., highlighting the animosity that drove them to a Brexit divorce over the past four years. Britain left the bloc in January but a 11-month economic transition period ends on Dec. 31.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said Sunday that the EU is “continuing to make demands that are incompatible with our independence. We cannot accept a deal that doesn’t leave us in control of our own laws or waters.”
The almost mythical sense of Britain’s rights to rule its waves was an essential part of what drove Brexiteers to victory in the 2016 referendum. Johnson is seeking to make sure that as much as possible of the shared British waters are now returned to U.K. vessels only.
The EU has always maintained that those waters have been shared for decades, if not centuries, and insists if too many fishing rights are taken away, it will punish Britain by imposing hefty import fees to the mainland market, which is essential to the U.K. seafood industry.
The stalemate has left the overall talks inconclusive with businesses on both sides clamoring for a deal that would save tens of billions in costs. Johnson, though, could not be budged.
“We need to get any deal right and based on terms which respect what the British people voted for,” his office said.
The EU parliament needs to approve any deal before the end of the year and had set a Sunday night deadline so it could have a cursory vetting of the deal and approve it before New Year’s Day. Negotiators, however, seemed little impressed by yet another deadline when so many had already been missed during the four-year departure process.
One official from an EU coastal nation said the EU was refusing to yield more than a quarter of the fishing quotas the bloc stands to lose now that Britain is regaining full control of its waters due to Brexit. Britain is also steadfast that a 3-year transition period would be long enough for EU fishermen to adapt to the new rules, while the EU wants at least six years.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were still ongoing.
A failure to reach a post-Brexit deal would lead to more chaos on Britain’s borders with the EU at the start of 2021, when new tariffs would add to other impediments to trade enacted by both sides. The talks have bogged down on two main issues over the past days — the EU’s access to U.K. fishing waters and assurances of fair competition between businesses.
A trade deal would ensure there are no tariffs and quotas on trade in goods between the two sides, but there would still be technical costs, partly associated with customs checks and non-tariff barriers on services.
While both sides would suffer economically from a failure to secure a trade deal, most economists think the British economy would take a greater hit, at least in the near-term, as it is relatively more reliant on trade with the EU than vice versa.
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Jill Lawless contributed from London.
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Follow all AP stories about Brexit and British politics at https://apnews.com/hub/brexit
Latest Brexit offer ‘selling EU fishing communities down the river’, Barnier told
Michel Barnier has been told by the European fishing industry that his latest offer to the UK amounts to selling coastal communities “down the river” as negotiators continue to haggle in Brussels over a post-Brexit trade and security deal.
The EU and UK negotiating teams remain at loggerheads on the future rights of EU fishing fleets in British seas, with Downing Street warning there will not be a deal without a significant shift from Barnier in the coming hours.
The annual turnover from fish for UK vessels in British waters is about €850m (£770m) compared with €650m by EU member states. The prime minister has rejected the latest EU offer of handing over 25% of its catch by value – €162.5m a year – to UK vessels.
The UK insists that the EU needs to get closer to its demand for 60% of the current catch being repatriated, worth about €390m a year.
Downing Street also wants to restrict a phase-in period for the new arrangements to three years rather than the six or seven most recently proposed by Brussels.
But in a warning shot across Barnier’s bows, Gerard van Balsfoort, the chairman of the European Fisheries Alliance, representing the industry in coastal states such as France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, said the terms already offered would involve “unprecedented” and unacceptable cuts.
He said: “The shape of a deal, as currently stands, would give a huge blow to the European seafood sector which is made up more than 18,000 fishermen and 3,500 vessels with an annual turnover of €20.7bn.
“Our industry is literally and metaphorically on the brink and in spite of repeated promises made, we are in the throes of being sold down the river with the offer made to the United Kingdom by the European commission. The more so when the fisheries negotiations with the UK are intended to start all over again after only six or seven years.”
Should the nine months of talks fail to produce an agreement on a trade and security deal, the UK’s waters would be entirely shut to EU vessels, unless some contingency arrangements could be negotiated.
But Van Balsfoort said his members would prefer a no-deal outcome than the terms so far proposed by Barnier. There are 11 days to go before the UK leaves the transition period, with or without a deal.
Van Balsfoort said: “The one thing we wanted to avoid was a ‘no-deal’ situation in the interests of all our fishermen but the deal which is now being proposed is every bit as bad. We are looking at vicious and unprecedented cuts on a wide range of stocks including our pelagic, shellfish and whitefish sectors.
“This is galling and if the European commission doesn’t stand up for its fishermen and honour its written agreement made during the arduous Brexit negotiations, it could spell the death knell for large parts of an industry which has contributed so much to coastal communities across nine EU states. Our fishermen must be protected as they risk life and limb to provide fresh food in the most unforgiving environment on earth.”
The European parliament has set midnight on Sunday, central European time, as the deadline for agreement. MEPs have said they will not hold a vote of consent this year if a deal is not in place.
A deal could still be “provisionally applied” by the 27 EU member states, with parliament holding a vote in January, although the commission is loth to take that route.
The provisional application process could also take up to a week, due to the need for translation and scrutiny of the text in the EU capitals, leaving just a few days more of talking time before a no-deal outcome, for at least a short period in the event of a very late agreement, becomes unavoidable.
Clément Beaune, France’s European affairs minister, said a deal remained doable in the coming few days. “We have given ourselves a few more days because we think that an agreement is still possible,” he said. “It’s hard, not sure, but worth a try. More than an agreement, we want a good agreement, in particular preserving fishing and fair conditions of competition. The negotiations should be concluded in the next few days. We know where our red lines are and what interests we don’t want to sacrifice.”
A UK government source said: “We need to get any deal right and based on terms which respect what the British people voted for. Unfortunately, the EU are still struggling to get the flexibility needed from member states and are continuing to make demands that are incompatible with our independence.
“We cannot accept a deal that doesn’t leave us in control of our own laws or waters. We’re continuing to try every possible path to an agreement, but without a substantial shift from the commission we will be leaving on WTO terms on December 31.”
New Freedom of Religion Act in Himachal
SHIMLA: With Himachal Pradesh home department fixing December 18 as the date to implement provisions of the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019 (13 of 2019), any forced religious conversion will be a cognizable and non-bailable offence in the state.
The Bill was tabled and passed in the state assembly last August. It later received the governor’s nod but the date of implementation was not fixed.
“In exercise of powers conferred by sub-section (2) Section 1 of Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019 (13 of 2019), the Governor Himachal Pradesh, is pleased to appoint the 18th day of December, 2020 the date from which the provisions of the aforesaid Act shall come into force,” said a notification issued by the principal secretary (home) on Friday.
According to Section 3 of new Act, no person will convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any other person from one religion to another by use of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, inducement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage; nor shall any person abet or conspire such conversion. The violators will be punished with imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and up to five years. The violator will also be liable to pay fine.
The Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2006 had the provision of punishment of maximum two years of imprisonment or fine which may extend to Rs 25,000 or with both. In case the offence was committed in respect of a minor, a woman or a person belonging to schedule castes or schedule tribes, the punishment of imprisonment may extend to three years and fine may extend to Rs 50,000.
Now, violating provisions in respect of a minor, woman or person belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe will invite imprisonment of not less than two years, which may be extended to seven years and the violator will also be liable to pay fine. According to the law, any marriage conducted with the sole purpose of conversion by a person of one religion with a person of another religion either by converting himself before or after marriage or by converting the other person before or after the marriage can be declared null and void by the family court on a petition presented by either party thereto.
One who desires to be converted to another religion will have to give a declaration at least one month in advance on the proforma as may be prescribed, to the district magistrate or executive magistrate, of his intention to convert his religion on his own volition or free consent and without any force, coercion, undue influence, inducement or fraudulent means. In case a person wants to re-convert to his parent religion, no notice will be required.
Even the religious priest who performs purification sanskar or conversion ceremony for converting any person of one religion to another religion will have to give one month’s advance notice of such sanskar or conversion to the district magistrate or executive magistrate on the prescribed proforma.
Under the new Act, burden of proof as to whether religious conversion was not effected through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, inducement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage lies on the person so converted and where such conversion has been facilitated by any person, on such other person.
To put a check on forcible conversion and conversion taking place by way of misrepresentation and inducement etc, Himachal Pradesh government, on August 29 last year, tabled the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill 2019 to re-enact the law to provide freedom of religion by prohibition of conversion.
Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, in the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill, said that it has been observed that there is a rise in conversions by fraudulent means and unless checked well in time, this practice may erode the confidence and mutual trust between different ethnic and religious groups in the state.
It was stated that if forcible conversions were not prohibited, there would be public disorder in the state. Thus, in order to check forcible conversions of religion in the state and to preserve the peaceful atmosphere thereof, it was decided to bring an effective legislation in place of the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act 2006.
News24.com | EU, UK each demand concessions as post-Brexit talks stall
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. (PIC: Leon Neal)
- Post-Brexit talks dragged on into Sunday, as they were deadlocked on fishing rights.
- Sources from both sides said that unless the other backed down on access to UK waters, Britain would leave the single market at midnight on December 31.
- EU diplomat told AFP that Brussels had made Britain its last offer on fishing and it was down now to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to decide whether he wants a deal.
British and EU negotiators had dug in their heels and were each demanding more concessions from the other as post-Brexit trade talks dragged on into Sunday, deadlocked on fishing rights.
Sources from both sides said that unless the other backed down on access to UK waters, Britain would leave the single market at midnight on December 31 without a follow-on deal on cross-Channel commerce.
“We’re continuing to try every possible path to an agreement, but without a substantial shift from the (European) Commission we will be leaving on WTO terms on 31 December,” a British government source said.
But an EU diplomat told AFP that Brussels had made Britain its last offer on fishing and it was down now to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to decide whether he wants a deal.
“If Britain doesn’t accept the latest EU offer it will be a ‘no deal’ over fish,” he warned. A European official said: “It’s very blocked.”
The tough talk came as both sides are engaged in intense – and tense – negotiations to secure a pact before the end of the month. No deal would risk chaos at EU and UK borders, where a pre-deadline rush has already caused long tailbacks of lorries.
Observers, however, noted that the fishing issue was about finding middle ground between offer and counteroffer in an economically small sector, while the much bigger other main issue, on guaranteeing fair trade competition rules is closer to settlement.
“It’s all down to numbers now,” the European diplomat said.
The EU’s pointman in the negotiations, Michel Barnier, has proposed EU fishermen giving up nearly a quarter of the value of the fish they currently catch in UK waters. Britain is understood to be holding out for getting back much more than half.
The UK has suggested this compromise last for three years before it is renegotiated, whereas Europe is holding out for double that.
“We cannot accept a deal that doesn’t leave us in control of our own laws or waters,” the UK government source said, arguing that the EU was “continuing to make demands that are incompatible with our independence”.
EU fishermen fear losing any access to the rich UK fishing waters will threaten their livelihoods.
“We are in the throes of being sold down the river,” the European Fisheries Alliance said in a statement, urging Barnier to stick to protecting them.
“The shape of a deal, as currently stands would give a huge blow to the European seafood sector which is made up of more than 18 000 fishermen and 3 500 vessels with an annual turnover of 20.7 billion euros.”
Time is very short to reach an accord.
The European Parliament has highlighted a deadline of midnight (23:00 GMT) on Sunday to receive a deal for review if MEPs are to ratify it before the end of the year.
Their UK parliamentary counterparts are in recess, but can be recalled within 48 hours to do likewise.
But EU capitals are not binding themselves to the European Parliament’s deadline.
France’s European affairs minister, Clement Beaune, said talks will not be called to a halt if they drag out past Sunday night.
“We won’t do that because what is at risk is whole sectors like fishing, like sustainable competition conditions for our businesses,” he said.
The urgency of reaching a deal is seen in long lines of trucks at the freight rail link through the Channel tunnel as British companies frantically stockpile.
A group of UK MPs warned on Saturday that Britain has not installed the complex IT systems and port infrastructure needed to ensure trade with the EU runs smoothly.
Some disruption is inevitable, deal or no deal, with British and European firms needing to fill out import-export, health and tax forms to send and receive goods to each other.
A deal would avoid tariffs but there would still be traffic snarls as checks on truck loads and drivers’ papers are carried out.
Even truck drivers’ lunches will come under border scrutiny: the British government warned packed ham and cheese sandwiches are banned from entry into Europe under meat and dairy restrictions that apply to non-EU arrivals.
FM Bayramov meets with EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement
Baku, December 19, AZERTAC
As part of his working visit to the Kingdom of Belgium, Azerbaijan`s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has met with EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Oliver Varhelyi.
During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on such issues as a partnership between Azerbaijan and the European Union, including trade, energy, transport and connectivity, investment, as well as the development of a new agreement that will form the legal basis of relations.
Speaking about the current situation in the region, Minister Bayramov conveyed detailed information about the 44-day Patriotic War, the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions, as well as the war crimes committed by Armenia, and the targeting of civilians during this period. Informing Oliver Varhelyi about the joint statement dated November 10 and its implementation, the FM spoke about the new security framework and prospects for cooperation in the region with the cessation of hostilities.
Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi mentioned the EU’s intention to help people affected by military operations in the region. The importance of providing humanitarian assistance and, in this respect, providing this assistance, in coordination with the Azerbaijani side, to all people in need was emphasized.
The sides also discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest.
AZERTAG.AZ :FM Bayramov meets with EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement
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‘Uttara Kaanda’ book review: Silent voices speak
Express News Service
A story is made up of events, but is both more and less than them. While the events may mean multiple things, the story forces them into specific interpretations and discards the rest. SL Bhyrappa deconstructs the classic Indian epic of the Ramayana into events, and back together into a different story in Uttara Kanda—one that focuses on Sita and the other women.
Bhyrappa is a well-known figure in Indian literature, and has never been one to hew to the mainstream. In his dozens of books written over decades, he has created a very individualistic—yet references-backed—vision of Indian spirituality and culture. It takes someone with a deep understanding of the storyteller’s art to notice the flaws in an epic, which is what Bhyrappa has done here.
The book begins with Sita in exile, struggling to manage her twin toddler sons. Her situation is dire, and were it not for her loyal maid with experience of bringing up children, and her sister Urmila, who sends over supplies, she would be worse off still. As she thinks back to her past days, and how she landed up here, we, the readers, begin a unique unseen narration of the entire Ramayana and beyond.
Unique—because, in addition to this being Sita’s viewpoint, it is also told completely in a limited first person. Epics are made easier to swallow by being, in writing terminology, third-person omniscient—the narrator knows everything happening everywhere—but Bhyrappa brings us the true terrors of Sita’s existence by narrowing the narrative. Information often comes to her days, or months later, through sources with their own bias. When Sita does not know what happened between Kaikeyi and Dasharatha, neither do we, until someone tells us. And when Sita is trapped in Raavana’s Ashok Vana, we have no idea of whether Rama knows about her, or whether he plans to do anything about it. And thence, we see that what sounds fair and just for the men in the story, sounds so unfair to the women. They’re expected to follow the conventions despite the whole picture never being made clear to them.
Indeed, none of the men in the cast come off looking good when examined closer. Whether it is Rama, who uses dharma as a crutch rather than an ideal, Sugreeva who lusts after his brother’s wife, or even Dasharatha who makes rash promises driven by lust again. Even Valmiki is a character here, and Bhyrappa points out how Valmiki, when writing his epic, is inclined to focus on the men’s story and end it at a point when things are looking good, instead of including the depressing aftermath.
Bhyrappa makes the story more believable by removing the traces of the supernatural from the tale. Hanuman, now, is a man named after the mythical Hanuman. The golden deer is just a deer and the disguised voice emanating is never explained. The magical bridge to Lanka is now replaced by rocks that were already there. It has the effect of making us look at the characters as more human and less literal Gods. A God may make his wife miserable to satisfy dharma, but how do we feel when a normal man does it?
The translation of the book by Rashmi Terdal is superb, achieving the twin goals of being fluent, and of bringing the native ethos to life. Rewriting epics has been a popular genre in Indian literature, with the regional influences adding extra colour to the plot. In Marathi retellings, for example, family members get called Dada and Mama—here, this is a Kannada version, so Terdal has retained the Anna, Appa, and Thaatha salutations. Characters eat millets and refer to them by Kannada names—navane, ragi, sajje.
This book is further proof of the riches in Indian literature—writers and books—that translation is bringing to new readers. An absorbing, thought-provoking read!
UP Cops: Man held under anti-conversion law, tried to change woman’s religion
By: Express News Service | Lucknow |
December 20, 2020 5:50:32 am
December 20, 2020 5:50:32 am
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</span><span class="custom-caption"> <span class="ie-custom-caption">As per the FIR, the accused, Mohammad Saeed, concealed his identity and introduced himself to the woman, a mother of two, as Sunil Kumar. (Representational)</span></span>A 32-year-old man was arrested on Friday for allegedly coercing a 42-year-old married woman into changing her religion for marriage in Shahjahanpur district. This is the district’s first case registered under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020.
As per the FIR, the accused, Mohammad Saeed, concealed his identity and introduced himself to the woman, a mother of two, as Sunil Kumar.
He is alleged to have threatened her to convert and sexually assaulted her.
The FIR has been registered against Saeed and his family members under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 384 (extortion), 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and sections of the anti-conversion law. Police said they were probing the role of his family members.
Earlier, the woman and her mother accompanied by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other right-wing organisations reached the police station concerned and got an FIR registered.
“The woman has alleged that the accused came to her contact around four-five years ago. As per the allegations, he introduced himself as Hindu and later established physical relations with her. He used to regularly talk to her over phone. It has also been alleged that her started pressuring her for marriage,” said Shahjahanpur SP (City) Sanjay Kumar. Her husband stays in Mathura.
Talking to the media, the woman alleged that the man, who identified himself as Sunil, had come to her house to rent a room and took her phone number.]
“He started talking to me over phone and with increasing closeness, he started threatening me. He made videos of me and started asking for money. He asked me to transfer my land and house in his name. He physically and mentally abused me. He also threatened me with acid attack,” she alleged.
“He was forcing me to get married after conversion and wanted me to sign a nikahanama. His mother also came to my house and said the same. On December 10, seven-eight of his family members came and asked me to sign the nikahanama. When I started shouting, they started beating me. I informed my family and went to the police,” she claimed.
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Foreign Minister Receives Credentials from New Ambassador of the European Union to Belize
Senator the Honourable Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, and Immigration received copies of the Letter of Credence of the new Ambassador of the European Union to Belize, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen at a virtual ceremony on December 17, 2020.
Following her presentation, Foreign Minister Courtenay and Ambassador Van Steen held substantive discussions on key areas of Belize-EU relations, including the recently achieved political deal on the new Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS), the EU blacklists of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and AML/CFT, and the Schengen visa waiver.
The EU is one of Belize’s most significant political, development, and trading partners. In his remarks, Minister Courtenay said that the Government of Belize is looking forward to a strong, effective, and efficient partnership with the EU characterized by open and constructive dialogue.
Accompanying the Foreign Minister was Honourable Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State, and Ambassador Amalia Mai, Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.
Please help support Local Journalism in Belize
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Supporters of hardliner Rizieq Shihab clash with Indonesia police – Religion News
Religious leader recently returned from self-exile after leaving the country in 2017 amid allegations of involvement in a pornography case.
Supporters of firebrand Indonesian Muslim leader Rizieq Shihab have clashed with police during a demonstration in Jakarta, after demanding their spiritual figurehead be released from police detention.
Several hundred protesters had gathered in the capital of the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation on Friday, with scuffles breaking out after police told the group that large gatherings were prohibited amid the pandemic.
“For the safety of our souls … the police and the military will disperse [protesters] and act decisively,” a police officer told protesters, blasting the message through a sound system.
The police have been investigating the controversial scholar for violations of health protocols during the pandemic after large gatherings to mark his return to Indonesia in November after fleeing to Saudi Arabia in 2017.
Indonesia is grappling with the worst coronavirus outbreak in Southeast Asia, averaging more than 6,000 new cases a day this week.
Police deployed thousands on the streets of Jakarta on Friday to guard the protest, with a new requirement for people to present a negative rapid COVID-19 test to enter the capital likely thwarting some supporters from joining the rally.
Rizieq is the leader of the Islamic Defenders’ Front (FPI). His return to Indonesia was marked with events attended by thousands of his followers.
Rizieq had left for Saudi Arabia amid allegations that he had violated the country’s anti-pornography laws by exchanging graphic messages and nude pictures over the messaging app WhatsApp with a woman.
The calls for his release also come after six of the scholar’s bodyguards were shot dead following a clash with police on a highway earlier this month.
The FPI, once notorious for raiding bars and brothels, has become more politically influential in recent years, particularly after helping orchestrate mass rallies against Jakarta’s former Christian governor in 2016 that were the largest in decades.
