UK to issue coin in honour of Mahatma Gandhi
Paris: The UK government has decided to issue a commemorative coin to mark the 150th birthday anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, said Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid.
The Pakistani-origin British finance minister said he had asked the UK's Royal Mint to work on the coin so that the world never forgot what Gandhi taught it.
He announced this on Thursday at the annual GG2 ceremony in London to celebrate the British Asian success. Javid has topped the power list released annually by the Asian Media Group (AMG), UK-based publishers behind the GG2.
"Tonight's awards celebrate the 150th birthday of Gandhi a fitting time to announce that I've asked the Royal Mint of the UK to propose a new commemorative coin in his honour. We should never forget what Gandhi taught the world," said Javid.
"Gandhi taught us that power doesn't just come from wealth or high office. We must always remember the values he lived his life by and that our parents brought with them when they arrived here all those years ago," added Javid, a son of a British Pakistani bus driver who has often spoken of his humble origin.
Priti Patel, the Indian-origin home secretary in the Boris Johnson led government, was named the second most influential person on the 2019 GG2 power list, rising 36 places from the previous year due to her frontline cabinet post.
Fellow Indian-origin junior minister serving under Sajid Javid as the Chief Secretary to the UK Treasury, Rishi Sunak, the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, also made it to the top 10 at No. 7.
The third spot on the list went to anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller, born Gina Nadira Singh to British Guyana's former Attorney-General Doodnauth Singh. Miller was followed by London's Pakistani-origin mayor Sadiq Khan at No. 4.
The UK's senior-most counter-terrorism officer, Neil Basu, is ranked fifth and the Nobel Prize-winner and president of the Royal Society, Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Venky, is ranked ninth.
UK-based Indian-origin businessmen Hinduja brothers--Gopichand and Srichand-- took the 10th spot in this year's list.
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Misuse of power, money to control election mechanism seen during Maharashtra polls: Sharad Pawar
Pune (PTI): NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed the misuse of power and money to control the entire election mechanism, which was never before seen in any state assembly or national polls, was witnessed in Maharashtra.
Pawar made the statement when he visited senior activist Dr Baba Adhav, who is protesting against the alleged "misuse of EVMs" in the recent state polls in Maharashtra.
Adhav, who is in his 90s, began his three-day protest at Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, in the city on Thursday.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), have been alleging manipulation of EVMs in the recently held Maharashtra Assembly elections, which saw a landslide victory by the Mahayuti.
The Mahayuti, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, won 230 out of 288 assembly seats in the November 20 polls, while the MVA managed just 46 seats.Talking to reporters, Pawar said elections were conducted recently in the country, and there is a restlessness among the people about these.
Baba Adhav's agitation represents this restlessness, he said.
He said, "There is a murmur among the people that the recent polls in Maharashtra saw 'misuse of power' and 'floods of money', which was never seen in the past. Such things are heard of in local-level polls, but taking over the entire election mechanism with the help of money and misuse of power was not seen before. However, we witnessed it in Maharashtra, and people are restless now."
He added that people were recalling late socialist ideologue Jaiprakash Narayan and felt somebody should take a step forward.
"I heard Baba Adhav has taken a lead into this issue and is agitating at Phule Wada. His protest gives hope to the people, but it is not enough. A mass revolt is necessary, as the danger of the parliamentary democracy getting destroyed looms," Pawar said.
The former Union minister said those who have reins of the country in their hands are least bothered about this.
"Despite widespread discussion over it (alleged misuse of EVMs) in the country, whenever the opposition tries to raise the issue in the Parliament, they are not allowed to speak. Opposition leaders have been seeking an opportunity to speak on these issues for six days, but their demands have not been accepted even once. It shows they want to attack parliamentary democracy," he claimed.
He said Dr Adhav's protest is a fine example of someone revolting against the issue and expressed confidence that his protest will create a ripple effect.
