22-year-old Gorakhpur woman 'becomes' British High Commissioner for a day!
New Delhi, Oct 11: Being the British High Commissioner in India can be a hectic job, and a 22-year-old woman from Gorakhpur experienced this when she held the post for a day.
Ayesha Khan won the chance to step into the diplomat's shoes as she topped the 'High Commissioner for a Day' competition which is a celebration of October 11 'International Day of the Girl Child' and is open to Indian women aged 18-23.
On October 4, as envoy, she spent the day overseeing the UK's largest overseas network, chairing briefing sessions, networking with dignitaries and meeting project beneficiaries, a British High Commission statement said.
The selection for the 'High Commissioner for a Day' competition, now in its third year, requires a person to record a one-minute video on why gender equality is important and whom they see as their biggest gender equality inspiration.
The competition saw an overwhelming response with applications received from across 14 states, the statement said.
"My day was pretty hectic but also really fun and I got to learn a lot. Leading daily briefings, interacting with stakeholders from the UK and India, and experiencing the richness of multi-culturalism has been a great experience," Khan was quoted as saying.
"I believe education is a powerful tool that can help achieve gender equality. I have been following the past winners of this competition and I thank the British High Commission for giving me this opportunity," she said.
Deputy High Commissioner for the Day (on other days, British High Commissioner to India), Dominic Asquith said, "I greatly enjoyed working for and with Ayesha for the day. She spoke articulately, passionately and convincingly on this important issue."
"I am delighted that we were able once again to celebrate this important occasion by demonstrating to young women from all walks of life that anything is possible, and by giving them the opportunity to realise their potential," Asquith said.
Over the course of the day, Ayesha visited Apeejay School in Pitampura, met with women working in Delhi's unorganised sector and learnt how they are supported by SEWA, and hosted a discussion with a beneficiary of Facebook's GOAL (Going Online as Leaders) programme.
She also met leaders from business, foreign policy and civil society.
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MP cruise boat tragedy: Search ops expanded to trace four missing passengers
Jabalpur (PTI): Army divers and disaster response teams on Saturday expanded their search at Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh to locate a man and three children still missing after the cruise boat tragedy that claimed nine lives two days ago, officials said.
With 28 of the 41 identified passengers onboard the ill-fated cruise boat rescued safely, police are preparing to register an FIR in connection with the accident that occurred at the reservoir in Jabalpur district on Thursday evening, they said.
The search radius has been expanded to 5 km in the backwaters of the Bargi Dam, located downstream of the Narmada River, area sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI.
Nine people drowned in the incident, while 28 were rescued, and efforts are ongoing to trace the missing persons, he said.
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According to the police, more than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, began the search operation at 5 am on Saturday to trace Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, his son Tamil (5), Vijay Soni (6) and Mayuram (5).
Mishra said that an inquest case has been registered and the post-mortem of nine deceased persons has been completed.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will soon register an FIR," he said.
Investigators have said that CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the ill-fated boat, and the names of 41 persons, who boarded the vessel, have been ascertained so far.
Collector Raghvendra Singh confirmed that a search is underway for four missing persons.
The rescue operation, being carried out by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local divers, was briefly affected around 9 am due to strong winds.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members after survivors alleged negligence and safety lapses, including failure to provide life jackets.
The government also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, sank during a sudden storm around 6 pm on Thursday, and the wreckage was retrieved from the dam water on Friday, after the rescuers confirmed that there were no more bodies inside.
Eyewitnesses have said that strong winds made the water choppy, prompting passengers to raise an alarm and ask the crew to steer the vessel towards the riverbank.
A survivor alleged negligence by the crew and described a last-minute scramble for life jackets.
