We are both daughters of India, in a way: Priyanka Chopra Jonas to US VP Kamala Harris
Washington(PTI): US Vice President Kamala Harris and actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas have reflected on their Indian connections, marriage equality, and climate change, as they shared a stage during a leadership forum here.
Chopra Jonas, who is now settled in Los Angeles, was invited by the Democratic National Committee's Women's Leadership Forum last Friday to interview Harris for a fireside chat.
The actor kicked off the conversation with their Indian connection.
I think we're both daughters of India, in a way, Chopra Jonas told the room full of prominent Democrats invited to the conference from across the country.
You're a proud American-born daughter of an Indian mom and a Jamaican father. I am an Indian born of two physicians as parents and a recent immigrant to this country who totally still believes in the wholehearted...American Dream, she said.
Harris, 57, was born in Oakland California. Her mother Shyamala Gopalan migrated to the US from Tamil Nadu in India, while her father, Donald J Harris, moved to the US from Jamaica.
She is the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to be elected US Vice President.
The US, Chopra Jonas said, s regarded as a beacon of hope, freedom, and choice for the whole world.
And these tenets are being endlessly assaulted right now, she said.
The actor, producer, and philanthropist said after working for over 20 years in films, it was only this year that she got paid equal to her male co-stars.
Chopra Jonas was most recently seen in Keanu Reeves-led "The Matrix Resurrections". She will next star in The Russo Brothers' series "Citadel" and "It's All Coming Back To Me", opposite Sam Heughan.
Chopra Jonas, 40, also touched upon the issue of marriage equality. She is married to American singer Nick Jonas, with whom she welcomed a baby girl in January 2022.
In her remarks, Harris acknowledged that right now they are living in an unsettled world.
I've been traveling around the world as Vice President. I've directly talked with 100 world leaders in person or by phone, she said, adding things that we long took for granted are now up for debate and question.
You look, for example, at Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine. We thought it was pretty well settled--the issue of territorial integrity and sovereignty -- and now that is up for some debate, given what's happening there, she noted.
Harris then quickly turned to issues in the US.
We look at our own country. We thought, surely with the Voting Rights Act and all that it stood for, we assumed and thought the issue of voting rights in America was settled, the US vice president added.
Then we had the Shelby v Holder decision. And then after the 2020 election, when more people voted and more young people voted than ever before, states around our country started systematically and intentionally making it more difficult for people to vote, Harris said.
The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 to ensure state and local governments do not pass laws or policies that deny American citizens the equal right to vote based on race. On June 25, 2013, the Supreme Court swept away a key provision of this landmark civil rights law in Shelby County v Holder.
We thought a woman's right--a constitutional right--to make decisions about her own body was settled. No longer, said Harris.
The US Supreme Court recently overturned Roe v Wade, the 1973 decision that had provided a constitutional right to abortion.
Agreeing with her, Chopra Jonas said, Absolutely. You're so right. There's so much to navigate right now.
The actor also touched upon the climate change issue as she acknowledged the relief efforts in hurricane-hit Florida.
Extreme weather conditions like this are becoming more frequent and more severe. And I wanted to acknowledge the administration for passing the biggest climate legislation in history earlier this year because it is a fact that America's leadership sets an example to other major economies around the world, which are truly dragging their feet when it comes to doing their bit, Chopra Jonas, the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, said.
The crisis is real, and the clock is ticking. And the urgency with which we must act is without any question, Harris responded, stressing adapting to extreme weather conditions.
On the point that you made about disparities, you know, back when I was the district attorney of San Francisco, I started one of the first environmental justice units of any District Attorney's office in the country focused on this issue, she said.
As you have described rightly, it is our lowest income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues that are not of their own making, Harris said.
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
