Palestinians Scramble for Air-Dropped Aid as Gaza Hunger Worsens Vantage with Palki Sharma
Palestinians in north Gaza rush to collect food parcels airdropped by international aid efforts, as starvation deaths near 200 — nearly half of them children, according to Gaza's health ministry. Israeli officials accuse Hamas of diverting aid to distribute to its fighters and sell in Gaza markets to fund its activities, allegations that the group denies.
Also on Vantage Shots:
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts again, spewing glowing lava.
- Life-size puppet animals reach the Arctic Circle after a 20,000 km global journey.
- On this day in history, in 1905, India began the Swadeshi movement against British rule. Indians were urged to boycott foreign goods and rely on domestic products. The movement led to a renewed sense of nationalism in India.
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Economic Times
11 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Bank of Azad Hind: When Netaji gave India its own currency
Synopsis In 1944 Rangoon, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose established the Bank of Azad Hind to fund his liberation campaign, demonstrating India's financial capabilities before independence. Capitalised by the Indian diaspora, the bank became the Provisional Government's treasury, issuing its own currency and supporting various war efforts. Image: Netaji Research Bureau It is April 1944 in Rangoon. In a vacant bungalow off Jamal Avenue, carpenters are at work turning bare rooms into a working bank. Just a week earlier, this was an empty space. Now, it is about to become the headquarters of a bank and no, this one is not the story of how the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was birthed. This bank was under the authority of the Provisional Government of Free India, led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Five years before the RBI became fully independent in 1949, Bose launched the Bank of Azad Hind to fund his liberation campaign and to demonstrate that India could run its own financial institutions before it had even won its political freedom. Also Read: Independence Day 2025: Tryst with growth — India's economic journey from Nehru to now The short but strong saga of this bank has been well drafted in S.A. Ayer's book, "Unto Him a Witness". Ayer, who served in Bose's cabinet, wrote, 'At this stage, Netaji established the first National Bank of Azad Hind outside India in Rangoon on the 5th of April, 1944, to finance the war of India's liberation.' The 'stage' Ayer refers to was a tense moment. Bose was preparing to leave for the front in the Imphal–Kohima campaign. Japanese and Burmese authorities were sceptical about establishing a bank in wartime, fearing political complications. Some colleagues worried about capital, stability, and the timing. But Bose was unmoved and unbothered. 'Have a bank I must, and that too within a few days, before I leave for the front. I must open the bank and then go to the front,' Ayer quoted Bose as came quickly from the Indian diaspora in Southeast Asia. Ayer recounted how four Indians stepped forward to fund the initial days of the newly founded bank, with a vision of free India. 'Perhaps, you may be surprised to hear that four Indians have come forward to find between themselves all the required capital for the bank. They are prepared to write off the capital, if necessary, though I am quite sure they won't have to. In any event, they are ready to assign to the Provisional Government of Azad Hind eighty per cent of the annual profits.'This show of support ended Japanese resistance. 'That silenced the Japanese pretty effectively,' Ayer notes. What followed was a full and renewed case of dedication. Also Read: India's space race: From bullock carts to Gaganyaan'How one man, Yellappa, and the other four patriotic Indians worked like Trojans night and day for a week and converted a vacant building into a full-fledged bank — with an authorised capital of rupees fifty lakhs is a romantic story that deserves a chapter all by itself,' Ayer Fay, in his book "The Forgotten Army", recounts how Netaji's appeal in Rangoon for rupees 5 million triggered an extraordinary outpouring of support from the Indian community in Burma and Malaya, ultimately swelling the Azad Hind Bank's reserves to about 215 million rupees – more than 150 million rupees from Burma media reports and later historical accounts identify some of the most prominent donors: Abdul Habeeb Yusuf Marfani, a Gujarati businessman in Rangoon, is said to have pledged his entire fortune of roughly 1 crore rupees; the Betai family, Hiraben and Hemraj, reportedly contributed 50 lakh rupees in cash and assets; and Iqbal Singh Narula famously offered silver equal to Netaji's own Bank of Azad Hind soon became the treasury of the Provisional Government. 'The funds of the Provisional Government were banked with this bank,' Ayer wrote. It accepted donations 'in cash as well as in kind' from traders, shopkeepers, and plantation workers. These resources funded soldier pay, procurement, propaganda, and relief efforts. Also Read: UPI and beyond: The great Indian banking leap The bank even issued its own currency, denominated in rupees, which circulated in INA-controlled territories, a symbolic assertion of monetary sovereignty even if it carried no value in British himself served as chairman. 'The National Bank of Azad Hind was established in Rangoon in April 1944. I know a man called Dina Nath. He was one of the Directors of the Bank. I was the Chairman of the Bank,' he institution's life was brief. It closed by the end of World War II or precisely after the INA's retreat and the fall of Rangoon. But decades later, it resurfaced in an unexpected way. Following the Modi government's decision in 2016 to declassify files related to Bose, the finance ministry began receiving unusual petitions. Several borrowers wrote offering to repay their loans using Azad Hind Bank currency notes, some promising the bearer sums as high as ₹1 lakh. 'We have received representations from some individuals who want the currency issued by Azad Hind Bank or similar variants to be recognised as legal tender,' a government official told ET at the Reserve Bank of India, citing Section 22 of the RBI Act, 1934, rejected the requests, saying it had no record of such an entity and that only the RBI has the sole authority to issue banknotes. Some petitioners pushed back, arguing the RBI 'itself was formed by the British' and that the government should take a fresh Ayer's view, the bank was never merely a repository of funds for Bose: Perhaps it was a pledge of a nation to free itself, having 'our own currency and our own bank' alongside an army and a government.
Time of India
34 minutes ago
- Time of India
Sindoor befitting response to India's adversaries: President Droupadi Murmu
NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu Thursday said will go down in history as an example of "humanity's fight against " and stressed that the unity of Indians was the most befitting response to those seeking to divide the country. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "In our response, what was most noticeable was our unity, which was also the most befitting reply to those who wanted to divide us," the President said, referring to the segregation of tourists by faith by terrorists who killed them at Pahalgam. In her Independence Day-eve address, Murmu called the killings "cowardly and utterly inhuman" and said India responded "decisively and with steely resolve". She praised the armed forces for "strategic clarity and technical capability" in destroying terror hubs across the border. "The world has taken note that we will not be the aggressor, but we will not hesitate to retaliate in defence of our citizens," said Murmu. She noted multi-party delegations of MPs had reached out to other nations to explain India's position. Calling Operation Sindoor a "test case" for in defence, she said it proved India is on right path. Indigenous manufacturing, she added, now meets many security needs - a "landmark achievement" since Independence. PM Modi, responding to her speech, said Rashtrapati ji had "highlighted the collective progress of our nation and the opportunities ahead" and reminded citizens of the sacrifices that paved the way for freedom. In her fourth I-Day address, Murmu urged remembrance of Partition's pain, and paid tribute to its victims. She hailed the new rail link to Kashmir as a historic milestone and praised India's expanding space programme, saying Shubhanshu Shukla's ISS mission will inspire the upcoming Gaganyaan human spaceflight.
Indian Express
41 minutes ago
- Indian Express
India backs two-state solution, calls for Gaza truce & hostage release amid Israel offensives
India called for 'ceasefire', 'unconditional release of all hostages', 'continued supply of humanitarian aid', and a 'two-state solution', as Israel continued to carry out military offensives in Gaza. 'Our position has been clear and consistent. There has been no change. We continue to call for a ceasefire, unconditional release of all hostages, continued supply of humanitarian aid, and we stand for a two state solution,' the Ministry of External Affairs' official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday. This statement came at a time when Mossad spy chief David Barnea is visiting Qatar to revive Gaza peace talks. The visit follows a reported expression of eagerness by Hamas for a swift return to Gaza ceasefire negotiations during a meeting with Egypt's intelligence chief in Cairo. Meanwhile, Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Thursday plans to commence work on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and isolate it from East Jerusalem, a move his office stated would 'bury' the idea of a Palestinian state. More than 100 non-profit groups warned Thursday that Israel's rules for aid groups working in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank will block much-needed relief and replace independent organisations with those that serve Israel's political and military agenda — charges that Israel denied. The Israel-Hamas war casualties add to the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been killed since the war started when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251 people. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more 61,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals but 50 remain inside Gaza. Israel believes around 20 of them to be alive.
