Latest news with #Ayesha
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Climate
- New Indian Express
India's cities drown in greed's flood
The rains of May 2025 have unleashed a merciless reckoning on India's urban giants—Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru—turning their streets into raging rivers, their homes into swamps, and their dreams into tragedies. Homes were swept away. Uprooted by rain rage, venerable trees collapsed on cars, killing people. In Bengaluru, a young boy stepped out of a bus and was sucked into a manhole by swirling waters. In Delhi, a wall collapsed and killed labourers. On May 2, the capital was battered by over 80 mm of rain in mere hours, marking the city's wettest May since 1901. Minto Bridge, Azadpur and areas near Delhi Airport's Terminal 1 submerged, stranding commuters and damaging vehicles; a car was seen swallowed by water at Minto Road. Mumbai, hit with 104 mm of rain in a single hour at Nariman Point on May 26, saw the Mithi River—choked by encroachments—spill over, flooding Kurla and suspending Metro Line 3 services. Flooding claimed eight lives in Kurla, including 15-year-old Ayesha, whose family shop was destroyed, their livelihood washed away. Bengaluru, grappling with incessant downpours, watched its IT corridors like Whitefield drown, with an X post decrying a 'tech city sinking in filth'. Ironically, Mumbai can move billions of dollars across continents in seconds. But its billionaire residents living in multimillion-dollar condos can't move from one street to another during the monsoons. Delhi can host the G20 Summit over 3 sq km, but its residents must wade through foul water spewed from decrepit sewage systems. Bengaluru's Vrishabhawathi river is a black, toxic stream—80 percent of the city's 1,800 million litres of sewage per day is untreated. It can connect the world, but not disconnect from despair. An X post lamented, 'IT parks gleam, but floods expose our shame.'
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Climate
- New Indian Express
Cities drown in greed's flood
The rains of May 2025 have unleashed a merciless reckoning on India's urban giants—Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru—turning their streets into raging rivers, their homes into swamps, and their dreams into tragedies. Homes were swept away. Uprooted by rain rage, venerable trees collapsed on cars, killing people. In Bengaluru, a young boy stepped out of a bus and was sucked into a manhole by swirling waters. In Delhi, a wall collapsed and killed labourers. On May 2, the capital was battered by over 80 mm of rain in mere hours, marking the city's wettest May since 1901. Minto Bridge, Azadpur and areas near Delhi Airport's Terminal 1 submerged, stranding commuters and damaging vehicles; a car was seen swallowed by water at Minto Road. Mumbai, hit with 104 mm of rain in a single hour at Nariman Point on May 26, saw the Mithi River—choked by encroachments—spill over, flooding Kurla and suspending Metro Line 3 services. Flooding claimed eight lives in Kurla, including 15-year-old Ayesha, whose family shop was destroyed, their livelihood washed away. Bengaluru, grappling with incessant downpours, watched its IT corridors like Whitefield drown, with an X post decrying a 'tech city sinking in filth'. Ironically, Mumbai can move billions of dollars across continents in seconds. But its billionaire residents living in multimillion-dollar condos can't move from one street to another during the monsoons. Delhi can host the G20 Summit over 3 sq km, but its residents must wade through foul water spewed from decrepit sewage systems. Bengaluru's Vrishabhawathi river is a black, toxic stream—80 percent of the city's 1,800 million litres of sewage per day is untreated. It can connect the world, but not disconnect from despair. An X post lamented, 'IT parks gleam, but floods expose our shame.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bradford scheme to build ethnic minority women's career confidence
Fifteen women within ethnic minority groups in Bradford have applied for apprenticeships with First Bus, following a partnership between the bus operator and charity-based community centre WomenZone, which helps ethnic minority women to build career confidence. The partnership entails one-to-one mentoring, the teaching of interview skills, and "tailored training." Following workshops held at First Bus's depots in Leeds, and the community centre on Hubert Street in Bradford, 15 women applied for apprenticeships in engineering and driving roles with the bus operator. Other women, meanwhile, have gained the confidence to look for jobs elsewhere. One of the beneficiaries of the scheme, Ayesha, said: "The First Bus interview skills workshop helped me to confidently answer questions, practice my interview technique, and deliver a successful interview, and I now have a job working at Greggs' factory and warehousing department. "The support from First Bus and WomenZone was really good as this was the first time I practised interviews." Another WomenZone member, who has been able to secure employment in the care sector, said: "I learned techniques that I used in my interview and now have a great job that I am so happy with." Mazish Ahmed, operations manager of WomenZone, said: "This partnership with First Bus has had a profound impact already, boosting confidence and providing invaluable tools for career success for the women who took part. "At WomenZone we continue to be excited by the ongoing work with First Bus, creating further opportunities of development, growth for our community, and boosting the chances of the local youth, who otherwise would not have had this opportunity." First Bus plans to organise a series of sessions at its Shared Services Centre in Leeds, covering customer services, HR, procurement, and retail development, with the aim of improving understanding of office-based roles and skills. Mubs Mahmed, community and social value partner at First Bus North & West Yorkshire, said: "The willingness and determination shown by the members of WomenZone and its team to embrace learning and skills development has been inspiring, and is the key element in the success we have seen to date. "We're naturally delighted this has encouraged some women to look at job opportunities with us, but it is also very rewarding to know that new careers have been started in other business and service sectors." More information about WomenZone is available at
Express Tribune
7 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Cricket diplomacy: can a game heal India and Pakistan?
The writer is a professor of Media Studies with teaching and research experience at leading universities in Pakistan and abroad Listen to article In a small village near the outskirts of Karachi, an elderly shopkeeper once told me, "When India and Pakistan play, even the birds stop to watch the game." His words echo across the subcontinent with a reminder that cricket isn't just a sport here. It's a shared heartbeat. Yet today, as soldiers glare across borders and politicians trade barbs, that heartbeat falters. The world witnessed the last bilateral cricket series between India and Pakistan in 2012. A generation of children has grown up watching their heroes clash only in ICC tournaments, their rivalry reduced to a spectacle mediated by neutral venues of the UAE and England. But what if we dared to let cricket reclaim its role as more than a game? What if, once again, it became a language of hope? When the Bat Spoke Louder Than Politics I'll never forget the 2004 Karachi Test. An Indian team toured Pakistan after 14 years. My maternal grandfather, a Karachiite who lost family members during Partition, nearly wept as he watched Pakistani fans gifting Indian players rose petals. "They're not enemies," he said. "They're guests." For weeks, the air smelled of biryani and camaraderie. Auto-rickshaws in Lahore sported both nations' flags. This wasn't magic — it was humanity. My decade-long research, analysing 397 news articles from Indian and Pakistani media, found that 75% of cricket diplomacy stories carried a positive tone, even during crises. When Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Yusuf Raza Gilani shared laughs in Mohali in 2011, Pakistani newspapers splashed headlines like "A Match Made in Heaven", while an Indian newspaper wrote, "Cricket's Truce Outlasts Politics". But something shifted. After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, fear hardened into policy. Bilateral series froze. By 2019, when India's World Cup clash with Pakistan drew 273 million viewers, coverage turned toxic. Indian media framed the match as "War Without Weapons", while Pakistani outlets lamented "Diplomacy's Last Over". The birds still watched, but the players became soldiers and the fans recruits. The Youngest Victims In a Karachi school last year, I met 12-year-old Ayesha, who dreams of playing cricket for Pakistan — against India. Ayesha's generation has never seen an Indo-Pak bilateral series. They've only known hashtag wars and YouTube venom. Yet, in my research, 63% of articles from 2010-2018 linked cricket to peace-building, not conflict. Even today, when Virat Kohli praises Babar Azam's batting, or Shadab Khan thanks Indian fans for support, social media lights up with "Why can't we just be like this?" A Playbook for Peace Cricket won't solve Kashmir or silence guns. But it can rebuild what politics erodes: trust. Here's how: The 2023 Women's Asia Cup saw Indian and Pakistani players cooking biryani together in Bangladesh. Let's host a joint Peace Premier League for women cricketers, with matches in Amritsar and Lahore. In 2022, Indian and Pakistani fans in Melbourne collectively donated ₹1.5 million to flood-hit Pakistan. Build on this: create a "Cricket for Climate" fund, where both boards donate per boundary hit in ICC matches. Pair Wasim Akram and Sourav Ganguly in the commentary booths. Let them joke about 90s rivalries and remind viewers: "We fought hard, but we broke bread harder." Allow Pakistan's U-19 team to tour India. Let kids like Ayesha play exhibition matches in Jaipur or Peshawar. Childhood friendships can adulthood hostilities. The Last Over In 1987, Gen Zia surprised India by watching a match in Jaipur. In 2023, imagine Prime Ministers Sharif and Modi sharing jalebi in Ahmedabad during a bilateral game. Impossible? So was a Pakistani team touring India in 2004, until it happened. As Mandela said, "Sport can create hope where once there was only despair." Today, 60% of South Asians are under 35. They deserve more than viral hatred and inherited grudges. They deserve a chance to rewrite our story — one cover drive, one handshake, at a time. Let's not wait for diplomacy to permit cricket. Let cricket permit diplomacy.
The Wire
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
Delhi University Students Protest Last Minute Change in Evaluation Process
New Delhi: Students at Delhi University (DU) are protesting last-minute changes to the exam schedule and assessment method that have sparked chaos and left undergraduate students confused and frustrated. The university's Department of English had initially told students that their examinations would conclude on May 27 with a practical-based assessment. However, the method of evaluation was changed from the original format to a written exam that is now scheduled for June 21, 2025. In April, the English department had released a notice stating that evaluation of the Research Methodology, a discipline specific elective, would be based exclusively on a 1,500-word research proposal and a 2,500-word research paper, with no end-semester written examination. The students and faculty invested weeks in preparing and completing this demanding academic work. However, on May 24, just days before the conclusion of assessments, students received an email announcing a 90-mark offline exam. Administrative failure 'We have been working arduously on our papers with our supervisor for the past few months. How can they throw us under the bus just like that? This is really unfair,' said Ayesha, a sixth-semester undergraduate student of English from Miranda house. With the final semester ending in May, students are also concerned about their accommodation as their rental contracts and hostel tenures are also set to end soon. 'What about those planning to pursue further studies? The administration continues to evade responsibility for the confusion and disruption caused by this entire situation,' Saba, a final year student asked. A foreign student from Dhaka, told The Wire on the condition of anonymity that Bangladeshi students have been concerned since last year about the ongoing tensions and conflict between India and Bangladesh. 'India has stopped issuing visas to Bangladeshis due to safety concerns and a variety of other reasons after the fall of the previous government. Student visas are also taking longer to obtain as compared to the past,' she said. She said that a round-trip from Delhi to Dhaka costs around Rs 18,000 and staying in a hotel room costs Rs 4,000–5,000 per night. 'As a woman, coming here alone without my parents may pose safety risks, especially since they will not be granted a visa due to the ongoing issues,' she explained. Other foreign students at Delhi University — from Kazakhstan, Tibet, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Russia, Mongolia and Korea — studying in various colleges, are expected to face similar challenges. Gross mismanagement and no accountability Students have alleged that Anjana Sharma, the Head of English Department, Delhi University has eluded responsibility and blamed the faculty instead. The decision to make the last minute alteration in the final semester examination raises serious questions about the administration of the university. A professor, on the condition of anonymity, told The Wire that it is highly irresponsible on the part of the university to allow a department to make this mistake regardless of the reasons behind it. 'Once the error is identified, there appears to be no mechanism in place to address the issue or to hold a meeting with stakeholders. As a result, students are left feeling lost and confused — and are even blamed for protesting,' the professor said, fearing administrative action if her name was revealed. Members of All India Students Association (AISA) along with Student Federation of India (SFI) have been sitting outside Sharma's office and that of the dean of student welfare, protesting this decision. A student delegation also met Sharma but the students' demand of reinstating the previous evaluation structure was not met. The students have now written a letter to the dean of student welfare and the dean of academic affairs proposing alternatives to the examination. 'Our professor told us that the Head of Department (HOD) called a meeting and commented on how 'violently' we protested. In reality, she didn't even allow us to speak and we've always kept our protests peaceful,' a student told The Wire on the condition of anonymity. Other concerns A new evaluation scheme proposed by students was tentatively accepted, which involved allocating 50 marks for a written proposal and research paper, and 40 marks for a written examination. Email from Anjana Sharma, the Head of English Department, Delhi University. Photo: By arrangement. This framework was proposed by the students with the understanding that internal faculty would assess the submissions, taking into consideration the limited preparation time, students' mental well-being and the sensitive nature of many research topics. However, during a recent departmental meeting, Sharma reportedly announced that the papers would be sent for external evaluation – an uncommon practice for undergraduate-level practical submissions. This move has sparked concern among students as many papers explore potentially controversial issues such as academic freedom at DU, the experiences of Muslim students and the LGBTQ community among other things. The Wire has written to the head of the department of Delhi University to clarify on what led to the last minute changes in the method of assessment. This story will be updated when we receive a response.
