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India Today
a day ago
- Entertainment
- India Today
Pakistan army uses Kashmir to line their pockets, looting nation: Adnan Sami
Singer Adnan Sami blasted Pakistan in his latest interview. The popular playback singer, who got his Indian citizenship a few years back, blamed the Pakistan army for exploiting their own people and the Kashmir issue in front of the world to fill their appeared on the India TV show 'Aap Ki Adalat' and exposed the Pakistani establishment left, right, centre. He said he is an artiste, but he understands how the Pakistan army doesn't let its people and government who say that I came to India carrying top secrets, they should know I am a musician, a singer and a composer. Those generals did romance on my tunes and danced to my songs. The entire army establishment, including ISI, wants to keep the Kashmir issue alive in the guise of Islam," he said. The 53-year-old called Pakistan's military the 'looters' of the nation. He added that it's a strange country where any politician who is loved by the people is 'packed off'."But reality is different. They hype up the Kashmir issue to get donations and funds from other countries to line their pockets. They live a life of luxury after looting the nation, while the people have no money or food. The entire nation is run by generals," he went on to mention popular Pakistani leaders Benazir Bhutto and Imran Khan - killed, and put in jail, respectively. "In other countries, an army lives within a country, but Pakistan is a waahid mulk (unique country), where the country was born inside an army. The army there even sells cornflakes. Any politician who becomes popular is packed off," he said."Then, they finished off Benazir Bhutto. In today's times, Imran Khan is the most popular leader in Pakistan; he is a sports hero, but he has been thrown in jail," he doesn't have democracy, he said, adding that they want to go to war. "Of course. There is no democracy. Whenever they wish, they dislodge the government, and whenever politicians (from India) try to reach an agreement, the army says it won't suit them, chalo, Kargil kar lo," he expressed how grateful he is as an Indian citizen, and to the Indian government for honouring him with a Padma Shri and recognising his talent. The singer recalled the day his mother died, and the Pakistani government denied issuing him a visa. "I had to watch her funeral on WhatsApp video", he concluded.A Candian citizen earlier, Sami was granted Indian citizenship in 2016. His father, Arshad Sami Khan, was in the Pakistani Air Force, and was later appointed as Watch
ABC News
3 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Jacinda Ardern on having imposter syndrome and why 'confidence gaps' can be good for leaders
Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern says we need to radically re-think our ideas about what makes a successful political leader. "I want to bring into question those old assumptions about the character traits we want in politics," Ms Ardern tells 7.30 in her first Australian TV interview about her new memoir, A Different Kind of Power. Sworn in as PM in 2017 aged 37, Jacinda Ardern became a phenomenon as Jacindamania swept New Zealand then the world, partly in response to her youth but also the highly unusual circumstances of her giving birth while in office (Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto was the only other modern politician to do so, in 1990). Ms Ardern's political achievements were only possible after overcoming deep personal uncertainty about her abilities. "My whole short life," she writes in her memoir, "I'd grappled with the idea that I was never quite good enough, that at any moment I would be caught short." "There are plenty of people who have this experience," Ms Ardern told 7.30. "There just happens to be very few who then share it or talk about it out loud. "I think one of the reasons that we don't discuss, for instance, imposter syndrome, we don't discuss confidence gap, is because people have something to lose in doing so. I don't. "You know, I've had a significant career in politics. I made the decision to leave. There was something very freeing in there and now I feel absolutely able to have this kind of open conversation. "Over time I've seen the strength that comes from what we perceive to be weakness. A confidence gap often leads to humility, a willingness to bring in experts and advisors, and I think ultimately makes you a better decision maker." Having worked in a junior position for former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clarke, Ms Ardern initially regarded herself as too sensitive, too thin-skinned to survive in politics. "Most people would look at politics and say, 'Have I got the armour required to be in that space?' And it was actually when I was in parliament itself that I really made the decision that I wasn't willing to change who I was in order to survive what we might call the bear pit." Ms Ardern said the purpose of writing the book, rather than producing a typical politician's memoir, was to encourage more people to consider entering public life. "I was convinced that if I was going to write anything, it should really be a story about how it feels to lead because you know, who knows who's out there, considering whether or not they have what it takes, considering whether or not they can succeed if they lead with empathy," she said. How it feels to lead included experiencing acute morning sickness just as Ms Ardern was about to be sworn in as prime minister. "I was slumped on the floor thinking, 'what if during this very formal ceremony I can't hold it in?' It's not the kind of thought process you want to go through when you're about to have the speech from the throne, from the then Queen's representative, all the heads of judiciary, the defence force and every single member of parliament sitting in one space facing you." Fortunately for Ms Ardern she got through it. Ms Ardern told 7.30 the reasons why she did not initially make the news of her pregnancy public. "I was in negotiation to become prime minister. That's a particularly delicate time," she said. "Equally ... I knew having just been elected, my priority somehow may have appeared to be misplaced. And I didn't believe that to be true but I felt I needed to demonstrate that was the case before revealing the happy news that I was also going to have a baby." In her meteoric rise to the top of New Zealand politics, Ms Ardern was subjected to plenty of critiques aimed at her gender. While in opposition she was often depicted as a show pony in cartoons and analysis. One female MP described Ms Ardern's appointment as Labor leader a "cosmetic facelift". She pushed back hard on morning radio when a host suggested that as a young woman she was obliged to reveal her reproductive plans. "That is not acceptable!" she thundered at the presenter, repeating the line three times. Along with her descriptions of juggling the demands of national leadership and a baby, the need for nappy bags and breast pumps at international events, Ms Ardern also reveals the importance of the position she held did not make her immune from parental guilt. "Some might think that that's an example of where maybe your guilt should be a little bit lessened because you've got a pretty reasonable excuse to be busy and to not always be there, but my learning was actually it never goes away," she said. The best advice she received was from Buckingham Palace. A pregnant Ms Ardern asked Queen Elizabeth II how she had raised her children as a public figure. The Queen's response was simple: "You just get on with it." And, so, Ms Ardern did. After serving two terms as prime minister, steering New Zealand through the immense demands of COVID, in the economic downturn that followed Ms Ardern's popularity dropped sharply. In January 2023, after nearly six years in office, she made the decision she was spent and wanted to step down. Now on a fellowship at Harvard University in the US, she is focused on the potential for empathetic leadership in politics. The memoir, she says, is part of that. "To share a little bit more about what it looks like behind the scenes in the hope that a few more people who might identify as criers, huggers and worriers might take up the mantle of leadership, because I'd say we need them," she said. Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
‘I asked Queen Elizabeth II if she had any advice for me': Jacinda Ardern on her time as a pregnant prime minister
There was one cheerful and imperfect baby blanket that stood out when it arrived in the post. It was made up of 24 squares, bright blocks of colour, each crafted with simple, uneven purl stitches. Looking at it, I could imagine the small hands still learning to master their needles and could almost hear the adult voice leading them. 'The prime minister is having a baby. Shall our class make a gift for her family?' The response to the announcement about my pregnancy in January 2018 was almost overwhelming. It began with so many emails. In the 24 hours after the news broke, the person who managed correspondence for me said she'd never seen such an influx. Handmade gifts arrived at the office, too. The correspondence team created a display table, and within days it overflowed. I had braced for the worst. I was a public figure, used to judgment and scrutiny. Now I was pregnant and unwed. I was also new to the job. If people wanted to have a go at me, they had plenty of reason to. But I hadn't considered a fundamental truth: that politicians are humans first, and perhaps the public hadn't lost sight of that. And so maybe in the beautiful country of New Zealand, the happy news of a baby could be just that: happy. But for all this support, my pregnancy added a new kind of pressure. I was only the second world leader in history to have a baby in office. The first was Benazir Bhutto. She was the first woman to lead Pakistan, and in 1990, two years into her first term in office she had a baby girl. I didn't think the world's eyes were on me, but I did think naysayers' were. Those who might be waiting to say: See, you can't do a demanding job like that and be a mother. Not long after I'd made my announcement, I was at an event, speaking with a woman who'd had an impressive career in the corporate sector. While we were talking, I'd forgotten something minor – a word, or a name, perhaps – and I'd laughed off my memory lapse. 'Baby brain,' I said. She hadn't laughed. Her eyes were serious, her voice firm. 'You absolutely cannot say that.' She was warning me: if you give your opponents any opening whatsoever, they will use your pregnancy to say that you – or any woman – shouldn't be given a position of authority. I knew this, but suddenly I was reminded how easy such a lapse could be. From then on, I treated my pregnancy like a test, a set of hurdles to get through without breaking a sweat. By March, I was six months pregnant on a Pacific mission with a group of delegates to Tonga, Samoa, Niue and the Cook Islands. The goal was to position New Zealand as the Pacific nation we were, shifting the relationship with these countries away from a donor and recipient dynamic toward one of partnership. The media were with us around the clock. They travelled on the plane with me. They were on the ground with me, at every event, meeting and meal. I decided that if they were going to be my constant companions, then I would show them, pregnancy or not, that I had stamina. The air was sweltering throughout the tour, and at one press conference I could see streaks of sweat trickling down journalists' faces. I was dressed modestly, my arms and knees covered, and before long my feet began to swell, and my shoes dug into my skin painfully. Rather than wrap things up, I kept going until there were no more questions, long after the time available had passed. Only then, when I was certain I hadn't been the one to cave, I hobbled away to shove my feet into a cold bath. A month later, now seven months pregnant, I picked up a letter from my obstetrician confirming, should an airline ask, that I was fit to fly so late in my pregnancy. The Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) was being held in London. Queen Elizabeth II, our head of state, would preside over it. We gathered at Buckingham Palace for the opening session and a formal photo. Before the leaders filed into the room with its bright red carpet, white and gold pillars framing the royal ensign that hung as a backdrop, ushers ordered us into lines. I jokingly asked whether the lines would be organised 'boy, girl, boy, girl'. They looked at me for a moment, perhaps trying to decide whether to take the comment seriously, before moving on to the next leader. Of course I hadn't been serious. There were 53 leaders at the meeting. Only five of us were women. My partner, Clarke, meanwhile, was having the inverse experience, as one of very few men in the group of international leaders' spouses, and he was relishing it. He enthusiastically joined the formal spousal programme, which included afternoon teas and garden tours. He made a studious effort to get to know 'the wives'. One night, I told Clarke I needed to have a conversation with a leader I had been struggling to connect with. 'Well, if it helps,' he told me, 'his wife has an extensive orchid collection.' The opening night for the meeting was a formal affair. To accommodate my bump, I'd had a gown specially made by a New Zealand designer, Juliette Hogan – a flowy mustard number, which I wore with a kākahu, a traditional Māori cloak woven from flax and covered with feathers. Next to me, Clarke, who hadn't even owned a suit when we first met, looked handsome in his tuxedo. As we walked through the halls of Buckingham Palace, we marvelled at the beauty and the history of everything we saw. I looked over at him. He was every bit the statesman, but just 20 minutes earlier he'd been standing in front of a mirror and screaming blue murder at the person back in New Zealand who told him a freestyle bow tie was a good idea. That was life in those first few months: incredible, unreal moments, mixed in with the daily reality of having a job to do. Like any job, there was a tremendous amount to get done: papers to sign, press conferences, events, shoes to strap on, bow ties that won't do up. It was all still life – just a very different one. While in London, we met Queen Elizabeth. She had, of course, raised children in the public eye, so in our private meeting I asked if she had any advice. 'You just get on with it,' she said simply. She sounded so matter of fact, just as my grandma Margaret might have. I squeezed the package I was holding, a gift for the queen. It was a framed image of her during a royal tour to New Zealand in 1953, her head back in a full relaxed laugh. You just get on with it. Of course you do. This is an edited extract from A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir by Jacinda Ardern, published globally on 3 June by Pan Macmillan in the UK; Crown in the US (a division of Penguin Random House LLC); Penguin Random House NZ; and Penguin Random House Australia. To support the Guardian, order a copy at Delivery charges may apply.
Borneo Post
25-05-2025
- Business
- Borneo Post
Sarawak to play key role in ASEAN power grid, says Abang Johari
File photo for illustration purposes KUALA LUMPUR (May 25): Sarawak is stepping up plans to deeply integrate into the ASEAN Power Grid, said Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg. He said the East Malaysian state has been supplying electricity to West Kalimantan, Indonesia, for the past six years, and it is currently in the process of supplying electricity to Brunei. 'Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) has asked me to study the possibility of supplying power from Sarawak to Sabah and to connect to Brunei. 'Sarawak will play its part to contribute to the ASEAN Grid,' he said at the Sustainable Leadership Fireside Chat-Leading ASEAN's Sustainable and Digital Frontier at the ASEAN Women Economic Summit 2025 (AWES 2025) held at a hotel (Shangri-La) here today. Abang Johari said Sarawak is also actively enhancing its grid infrastructure to strengthen power distribution across the state and beyond. Sarawak has targeted to generate 10 gigawatts (GW) of energy production by 2030 and 15 GW by 2035. The session was moderated by UOB Malaysia Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ng Wei Wei. UOB Malaysia is the main sponsor of AWES 2025, with Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd as the empowerment partner. On women and leadership, the Premier said the role should be assigned based on merit and qualifications, rather than gender, while societal acceptance of women as leaders is crucial in the right step forward. Citing examples, he said India's Indira Gandhi and Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto who had served as prime minister in their respective country had shown that despite societal biases, effective leadership can rise above gender-based limitations. He also said the societal acceptance of women in leadership roles is crucial, as some Asian cultures still face gender bias, but examples like Indira Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto show that change is possible. The two-day inaugural AWES 2025, which began Saturday, was held on the sidelines of the 46th ASEAN Summit, held under Malaysia's 2025 Chairmanship. It was attended by over 700 delegates representing government, business, and civil society across ASEAN. Themed 'Empowering Women, Energising ASEAN: Pioneering Economic Integration for a Resilient Tomorrow', AWES highlighted the urgent need to position women at the forefront of ASEAN's economic transformation, particularly in addressing current challenges such as global tariff wars, digital transformation, and sustainable development. It also featured discussion and strategic brainstorming sessions, leadership lab and mentorship programme. – Bernama Abang Johari Tun Openg Asean power grid lead power supply
The Sun
25-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Sarawak to play key role in ASEAN Power Grid
KUALA LUMPUR: Sarawak is stepping up plans to deeply integrate into the ASEAN Power Grid, said Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg. He said the East Malaysian state has been supplying electricity to West Kalimantan, Indonesia, for the past six years, and it is currently in the process of supplying electricity to Brunei. 'Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) has asked me to study the possibility of supplying power from Sarawak to Sabah and to connect to Brunei. 'Sarawak will play its part to contribute to the ASEAN Grid,' he said at the Sustainable Leadership Fireside Chat-Leading ASEAN's Sustainable and Digital Frontier at the ASEAN Women Economic Summit 2025 (AWES 2025) held at a hotel (Shangri-La) here today. Abang Johari said Sarawak is also actively enhancing its grid infrastructure to strengthen power distribution across the state and beyond. Sarawak has targeted to generate 10 gigawatts (GW) of energy production by 2030 and 15 GW by 2035. The session was moderated by UOB Malaysia Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ng Wei Wei. UOB Malaysia is the main sponsor of AWES 2025, with Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd as the empowerment partner. On women and leadership, the Premier said the role should be assigned based on merit and qualifications, rather than gender, while societal acceptance of women as leaders is crucial in the right step forward. Citing examples, he said India's Indira Gandhi and Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto who had served as prime minister in their respective country had shown that despite societal biases, effective leadership can rise above gender-based limitations. He also said the societal acceptance of women in leadership roles is crucial, as some Asian cultures still face gender bias, but examples like Indira Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto show that change is possible. The two-day inaugural AWES 2025, which began Saturday, was held on the sidelines of the 46th ASEAN Summit, held under Malaysia's 2025 Chairmanship. It was attended by over 700 delegates representing government, business, and civil society across ASEAN. Themed 'Empowering Women, Energising ASEAN: Pioneering Economic Integration for a Resilient Tomorrow', AWES highlighted the urgent need to position women at the forefront of ASEAN's economic transformation, particularly in addressing current challenges such as global tariff wars, digital transformation, and sustainable development. It also featured discussion and strategic brainstorming sessions, leadership lab and mentorship programme
