A worker uses the torch function of a mobile phone as he unloads stacks of hay from a tractor trailer at night in a village on the outskirts of Alwar, Rajasthan, India, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. Rural electrification is a cornerstone of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan to improve the lives of Indians, a plan which included connecting more than 18,000 villages by the end of this month. Anindito Mukherjee / Bloomberg
A worker uses the torch function of a mobile phone as he unloads stacks of hay from a tractor trailer at night in a village on the outskirts of Alwar, Rajasthan, India, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. Rural electrification is a cornerstone of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan to improve the lives of Indians, a plan which included connecting more than 18,000 villages by the end of this month. Anindito Mukherjee / Bloomberg
A worker uses the torch function of a mobile phone as he unloads stacks of hay from a tractor trailer at night in a village on the outskirts of Alwar, Rajasthan, India, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. Rural electrification is a cornerstone of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan to improve the lives of Indians, a plan which included connecting more than 18,000 villages by the end of this month. Anindito Mukherjee / Bloomberg
A worker uses the torch function of a mobile phone as he unloads stacks of hay from a tractor trailer at night in a village on the outskirts of Alwar, Rajasthan, India, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. Rur

Modi’s electricity promise has dim returns for hundreds of thousands in India


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The tiny village of Leisang, in India’s north-eastern state of Manipur, sits near a bend of the Tuitha river, surrounded by fields and woods. On Saturday, its residents – numbering just 224 according to the last Indian census in 2011 – enjoyed a brief moment of fame.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Twitter that Leisang had become the last Indian village to be connected to the country’s power grid. He included photographs of men hauling solar panels and electrical equipment through scrubland and across streams.

“We fulfilled a commitment due to which the lives of several Indians will be transformed forever!” Mr Modi tweeted. “I am delighted that every single village of India now has access to electricity”.

Mr Modi was referring to his promise, made in a speech on August 15, 2015, that every Indian village would be electrified within 1,000 days. That deadline would have elapsed on May 10.

India has 597,464 villages, according to the 2011 census, and World Bank data from 2016 say roughly 67 per cent of the country’s population of 1.3 billion lives in these villages.

As of 2014, roughly 270 million Indians were living without access to the power, according to a World Bank report released last year. Indians made up nearly a third of the world’s 1.06bn people who lived without access to electricity.

Mr Modi’s government hailed its own success in pushing the power grid out to every Indian village. Piyush Goyal, India’s Coal Minister, tweeted satellite views of India at night from 2012 and 2016, pointing to how much brighter the country’s illumination had become over those four years.

But the numbers behind Mr Modi’s electrification thrust tell a different story.

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the parliamentary election in May 2014, Mr Modi became prime minister. By that time, nearly 97 per cent of India’s 597,464 villages were already hooked up to the grid, according to government data. Over the last four years, the government only electrified the remaining 18,452 villages.

In the 10 years between 2004 and 2014 the previous government, led by the Congress party that now forms the opposition, had pushed the proportion of electrified Indian villages up from 79 per cent in 2004.

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Randeep Singh Surjewala, a Congress spokesman, accused the BJP on Sunday of taking “fake credit” for completing India’s electrification.

In response to the boastful tweets from Mr Modi and other BJP leaders, several Twitter users rebutted the government’s claim, arguing that their own villages still remained dark.

“My village #Panditpur [in Bihar] not electrified yet,” a user named Shephali Thakur wrote. “For me, Light Up India mission [is] not yet complete.”

One Twitter user, Jiwan Lal Rajput, pointed out that many villages near his home district in Jammu and Kashmir remained unelectrified. Another social media user, Dilip Gupta, cited Allipur, his remote village in Uttar Pradesh, saying that the grid “hasn’t arrived yet”.

Even with every Indian village apparently connected to the grid, there may still be millions of people living without electricity.

The government deems a village to be electrified if a power transformer is in place there and if 10 per cent of the houses are connected to the grid. This definition precedes Mr Modi’s accession to power.

An online dashboard, maintained by the government, shows that fewer than 8 per cent of the 18,452 villages electrified in the last four years can boast of running power lines to every home.

Access to electricity varies across the country as well. Prosperous states like Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been able to wire nearly every house to the grid. On the other hand, in Jharkhand, 52.4 per cent of households have no electricity supply – the highest in the country.

Last year, Mr Modi announced $2.5bn in funding to ensure that every house has a supply of power by March 2019 – just in time for the next parliamentary election. But the challenge will be steep. As of October, 36.8m houses across India needed electricity; last week, government data showed that only 13 per cent of those houses had since been wired.

The quality of power is also a concern, as power cuts and voltage fluctuations are common across the country. The government has set 2022 as its deadline to provide uninterrupted electricity but, for now, the returns on the Modi pledge appear to be dim for many across the country.

'Moonshot'

Director: Chris Winterbauer

Stars: Lana Condor and Cole Sprouse 

Rating: 3/5

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MATCH INFO

Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')

Sevilla 0

Red cards: Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)

THE BIO:

Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.

Favourite book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s an amazing story about barefoot running.

Favourite film: A League of their Own. I used to love watching it in my granny’s house when I was seven.

Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

10 tips for entry-level job seekers
  • Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
  • Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
  • Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
  • For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
  • Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
  • Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
  • Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
  • Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
  • Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
  • Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.

Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz

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It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

Defending champions

World Series: South Africa
Women’s World Series: Australia
Gulf Men’s League: Dubai Exiles
Gulf Men’s Social: Mediclinic Barrelhouse Warriors
Gulf Vets: Jebel Ali Dragons Veterans
Gulf Women: Dubai Sports City Eagles
Gulf Under 19: British School Al Khubairat
Gulf Under 19 Girls: Dubai Exiles
UAE National Schools: Al Safa School
International Invitational: Speranza 22
International Vets: Joining Jack

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups. 

Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

NEW ARRIVALS

Benjamin Mendy (Monaco) - £51.75m (Dh247.94m)
Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur) - £45.9m
Bernardo Silva (Monaco) - £45m
Ederson Moraes (Benfica) - £36m
Danilo (Real Madrid) - £27m
Douglas Luiz (Vasco de Gama) - £10.8m 

Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

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THE BIO

Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old

Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai

Favourite Book: The Alchemist

Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail

Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna

Favourite cuisine: Italian food

Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman

 

 

Tips to keep your car cool
  • Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
  • Park in shaded or covered areas
  • Add tint to windows
  • Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
  • Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
  • Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets