SPAIN is coaxing Indian movie-makers to use its colourful fiestas and historic monuments as settings for their films, in a move to grab a big- ger share of India’s fast-growing overseas tourism market.
As part of its bid to lure visitors from the world’s second most populous country, Madrid last weekend hosted the annual International Indian Film Academy awards, dubbed the “Bollywood Oscars”.
In global tourism, Spain ranks as the third most visited country, but it now wants to diversify its tourism base beyond the traditional northern European sunseekers that account for the bulk of its visitors.
Among the Bollywood stars who attended the awards ceremony in Spain were Indian star Hrithik Roshan, who featured in the 2011 coming-of-age movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, which was produced in close collaboration with the Spanish tourism promotion agency, Turespana.
The film about three friends on a pre-marriage road trip across Spain includes scenes at “La Tomatina” festival in the town of Bunol, where revellers hurl mushy tomatoes at each other, as well as at Pamplona’s San Fermin bull running festival.
With scenes also set in Barcelona, Seville and the beaches of the Costa Brava, the movie was the first major Indian production to shoot extensively in various locations in Spain.
It was also the highest grossing Bollywood film of 2011.
“There was an immediate impact in the number of people re- questing entry visas to travel to Spain,” the director of the London office of Turespana, Enrique Ruiz de Lera, who led the agency’s talks with the producers of the movie, said.
The year after its release, 60,444 Indians visited Spain, nearly double the 2011 figure, according to the industry and tourism ministry. Last year 85,000 Indians visited Spain.
Turespana regularly takes part in film location fairs in India to pitch the tax breaks and other incentives available to movie producers who shoot in Spain.
Lonely Planet in 2013 launched a guide to Spain aimed specifically at the Indian market and travel agencies still advertise tours to the locations featured in the Zindagi movie.
India’s ambassador to Spain, Vikram Misri, said the film “was singlehandedly responsible for making Spain a household name in India and increasing tourism from India”.
Since Zindagi, another “five or six” Indian films have been shot in Spain although none was as popular at the box office, the director of the Mum- bai office of Turespana, Ignacio Ducasse, said.
They include one by Zindagi director Zoya Akhtar, Dil Dhadakne Do, featuring Bollywood star Anil Kapoor, which was filmed on a ship be- longing to Pullmantur, Spain’s biggest cruise operator.
The comedy-drama about a dysfunctional family on a 10-day Mediterranean cruise was released last year and it includes scenes shot in Barcelona as well as in the various bars, restaurants and open decks of the ship.
Tourism is crucial for the Spanish economy, accounting for around 11 per cent of gross domestic product and one in nine jobs, according to the tourism ministry.
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation predicts Asian powerhouse India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020, up from just 18 million in 2014.
Turespana plans to create an ad campaign to appeal to this rising tide of tourists using images of Bollywood celebrities enjoying themselves in Madrid at the awards show.
The ceremony itself was expected to bring 15,000 visitors to the Spanish capital during the week of the show.
“We are counting that the arrival of several thousand Indian friends for the (awards) ceremony will help bring millions of their compatriots in the coming years,” Spain’s secretary of state for foreign affairs, Ignacio Ybanez, said this year.
PAKISTAN’S army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir on Monday (7) rejected Delhi’s allegation that his military received active support from longtime ally China in its conflict with India in May.
The Indian Army’s deputy chief, Lieutenant General Rahul Singh, said last week that China gave Islamabad “live inputs” on key Indian positions.
Singh did not elaborate on how India knew about the live inputs from China.
Regarding the possibility of China providing satellite imagery or other real-time intelligence, India’s chief of defence staff had said such imagery was commercially available and could have been procured from China or elsewhere.
The “insinuations regarding external support” are “irresponsible and factually incorrect”, Munir said in an address to graduating officers of the national security and war course in Islamabad, according to an army statement.
Pakistani officials have previously dismissed allegations of receiving active support from China in the conflict.
Beijing and Islamabad have longstanding close relations, with billions of dollars of Chinese investment in the country’s energy and infrastructure.
India’s relationship with China meanwhile was strained after a 2020 border clash that sparked a four-year military standoff, but tensions began to ease after the countries reached a pact to step back in October.
India and Pakistan used missiles, drones and artillery fire during the four days of fighting in May – their worst in decades – triggered by an attack in April on tourists in Indian Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad, before agreeing to a ceasefire.
Pakistan has denied involvement in the attack in April.
Singh also added that Turkey provided key support to Pakistan during the fighting, equipping it with Bayraktar and “numerous other” drones, as well as “trained individuals”.
Ankara has strong ties with Islamabad, and had expressed solidarity with it during the clash, prompting Indians to boycott everything from Turkish coffee to holidays in the country.
Turkey’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the allegations.
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Christine Kangaloo awards Narendra Modi with the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago last Friday (4)
INDIA’S prime minister, Narendra Modi met Argentine president Javier Milei in Buenos Aires last Saturday (5), urging the expansion of New Delhi’s preferential trade deal with South America’s Mercosur bloc.
The bilateral talks with Milei were the latest in Modi’s whistle-stop diplomatic tour culminating in the summit of Brics emerging economies which began last Sunday (6) in Brazil.
Diplomats from both countries at the meeting, which included a lunch, decided to “deepen bilateral relations and commercial ties,” according to a statement from the Argentine presidency.
John Dramani Mahama welcomes Modi on his arrival in Accra last Wednesday (2)
India’s foreign ministry diplomat, Periasamy Kumaran, told reporters Modi “requested Argentina’s support in expanding the India-Mercosur preferential trade agreement.” The Mercosur regional trade bloc, comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, is seeking closer ties with Asian economies in the face of Trump’s global trade war.
“The two leaders discussed the necessity of diversifying and expanding bilateral trade” in sectors including defence, technology and health, said Kumaran.
They also touched upon cooperation in the energy sector, including gas and petrol, as well as lithium, a key mineral for the clean energy transition. Argentina is the world’s fifth largest producer of lithium, according to the US Geological Survey.
“Excellent meeting with president Javier Milei of Argentina,” Modi wrote on X of the leaders’ second bilateral talks.
“We have covered significant ground in our bilateral relations, but we agree that the journey ahead is even more promising!”
Modi last week visited Trinidad and Tobago which last Friday (4) bestowed its highest honour as the Indian prime minister seeks to strengthen New Delhi’s ties with the Caribbean and Latin America.
More than a third of the population in the country is of Indian descent.
President Christine Carla Kangaloo gave him the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago at a ceremony at president’s House in St Ann’s, just outside the capital Port of Spain – the first time a foreign leader was so honoured.
“This honour is a symbol of the deep and eternal friendship between our two countries,” Modi said, according to an official translation. Relations between India and Trinidad and Tobago date back to 1845, when indentured Indian labourers first arrived to work on sugar and cocoa plantations under British colonial rule, following the end of slavery.
Between 1845 and 1917, more than 140,000 labourers settled in the Caribbean nation. The Indian community is now the country’s largest ethnic group, at 35.4 per cent of the population of 1.4 million.
Modi described Kangaloo and prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar “the biggest brand ambassadors of this community.” “India and Trinidad & Tobago rose from the shadows of colonial rule to write our destiny of progress. Our nations stand tall as proud democracies and pillars of strength in the modern world,” Modi wrote on X.
“It’s high time we all work together to give the Global South its rightful seat at the high table.”
Modi last Thursday (3) visited Ghana, in a first by an Indian leader in three decades.
He outlined plans for deeper ties between India and Africa, as New Delhi increasingly vies for a stronger economic presence on the continent along with China and Russia.
South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Modi and China’s premier Li Qiang at the Brics summit last Sunday (6)
In a speech to Ghana’s parliament, Modi highlighted a major rail project that opened in the west African nation last year, financed by the India Export-Import Bank.
He also underlined his country’s expanding diplomatic development and business footprint in Africa.
“Over 200 projects across the continent enhance connectivity, infrastructure and Industrial capacity,” Modi said. On the political front he welcomed “the establishment of Ghana-India Parliamentary Friendship Society in your parliament”.
In a meeting last Wednesday (2), Modi and Ghanaian president John Mahama agreed to deepen security and mining ties.
The Indian prime minister also last Thursday called for a greater global diplomatic role for both his country and Africa, warning that “the world order created after the Second World War is changing fast”.
A FRESH parliamentary initiative to establish a dedicated Sikh regiment within the British Army has gained momentum in the House of Lords, with defence minister Lord Coaker expressing willingness to engage in further discussions about the long-debated proposal.
The issue was raised in the House of Lords on Monday (7) by Labour peer Lord Sahota, who asked whether there had been any progress on long-standing calls for a Sikh regiment.
"Given the loyalty of Sikh soldiers in both world wars, there has been talk of having a Sikh regiment in the British Army for a number of years," Lord Sahota said.
Minister of state at Ministry of Defence, Lord Coaker, responded positively, saying he was "quite happy to meet him to see what more we can do to recognise the contribution of soldiers such as Sikhs, and those of many other faiths as well."
He also referenced the upcoming VJ Day commemorations on August 15, noting it would be an appropriate time to reflect on wartime sacrifices, particularly those of Sikhs worldwide.
While no firm commitment was made to establish a regiment, the exchange represents the most encouraging governmental response to the proposal in recent years.
Sikhs have served in the British Army since the mid-1800s and became renowned for their martial traditions. During the First World War, over 100,000 Sikhs served in France, East Africa, and Gallipoli.
Despite being less than two per cent of British India's population, they comprised roughly 20 per cent of the Indian contingent. In the Second World War, more than 300,000 Sikhs participated in campaigns across North Africa, Italy, and Southeast Asia.
The proposal for a British Sikh regiment has been raised repeatedly in Parliament. In 2007, plans were dropped after the Commission for Racial Equality expressed concerns about potential segregation.
The debate was revived in 2015 when former defence secretary Nicholas Soames urged the government to overcome "political correctness" and honour Sikh military service.
Sikh community leaders have consistently argued they could easily recruit enough volunteers for a regiment, pointing to precedents such as the Scots, Welsh, and Irish Guards, and the Royal Gurkha Rifles.
Currently, around 160 Sikhs serve in the British Army. The Defence Sikh Network continues to celebrate Sikh military traditions and encourage recruitment from the community.
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Heat can also damage everyday items like sunglasses, suncream and vape devices
Experts urge motorists to avoid leaving certain items in vehicles during upcoming heatwave
Temperatures expected to rise above 30°C across large parts of the UK
Contraceptives and common medications can lose effectiveness in high heat
Heat can also damage everyday items like sunglasses, suncream and vape devices
Drivers urged to act as UK braces for extended heatwave
Drivers across the UK are being urged to remove a range of everyday items from their cars ahead of a predicted heatwave, with experts warning that the rising temperatures could pose both safety and health risks.
The Met Office has forecast a prolonged spell of hot weather, with temperatures expected to soar into the low 30s on Thursday and Friday. Much of the UK is likely to hit its regional heatwave threshold by the weekend, with this episode potentially affecting a wider area and lasting longer than previous hot spells.
While motorists are often aware of the dangers of leaving items like electronics or water bottles in hot vehicles, motoring specialists have highlighted a less commonly known risk — heat damage to contraception and medication.
Heat can reduce effectiveness of contraceptives
Experts from car dealership group Dick Lovett have warned that items such as birth control pills and condoms should not be left inside cars during hot weather. The interior of a vehicle can act like a greenhouse, with temperatures increasing by up to 50% in just an hour, even when the car is parked in the shade.
Most hormonal contraceptives, including the pill, need to be stored at temperatures between 20-25°C to remain effective. Exposure to extreme heat can degrade the active ingredients, reducing their ability to prevent pregnancy.
Similarly, condoms can be weakened by high temperatures, as heat may damage the latex or cause it to dry out, increasing the risk of breakage during use.
Drivers who store spare contraceptives in their glove box or handbag for emergencies are advised to remove them during heatwaves and follow the storage guidelines provided on the packaging.
Medicines and other everyday items also at risk
Alongside contraceptives, many commonly used medicines are also vulnerable to heat damage. Items such as inhalers, insulin, antibiotics, and other prescription medications can lose potency if stored in high temperatures for too long.
To prevent any potential health complications, drivers should remove all medication from their vehicles during hot weather and keep them in cool, temperature-controlled environments.
Other items to avoid leaving in cars during a heatwave include:
Suncream (can degrade or leak)
Vape devices (pose fire risk)
Sunglasses (can warp or become brittle)
Fizzy drinks (risk of explosion or container damage)
By taking a few simple precautions, motorists can reduce health and safety risks and avoid damage to personal belongings during the UK’s latest summer heatwave.
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The Royal Mail logo is seen on the side of a van as the UK government clear a 3.57 billion pound takeover offer by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky in London, December 16, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)
MEDIA regulator Ofcom has set new minimum delivery standards for Royal Mail and revised existing targets in an effort to reduce delays. It also announced a review into pricing and affordability, amid concerns over rising stamp prices.
Royal Mail, which has faced fines of around $20 million over the past two years for not meeting delivery targets, is currently trying to modernise operations and focus more on parcel deliveries.
“Urgent reform is needed for the universal service to survive,” Ofcom said in a statement. The regulator said the revised delivery goals could help Royal Mail save up to £425 million ($578.3 million).
Under the new rules, Royal Mail must ensure that 99 per cent of mail is delivered no more than two days late. Ofcom has also adjusted the targets for next-day and three-day deliveries. The target for First Class mail will now be 90 per cent delivered the next day, down from 93 per cent. For Second Class mail, the target has been lowered from 98.5 per cent to 95 per cent within three days.
From July 28, Royal Mail will be permitted to deliver Second Class letters on alternate weekdays, while still aiming to meet the three-working-day delivery target, Ofcom said.
“Our research suggests that affordability and reliability are more important to people than speed of delivery, but they value having a next-day service available for when they need to send the occasional urgent item,” the regulator said.
Ofcom said it would launch a consultation on its pricing and affordability review next year.
In response to the announcement, Martin Seidenberg, Group CEO of Royal Mail’s parent company International Distribution Services, said the company welcomed the new measures.
“It is good news for customers across the UK as it supports the delivery of a reliable, efficient and financially sustainable universal service,” he said in a statement.