More than 21 million voters will cast their ballots in India's Punjab state on Sunday in polls that are regarded as a barometer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party's popularity before general elections in 2024.
Pitched against Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the incumbent Congress Party and the regional Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is seeking to consolidate its political dominance through the election.
The AAP was formed in 2013 to eliminate corruption and has ruled the capital territory of Delhi for two consecutive terms.
On a recent afternoon, Harbhajan Singh, one of the party's candidates from the Jandiala constituency, sat on top of a car during door-to-door campaigning.
A band of young men followed him on motorbikes waving flags brandishing the party symbol – a broom to sweep out corruption.
Mr Singh stopped near a public park and talked to his supporters about chipping away at the entrenched political system.
The BJP implemented controversial farm laws in September 2020 using its executive powers and without any consultation in Parliament. The legislation was met with some of the fiercest protests in India in recent years.
Mr Modi's administration billed them as necessary reforms, but farmers feared the laws signalled the government was moving away from a system in which they sold their harvest only in government-sanctioned marketplaces.
They worried this would leave them poorer and at the mercy of private corporations.
The laws triggered a year of protests as angry farmers – most of them Sikhs from Punjab state – camped on the outskirts of New Delhi through a harsh winter and coronavirus pandemic.
In a major reversal, Mr Modi withdrew the laws a year later, three months before the crucial polls in Punjab and four other states.
BJP has a small presence in Punjab but hopes to form a government there with a regional ally and strengthen its voter base among farmers, one of the largest blocs in India.
Punjab, where people are deeply proud of their state's cultural and religious tapestry, also represents a test for Mr Modi's party's Hindu nationalist reach, which has flourished in most of northern India since 2014.
The BJP is running its campaign by trying to portray the Congress government as corrupt.
It is also making grand promises to create more jobs, provide farm subsidies and free electricity for farmers, and eradicate the drug problem that has afflicted the state for years.
Analysts said the moves are intended to placate the farmers, and that the elections were a major reason behind Mr Modi's sudden decision to withdraw the laws.
Bitterness after protest crackdown
That anger, however, runs deep.
More than 700 farmers died during the protests as they weathered harsh cold, record rainfall and sweltering heat, according to Samyukt Kisan Morcha, or the United Farmers Front, the umbrella group of farm unions that organised the agitation. Dozens also died by suicide.
But in December last year, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told Parliament that his government had no record of the farmers' deaths.
This caused widespread anger among the families of the deceased, many of whom are small or landless farmers who constitute the lowest rung of India's farming community.
"Where did those 700 to 750 people go then? The Modi government is responsible for that," said Amarjeet Singh, choking back tears in his family home in Kaler Ghuman village, about 40 kilometres from Amritsar, the state's capital.
Mr Singh's father, Sudagar Singh, died on a hot September afternoon from a sudden heart attack, according to his death certificate.
At the time of his death, he was accompanied by his friend Charan Singh, the village head, who said the 72-year-old collapsed while returning home after spending weeks at the protests.
Scarred by the death, Sudagar Singh's younger brother fell into depression, the family said. He stopped eating and working on his farm. Three months later, he died.
Another farmer, Kulwant Singh, died in an accident during the farmers' protest.
"I could never imagine this," said Balwinder Kaur, Kulwant Singh's wife.
In some cases, the Punjab government has announced jobs and funds for the families of the deceased, but farmers said the elections are an opportunity to turn their anger into meaningful change.
At its peak, the protest drew support from Punjab's rural and urban populations.
Now, those protests find very little resonance among city voters who say the farmers' issues should take a back seat since the laws have been withdrawn.
The election results will be announced on March 10.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Major honours
ARSENAL
BARCELONA
- La Liga - 2013
- Copa del Rey - 2012
- Fifa Club World Cup - 2011
CHELSEA
- Premier League - 2015, 2017
- FA Cup - 2018
- League Cup - 2015
SPAIN
- World Cup - 2010
- European Championship - 2008, 2012
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
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Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
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Total eligible population
About 57.5 million people
51.1 million received a jab
6.4 million have not
Where are the unvaccinated?
England 11%
Scotland 9%
Wales 10%
Northern Ireland 14%
Sting & Shaggy
44/876
(Interscope)
The%20specs
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The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)
- Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave.
- Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
- Help out around the house.
- Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
- Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
- Offer to strip the bed before you go.
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.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ELIO
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Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The First Monday in May
Director: Andrew Rossi
Starring: Anna Wintour, Karl Lagerfeld, John Paul Gaultier, Rihanna
Three stars
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How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
Barbie
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Kandahar%20
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Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
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