NEW DELHI // Arriving in a small and scruffy blue car, India’s newest political star springs from the front seat, shirt untucked, and walks towards his supporters with the air of a low-key civil servant.
Which is just what Arvind Kejriwal was – until 2001, when he left his job as a tax official, disgusted by his colleagues, to embark on a career as an anti-corruption campaigner that would lead to national fame.
The bookish father of two turns up with no trailing security – a status symbol in the capital – and begins shaking hands at his first campaign stop in a dusty village on the far edge of the capital.
On December 4, the city of 16 million will elect a new state assembly, with Mr Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party threatening a political earthquake only a year after it was formed.
For the next five hours, he stands in an open-topped jeep as it winds from the rural hinterland, through streets of open workshops, slums of sick and unschooled children, to finish near Delhi University.
Along the way, he is garlanded with marigolds and gives brief, fiery speeches at scheduled stops.
“If all the youngsters get together, they can change the face of the country,” he says to cheers from a group of students who are told that 50 per cent of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) candidates are under 30.
On the move, supporters dance to music calling politicians “bloodsucking devils” and “thieves”. Many distribute the symbols of the party, the broom and the Gandhi cap.
The broom symbolises a clean sweep of India’s rotten politics; the white Gandhi cap connects Mr Kejriwal to the father of the nation and to an era “when we had a politics of honesty and a politics of public service,” he said.
As the winter sun starts to fade, he dismounts from the jeep and squeezes back into the same blue car to talk about his “revolution”.
After leaving government service he campaigned to bring in India’s Right to Information Act in 2005, which earned him “Asia’s Nobel”, the Ramon Magsaysay Award.
A few years later, he teamed up with a former army driver, Anna Hazare, who launched repeated hunger strikes in 2010 demanding a new anti-corruption law.
Together they channelled anger about everyday corruption as well as graft scandals that have embroiled the national government.
Though their demands went unheeded and relations between the duo ultimately soured, their campaign panicked the government and propelled Mr Kejriwal on to the national stage.
“We were forced into politics because there was an anti-corruption movement in the country and the government promised a strong anti-corruption law, but it went back on its word,” he says.
Support for his party fluctuates wildly, according to pollsters, from an impressive six to eight seats in the 70-member New Delhi assembly to an extraordinary 30 or more.
As passers-by take photos of him, he says the inroads are down to two things. “One, corruption became so much that it became intolerable for the people,” he said. The second was people voting to deny a candidate rather than supporting somebody they wanted in post. “This time they have an honest option,” he said.
Using tactics popularised by the US president, Barack Obama, the party has raised 200 million rupees (Dh11.75m) through small donations, with supporters’ names listed on the website.
The government has since launched an investigation into whether it broke funding laws that ban donations from foreigners.
The 44-year-old has made many enemies in the ruling Congress party, dominated by the Gandhi political dynasty and run in Delhi by the chief minister, Sheila Dikshit.
Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Sonia Ghandi, the Congress supremo, handed Mr Kejriwal his most memorable nickname earlier this year when he branded the AAP “mango people in a banana republic”.
“Aam Aadmi” can also mean “mango people” in Hindi.
Ms Dikshit, 75, India’s longest- serving chief minister, has often appeared to struggle to respond to the often highly personal attacks.
“He is not even on our radar,” she said. “We must first know what he stands for.”
But Pratap Bhanu Mehta, an analyst at the Centre for Policy Research in Delhi, views Mr Kejriwal’s movement as something “radically fresh” in Indian politics.
Though he questioned its economic policies, in The Indian Express last month he praised their simple focus on improving administration and tackling corruption.
“The potential demonstration effect that AAP’s success may have on politics in other cities is not negligible. While politics is often local, successful examples are empowering,” he wrote.
Mr Kejriwal says his first priority is fixing the capital but he clearly has larger ambitions only nine months away from national elections.
* Agence France-Presse
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
UAE%20PREMIERSHIP
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Essentials
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines all fly direct from the UAE to Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang from about Dh2,300 return, including taxes.
Where to stay
In Kuala Lumpur, Element is a recently opened, futuristic hotel high up in a Norman Foster-designed skyscraper. Rooms cost from Dh400 per night, including taxes. Hotel Stripes, also in KL, is a great value design hotel, with an infinity rooftop pool. Rooms cost from Dh310, including taxes.
In Penang, Ren i Tang is a boutique b&b in what was once an ancient Chinese Medicine Hall in the centre of Little India. Rooms cost from Dh220, including taxes.
23 Love Lane in Penang is a luxury boutique heritage hotel in a converted mansion, with private tropical gardens. Rooms cost from Dh400, including taxes.
In Langkawi, Temple Tree is a unique architectural villa hotel consisting of antique houses from all across Malaysia. Rooms cost from Dh350, including taxes.
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
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Aayan%E2%80%99s%20records
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Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
