Royal Boost for Indian Designers
The glossies are obsessed with what Kate Middleton wears (She's on the cover of the latest Vogue) but it's also doing a lot for the designers who create the outfits. On her India trip, the endless shots of her at various functions were accompanied by write-ups or captions on the designer behind that particular dress, and they are now reaping the rewards.
The Duchess of Cambridge is the new fashion icon and designers like Anita Dongre have been given a huge boost, as have other Indian designers with outlets in London. Fashion writers in the UK have been listing some of the best Indian designers to keep an eye out for and among those mentioned are Saloni, founded by Saloni Lodha in 2011. Her vibrant styles are available at Harrods, Selfridges, Net a Porter and Matches Fashion, with the focus on whimsical summer dresses and occasionwear. Manish Arora can't be left out of the list and his designs are available in boutiques like Farfetch. Vineet Bahl is another popular Indian designer whose designs are available on The Outnet and Net a Porter. Jodhpur-born Anamika Khanna's designs are also attracting the bridal market here, though they are currently only available in one UK store, Aashni + Co.
Witches Brooms in Prisons
British prisons could soon see some strange sights like witches waving wands or others in ceremonial robes reading tarot cards. Ministry of Justice officials have updated and produced a 104-page guide entitled Faith and Pastoral Care for Prisoners, advising prison staff on how to help inmates of different faiths including witches and pagans. Some pagans who use tarot cards for meditation and guidance will be given the facility under the supervision of a chaplain. But the line is drawn at naked pagan worship. Recent figures show pagan worshippers in prisons outnumber Hindus and Jews. The guidance also contains information about other faiths like Mormons who like cocoa and Rastafarians who should be allowed to play the drums. The guide says that adherents of the Baha'i faith need to recite the phrase "Allah-u-Abha" 95 times a day and Zoroastrians worship communally in a "fire temple". Talk about being politically correct!
Labouring Times
The political climate is hotting up, much like predictions for the weather. While the Europe referendum is seeing a deepening divide within political parties, economic experts and media, the London mayoral elections this week has seen a heated and at times vicious and racist campaign between Labour's Sadiq Khan and Conservative Zac Goldsmith. Now, we have the added sting of anti- Semitism. The former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone's comment that Hitler supported Zionism and refused to apologise for it has put his party in an uncomfortable spot. Livingstone made the comment while supporting another Labour MP Naz Shah who had posted anti-Semetic comments on her facebook page. Finally, it seems, after a lot of pressure within the party, its leader Jeremy Corbyn (known to be a close ally of Red Ken) suspended the two from the party and has ordered an investigation by the party into Livingstone's comments.
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As this controversy grows, the view that anti-Semetism is festering in the Labour party is getting stronger. There are about 172,000 Jews in London alone. As for Livingstone, he appears to be sticking to his guns as of now. In fact, in 2005 he was involved in another such row after asking Jewish reporter Oliver Finegold if he was a "German war criminal" and telling him: "You are just like a concentration camp guard, you are just doing it because you are paid to, aren't you?" Lord Alan Sugar, the former Labour peer and business tycoon commented after the latest fiasco: "The lunatics have taken over the party."
Quoits Anyone, Everyone?
The oldest quoits club in the world, a male bastion, has for the first time accepted female members after 170 years. Founded in 1846, the Darlington Quoit Club, now has two women members Claire Harrison and Kay Price. Earlier, women could only be signed in as guests into the town centre clubhouse on 12 occasions in a year, although they could attend social events. The club's chairman Nick Hodgson commented: "It was the last bastion of male dominance in the town, but over the years things have mellowed. We did a rule change at our last annual general meeting, because the rule book said "any gentleman who wishes to join" and we changed it so now it says "any person who wishes to join"."
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Quoits is a traditional British game which involves throwing rings over a set distance, usually onto a spike and the two new lady members are of course overjoyed. Price, who works with a homeless project in the town excitedly said: "Our names will go down in history— we may even get a women's board on the wall." Harrison has had a close family association as her husband and brother are members of the club and so was her father until he died. Interestingly, in 1967, a member complained that 'a lady representative of the BBC' had been allowed in the clubhouse to report on a trophy presentation.
