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India Gazette
07-07-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
AIBA urges PM Modi to ensure lifelong housing for former PMs, CJIs, and Lok Sabha speakers
New Delhi [India], July 7 (ANI): The All India Bar Association (AIBA) has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate legislation that guarantees lifelong government accommodation to former Prime Ministers, former Speakers of the Lok Sabha, and former Chief Justices of India (CJIs), according to the official statement. This appeal was formally made through a detailed letter written by Adish C Aggarwala, Senior Advocate and Chairman of AIBA. According to an official statement, Aggarwala expressed concern over recent developments, highlighting the housing struggles faced by retired Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. Although the Supreme Court Judges (Amendment) Rules, 2022, provide retired CJIs with rent-free housing for up to six months, Chandrachud reportedly had difficulty finding suitable private accommodation in Delhi. Consequently, he requested an extension to remain in his official residence. According to the official statement, the government accommodated this request in good faith, yet it inadvertently caused a delay in the handover of the designated bungalow to Justice Sanjiv Khanna. Even now, more than a month into his tenure, the current Chief Justice of India, Justice BR Gavai, has not moved into the residence. In the letter, Aggarwala--who previously served as President of the Supreme Court Bar Association and Vice Chairman of the Bar Council of India--advocated for a dignified and lasting solution, according to the release. He argued that similar to the privileges granted to the President and Vice-President, lifelong housing should be offered to individuals who have served in the highest positions across the three pillars of Indian democracy: the Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary. In an official statement, he cited examples of previous CJIs whose terms were exceptionally brief--some lasting just 29 or 36 days--due to the seniority-based appointment system. Despite the short tenures, these individuals shoulder immense responsibility in safeguarding the Constitution and its values. According to the release, the letter emphasised that, unlike the fixed-term appointments of other top offices, the unpredictable and often truncated nature of judicial service necessitates a stable post-retirement arrangement. In a statement, Aggarwala's appeal concluded with strong praise for Prime Minister Modi's leadership and a call to preserve and honour India's democratic institutions by supporting those who have upheld them. Such a move, he suggested, would not only resolve a practical concern but also represent a collective tribute to the distinguished roles these officials have played. (ANI)
Perth Now
27-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Soaring high: how Wedgetail made Australia's best beer
Tucked in a quiet corner down the back streets of Mandurah, no one would assume that Wedgetail Brewing is home to Australia's best beer. But it's official: One of Mandurah's best-kept secrets is officially home to the country's best beer — a dark lager that snagged the champion Australian beer trophy at the Australian International Beer Awards, the world's biggest annual beer competition, earlier this month. Pete McDonald and Howie Croft opened Wedgetail Brewing about 18 months ago and the taproom has quickly become a favourite among locals. But the recent success at the AIBAs proved what locals already knew: the beers Howie and Pete and producing are something special. It's a far cry from the shed on head brewer Howie's property, where the pair first began experimenting with homebrews. 'Our first beers were probably pretty ropey,' Pete laughed. 'Typically with home brewing, you start off with kits, a lot of the work is done for you, it's cheap alcohol at first, and then you start getting the hang of it, and with a lot of learning and reading, you realise there's a bit more to it.' Pete (left) and Howie mulling over a dark lager. Credit: Nicole Spicer The duo met while working in WA's north decades ago and decided to take the plunge and open the taproom after Howie was made redundant. The brewery's name comes from the Wedgetails the pair would encounter while flying choppers over the Pilbara. The winning beer in question, the dark lager, is something Howie says he's been working on for a decade. The dark lager is served looking as one would expect but the taste is a surprise. It has all the best tasting notes of a dark lager: coffee, malt, and chocolate. But it leaves the drinker with none of the worst elements, no overwhelming bitterness and none of that fullness that discourages a second pint. The dark lager didn't just take out the top gong at the AIBAs but also best independent beer and best dark lager. Surprisingly, though, the brewery's newly crowned 'best' beer isn't the founders' favourite. 'Mine is the IPA. I keep going back to that, it's an older style traditional IPA and that's maybe my roots, I suppose,' Pete said. 'Mine's the draught, it's quite refreshing,' Howie added. The venue is always busy and has been embraced by the community. 'This place wouldn't exist without them; we would have fallen flat on our face without that support,' Pete said. Currently, the only way to drink a beer outside of the taproom is to fill up a growler, but the pair recently invested in a canning machine and are hoping to begin selling their products in local bottleshops soon. The AIBA awards take pride of place in the taproom. Credit: Nicole Spicer 'We'll get our heads around that, and we'll be canning our own product directly,' Pete said. 'It'll be a lot more flexible, a lot more efficient and cheaper. So watch this space, we'll be coming out with cans too.' Wedgetail's hearty pub grub is also a standout, with young gun head chef Rhys Hura passionate about matching the quality of the beer to the food. There's a roaring oven producing delicious wood-fired pizzas and Rhys hopes his steak sandwich will make the finals in WA's best steak sandwich awards. 'I've taken all the aspects of what makes a good steak sanga and reinvented it as something that's different, but also quite modern,' he said. 'We chose Scotch fillets because with the fat content, it renders down and comes apart really easily. 'There's a green tomato relish, which I made to be like a normal tomato relish, but green tomatoes have less tartness and less acidity than red tomato does.' Rhys also uses the beer to flavour the food, with the darker beers going into the sauce on the ribs, the wheat beer in the fish finger batter and the barrel-aged beer being used to make ice cream. The pair hope to have more success at the upcoming Perth Royal Show and have entered the dark lager, the double red ale and the draught. 'So we're hoping that the product will perform again,' Pete laughed. Erskine's Boundary Island Brewery also earned a trophy for best traditional India pale ale with its The Deckie IPA, and King Road Brewing in Oldbury took home prizes for two of its King Road Short Stay Series beers: the American pale ale and NZ Cryo.
Irish Times
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Past rows over women's clothing should compel Camogie Association to waste no more time before fixing skorts issue
There were choice words this week from former Kerry footballer and clothing designer, Paul Galvin. 'Hard to believe it's not an episode of Father Ted,' he tweeted as tradition butted heads with progress and the skort war rumbled on. Galvin was bemused that we had somehow arrived at a point in 2025, where camogie players are fighting for comfort and performance in a pair of shorts. The Camogie Association has announced a special congress for May 22nd to vote on the issue. It is not the first time attire has become the story in women's sport, or the only occasion officials have tried to stop athletes choosing what to wear. [ Skorts v shorts: 'They're awkward, and if it's your time of the month it's just not comfortable' Opens in new window ] More than a decade ago, in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Katie Taylor was told by the lads who ran boxing that there was a nice skirt waiting for her in the locker room. Katie had different ideas. By the start of 2012, she had won three successive World Championships and five successive European Championships. READ MORE Taylor was adamant that no boxing official anywhere on the planet was going to make her perform at that year's World Championships or Olympic Games in a skirt. The gloves were off and the International Boxing Association (then known as the AIBA), not unlike the Camogie Association this week, were on the ropes. 'When I'm in the ring, I want the focus to be on my boxing, not what I'm wearing. It's a big no from me,' she said to Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show. 'I don't even wear mini skirts on a night out,' she said in the London Independent. And that was that. In the end, boxing saw sense and gave athletes the choice of a skirt or shorts. But battles over clothing, primarily relating to women, is a well-worn path. In 2004 Sepp Blatter, then president of world football's governing body Fifa , suggested that women players wear skimpier kits to raise the profile of their game. He helpfully suggested: 'They could, for example, have tighter shorts.' Long shorts were more restrictive, short shorts too revealing 'Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball,' added the Fifa chief. In 2011, the odour of Blatter's views had barely cleared when the Badminton World Federation (BWF) attempted to order women to wear skirts on court to revive flagging interest as the 2012 Olympics approached. The rule was roundly condemned as sexist, a hindrance to performance and offensive to Muslim women who play the sport in large numbers in Asian countries. 'We just want them (women players) to look feminine,' said BWF deputy president Paisan Rangsikitpho, falling into the common trap of not bothering to consult the athletes expected to wear the gear. The BWF's dress-code regulation was later shelved. The European Handball Federation also wanted to make their athletes look extra feminine. Four years ago, the Norway women's beach handball team was fined after players wore shorts instead of the required bikini bottoms during a game. According to the International Handball Federation, women were required to wear bikini bottoms 'with a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg'. The sides of the bikini bottoms, they declared, must be no more than four inches. Norway's beach handball team in the shorts they were penalised for wearing in 2021. Photograph: Norwegian Handball Federation Men, on the other hand, were allowed to wear shorts as long as four inches above their knees once they were 'not too baggy'. Each female Norwegian player was fined €150 for their transgression. Until 2024, female Olympic volleyball athletes were required to either wear a one-piece or a top and briefs. Fabric in the bottoms could not be longer than 7cm on each side. But those rules, after advocacy from the athletes, were torn up. At the Paris Games in 2024, the volleyball athletes were allowed, for the first time, to ditch their bikini bottoms. Most of them did just that. They say every crisis creates an opportunity and the Camogie Association might want to grasp this as one and make change. Perhaps cast an eye towards women's soccer. Gone are the days of men's hand-me-downs. Prior to the 2019 Women's World Cup, Nike spearheaded the design and production of the first bespoke women's kit. Cassie Looker, who headed the scheme, found that as women are a different shape to men, they had different preferences. As professional soccer players, who generate so much power through their lower bodies, they had well-developed glutes, thighs and hamstrings and the designs accommodated that. Long shorts were more restrictive, short shorts too revealing. The women preferred crew necks to shirts with a deep V. The kits and fabric were created and designed for a 'body in motion', with dynamic female athletes in mind. But here we are now, still closer to the badminton and boxing mindsets of pre-2012 than the soccer one of 2019. Intercounty level camogie players at war with their association because they want to feel comfortable, covered and perform without distraction. Right Ted.
