The Spanish government has urged authorities in Madrid to tighten coronavirus restrictions across the city, warning of a “serious risk” to residents if they do not.
Madrid extended restrictions in Covid-19 hotspots on Friday but rejected calls for a city-wide lockdown, the BBC reported.
On Saturday Spain’s Health Minister Salvador Illa said current restrictions did not go far enough.
He said it was “time to act with determination” to control the pandemic.
“There is a serious risk for inhabitants, for the neighbouring regions,” Illa said, calling on the capital’s regional authorities to “put the health of citizens first” and impose a partial lockdown on the entire city.
Spain’s regions are in charge of healthcare and so the central government does not have the power to impose the restrictions it prefers.
Madrid is again at the epicentre of Spain’s coronavirus outbreak, as it was during the first peak earlier this year. The country recorded a further 12,272 cases on Friday, bringing the official total to 716,481, the highest infection tally in western Europe.
Spain and many other countries in the northern hemisphere have seen a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a stark warning about the resurgence of the virus in Europe and elsewhere as winter approaches.
European countries were seeing “worrying increases of the disease”, with “a small uptick in deaths in older people” that will inevitably increase, Dr Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s emergencies team, said on Friday.
Dr Ryan questioned whether European countries had “really exhausted all the tools” at their disposal to prevent a second round of national lockdowns.
“Lockdowns are almost a last resort – and to think that we’re back in last-resort territory in September, that’s a pretty sobering thought,” Dr Ryan told reporters at the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva.
Last week while visiting my sister-in-law Jenny and her husband John at their home in Suffolk the talk turned to sport as it often does. Both Jenny and John have a keen interest in sport, and it is always enjoyable to talk to them about sports. What surprised me was when Jenny asked me about IPL. The first match of the IPL was about to be played and that Jenny and John living in the depths of Suffolk should be interested in this tournament showed how IPL has taken over this quintessential English game of cricket.
Indeed, so powerful is it that a domestic Indian cricket tournament means more to international cricket than a World Cup. Estimates suggest that IPL generates $600 million (£464.5 million) of revenue, 30 per cent more than the 2019 World Cup held in England did. The result of this is that IPL takes precedence over the World Cup. The Twenty20 World Cup was due to start next month but with the IPL originally scheduled for the summer but postponed due to Covid and moved to the UAE, it was IPL which took precedence.
There is a great irony here and also a very Indian story. The twenty over game was an English invention that the Indians shunned. The then secretary of the Indian board initially refused to take part in the first T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007 snorting in derision, “What next, five overs a side cricket match?”
India reluctantly send a side to South Africa with its greatest star Sachin Tendulkar dropping out. But led by rookie captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni it unexpectedly won the tournament. The T20 triumph in South Africa triggered a revolution not only in India but also world cricket.
Abu Dhabi: Mumbai Indians players celebrates the wicket of Eoin Morgan of Kolkata Knight Riders during match 5 of season 13 of the Dream 11 Indian Premier League (IPL) between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians held at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on the 23rd September 2020. (Photo: BCCI/IPL)
Now sponsors cannot get enough of IPL. Last month IPL lost its tournament sponsor, Vivo, but soon Dream11, an online gaming company stepped in. Online fantasy cricket is the nearest India has to legal gambling in India and it can make a lot of money for IPL as cricket exploits India’s digital explosion. In 2012 India was said to have had 30 million smartphones in India. It could rise to 829 million by 2022.
120-150 million viewers in India are expecting to watch this year’s IPL matches, with companies paying $60,000 for 30 seconds of advertising time on Star Sports.
Credit must also be given to the organisers. 1,500 people have been locked down in Mumbai and the United Arab Emirates, whose three grounds in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, is where the cricket is being played. With IPL impossible in India UAE’s venues, all easily accessible by road for teams sealed in hotels and buses, made absolute sense.
Abu Dhabi: Jofra Archer of Rajasthan Royals appeals unsuccessfully during match 4 of season 13 of the Dream 11 Indian Premier League (IPL) between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings held at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates on the 22nd September 2020. (Photo: BCCI/IPL)
The economic power of IPL keeps confounding most experts. In 2008 when the IPL had its first season broadcast rights were sold for ten years to Sony-World Sports Group for $ 1.5 billion. In September 2017, the IPL rights were sold to Star India for five years for Rs 16,347 crores which was more than the worth of all the other T-20 leagues which have mushroomed in the wake of the IPL in the last decade.
But while these figures are impressive the IPL story is best told in the impact it has had on the world of cricket and why India once the pariah of the cricket world is now the place cricketers cannot keep away from. The pre-IPL world revolved round an English summer. The moment the English cricket season started in late April cricket all over the world effectively ceased. Such was the power of the English game that cricketers from all over the world came to play in England. India was a bit player in this English summer garden party. Unlike West Indians and Pakistanis not many Indians played county cricket.
When IPL was launched in 2008 English cricket unable to believe that the Indians could match their cricket expertise scoffed at it. Its efforts to beat IPL proved a disaster and English cricket has long bowed to the power of IPL. So, despite the fact that IPL overlaps with the English cricket season their best players are allowed to miss part of the season to take part in this great Indian gold mine. Two centuries ago, British came to India to make money and found an empire. Now their cricketers are willing to miss part of their cherished season to make the sort of money they could never make anywhere else.
Abu Dhabi: Devdutt Padikkal of Royal Challengers Bangalore brings up his fifty during match 3 of season 13 of the Dream 11 Indian Premier League (IPL) between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on the 21st September 2020. (Photo: BCCI/IPL)
What the IPL has also developed are bonds between Indians and foreigners. This can be seen when IPL matches are played as during the match earlier this week between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders. At a crucial stage in the match the outcome seemed to hinge on whether KKR’s two great foreign stars could turn the match around. They were Eoin Morgan, captain of the England limited over cricket team and one of the best batsman in this format, and the West Indian Andre Russell widely regarded as one of the greatest T20 players. They threatened to do so but were snuffed out by Jasprit Bumrah India’s great pace bowler who took both their wickets in one over. Patrick Cummings, the most expensive overseas star of IPL ever, who is principally a bowler, smashed a few sixes but by then Mumbai Indians had done enough to win. This show cased the IPL wonderfully well. An Englishman, a Jamaican, an Australian on one side and an Indian on the other all performing on the same stage with the Indian winning.
True, this is very specialised form of the game that will never match the complexity or provide the drama and game within game conflict almost mirroring real life that a five-day Test can. Tests will always be seen as the highest benchmark of the game. Yet, IPL is cricket turned into a Bollywood show, Indian tamasha presented to the world in such an enticing manner that Jenny and John are gripped by it.
For the first time a major team sport is not controlled by the west, and IPL is the ultimate expression of modern Indian soft power. It may not be as powerful an Indian soft power tool as yoga, but it took yoga a long time to reach its present position of eminence. That IPL has risen so far so quickly is testimony to the inventive powers of modern Indians.
As the 2020 French Open which begins on Sunday, Rafael Nadal will be looking to move level with Roger Federer’s tally of 20 Grand Slam titles when he starts his campaign at the
The Spaniard, who skipped the US Open, is considered hot favourite to win a record extending 13th title at Roland Garros. Nadal enters the court on Sunday to face the Belarusian, Egor Gerasimov.
Federer is out with a knee injury, but top seed Novak Djokovic and wildcard Andy Murray are in the fray. Meanwhile, in women’s singles, Serena Williams will relaunch her bid for a record equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
Without Federer in the tournament, it’s a great chance for Nadal and Djokovic to close in on the Swiss legend in their race to finish with the most Grand Slam men’s singles titles.
Meanwhile, Dominic Thiem, this year’s US Open champion, heads to the tournament as one of the big contenders. The Austrian had reached the final in Paris in the past two years and would want to win the title this time.
The women’s draw will miss defending champion Ash Barty and 2020 US Open champion Naomi Osaka.
Winner of 2018 Simona Halep will hit the court against Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo. Expectations from Halep are high after her wonderful Italian Open win.
The World Tourism Day is being celebrated on Sunday amid the coronavirus pandemic with the theme “Tourism and Rural Development”. One of India’s prime tourist attractions, Rajasthan is pondering ways to reinvigorate the activity in the sector.
The Rajasthan government’s new tourism policy complements the theme keeping rural tourism in focus.
The Rajasthan government’s new tourism policy provides for innovative tourism products and services with the focus on lesser known destinations especially in the rural areas, confirmed tourism officials.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has also directed the promotion of tourism in villages as a means to improve the rural economy, they said.
“Across the world, COVID-19 has impacted the livelihoods of millions of people related to travel and tourism. Rajasthan government is effectively working to mitigate its effect in the state. The new tourism policy and other initiatives by the government are offering support to the industry. As the situation eases and India passes through unlock phases, the facilities for the visitors need to be revamped and aligned with the new normal,” said Alok Gupta, Principal Secretary Tourism, Rajasthan.
The tourism sector has been the worst-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and is striving for revival and needs more infrastructure support. The Rajasthan Tourism Policy 2020 promotes new investments in developing new tourist venues with the focus on strengthening infrastructure and improving road, rail and air connectivity, the official said.
There was also an added emphasis on the safety and security of the tourists. The policy thus has been creating a conducive environment for enabling the tourism sector in the state. Promoting local craft and cuisine has also been made part of the policy, he added.
The state government has offered several relief measures for existing tourism businesses in view of Covid-19. The tourism department has also formulated strategies to ensure safe tourism by issuing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The tourist destinations and monuments are being sanitized and there is added emphasis on social awareness and hygiene in the new policy.
The state government has already declared reimbursement of the state’s GST share to hotels and restaurants, the motor vehicle tax has been relaxed for vehicles of more than 22-person capacity and relaxations have been given in renewal of bar licences. In order to allow businesses to operate in a safe environment, the tourism department has issued SOPs for hotels, restaurants and film shoots in the state, officials confirmed to IANS.
The tourism department has also been working to promote skill development, strengthening of the Tourist Protection Force, promoting tourist start-ups and other experiential tourism initiatives.
Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, have reviewed the prospects of enhancing bilateral relations across all fronts.
This came as the Greek premier received the UAE top diplomat and his accompanying delegation in the presence of the Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, at a meeting that discussed ways of accelerating cooperation in areas of science & technology, food & water security, renewable energy and oil, with the two sides reiterating their countries’ determination to establish a robust strategic partnership across all fields.
The two sides also deliberated the latest developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, in addition to a number of issues of concern, notably the situation in Libya and Iran.
The global fight against COVID-19 and ways pf strengthening international efforts to secure a vaccine to the diseases featured high during the meeting. The recently signed UAE-Israeli Peace Accord and its role in establishing security and stability in the region were reviewed as well during the meeting.
Sheikh Abdullah conveyed to the Greek leaders the greetings of President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and their wishes for further prosperity and progress to Greece.
The Greek premier reciprocated the greetings to the UAE leaders and underlined the importance of Sheikh Abdullah’s visit in fostering the friendship ties between the two nations.
Attending the meeting was Omar Saif Ghobash, Assistant Minister for Cultural Affairs at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Addresses General Debate, 75th Session
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reminded the international community that the fates of people across the globe were intertwined amid the Covid-19 pandemic, as she called on world leaders to ensure that any proven vaccine is made accessible to all at the same time.
She made the remarks during her address to the 75th UN General Assembly via video link on Saturday, reports bdnews24.
Expressing hope over the availability of a vaccine soon, Hasina said: “It is imperative to treat the vaccine as a ‘global public good’. We need to ensure the timely availability of this vaccine to all countries at the same time.”
Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical industry has the capacity to mass-produce a vaccine, if given the “technical know-how and patents”, she said.
Describing the pandemic as an “unprecedented crisis”, Hasina paid tribute to all frontline fighters, including health workers and public servants who are working tirelessly to ensure the safety of the affected countries and people.
Sheikh Hasina.
She also reiterated Bangladesh’s ‘unflinching commitment’ to multi-lateralism as embodied in the UN Charter.
“The pandemic has indeed aggravated existing global challenges. It has also reinforced the indispensability of multi-lateralism,” bdnews24 quoted the Prime Minister as saying.
With the assembly taking place on a digital platform for the first time in the UN’s history, Hasina also reflected on her personal memories of the General Assembly Hall.
“This General Assembly Hall evokes deep emotions in me. From this very hall in 1974, my father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered a speech for the first time in Bangla as the head of government of a newly independent country.”
Refugees in the Kutupalong Rohingya Refugee Camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in July, 2018. (Photo: UN/IANS)
In her address, the premier also urged the international community to step up the efforts to resolve the Rohingya crisis.
“Bangladesh provided temporary shelter to over 1.1 million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals. More than three years have elapsed.
“Regrettably, not a single Rohingya could be repatriated. The problem was created by Myanmar and its solution must be found in Myanmar. I request the international community to play a more effective role for a solution to the crisis,” she added.
Modi promised the world that India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, would share its therapeutic solutions with the global community…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses on the occasion of Word Youth Skill Day via video conferencing from New Delhi on July 15, 2020. (Photo: IANS/PIB)
For the second time in a week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into the outdated structures of the United Nations, turning the mirror on the global body and urging it to fix its internal crisis so that it could reflect the world as it exists today rather than as it was in the 1940s.
“For how long will India be kept out of the decision making structures of the United Nations?” Modi questioned the UN.
“When we were strong, we were never a threat to the world, when we were weak, we were never a burden to the world”, he said.
Modi promised the world that India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, would share its therapeutic solutions with the global community.
“India is proud of the fact that it is one of the founding members of the United Nations. On this historic occasion, I have come to this global platform to share the sentiments of 1.3 billion people of India,” he said.
“The world of 1945 was significantly different from today’s world. The global situation, sources, resources, problems, solutions. All were quite different. And as a result, the form and the composition of the United Nations was established with the aim of global welfare, but in accordance with the prevailing situation of those times.”
“Today, we are in a completely different era. In the 21st century, the requirements and challenges of our present as well as our future are vastly different from those of the past.”
“Therefore, the international community today is faced with a very important question whether the character of the institution constituted in the prevailing circumstances of 1945 is relevant, even today, with the changing times,” Modi said.
A list of 38 new areas in England, including the entire city of London, has been added to a coronavirus “watch list” due to recent spike in the number of confirmd cases, the media reported on Saturday.
The new figure has increased the total number of areas on the list to 92 places , including all 33 London boroughs, the Metro newspaper reported.
Four areas — Leeds, Stockport, Wigan, Blackpool — have been escalated to the “areas of intervention” on list.
Meanwhile, Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees have been added to “areas of enhanced support”, which means they could placed under a local lockdown.
Corby, Northampton, Peterborough and Stoke-on-Trent have been removed from the watch list.
Currently, there are around 17 million Britons living under some kind of restrictions due to the pandemic.
The development comes as scientists have warned the UK’s ‘R’ rate, which measures how quickly Covid-19 is spreading, is up once again from last week, reports the Metro newspaper.
According to data released the Government Office for Science and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) on Friday, showed the estimate for ‘R’ for the whole of the UK was between 1.2 and 1.5.
On Friday, the UK registered another single-day case recorded.
With 6,874 new cases, the overall tally has increased to 425,766, while the death toll stood at 42,025.
United Nations: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addresses at the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), at United Nations on Sep 27, 2019. (Photo: IANS)
In a tweet, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, T.S. Tirumurti decried Khan’s attacks as “warmongering and obfuscation”…reports Arul Louis
United Nations: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addresses at the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), at United Nations on Sep 27, 2019. (Photo: IANS)
The Indian delegate at the United Nations General Assembly session on Friday walked out in protest when Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan began attacking India in his speech at the high-level meeting.
First Secretary Mijito Vinito, who was sitting on the second seat in the first row of the Assembly chamber, stood up and left as soon as Khan turned on India by focusing on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In a tweet, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, T.S. Tirumurti decried Khan’s attacks as “warmongering and obfuscation”.
Khan’s pre-recorded speech was screened at the General Assembly chamber during the annual meeting stymied this year by the Covid-19 precautions.
A new element tucked into Khan’s 34-minute speech, more than a third of which was devoted to India, was a call for the Security Council to send its peacekeeping force to Kashmir by drawing a parallel to East Timor, now known as Timor-Leste.
“The Security Council must prevent a disaster conflict (in Kashmir) and secure the implementation of its own resolutions, as it did in the case of East Timor,” Khan said.
Mijito Vinito, a first secretary in India’s United Nations Mission replies to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s attacks on India in his speech at the High-Level session of the UN General Assembly on Friday, September 25, 2020. (Photo: UN/IANS)
The Security Council authorised international intervention and sent peacekeepers in the aftermath of the Indonesian invasion of the former Portuguese colony, but a parallel would require such a force to clear Pakistanis in Kashmir in defiance of its resolution demanding their withdrawal.
Khan also declared a thinly veiled support for the attacks on India by the militants.
“The government and the people of Pakistan are committed to standing by and supporting the Kashmiri brothers and sisters in their legitimate struggle for self-determination,” he said.
To preemptively deny the involvement in any Pakistan-sponsored attacks on India, Khan said, “We have consistently sensitised the world community about a false flag operation.”
Khan alleged, “India is playing a dangerous game of upping the ante against Pakistan in a nuclearised environment.”
In his tweet, Tirumurti said, “PM of Pakistan’s statement a new diplomatic low at 75th UN General Assembly. Another litany of vicious falsehood, personal attacks, warmongering and obfuscation of Pakistan’s persecution of its own minorities and of its cross-border terrorism. Befitting Right of Reply awaits.”
At the start of his speech with religious platitudes, Khan declared his commitment to an even more stringent theocratic state before accusing India of moving away from secularism.
“We envisage Naya Pakistan to be modelled on the principles of the state of Medina, established by the Holy Prophet Mohammed,” he declared.
Later, the premier of the Islamic republic, which constitutionally denies full citizenship rights to non-Muslims as well as Muslims of the Ahmadiyya sect, asserted that India is giving up on the secularism of Mahatma Gandhi and is moving towards a “Hindutva” state.
“The secularism of Gandhi and Nehru has been replaced by the dream of creating a Hindu Rashtra,” he asserted.
Khan’s attacks on the RSS is to try to build up support for his cause, which has so far seen only Turkish support, by linking it to Nazism as his attacks on India have not found any backing.
Khan was silent on the persecution of the Uighur minority in China, Pakistan’s patron, and Beijing’s verified creation of camps for internment of the Muslim minority and campaign to eradicate their cultural and religious identity.
But he claimed that according to “reports”, there were camps in India filled with Muslims.
He also accused India of changing the demography of Kashmir and suppressing its cultural identity.
He invoked the Security Council resolutions on Kashmir and said the Council should enforce them.
However, the main resolution on Kashmir — No. 47 — demands that Pakistan should withdraw its troops and personnel from Kashmir.
Sajjad Raja, Chairman of the National Equality Party JKGBL.
Chairman of the National Equality Party JKGBL, Sajjad Raja exposed the human rights violations imposed by Pakistan in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The activist’s voice stuttered while appealing before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to stop Pakistan from treating the PoK residents like animals.
Prof Sajjad Raja, while making an intervention during the 45th Session of the UNHRC in Geneva said that the POK election Act 2020 has taken away all constitutional, civil and political rights of the citizens of the POK region.
“We the people of Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir plead this august council to stop Pakistan from treating us like animals. The Azad Kashmir elections Act 2020 has taken away all of political, civil and constitutional, rights. Our activities opposing accession to Pakistan have been declared anti-state in flagrant violations of United Nations Resolutions,” said Raja, He further said, “We are treated as traitors in our own home simply for defending it. By declaring our political activities illegal, this act gives the Pakistan Army a free hand to assassinate our people through targeted killings and enforce disappearances.”
Raja said that Pakistan is “brainwashing” the young minds on both sides of the border in Jammu and Kashmir, thus, “making them cannon fodder in the proxy war with India.” He also submitted before the council that Pak continues to run terror camps in the area.
Speaking on the recent claim of Pakistan on Gilgit Baltistan, Raja said, “Pakistan is now trying to declare disputed territory of Gilgit Baltistan as its province, thus, depriving our people of their land and their identity and culture. Pakistan’s revisionist moves would throw the whole world into a brutal war.”
He concluded the statement by expressing the hope that the grievance of the people be heard and begging the peace loving world to help them break away the chains.
