Residents in England are expected to start playing football and cricket matches outside as the country experiences a wave of warm weather this week….reports Asian Lite News
England on Monday further eased its coronavirus contact restrictions to allow for larger outdoor meet-ups and team sports.
As part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown, which was unveiled in February, groups of up to six, or two households, can now meet together outdoors, reports dpa news agency.
Minimal travel, but no holidays, are allowed and outdoor parent and child groups can meet with up to 15 parents.
Tennis and basketball courts, outdoor swimming pools, golf courses and sailing clubs can now all reopen.
Residents in England are expected to start playing football and cricket matches outside as the country experiences a wave of warm weather this week.
From April 12, non-essential retail, as well as restaurants and pubs, if serving people outdoors, will be allowed to reopen in England.
UK starts surge testing
In Northern Ireland, six people will be able to meet outside from Thursday, while in Scotland its “stay home” message will be lifted on Friday, allowing people to leave their homes for other reasons aside from school, work, health, exercise or food shopping but they should stay near to their homes.
In Wales, the “stay home” message has already been lifted.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Johnson said England still on course for “roadmap to freedom”, but warned the impact of Europe’s third wave of infections on the country.
“Bitter experience” had shown a wave like the one in Europe would hit Britain “three weeks later”, he said.
Nearly 30 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.
Several health and development charities urged the UK Prime minister to clarify how doses will be shared…reports Asian Lite News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JntzOyGT-f4
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing calls on Sunday to immediately begin donating vaccines to poorer nations or risk hoarding supplies while frontline workers are exposed to coronavirus, the Evening Standard newspaper reported.
British health and development charities urged the prime minister to take “accelerated action” and “swiftly clarify” how doses will be shared, according to the newspaper, Xinhua news agency reported.
The appeal was contained in a letter to the prime minister by those including British government science advisor Jeremy Farrar and Save the Children UK, among others.
With more than half of adults having received a jab, they said Britain is “one of the world’s highest per-capita buyers” of vaccines and is on track to have more than 100 million surplus doses.
Doris Wildgoose, 99, receives her second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Hyde Leisure Centre in Greater Manchester, Britain, on Jan. 7, 2021. (Photo by Jon Super/Xinhua/ians)
“There is therefore the high risk that the UK will be hoarding limited supply whilst health workers and the most vulnerable in low- and middle-income countries do not have access,” said the letter.
“The UK will be sitting on enough surplus vaccine doses to vaccinate the world’s frontline health workers twice over,” it said.
They also urged Britain to immediately begin donating doses through the COVAX initiative, which is working to provide vaccines for low and middle-income countries.
The British government responded that it will share “the majority of any future surplus” vaccines with the COVAX pool “when these are available,” the London-based newspaper said.
COVAX is a global initiative backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure effective and equitable global access to Covid-19 vaccines.
Farrar said Britain will still have contractual access to at least 100 million surplus doses once the entire population is vaccinated, which he said “won’t be of use in the UK”.
“Now is the time to think beyond our borders,” he said. “The world won’t be safe while any single country is still fighting the virus.”
“The prime minister has confirmed the UK will share the majority of any future surplus coronavirus vaccines from our supply with the COVAX pool, when these are available. No one is safe until we are all safe,” a British government source said.
“No decisions have been taken at all before the publishing of a government review into Covid-19 certification early next month,said Boris”…reports Asian Lite News
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that his government is considering coronavirus vaccine certification but suggested it might only be implemented once all adults in the country have been offered a jab by the end of July.
Speaking in London on Thursday, Johnson said “no decisions have been taken at all” before the publishing of a government review into Covid-19 certification early next month, reports Xinhua news agency.
“All sorts of things are being considered,” Johnson said, adding it was “a bit premature” to speculate on whether pubs could run entirely by implementing a certification scheme while scrapping social distancing and mask-wearing rules.
“What we want to do is (to) roll out the vaccine program and see what that builds in terms of general resistance to the virus,” he told Sky News.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a vial of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine Covid-19 candidate vaccine, known as AZD1222, at Wockhardt’s pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Wrexham, North Wales. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
“I do think there is going to be a role for certification,” he said.
However, Johnson said Britain needs to think carefully about the issue.
“As I’ve said before there are lots of difficult issues, because there are some people who, for medical reasons, can’t get a vaccination, pregnant women can’t get a vaccination at the moment,” the Prime Minister said.
Johnson suggested that whether someone’s vaccine status, any possible immunity after having recovered from the virus or a negative test “could work together” in a possible certification scheme.
More than 28.6 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.
Experts have warned Britain is “still not out of the woods” amid concerns over new variants and the risks of the public breaching restriction rules.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has summoned British Ambassador to China to lodge solemn representations, expressing firm opposition and strong condemnation….reports Asian Lite News
China on Friday announced sanctions on relevant British individuals and entities.
According to a statement by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, the UK imposed unilateral sanctions on relevant Chinese individuals and entity, citing the so-called human rights issues in Xinjiang, Xinhua news agency reported.
“This move, based on nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations,” said the statement.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has summoned British Ambassador to China to lodge solemn representations, expressing firm opposition and strong condemnation.
China Announces Sanctions on Relevant UK Individuals and Entities
The Chinese side decides to sanction the following nine individuals and four entities on the UK side that maliciously spread lies and disinformation: Tom Tugendhat, Iain Duncan Smith, Neil O’Brien, David Alton, Tim Loughton, Nusrat Ghani, Helena Kennedy, Geoffrey Nice, Joanne Nicola Smith Finley, China Research Group, Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, Uyghur Tribunal, and Essex Court Chambers.
“As of today, the individuals concerned and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China. Their property in China will be frozen, and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them. China reserves the right to take further measures,” said the statement.
China is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and warns the UK side not go further down the wrong path. Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions, said the statement.
The UK and the EU also issued a joint statement on Wednesday evening, stating they were working on a “win-win situation” to “expand vaccine supply for all our citizens”…reports Asian Lite News.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday the country has an “exclusive” contract with coronavirus vaccine developer AstraZeneca, while the European Union’s is based on a “best efforts” basis.
Hancock told the Financial Times that both sides were looking to resolve a dispute surrounding vaccine delivery, reports dpa news agency.
But he added the bloc should not try and suspend the export of vaccines from a site in the Netherlands to the UK, due to the nature of the contractual agreements they have with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant.
AstraZeneca vaccine
“I believe that free trading nations follow the law of contracts,” he told the newspaper on Thursday.
“They have a ‘best efforts’ contract and we have an exclusivity deal.
“Our contract trumps theirs. It’s called contract law — it’s very straightforward,” Hancock added.
On Wednesday, the EU tightened controls of its vaccine exports further, allowing shipments headed almost anywhere to be halted.
The move triggered warnings from the UK, a major recipient of EU-produced jabs.
Member states including Belgium and Ireland have voiced concern about the potential backlash to blockades.
The UK and the EU also issued a joint statement on Wednesday evening, stating they were working on a “win-win situation” to “expand vaccine supply for all our citizens”.
An initial ₤800m commitment from Mubadala to invest in UK life sciences over five years is the first focus for the SIP, reports Asian Lite News.
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company — world’s leading sovereign investors, and the Department for International Trade and the Prime Minister’s Office’s have established an UK Office for Investment.
An initial ₤800m commitment from Mubadala to invest in UK life sciences over five years is the first focus for the SIP. The sum will be deployed alongside the UK’s ₤200m Life Sciences Investment Programme announced last year. This will act as a pool to enable more UK life sciences businesses to scale and grow. The OfI and Mubadala will work together to identify commercially viable opportunities for investment into the sector.
This is the first agreement of its kind for the UK and the Office for Investment and will deepen existing UK-UAE trade and investment ties that were worth ₤32 billion in 2019.
The UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership (SIP) will serve as a coordinated investment framework to grow a future-focused relationship between the two nations, driving economic recovery, jobs and growth.
Combined, these funds will provide much needed stable investment into the next generation of life science companies around the country. The industry, which generates ₤80 billion turnover a year within the UK and employs more than 250,000 people, is expected to benefit from stronger links in life sciences research, education and closer ties between the UAE and UK.
Over a five-year period, the SIP will invest across several tech and innovation-led sectors such as energy transition and infrastructure that will support job creation in both nations, strengthen national research and development capabilities and develop new areas of investment collaboration.
Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director and Group CEO of Mubadala commented, “The UAE and UK are aligned on the importance of global action on critical priorities such as healthcare innovation and delivery, climate change and the sustainable growth of high-skilled industries.
“Coordination on investment and global innovation ecosystems is vital to enabling progress against these challenges and presents a significant post-COVID economic opportunity for the UK and UAE.
“Mubadala is already a long-term investor in UK innovation and growth, and our new partnership now provides a platform to allocate stable capital to priority sectors as part of a future-focused investment relationship.”
UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said, “The UAE is an important trading partner for the UK and home to some of the world’s largest and most experienced investment companies. It’s fantastic that we are collaborating more closely in the industries of tomorrow like science, tech and green growth, so we can build back better and deliver an investment-led, jobs-led recovery from coronavirus.
“This is a major win for the Office for Investment and shows how the UK is an investment destination of choice. From Liverpool and Edinburgh to Oxford and Nottingham, our world class life sciences clusters and innovative businesses will see the benefits of this partnership.”
Gerry Grimstone, UK Minister for Investment said, “This partnership will enable the UK life sciences sector to develop cutting-edge technologies and research while retaining homegrown innovation and jobs. It will also leverage the UK and UAE’s mutual priorities in building better and stronger economies through investment.
“Attracting and enabling strategic international investors to operate effectively in the UK is vital to job creation and our growth as a world leader in life sciences, clean growth, tech and innovation. Mubadala is exactly the calibre of investor that we want to partner with to enable vital pillars of our economy to advance.”
Mubadala will also connect UK industries to research and innovation initiatives across its global portfolio spanning more than 50 countries, which has a major focus on innovation and technology-led sectors, including composite manufacturing, semiconductors, renewable energy, biotech and urban mobility. The UAE-UK partnership will build on the investment model Mubadala has established in other geographies.
The SIP’s inaugural life sciences investments are expected to complete later this year.
As a great dreamer in life, he produced several movies including Manju Warrior’s ‘Ee Puzhayum Kadannu’…reports Asian Lite News.
Lonodn-based Malayalee businessman and former Indian Embassy official T. Haridas, 70, passed away at 1 am at St.George Hospital in London. Popularly known as Hariyettan, the Loka Kerala Sabha member unexpectedly succumbed to gastrointestinal disease. He was admitted to hospital on Monday. His close friends and relatives were hoping for his speedy recovery.
Mr Haridas started his career as an accountant at India House, the High Commission Office in London. Later he launched Kerala restaurant groups with units at prime locations in London. His Malabar Junction was one of the best restaurants in London.
Through his effort he has won the hearts of British and grown as a restaurateur, entrepreneur and a notable philanthropist in London. He is the man who brought the Kerala tradition of cuisine into UK. He even shared the tasty secrets and recipes to the customers that made him most intimate among them.
Haridas, who served as the UK OICC Convener, was one of the beloved members among the British Malayalees. He always offered help to everyone who approached him during his tenure and even after his retirement. He was a man always within a phone call away to resolve any problems of the British Malayalees. He helped several stranded students from Kerala and other parts of India during the stressful period of Covid.
He has garnered many posts including the founder and general secretary of the Global Kerala Foundation. As a great dreamer in life, he produced several movies including Manju Warrior’s ‘Ee Puzhayum Kadannu’.
His friend circle includes prominent businessmen like M.A Yusufali, Ravi Pillai and politicians like present Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former chief minister Oomen Chandy.
He is a native of Guruvayoor and was living with his family in London. His family consists of wife and four sons. UK OICC and each and every one who know the real cultural ambassador of Kerala culture, paid tributes to ‘Hariyettan.’
According to the UK government’s “roadmap” towards unlocking , the earliest date people in England could go for a foreign holiday is May 17…reports Asian Lite News
Staring from March 29, the UK will impose a 5,000 pound fine on anyone from England travelling abroad without a valid reason, such as a medical emergency, as part of the government’s new Covid-19 laws, the media reported on Tuesday.
MPs are due to vote on a legislation, which includes the penalty, on Thursday, the BBC reported.
According to the UK government’s “roadmap” exiting the lockdown, the earliest date people in England could go for a foreign holiday is May 17.
Currently for the Britons, foreign holidays are not allowed and returning travellers have to quarantine.
Under the new Covid-19 laws,anyone who leaves England for a destination outside the UK without a reasonable excuse, such as for work, education or medical treatment, could face the hefty fine.
Anyone travelling abroad has to fill in a “Declaration to Travel” form, stating a valid reason for leaving the country.
Speaking to the BBC, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said restrictions on travelling abroad was necessary in order to curb the spread of the disease, as well as to restrict the entry of new variants of the virus.
As of Thursday, the UK’s overall Covid-19 caseload and death toll stood at 4,315,602 and 126,411, respectively.
While the caseload is the sixth largest in the world, the death toll is the fifth highest.
The decision aimed to reduce the size of the army from 76,500 to 72,500 by 2025…reports Asian Lite News
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said that the country is going to significantly reduce the number of its soldiers.
Addressing MPs on Monday, Wallace said he had decided to reduce the size of the army from 76,500 to 72,500 by 2025, reports dpa news agency.
The army’s “increased deployability” and “technological advantage” means a “greater effect can be delivered by fewer people”, he said.
British army(IANS)
“The army has not been at its established strength of 82,000 since the middle of last decade,” he told lawmakers.
“These changes will not require redundancies and we wish to build on the work already done on utilising our reserves to make sure the whole force is better integrated and more productive,” the Defence Secretary added.
The move is part of a larger repositioning of Britain’s defence strategy after leaving the European Union.
Last week, the government presented a plan it described as the “most radical reassessment of Britain’s place in the world since the end of the Cold War”.
Among other changes, the limit for nuclear warheads is to be increased from the current 225 to 260, instead of being reduced to 180 as planned.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar told the Parliament on Monday that India can ‘never turn eyes away from racism’ and will champion the fight against it after a BJP leader raised the issue of Rashmi Samant, the Indian student who resigned as the president of the Oxford University’s students’ union last month after controversy over some of her socials media posts.
“As the land of Mahatma Gandhi, we can never ever turn our eyes away from racism. Particularly so when it is in a country where we have such a large diaspora. We have strong ties with the UK. We will take up such matters with great candour when required,” Jaishankar said in the Rajya Sabha.
“We will monitor these developments very closely. We will raise it when required and we will always champion the fight against racism and other forms of intolerance,” the foreign minister said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashwini Vaishnaw slammed the “cyberbullying” Sawant faced. Vaishnaw also called out the “continuation of attitudes and prejudices from the colonial areas, especially in the UK.” “She overcame all the challenges to become the first Indian woman president of Oxford University student’s union. What treatment was meted out to her? Shouldn’t this diversity be celebrated? Instead, she was cyberbullied to the point that she had to resign,” he said.
Samant, the first Indian woman to be elected president of the Oxford University Students Union, quit from her post days after her election in February. Her resignation came in the backdrop of some of her old social media posts that were deemed to be “racist” and “insensitive”.
Her posts, mostly on Instagram, including one with a play on words about the Holocaust and a photo of her visit to Malaysia with the caption “Ching Chang,” were termed offensive by Jewish and Chinese students of the university. Another post in which she separated “women” and “transwomen” in the caption and her comparison of imperialist Cecil Rhodes to Adolf Hitler during a Student Union debate also upset her fellows.
Samant apologised for the social media posts, some of which dated back to 2017, in an open letter. The Oxford University Chinese Society (OUCS) responded to Samant’s initial apology by saying: “Regrettably, we have not yet heard anything directly from Rashmi Samant.
Her long-overdue public apology does not seem sincere to the OUCS. In her apology letter, Rashmi seems to be avoiding addressing her mistakes directly, and it does not show her taking responsibility for her insensitivity to race or ignorance towards the trans-community. We cannot see Rashmi as the SU president we ‘rightfully deserve’ or trust.
Samant later announced her resignation as the president-elect on Facebook as she continued to face criticism. “In light of the recent events surrounding my election to the Presidency of the Oxford SU, I believe it is best for me to step down from the role. It has been an honour to be your President-elect,” she wrote in the social media post.
