Britain is keen to have closer contact with the health services in India, the financial secretary in British Treasury, Stephen Timms, has said.
The continuation appeal hearing in the extradition case of Nirav Modi, the fugitive diamond merchant wanted in India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to an estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, is listed to be heard in the high court in London on June 28. The 51-year-old diamond merchant had lodged an appeal against his extradition order on mental health grounds. "The hearing is listed for the 28th June," confirmed the Royal Courts of Justice administrative office last week.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday confirmed the UK's first death from the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the first known fatality from the highly transmissible variant of Covid-19 in the world.
If the BJP has to work as a junior partner of Vijay's TVK, then either the party will have to change the state leader, or the latter should change himself. Incidentally, ever since Vijay started talking politics and elections, the pro-BJP/Hindutva social media had stopped dragging his name into any non-existing issue.' In particular, they have stopped referring to him by his Christian name, 'Joseph Vijay', observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
"Currently, 187 of the 590 passengers who returned from the UK last week are placed under institutional quarantine at various hotels," Dr Gomare said.
Dr Nishant Joshi and his pregnant wife, Dr Meenal Viz, had initiated the legal action in April with a pre-action letter seeking answers from the UK's Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England. They decided to push ahead with the case in the high court in London on Wednesday because they feel they are "no longer willing to wait".
Johnson will be only the second British leader since Indian independence to attend the annual Republic Day parade in New Delhi as Guest of Honour, after former prime minister John Major in 1993.
A number of countries like Canada, Turkey, Belgium, Italy and Israel have banned flights from the UK as the British government warned that the potent new strain of the virus was "out of control" and imposed a stringent new stay-at-home lockdown from Sunday.
The 50-year-old's lawyers had argued that he should not be taken to the US because of a real and 'oppressive' risk of suicide and won the right to appeal in Britain's highest court.
Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami and best selling novelist Amish -- who is also director of the Nehru Centre -- leads International Day of Yoga celebrations at Trafalgar Square in London.
The first flight to land at the Delhi airport from London on Friday was Air India's AI112 that had 256 passengers in it, said Gauri Agarwal, founder of the Genestrings Diagnostic Center.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday sacked his Indian-origin Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, and replaced her with James Cleverly, while former premier David Cameron, in an unusual move, is back in the frontline government as the new foreign secretary.
"In addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant - the variant that was first identified in London and the south east (of England) -- may be associated with a higher degree of mortality," Johnson said on Friday in his address at a virtual briefing from 10 Downing Street.
Domestic majors, such as Himalaya and Baidyanath, are in a dilemma after the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency made traditional herbal registration mandatory for herbal medicines.
AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, as the trial sponsor, said that they cannot disclose further medical information but confirmed that independent investigations concluded that the trials were safe to restart.
Johnson will instead speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this month to launch their plans for the future UK-India partnership, with their physical meeting expected later in the year.
If the vaccine is safe and shows a promising immune response in humans, then larger trials would be planned for later in the year.
Britain's Prime Minister-elect Liz Truss will spend Monday putting finishing touches to her new cabinet after being elected Conservative Party leader and is expected to unleash a complete shake up of outgoing leader Boris Johnson's top team.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday finally agreed to step down as Conservative Party leader, triggering a leadership election for a new Tory leader who will go on to become the new premier, according to reports from Downing Street.
'Reports in a section of media regarding Union Minister Shri Arun Jaitley's health condition are false and baseless. Media is advised to stay clear of rumour mongering,' Government Spokesman Sitanshu Kar tweeted.
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said as part of exploring every avenue to slow the spread of the pandemic in the UK, tests are also being carried out on several drugs, including anti-malaria drugs, to establish their usefulness in curing COVID-19.
"The cancellation of the UK prime minister's visit because of all these efforts is surely a big victory for farmers," the statement said.
Sheikh Hasina, who quit as prime minister and fled Bangladesh, will be back in the country as soon as democracy is restored, his son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said on Thursday and blamed Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, for fuelling the ongoing unrest in the country.
There is no change in treatment guidelines due to this mutation and the vaccines that are being developed, particularly those in the country, will not be impacted, NITI Aayog member (health) Dr V K Paul said.
Tottenham Hotspur recorded 13 COVID-19 cases at the club last week, while Leicester City and Manchester United were also affected by the virus.
The reduced severity of the Omicron variant is good news for now, but it is the result of an 'evolutionary mistake' and does not indicate that the virus which causes COVID-19 is becoming less virulent, a leading Indian-origin scientist from the University of Cambridge warned on Thursday.
'Yes, the playing conditions still vary over time. But you're still in control of what sort of works for you on a pitch. So, you might play on a new hybrid pitch for one game.'
rediffGURU Jinal Mehta answers readers' financial planning and health insurance queries
Boris Johnson urged the public to contain their impatience against the lockdown.
Sunak, who has been leading the UK government's economic response during the COVID-19 lockdown as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will automatically step in as part of an established order of precedence in the UK -- which does not have a written Constitution.
India's head coach Ravi Shastri, along with bowling and fielding coaches Bharath Arun and R Sridhar, respectively, would need to undergo a "fit to fly" test post recovery from COVID-19, which led to the cancellation of the fifth Test against England in Manchester last week.
The Indian High Commission made its displeasure known despite the British government earlier reiterating that the three New Delhi laws on agricultural reform were a "domestic matter".
Jenny McGee said that "a lot of nurses" felt the government "hadn't led very effectively" and that there had been "indecisiveness" and "so many mixed messages".
Addressing a press briefing, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said healthcare workers and frontline workers need not register themselves as their database has been populated on to the Co-WIN vaccine delivery management system in a bulk manner.
The officials revealed that hospital admissions, particularly in London which was way ahead in terms of the infection than other parts of Britain, is continuing a downward trend and the number of people in critical care is also falling across the board.
Former British Army soldier Daniel Abed Khalife, 21, who was awaiting trial on charges of breaching the UK's Official Secrets Act at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London, escaped allegedly by clinging to the under-carriage of a delivery van.
Insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is the fourth largest insurer in the world, according to a ranking based on life and accident & health reserves of companies in 2022 by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The state-owned insurer is ranked after Allianz SE, China Life Insurance Company, and Nippon Life Insurance Company. According to the report, LIC's reserves stood at $503.7 billion. Germany's Allianz SE ($750.20 billion), China Life Insurance Company ($616.90 billion) and Nippon Life Insurance Company ($536.80 billion) are the top three insurance companies in the world.
'What's sad today is that there are so many people who cannot find work, not because the country is devoid of that opportunity, but because we are not doing enough in the country.'
Face coverings are mandatory in communal areas and corridors at schools and colleges within areas of the country deemed at high risk of COVID-19 infections.
Johnson, 56, a known cycling enthusiast, was seen riding on a Hero Viking Pro bike to Canalside Heritage Centre at Beeston in Nottingham, central England, on Tuesday when he unveiled plans for thousands of miles of new protected bike lanes, cycle training for everyone and bikes available on prescription as part of a new fitness strategy.
