Page 29 - Britain

France rolls out red carpet for King Charles III's 3-day state visit

King Charles III of the United Kingdom starts a three-day state visit to France on Wednesday meant to highlight with great pomp both nations' friendship, after the trip was postponed in March amid widespread demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron's pension changes. Charles and Queen Camilla will be greeted by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne at Paris-Orly airport, before heading to the city centre for a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in the presence of Macron and his wife, Brigitte. The visit shows the deep historical ties that unite our two countries. It is also an opportunity to showcase France's cultural, artistic and gastronomic excellence, the French presidency said. At the Arc de Triomphe, both nations' hymns will be played before a review of French troops and a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to mark the shared sacrifices of the past and an enduring legacy of cooperation, according to Buckingham Palace. The jet fighters of the Patrouille de France a

India trade talks 'continue as before' amid Canada allegations: Britain

The UK government said on Tuesday that the "serious allegations" over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada will not impact its own ongoing trade negotiations with India. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson at 10 Downing Street was asked about the impact the issue may have on India-UK relations after a government spokesperson said the UK remains in "close touch" with the Canadian authorities. It follows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement in Parliament on Monday that it is pursuing "credible allegations" of "potential" Indian links to the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Chief of Khalistan Tiger Force and a designated terrorist. Canada also expelled an Indian diplomat. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi on Tuesday strongly rejected the claims as "absurd and motivated" and dismissed a senior Canadian diplomat in a reciprocal move. "We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious ..

Indian entrepreneur's new UK start-up using AI to transform services

An Indian entrepreneur's new start-up is sparking worldwide investor interest as among the first companies of its kind globally to offer consumers the option to book plumbers, electricians and other services using its unique conversational artificial intelligence (AI) software. Opened for a funding round recently, Anuj Gupta's GreenVan uses a simple WhatsApp interface. It is designed as an Amazon of Services' offering that intends to transform the way people book essential tasks online. It was born out of Gupta's own experience of relocating from the US to the UK around five years ago and finding the experience of sourcing reliable trade people a rather cumbersome word-of-mouth process. We were often left in the lurch when chasing trades people and were hit with a system that was too idiosyncratic, Gupta, in his mid-40s, told PTI in an interview. As I delved deeper into the industry, I could only find more and more problems largely because 87 per cent of it was driven by mom-and-po

UK visa fee hike for visitors, students to be effective from Oct 4

The British government has announced that a proposed hike in visa fees will become effective from October 4, when a visit visa for under six months will cost GBP 15 more and student visas will be GBP 127 more expensive for travellers from around the world, including Indians. Following legislation tabled in Parliament on Friday, the UK Home Office said the changes mean that the cost for a visit visa for less than six months will rise to GBP 115 and the fee for applying for a student visa from outside the UK will rise to GBP 490 to equal the amount charged for in-country applications. It comes after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had announced in July that the fees and health surcharge paid towards the UK's state-funded National Health Service (NHS) by visa applicants are set to rise significantly to meet the country's public sector wage increase. We are going to increase the charges that we have for migrants who are coming to this country when they apply for visas and indeed ...

Sanjeev Gupta returns to UK after absence since GFG Alliance fraud probe

Gupta, who now lives in Dubai, has traveled to the UK to visit a sick relative as well as for business meetings, according to people familiar with the matter

Singer Kanika Kapoor, healthcare heroes win Asian Achievers Awards in UK

Popular Indian singer Kanika Kapoor, heroes from the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and Indian-origin high achievers are among the winners of this year's Asian Achievers Awards (AAA) in London. Kapoor was bestowed with a Special Award for Contribution to Music as a musician whose songs have been streamed by millions. Chief Clinical Officer of NHS Bexley Dr Nikki Kanani won Professional of the Year and fellow healthcare professionals Salman Desai BEM was awarded for his work for the North West Ambulance Service and Dr Lalitha Iyer for her dedication during the COVID-19 pandemic targeting a reduction in deaths among ethnic minorities in the country. The Asian Achievers Awards provide a great opportunity for us to recognise the outstanding accomplishments of British Asians in the UK. It is good to celebrate the positive impact and contribution all the nominees have made in creating a more modern, dynamic and globally-facing economy in the UK, said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

India-UK FTA talks: Good progress on rules of bilateral investment treaty

The talks on the proposed free trade agreement between India and the UK are moving and there is "good progress" on issues such as rules of origin and bilateral investment treaty (BIT), a senior official said on Friday. These were few of the issues where there were differences between the two sides. "Many things are moving very fast. Like rules of origin and bilateral investment treaty, there is a good progress. Negotiations are happening... Towards the end of the deal, it is the difficult issues which are to be closed and therefore it requires more time and more deliberations," Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters here. He said that mobility is also one of the subjects which is being negotiated. The 'rules of origin' provision prescribe that minimal processing should happen in the FTA country so that the final manufactured product may be referred as goods originating in that country. Under this provision, a country that has inked an FTA with India cannot dump goods fro

Britain to pump $621 million into Tata Steel to decarbonise Welsh plant

Tata Steel currently employs more than 8,000 people, raising the prospect that there will be as many as 3,000 redundancies as the lower-carbon electric furnaces are less labour intensive

Opium, history and economics

Britain's opium policy severely damaged the economy of eastern India while perhaps helping that of western India

Modi, Sunak agree to 'work at pace' towards FTA at G20 bilateral meet

Negotiations good for both countries, says British deputy high commissioner on pending FTA issues

UK, India two nations with one ambition, rooted in shared values: PM Sunak

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a bilateral meeting with his UK counterpart Sunak on the sidelines of the G20 Summit being held in the national capital under India's presidency

British PM Rishi Sunak says 'won't rush' into UK-India trade deal

The remarks assume significance as the 12th round of talks concluded last month between the officials of the two countries. The talks for the agreement were launched in January 2022

India's G20 presidency highly ambitious: British High Commissioner Ellis

British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis on Thursday said India's G20 presidency has been a highly ambitious one and has dealt with issues like disaster resilient infrastructure

UK says it won't change immigration policy to secure India trade deal

There is growing optimism that a free trade deal between the countries could be concluded this year though the remaining topics to be discussed are some of the difficult

G20 Summit 2023: This is what leaders would be served during the 2-day stay

G20 Summit in New Delhi: Every effort is being made to prepare New Delhi for the G20 Summit, which will take place on September 9 and 10

British businesses plan lowest price rises since February 2022: BoE

Businesses surveyed in the three months to August expected to raise prices by 4.9% over the coming year, the smallest percentage since February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine

Bank of England is 'much nearer' to peak interest rates, Bailey says

The BoE has raised rates at each of its last 14 meetings as it grappled with the highest inflation among the world's big, rich economies

UK's second-largest city Birmingham declares itself effectively bankrupt

The local authorities running Britain's second-largest city, Birmingham, have shifted focus on maintaining vital services as they declared the council effectively bankrupt due to an annual budgetary shortfall of millions of pounds. Birmingham City Council, which is run by the Opposition Labour Party and is the largest local authority in Europe comprising over 100 councillors, issued a Section 114 notice on Tuesday to say that all new expenditures with the exception of protecting vulnerable people and statutory services will stop immediately. The council said the dire financial situation arose as it must fund an equal pay liability that has accrued to date in the region of GBP 650 million to GBP 760 million, but it does not have the resources to do so. On that basis, the Council's Interim Director of Finance, Fiona Greenway, has issued a report under section 114(3) of the Local Government Act, which confirms that the Council has insufficient resources to meet the equal pay expenditur

India 'right country' at 'right time' to hold G20 presidency: UK PM Sunak

We will also work closely with India through their Presidency of the G20 to address the biggest challenges the world is facing, said the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Will only agree an India trade deal that works for Britain: PM Sunak

"He said negotiations around a free trade deal were progressing and that he would only agree an approach which worked for the whole UK," his spokesperson told reporters