Page 24 - Uk

Keep Calm & Carry On: UK tests first-ever phone-based emergency alert

The UK government issued a Keep Calm and Carry On, this is just a test message for its first-ever life-saving Emergency Alerts warning system, sent to every 4G and 5G enabled smartphone device in the country on Sunday. A major awareness campaign was launched at 3 pm local time to ensure the British public was aware of the new system's test. The alert has been described as an additional tool in Britain's resilience toolkit when there is an imminent risk to life such as floods or wildfires. Keep Calm and Carry On that is the British way, and it is exactly what the country will do when they receive this test alert at 3 pm today, said Oliver Dowden, UK Cabinet Office minister and newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister after the exit of Dominic Raab over bullying allegations. "The government's number one job is to keep people safe, and this is another tool in the toolkit for emergency situations, such as flooding or wildfires, and where there is a genuine risk to life. So, it really is

Oliver Dowden named UK's new deputy prime minister, after Raab resigns

Dowden had been serving in Rishi Sunak's government as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Cabinet Office secretary before the new appointment

Dominic Raab quits as deputy PM; spotlight now turns to Rishi Sunak

Oliver Dowden named new UK Deputy Prime Minister

UK Parliament panel criticises lack of information on FTA talks with India

A cross-party Parliament committee in charge of scrutinising the UK government's trade affairs on Friday strongly criticised the lack of information provided around Britain's ongoing negotiations with India for a free trade agreement (FTA). The House of Commons International Trade Committee, which is set to be dissolved next week to make way for a new Business and Trade Committee in keeping with the creation of the new merged department by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, said in many cases it gleaned more detail on the talks from reports in the Indian media often citing unnamed Indian government officials. India and the UK are negotiating an FTA to enhance the bilateral trading relationship worth 34 billion pounds in 2022, with the eighth round of negotiations concluding in New Delhi at the end of last month and the next round expected in the coming weeks. Parliament must be kept more fully informed about the negotiations. It cannot be right that we have obtained more details from the

Hindu students in UK schools subjected to religious abuse: Report

Counter-terrorism think-tank Henry Jackson Society, found that 51 per cent of Hindu parents surveyed reported that their child has suffered anti-Hindu hate at school

India coordinating with US, UK, Saudi and UAE on safety of Indians in Sudan

India is coordinating closely with various countries to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals in violence-hit Sudan, government sources said on Wednesday. They said the ground situation in that country is very tense and movement of people is very risky at this stage. Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the country's army and a paramilitary group for the last six days that has reportedly left around 100 people dead. The sources said India's priority is safety of movement and well being of individuals wherever they are located. They said that the Quartet countries of the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have a key role in Sudan and India is engaging them accordingly. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has already spoken to his counterparts in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The sources said both the foreign ministers assured Jaishankar of their practical support on the ground. India is also working with the UN, which has a substa

UK imposes export bar on painting of Indian soldiers during World War I

A portrait by Anglo-Hungarian painter Philip de Laszlo of two Indian soldiers who fought in World War I was placed under a temporary export bar by the British government to allow time for a UK institution to acquire the "wonderful and sensitive" work to prevent it leaving the country. The unfinished portrait, valued at around GBP 650,000, depicts cavalry officers Risaldar Jagat Singh and Risaldar Man Singh junior troop commanders in the British Indian Army's Expeditionary Force who served at the Battle of the Somme in France and presumed to have died in action. The painting is extremely rare in depicting active Indian participants in the First World War. This wonderful and sensitive portrait captures an important moment in our history as soldiers were drawn from across the globe to help fight in the trenches of the First World War, said Lord Stephen Parkinson, UK Arts and Heritage Minister. I hope this magnificent painting can remain in the UK to help tell the story of those brave

Labour attack social media ad targets Rishi Sunak family over tax status

Campaign, seen as a precursor to general election expected next year, has become heated with Labour accusing Sunak of being responsible for tough consequences of cost-of-living crisis

FTA negotiations going on with United Kingdom, EU and Canada: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while speaking at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) on Free Trade Agreements in Washington said that FTAs are being signed much faster

Colonial-era file sheds light on Indian jewels in UK's royal treasury

As part of a 'Cost of the crown' series, The Guardian newspaper has been chronicling an investigation into Britain's royal wealth and finances in the lead-up to the Coronation of Charles III on May 6

UK fined TikTok nearly $16 mn for misusing children's personal data

"TikTok should have known better. TikTok should have done better," UK Information Commissioner said

UK PM Rishi Sunak creates new taskforce to go after 'vile' child abusers

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday vowed to do whatever it takes as he condemned the political correctness which has prevented action against vile criminals behind the sexual abuse of children and young women and launched a new taskforce to go after such gangs. Sunak's announcement comes a day after his Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, said that the perpetrators of such crimes are groups of men, almost all British Pakistani, but that authorities have turned a blind eye to these signs of abuse out of political correctness, out of fear, of being called racists, out of fear, of being called bigoted. Asked about the ethnicity of the criminals during a visit to Rochdale one of the cities with a history of British Pakistani grooming gangs, Sunak told reporters: All forms of child sexual exploitation carried out by whoever are horrific and wrong". "But with the specific issue of grooming gangs, we have had several independent inquiries look at the incidents here in Rochdale, bu

Most ethnic minority groups in UK save less into pensions, shows study

The percentage of people from these groups expecting a "comfortable" retirement is also greater

UK to join Indo-Pacific free trade bloc in major post-Brexit pact

The UK believes membership will give it a role in setting regional trade rules over the coming decades

Look forward to..., Lalit Modi says will take Rahul Gandhi to court in UK

IPL founder and ex-chairman Lalit Modi on Thursday in a series of acerbic tweets lashed out at Rahul Gandhi stating that he will take the Congress leader to court in the United Kingdom over allegation

FTP talks with UK continuing, trade stands on its own legs: Goyal

Amid a diplomatic row following protests by secessionist groups near the Indian mission in London, Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said talks on a Free Trade Agreement with the UK are continuing. Talks are "going on very well" with the UK, Goyal said, adding, "trade stands on its own legs". The Union minister, however, made it clear that India will take into consideration a respect for her sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will not tolerate any interference in her Indian affairs. India's Ministry of External Affairs summoned the senior-most British diplomat in New Delhi on a Sunday evening recently, over reports of some Khalistani elements pulling down the Indian flag at the Indian high commission in London during a protest. India has also responded by proposing or undertaking several actions, like reducing security at the British mission and constructing a public toilet there. When asked about the impact of the ongoing events on the trade agreement, Goyal

India, UK scientists collaborate on SMART early warning flood alert system

Scientists from India and the UK have come together to create a real-time early warning system to help reduce the devastating impact of flooding on people and property, particularly in mountainous regions where extreme water events are a major problem. An international team of researchers from the University of Birmingham, Imperial College London, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, and People's Science Institute, Dehradun, worked on integrating science, policy and local community-led approaches to create a so-called SMART approach that better fits the local context. Publishing their findings in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences' this week, the team hopes their new approach could better signal impending risk from flooding around the world. "A 'wicked' problem is a social or cultural challenge that's difficult or impossible to solve because of its complex, interconnected nature. We believe that integrating social science and meteorological data will help to identify unkno

Ukraine receives UK Challenger tanks amid ongoing conflict with Russia

Ukraine has received its first British main battle Challenger tanks and other Western-made armoured vehicles, CNN reported citing Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov

Black kids are 6 times more likely to be strip-searched, says UK report

Black children in England and Wales were six times more likely to be strip-searched by police, according to a report being released Monday that found children were failed by those sworn to protect them. Children's Commissioner Rachel de Souza found nearly 3,000 children were strip-searched between 2018 and mid-2022 and more than half the searches were conducted without an appropriate adult present. The investigation was launched after a Black 15-year-old girl suspected of having marijuana was strip-searched at a London school in 2020 by two female officers without another adult present. The girl, identified as Child Q, was menstruating and no drugs were found. A previous report said racism was a likely factor for the humiliating search. The bravery of a girl to speak up about a traumatic thing that happened to her led to the report that found widespread noncompliance of safeguards and evidence of a "deeply concerning practice, de Souza said. The findings follow a scathing report la

Russia 'largely stalled' in Bakhmut, moving to defensive strategy, says UK

The top commander of Ukraine's military said on Saturday that his forces were pushing back against Russian troops in the long and grinding battle for the town of Bakhmut, and British military intelligence says Russia appears to be moving to a defensive strategy in eastern Ukraine. The Bakhmut direction is the most difficult. Thanks to the titanic efforts of the defence forces, the situation is being stabilized, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in a post on Telegram giving a synopsis of a telephone call with Adm. Sir Tony Radakin, Britain's chief of defence staff. The seven-month fight for Bakhmut, where Russian forces have closed in on three sides, is the longest battle of the war, with Russia deploying both regular soldiers and fighters of the mercenary Wagner Group. Russian forces must go through Bakhmut to push deeper into parts of the eastern Donbas region, though Western officials say the capture of the city would have limited impact on the course of the war. Britain's Defence ...