16-03-2021 The Asian Independent

8 16-03-2021 to 31-03-2021 NEWS
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
'No doubt there'll be further
COVID wave in UK'
London : The UK's chief national statistician
said he has "no doubt" that there
will be a further wave of Covid-19 infections
in the country in autumn.
Professor Ian Diamond, head of the
British Office for National Statistics
(ONS), also said on Sunday that there is a
lot of regional variation in terms of how
many people have antibodies, reports
Xinhua news agency. His comments came
after Chief Medical Officer for England
Professor Chris Whitty said there were still
risks to reopening society and Britain will
experience another surge of cases at some
point, potentially in late summer or
through the autumn and winter.
Diamond told the BBC on Sunday that
people need to understand how the data is
moving forward and look at the impact of
the "wonderful" vaccine rollout.
"But having said that, we need also to
recognise that this is a virus that isn't going
to go away. "And I have no doubt that in
the autumn there will be a further wave of
infections," he said. Asked if it is too early
to know how much of the fall in infections
across the UK is down to the vaccine rollout,
he said there are a number of moving
parts such as vaccines and restrictions.
Whitty had said earlier that he would
"strongly advise" against any move to
shorten the timetable for easing lockdown
restrictions. Speaking to Parliament's
Science and Technology Committee,
Whitty said that the measures pencilled in
for May 17, when indoor mixing of up to
six people could be allowed, involved "significant
risks". Modelling considered by
the government's Scientific Advisory
Group for Emergencies (SAGE) has suggested
that even under the most optimistic
set of assumptions, at least a further 30,000
Covid-19 deaths could occur.
On February 22, Prime Minister Boris
Johnson announced his long-anticipated
"roadmap" exiting the lockdown.
The reopening of schools on March 8 in
England was the first part of the four-step
plan, which Johnson said was designed to
be "cautious but irreversible".
Other parts of Britain, including Wales
and Scotland, have also unveiled plans to
ease the restrictions. 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.
Farmers launch T-shirts
in support of protest
New Delhi : Farmers
protesting at Ghazipur border
here on Monday launched T-
shirts in support of the protest
against the three farm laws.
The T-shirts carried the slogan
'Zinda hai to dilli aaja, sangharsho
mein shamil ho' (If you
are alive then come to Delhi,
participate in the struggle).
The farmers' leaders present
there said the T-shirts were
launched to motivate the thousands
of youth who will participate
in the protest on March
23.
Farmers staging the protest
at Ghazipur border were given
the T-shirts.
These T-shirts have been
manufactured by a private
company. As of now, 1,000
were manufactured and gradually
the numbers will be
increased. Ghazipur border
protest committee spokesperson
Jagtar Singh Bajwa told
IANS, "The slogan written on
the T-shirt is written by famous
poet Balli Singh Cheema. As of
now we had ordered 1,000 T-
shirts and in future we will get
one lakh T-shirts. These T-
shirts will be sent to different
protest sites."
GURUGRAM : SKM holds protest
against farm laws, rising fuel prices
Gurugram : The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Monday
held a peaceful protest at Gurugram railway station against the
Centre's new agri laws, labour laws, privatisation and increase in
prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas, on the 110th day of the
farmers' agitation.
The protesters, which included farmers, labourers and prominent
personalities from various social organisations, submitted a
memorandum to the Gurugram Tehsildar Darshan Singh
Kamboj, that was addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing the rally, SKM President, Chaudhary Santokh
Singh, alleged that the Centre is busy selling PSUs, while the
bourgeoisie is busy looting the country.
"The central government has abolished 44 Labour laws and
implemented four codes which will exploit the workers' class.
All these laws have been implemented by the government to benefit
the capitalists. Besides, the petrol and diesel prices are
increasing, along with the surge cooking gas price in the past two
months," Singh added.
The SKM President also added that the implementation of the
three "black" laws will lead to inflation.
Jharkhand CM apprises Assembly
on key policy decisions
Ranchi : Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said in the
state Assembly on Monday that
75 per cent private jobs will be
reserved for the local people in
the state.
"In the cabinet meeting on
March 12, many historic decisions
were taken on key policy
matters. The Budget session is
on and keeping in mind the parliamentary
decorum and tradition,
the government has decided
that it will not take any policy
decision outside the House.
Today, I apprise the House
regarding the decisions which
were taken in the Cabinet meeting," the Chief Minister said.
Soren said that in the Cabinet meeting, as many as 26 decisions
were taken, including a proposal to declare road accidents as
local universal disaster, in which the kin of the deceased will be
given Rs 1 lakh from the state disaster relief fund.
The Chief Minister said that as per a proposal of the labour
and recruitment department, the cabinet has given its approval to
the Mukhyamantri Protsahan Yojana for 2020-21 which is aimed
at providing unemployment allowance to the skilled and technically
educated youth worth Rs 5,000 per year. Under this
scheme, there would be 50 per cent reservation for widows and
disabled youth.
In another decision taken during the Cabinet meeting, 75 per
cent jobs will be reserved for the local people in private industries,
the CM informed.
British Airways to launch digital vaccine passports
London : British Airways
(BA) will introduce digital vaccine
passports in time for the
return of international travel in
May, when Britons are allowed
to travel for their holidays, a
media report said on Sunday.
The airline will ask those
who have had two doses of a
coronavirus vaccine to log their
vaccination details with their
BA app, said a media report.
The new BA decision was
announced at a time when the
Scottish Labour Party revealed
passengers are bypassing the
Scottish government's hotel
quarantine system by flying
from other airports in Britain,
the Xinhua news agency
reported. Holidays will not be
allowed until May 17 at the earliest,
the British government
has said, but before that, on
April 12, Britain will announce
how and when non-essential
travel into and out of the country
can resume. Sean Doyle,
who was appointed BA's chief
executive last October, called
on Britain to work with other
governments to allow vaccines
and health apps to open up travel,
after a year when minimal
flying has left many airlines on
life support.
"I think people who've been
vaccinated should be able to
travel without restriction.
Those who have not been vaccinated
should be able to travel
with a negative test result," he
said. On February 22, British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
announced his long-anticipated
"roadmap" exiting the lockdown.
The Monday reopening
of schools in England was the
first part of the four-step plan,
which Johnson said was
designed to be "cautious but
irreversible". Other parts of
Britain, including Wales and
Scotland, have also unveiled
plans to ease the restrictions.
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.
To bring life back to normal,
countries such as Britain,
China, Germany, Russia and
the United States have been
racing against time to roll out
coronavirus vaccines.