UK will put further restrictions on travel, including internal travel, with Covid cases rising again. Representational pic
From the UK government action spurred by the Omicron spurt to how the job market is affected, a roundup of what’s making news at this time.
- News18.com London
- Last Updated:December 10, 2021, 21:21 IST
- FOLLOW US ON:
Adversity for some, opportunity for others: The travel and tourism business out of the UK has taken a strong hit after the British government announced that its Plan B would come into effect. That places further restrictions on travel, and including internal travel now that the government has encouraged working from home officially again. But this could mean good news for Indian companies to whom work has been outsourced; the less work required to be done from British offices, the greater the opening for outsourcing work.
Quarantine conundrum: Few are expecting any easing of the new quarantine rules for travellers from Britain to India; on the contrary, they could well be tightened. Britain already has an incidence of Omicron estimated to be in the tens of thousands. But no further restrictions have been placed on flights to India from the UK beyond the present agreements in the air bubble. Testing on arrival and home quarantine may well not be enough to stop a few Omicron positive cases slipping through the cracks. And with the virus, a few cases is a lot, enough already for India to fear a third wave of the virus.
Squeeze on work: The new travel restrictions out of Britain have hit the Indian community in and around London particularly hard. A very large number of Indians work at Heathrow Airport and in the catering business servicing airlines operating out of Heathrow. The spread of Omicron and of new restrictions with it have meant a squeezing of work just when everyone thought they could return to more work the way it used to be.
Creating jobs: The Indian-owned consultancy and technology firm Prodapt has acquired the UK-based firm SLR Dynamics that is focused on digital engineering and automation services. Prodapt had earlier acquired the Silicon Valley-based Innovative Logic in August. The acquisition saved about 100 jobs at SLR, and over the next couple of years, Prodapt plans an expansion that would create up to 500 jobs. British minister for investment Gerry Grimstone quite naturally welcomed the move.
China’s chicanery: A new report from Reporters Without Borders that points to China as the biggest captor of journalists surprises no one. The report says that at least 127 journalists are known currently to be in detention in China. The report also points to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines as the deadliest companies for journalists and bloggers.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.