politicodiary

A secret blanket policy of seizing phones of those entering Britain through the English Channel has been exposed in the judicial courts recently. Home Secretary Priti Patel, has been pulled up for explanation as to why this is being done, an act that can be seen as a human riot’s violation. In a particular incident, three such individuals were caught on the channel. Out of them, one who was a victim of human trafficking and had escaped through this clandestine method reported the same to the courts, also disclosing how this method was used to extract data off her phone as well. All three complaint of the inability to contact their families back home. Their lawyers also claimed that thousands of others arriving to the UK in small boats had their phones confiscated, and hundreds of others had their data cloned. Phone of these three were confiscated between April and September of 2020.  They were also given no access to emergency contacts or other numbers of their phones. Ms. Pa...

All favorable and promising talks have not culminated into concrete goals and actions on ground... This year 2021, UK is hosting the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021. There have been some positive developments, including pledges to end and reverse deforestation, agreement to reduce methane emission levels by 30% by 2030 and new commitments to phase out coal power. No single party is happy with the effectiveness of the carbon emission targets set and countries failing to adhere to them. As of now EU has asked that it  wants the final document of the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to denounce insufficient ambition in the fight to reduce greenhouse gases. In a nutshell, this is what has happened.  Indeed, there is a gap  between the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to fight climate change and the goal to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-indu...

Rumour doing rounds is that Britain has given up climate change goals for Free Trade Agreement to materialise with Australia In a surprising move, The United Kingdom has dropped its climate change targets in order to get the free trade agreement going with Australia. Maybe its decision to move out to Brexit is a reason enough for this movement. The news comes through an official document that came into limelight with certain British media house that 10 Downing Street has gone ahead and sacrificed the climate change targets for trade. The official document said: ‘The Business Secretary has agreed that, in order to get the Australia FTA over the line, DIT can drop both of the climate asks.’ The British government has been in denial saying that this is the first time ever that the mention of climate change has come while speaking of about trade with Australia. All it seems is that everything is status quo and there will be no harm to the environment while doing trade with Australia....

  The long-awaited Tokyo Paralympics 2020 is going to be massive movement for the rights and acceptance of sportsmen with disabilities. Called the campaign Wethe15 has been launched as a heartfelt campaign for the equal representation of athletes with disabilities. The global campaign is aimed at ending discrimination towards the world’s 1.2 billion people with disabilities. It was initiated today in Tokyo spearheaded by Paralympic chiefs and backed by the art and culture fraternity worldwide. The Tokyo Paralympics opens from August 24. The campaign will be a loud clarion call against any kind of discrimination and sanctity of human life, whether its Black Lives Matter or the #Metoo campaign. The visual representation this time is using the colour purple. More than 125 landmarks around the world, from the New York’s Empire State Building to Rome’s Colosseum would be lit up with the colour purple from today onwards. There is a decade plan for the campaign in mind, with eac...

Those nations rejecting Astra Zeneca shots could save lives of millions in poorer nations, if they could this once prioritise others before themselves..... While the world has been hit by a virus that did not make any distinction between the rich and the poor, the less privileged countries continue to be marginalized when it comes to receiving treatment against the deadly Covi d-19 virus. Each nation has been busy getting its own protected.   Very few are genuinely thinking of the less fortunate. The United Nation’s led Covax scheme was meant to support the lesser privileged nations.   But what is coming through from the wealthier nations is the rejected supply of vaccines. It has taken a lot of effort for the humanitarian organizations to find a balance between a no vaccine situation to some vaccine doses for these poor and underdeveloped nations.   In a recent move, it has been confirmed that now doses of vaccines that stand rejected from developed nations will be s...

Corona Virus led lock down in hampering production of condoms and could lead to long term shortage in the markets worldwide As social distancing becomes a norm, couples lock indoors have more time to themselves. However, the new challenge at hand is an approaching condom shortage.  This might have been the woe of the youth of Britain for decades together who depended on college orientations and free NHS drives to replenish their supplies. But an imminent shortage is going to become a fact worldwide. One of the world’s biggest producers is Malaysia and has now reported that the corona virus lock-down is only going to push the shut down in production for another few weeks. It could also be pushed in April- May. Malaysia's Karex Bhd makes one in every five condoms globally. These are marketed under well known brands and sold worldwide.   While the company has been given permission to resume production, it will be 50 percent less than its normal production...

With corona virus making quarantine a necessity, a lot of sports men and sports enthusiasts are moving towards E-sports to keep the enthusiasm alive Sportsmen and enthusiasts are fast moving towards internet space to keep itself going The novel virus outbreak has lead the world to discover a new way of functioning and a new way to life altogether. From companies redesigning their working structures, daily routine to learning to work from home, everything is going through a paradigm shift. One such challenge is being faced by sportsmen as well. But Formula 1 drivers and other sports stars have said to have found a great way of keeping themselves engaged and active, despite the global lock down that has been done to contain the virus from spreading. For example the Australia Grand Prix driver McLaren driver Lando Norris has busied himself with the online version of an e-race. That is the new way to keep you engaged and not bored, will the lock down has cancelled and pos...

The way some nations have contained the virus speaks volumes about effective leadership  America is exhibiting the worst kind of leadership ever while tackling a pandemic where it would have otherwise spearheaded an active plan of action  The United States has never been so unprepared to handle a disaster as it is today. The country which is known to the super power of all nations has been brought to its knees- thanks to selfish leadership at the helm. The best way to show you care about your nation and are genuinely there as a leader to serve is when you can pre-empt danger, have the right people in place to mobilize resources, take informed and timely decisions and then work in unity to make a solid defense or backup plan. If one was to learn a lesson from these instances, one can see, that it is not just powerful nations that can prevent such outbreaks from becoming epidemics. Instead, it is the head of the nation, whose sound leadership, sound judgment...

After China, Italy has become the worst hit European country to have somehow failed to contain the virus in the last few days Tourism has been severely hit in Italy post the outbreak. Tourist seen standing and waiting for their ride as they cover their faces with masks The north of Italy has been engulfed in the coronavirus outbreak. The toughest part for the medical authorities was to contain the epidemic there itself. In hours, people started to travel to the South, making it unsafe for the populace which was still not infected. Now, the Italian government does not know how to curtail the damage. Somewhat like in China, they did not preempt and manage the first few cases properly. Italy is going off the radar as well. The economic capitals were hit most severely and reports confirmed that the undercurrent of the virus had already been lurking even before it started to appear evidently amongst others. The British budget airline easyJet announced it would cut ...

With Boris Johnson missing in action, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab speaks for Britain and sounds unshakable support to its biggest military ally, the United States Dominic Raab has made a balanced public statement as a sound trade ally for the US With the US having opened a door of offensive against Iran, the world fears the worst. According to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab “Iran might want to take its revenge by attacking the American allies. On the orders of Donald Trump, the US assassinated Gen Qasem Soleimani , commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds force. While Britain holds a balanced diplomatic stand, it has not shared the best relationship with Tehran in the last few months. Many citizens holding dual citizenship have been captive in Iran, and despite repeated requests had not been released. But 10 Downing Street, the US is its biggest military trade partner. There are reasons British parliament would want to side with the US. B...

Human rights organizations across the world have been requesting nations to take back women and children of ISIS militants.  According to AFP reports, as many as 60 children born under the Daesh ‘caliphate’ in Iraq and Syria are legal UK citizens. Th ey are currently living in the region, in many cases with their mothers. But they have not been accepted back into their country.  Humanitarian organization Save the Children has confirmed that as many 300 children might have lost their lives post the exit of the caliphate.   Of these, 25 women had escaped with 60 children but did not get any consulate support despite escaping terror group territories. These children are going through a harrowing time in war prone zones.   “Many have injuries or disabilities from the fighting, confirms George Graham, Save the Children’s lead on protecting children in conflict. Children above the age of 10 have been inflicted with sexual and physical abuse. ...