The Telegraph December 24, 2020 A new, potentially more infectious variant of the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 has been found in Britain in cases linked to South Africa, British health secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday. South Africa’s health department said last week that a new genetic mutation of the virus had been discovered and might be responsible for a recent surge in infections there. “Thanks to the impressive genomic capability of the South Africans, we’ve detected two cases of another new variant of coronavirus here in the UK,” Hancock told a media briefing. “Both are contacts of cases who have travelled from South Africa over the past few weeks.” Britain is already trying to curb the spread of a mutated strain of the virus which is up to 70 per cent more transmissible, and further studies are being carried out on the new variant. “This new variant is highly concerning, because it is yet more transmissible, and it appears to have mutated further than the ne
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The Telegraph December 24, 2020 An international arbitration tribunal has directed the Indian government to pay $1.2 billion in damages to UK’s Cairn Energy — the second such embarrassing loss for the Modi government following the one to Vodafone in another arbitration matter just three months back. Both the cases were against a controversial 2012 retrospective tax legislation that gave the Indian government the power to go after M&A deals all the way back to 1962 if the underlying asset was in India. The international arbitration tribunal ruled unanimously that India had breached its obligations to Cairn under the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty and awarded Cairn damages of $1.2 billion plus interest and costs, Cairn Energy said in its statement. In September, the government had lost a $2-billion retrospective tax against Vodafone. The second loss is particularly jarring to the Modi government as it may have to make the payments to Cairn Energy at a time its revenues have
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The Print December 24, 2020 India has forced a stalemate in Ladakh. That’s a defeat for China China will seek to clinch a disengagement agreement to achieve its political aim. India shouldn’t be in a hurry to agree to disengage or deescalate. on 18 December India and China resumed diplomatic talks to find a solution for the months-long crisis in e astern Ladakh. The Ministry of External Affairs said , “ Both sides agreed to maintain close consultations at the diplomatic and military level. They agreed that the next (9th) round of Senior Commanders meeting should be held at an early date so that both sides can work towards early and complete disengagement of troops along the LAC in accordance with the existing bilateral agreements and protocols, and fully restore peace and tranquility. ” R ecall how the Indian media on 11 November, five days after the eighth round of Senior Commanders ’ meeting, had reported that an ‘ agreement ’ for disengagement along the
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The Print December 24, 2020 Pandemic exposes hurdles of credit market as borrowers shun tighter regulations Private bond placements have long accounted for the vast majority of debt sales in India’s credit market. A bigger public debt market should help reduce borrowing costs for issuers. Mumbai: Efforts by Indian policy makers to open up rupee corporate bond sales to more investors took a step backward during the pandemic, as borrowers shunned tighter regulations in the public market in a record dash for funds. Private bond placements, which restrict the number of investors in a deal, have long accounted for the vast majority of debt sales in India’s local-currency credit market, but they rose to 99% of all offerings this year, the most in at least a decade. A bigger public debt market should help reduce borrowing costs for issuers by increasing competition for deals, and boost liquidity by drawing in more participants to transactions. “Companies didn’t have the luxury of time durin
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Business Today December 24, 2020 'Serum won't have to take full loss' if Covid vaccine not approved: Bill Gates on sharing risk In his latest blog post, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-chairman said his foundation has also taken some of the financial risks on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and that Serum won't have to take a full loss Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has said if Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine fails to get the necessary approval, it'll not be alone to take a financial hit. In his latest blog post, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-chairman said his foundation has also taken some of the financial risks on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and that Serum won't have to take a full loss. He raised a larger point in the blog on how the world reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic that took away so many lives and ravaged many world's economies in one year. "A company that excels at production agrees to manufactur
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The Indian Express December 24, 2020 Prachanda elected as new parliamentary leader of Nepal’s ruling party Madhav Kumar Nepal, who was elected chairperson of the party, proposed Prachanda’s name as the leader of the Parliamentary Party. The dissident faction of the Nepal Communist Party on Wednesday elected Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ as leader of its Parliamentary Party, a post previously held by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli . Madhav Kumar Nepal, who was elected chairperson of the party, proposed Prachanda’s name as the leader of the Parliamentary Party. A party meeting then unanimously endorsed the proposal. However, none of Oli’s supporters attended Wednesday’s meeting. Leaders of the Prachanda-led faction have also told the Election Commission that they hold a two-thirds majority in the party and therefore they must be granted official recognition by the election body, My Republica reported. “We are here with the proof that we are the only legitimate Nepal Communist Party,” L
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The Indian Express December 24, 2020 25 Indian Americans in Joe Biden team to make new govt ‘look like the country’ As US President-elect Joe Biden continues to fill his government structure in a way that will “look like the country”, at least 25 Indian Americans are set to hold roles in the new administration, with at least 15 in key policy positions. It is not just US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris . As US President-elect Joe Biden continues to fill his government structure in a way that will “look like the country”, at least 25 Indian Americans are set to hold roles in the new administration, with at least 15 in key policy positions. “We are enthused by the incoming Biden-Harris administration’s recognition of the contributions of our South Asian community. They have selected several talented individuals for key roles, including Neera Tanden , Vivek Murthy , Rohini Kosoglu, Ali Zaidi, Bharat Ramamurti , Vedant Patel, Vinay Reddy and Gautam Raghavan. We look forward to their
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The Indian Express December 24, 2020 Explained: What’s at stake in Nepal’s political crisis? Nepal's political crisis: The Lower House of Parliament has been dissolved at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli, who is fighting a losing battle in his party. A look at the questions it raises over the Constitution and left unity On Sunday, Nepal Prime Minister K P Oli recommended dissolution of the House of Representatives, the lower of Parliament, a move promptly approved by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. This effectively ended the unity forced among the left forces that had led to the creation of the single, grand Nepal Communist Party three years ago. It plunged national politics into turmoil and the five-year-old Constitution into uncertainty, and raised questions about the haste with which the President approved Oli’s recommendation. Oli took the step when he realised that a factional feud within the party had reached the point of no return and he faced possible expulsion b