SRINAGAR: University of the Arts London (UAL), United Kingdom is inviting applications for a fully funded postgraduate scholarship for the year 2023 in Fine Arts, Architecture, Business Administration, Research, and Science.
Candidates whose annual household income is below 50,000 Euros (44, 48,726 INR) and who have passed their Bachelor’s degree from a recognised institute with a good academic record are eligible to apply. The documents required for the scholarship include Identification proof, an invitation letter from the university, and a copy of immigration documents.
Selected candidates will receive full tuition fees and accommodation at one of UAL’s halls of residence. Candidates will also be provided with living costs.
New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) late on Sunday summoned the senior-most UK diplomat in India to convey its strong protest after some pro-Khalistani groups allegedly took down the Tricolour at the Indian High Commission in London.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted: “India lodges strong protest with UK”, along with a ministry statement.
Some pro-Khalistani groups staged a demonstration at the Indian High Commission in London over Punjab government’s crackdown against self-styled radical preacher Amritpal Singh.
The MEA, in a statement, said an explanation was demanded for the complete absence of the British security that allowed these elements to enter the High Commission premises.
“She was reminded in this regard of the basic obligations of the UK government under the Vienna Convention,” it said.
A statement said it finds unacceptable the indifference of the UK government to the security of Indian diplomatic premises and personnel in the UK.
“It is expected that the UK government would take immediate steps to identify, arrest and prosecute each one of those involved in today’s incident, and put in place stringent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents,” it added.
London: Thousands of protesters in London took to the streets to march against the government’s illegal migration on Saturday, according to Anadolu Agency.
The protesters gathered at Portland Place, outside the BBC headquarters in central London, chanting slogans such as “refugees are welcome here.”
The protest was organised by the Stand Up To Racism group and supported by many different groups and organisations, including Stop the War Coalition, Black Lives Matter, Muslims and Jewish societies as well as several unions and environmental organizations, reported Anadolu Agency.
The protesters rejected the Conservative party’s migration policies, and criticized the country’s Interior Minister Suella Braverman over the controversial “Rwanda plan” and the recent “Illegal Migration Bill.”
“Stop deportation”, “Safe passage, not Rwanda flights” and “Seeking refuge is not a crime” were among banners and signs held by protesters during the rally. The protesters later marched toward Downing Street.
Speaking to Anadolu, Melly, a protester, said that she attended the demonstration to show solidarity with those who arrived in the country and are not “treated fairly as they should.”
On the government’s Rwanda plan, she said that “it is illegal,” as everyone should have a choice, adding that the plan has caused “stress and trauma” for many immigrants.
Introduced in March this year, the UK government’s “Illegal Migration Bill,” makes the provision for and in connection with the removal from the United Kingdom of persons who have entered or arrived in breach of immigration control; to make provision about detention for immigration purposes, according to the statement released by UK government.
“To make provision about unaccompanied children; to make provision about victims of slavery or human trafficking; to make provision about leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom,” the statement read.
“To make provision about citizenship; to make provision about the inadmissibility of certain protection and certain human rights claims relating to immigration; to make provision about the maximum number of persons entering the United Kingdom annually using safe and legal routes; and for connected purposes,” the statement added.
After the British Home Secretary introduced the Migration Bill, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said that the UK asylum bill would ‘undermine’ international law.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman introduced an Illegal Migration Bill this week aimed at tackling people crossing the English Channel to reach the UK, which if passed “would amount to an asylum ban,” the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said in a statement.
Migrants who come to Britain illegally by boat “will be detained, removed” and “banned from re-entering” the country,” said UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Over 45,000 people illegally crossed the Channel in small boats last year.
“That is unfair to those who come here legally and unfair to the British people who play by the rules. Today’s Illegal Migration Bill introduces new laws to stop the boats,” said Sunak.
“The Illegal Migration Bill ensures that if you come to the UK illegally you can’t stay. People must know that coming here illegally will result in their detention and swift removal – once they do, they will not come, and the boats will stop,” he added.
London: The controversial colonial-era Kohinoor diamond claimed by India is to be cast as a “symbol of conquest” as part of a new display of Britain’s Crown Jewels at the Tower of London set to open to the public in May.
Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), the charity that manages Britain’s palaces, said this week that the new Jewel House exhibition will explore the history of the Kohinoor – also known as Koh-i-Noor – through a combination of objects and visual projections.
The infamous diamond, which is set within the Crown of the mother of the late Queen Elizabeth II, remains within the Tower after Camilla – in a diplomatic move – chose not to use this traditional crown for her coronation with King Charles II on May 6.
“The history of the Koh-i-Noor, which is set within the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, will be explored,” HRP said, with reference to the new planned display.
“A combination of objects and visual projections will explain the stone’s story as a symbol of conquest, with many previous owners, including Mughal Emperors, Shahs of Iran, Emirs of Afghanistan, and Sikh Maharajas,” it said.
Kohinoor, which means mountain of light in Persian, came into Queen Victoria’s possession from the treasury of Maharaja Ranjit Singh a few years before she was to be crowned empress of India and has played a starring role in British coronations of the past.
It will now take centre-stage at the new post-Coronation exhibition at the Tower of London.
“We look forward to expanding the stories we are telling about the Crown Jewels, and to showcasing this remarkable collection for millions of visitors from around the world to enjoy,” said Andrew Jackson, Resident Governor of the Tower of London and Keeper of the Jewel House.
“We are delighted to unveil our brand-new Jewel House display from May 26, offering visitors a richer understanding of this magnificent collection. As the home of the Crown Jewels, we are delighted that the Tower of London will continue to play its part during this historic Coronation year,” he said.
The new exhibition will open just weeks after the Coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla, who will be crowned with the Queen Mary Crown. It marks the first major change to the Jewel House at the Tower of London for over a decade, which has been home to Britain’s Crown Jewels for nearly 400 years.
“The Crown Jewels are the most powerful symbols of the British monarchy and hold deep religious, historic, and cultural significance. From their fascinating origins to their use during the Coronation ceremony, the new Jewel House transformation will present the rich history of this magnificent collection with more depth and detail than ever before,” said Charles Farris, Public Historian for the History of the Monarchy at HRP.
Among some of the other changes, the story of the famous Cullinan diamond will also feature, with the hammer and knife used to make the first cuts to the huge diamond going on display in the Jewel House for the first time.
Discovered in South Africa in 1905, the diamond is the largest gem-quality uncut diamond ever found at 3,106 carats. It was split into nine major stones and 96 smaller brilliants, with the largest two stones featuring in the British Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross and the Imperial State Crown.
At the heart of the new display will be a room dedicated to the spectacle, pageantry and community of the Coronation Procession.
The display will present Coronation Processions throughout history, celebrating the contributions of the many people who take part in these unique events.
On display will be a series of objects from the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, including an exquisite court suit worn at the Coronation of George IV and a herald’s tabard which would have been worn during royal processions.
The display will culminate in the Treasury, the vault that protects most of the Crown Jewels collection, comprising over 100 objects in total. Among the spectacular items on display in the Treasury is St Edward’s Crown of 1661, which is used at the moment of crowning and is the most important and sacred crown within the collection.
The Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross and the Sovereign’s Orb, which are presented to the monarch during the moment of investiture, are also on display in the Treasury.
New lighting will allow visitors to experience the world-famous collection like never before, HRP claimed of the re-presentation which is the culmination of a major four-year project.
Islamabad: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan accused the federal government of planning his arrest saying this is all part of a “London plan” to finish all cases against the country’s former premier Nawaz Sharif.
In a video message, Imran said, “This is part of the London plan and an agreement has been signed there to put Imran in jail, make the PTI fall and finish all cases against Nawaz Sharif.”
He further stated that he doesn’t understand the reason behind the attack on people as he had already assured that he will be present in court on March 18.
These comments came as the tension prevailed in Lahore in the early hours of Wednesday. More contingents were called to PTI chairman’s Zaman Park residence — where a stand-off between party supporters and law enforcers has been going on for more than 14 hours — for the former prime minister’s arrest.
Imran said to prevent any chaos, he had given an undertaking to the Lahore High Court Bar Association president who then attempted to forward it to the DIG who was coming to arrest the PTI chief but the latter did not meet the president.
“According to Code of Criminal Procedure Section 76, if this surety bond is given to the arresting officer, then I cannot be arrested,” Imran said.
The PTI chief said the DIG had no reason to not accept the undertaking and pointed to ill intentions.
The protests broke out in Islamabad, Peshawar, and Karachi after Imran called on his supporters to “come out” following police’s use of tear gas and a water cannon on supporters outside Zaman Park.
The Punjab police sought more water cannons on both sides of Canal Road and also fired tear gas shells at PTI workers, Samaa English reported.
In Peshawar, a large number of PTI supporters demonstrated outside the press club. After holding the demonstration, PTI workers blocked Sher shah Suri road and started marching towards the Governor House.
Islamabad police said PTI protesters had blocked Tarnol Road but timely action had been taken to reopen it for traffic. “A case has been registered in Tarnol Police Station against the PTI workers who blocked the road on the orders of Imran Khan,” a police officer said.
Chowrangi, Karachi, people staged a dharna by setting tires on fire against the atrocities being carried out by the police in Zaman Park.
Two non-bailable arrest warrants were issued for the PTI chairman on Monday after he failed to appear in courts in cases linked to the Toshakhana reference and threatened a woman additional district and sessions judge.
The 70-year-old ex-premier has been recovering from a gunshot injury from an assassination attempt in Wazirabad last year and has skipped hearings in several cases, the Dawn reported.
The PTI chief was supposed to appear before two district and session courts in Islamabad today but Imran’s lawyers filed petitions seeking an exemption from the hearings citing security reasons.
Imran has thrice skipped indictment hearings in the case. He is accused of concealing, in his assets declarations, details of the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana — a repository where presents handed to government officials from foreign officials are kept.
On March 7, the IHC suspended Imran’s non-bailable arrest warrants till March 13 and instructed him to appear before the sessions court.
At the outset of the proceedings on Tuesday, Imran’s counsel Khawaja Haris informed the court that his client would not be able to appear. “He is not refusing to appear, but due to security threats he cannot be present,” Imran’s lawyer said.
He recalled that the IHC had asked the sessions court to initiate legal proceedings against the PTI chief as per the law if he failed to appear before the court on March 13, the Dawn reported.
LONDON — The U.K. government was scrambling on Sunday to limit the fallout for the British tech sector from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, a big U.S. lender to many startups and technology companies.
The government is treating the potential reverberations as “a high priority” after a run on deposits drove California-based SVB into insolvency, marking the largest bank failure since the global financial crisis, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said in a statement Sunday morning. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other policymakers were on alert that problems at SVB could spread.
Hunt said the British government is working on a plan to backstop the cashflow needs of companies affected by SVB’s implosion and the halt in trading of its British unit, Silicon Valley Bank UK. The Bank of England announced on Friday that the U.K. unit is set to enter insolvency.
Silicon Valley Bank’s “failure could have a significant impact on the liquidity of the tech ecosystem,” Hunt said.
The government is working “to avoid or minimize damage to some of our most promising companies in the U.K.,” the chancellor said. “We will bring forward immediate plans to ensure the short-term operational and cashflow needs of Silicon Valley Bank UK customers are able to be met.”
Hunt told the BBC Sunday morning that the government would have a plan that deals with the operational cashflow needs of companies “in the next few days.”
Discussions between the governor of the Bank of England, the prime minister and the chancellor were taking place over the weekend, according to the statement.
Speaking on Sky News Sunday morning, Hunt said that Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey had made it clear that there was “no systemic risk to our financial system.” But Hunt warned that there was a “serious risk” to the technology and life-sciences sectors in the U.K.
Ministers held talks with the tech industry on Saturday after tech executives in an open letter warned Hunt that the SVB collapse posed an “existential threat” to the U.K. tech sector. They called for government intervention.
Britain’s science and technology minister on Saturday pledged to do “everything we can” to limit the repercussions on U.K. tech companies.
Michelle Donelan, who heads the newly created Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said in a tweet: “We recognize that the tech sector is often not cashflow positive as they grow and I am determined to stand with them as we do everything we can to minimize impact on the sector.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said protecting the U.K. sector from the impacts of SVB’s collapse was a “high priority” | Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images
A bank insolvency procedure for Silicon Valley Bank UK would mean eligible depositors would be paid the protected limit of £85,000, or up to £170,000 for joint accounts.
The Bank of England said in its Friday statement that SVB UK “has a limited presence in the U.K. and no critical functions supporting the financial system.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (Photo:Twitter/Congress)
London: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has called the BJP a wing of “fascist RSS which subverts the democracy it uses to come to power”.
The Wayanad MP made the remarks during an interation at London-based think tank Chatham House on late Monday evening.
“The complete capture of India’s institutions by the RSS has changed the nature of country’s democratic contest,” he added.
Rahul Gandhi also alleged the Opposition is “not allowed to have any conversation around the Demonetisation, Kisan Bill, GST imposition and the Chinese aggression”.
Speaking about his Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress leader said: “The Yatra was our communication gateway to reach out to the people of India.”
“The BJP is blinded by the power it has recklessly enjoyed in the last nine years,” Rahul Gandhi said, adding that the saffron party has “no interest in listening to public’s opinion”.
He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “comfortably uses agencies and spywares against the Opposition – a complete opposite picture of what it used to be under our government”.
“Our society is built in a democratic manner. The Chinese do not practice the same model and (they) see it as their biggest challenger… We need to offer the world our own vision of ‘productivity with prosperity’,” Rahul Gandhi asserted
The COngress leader said that the idea of a democratic model “is under attack” and the democracy on the planet “will suffer a blow if our (India’s) democratic model collapses”.
New Delhi: An Air India flight from New York to Delhi was diverted to London on Monday due to a medical emergency, according to an official.
According to data available on the flight tracking website Flightradar24, the flight is being operated with a Boeing 777-337 (ER) aircraft.
The official said the flight was diverted to London due to a medical emergency onboard. After deplaning the passenger concerned, the flight will take off from London for Delhi, the official added.
Details about the medical emergency could not be immediately ascertained.
The flight is likely to be delayed by at least 6-7 hours before it lands in Delhi, according to a wide-body aircraft pilot.
A letter lost in the post in 1916 was finally delivered to a London address more than a century after being sent from Bath.
Bearing a penny George V stamp and Bath and Sydenham postmarks, it dropped through the letterbox of theatre director Finlay Glen’s Crystal Palace flat in 2021.
It was addressed to Katie Marsh, who was married to the stamp dealer Oswald Marsh, and was sent by her friend Christabel Mennell, who was holidaying in Bath, according to research by Stephen Oxford, the editor of The Norwood Review, a local history magazine.
It begins: “My dear Katie, will you lend me your aid – I am feeling quite ashamed of myself after saying what I did at the circle.”
Parts of the letter are difficult to read but it mentions someone being unwell. Photograph: Finlay Glen
Royal Mail said it remained “uncertain what happened in this instance”. But Oxford said it was likely the letter got lost at the Sydenham sorting office, which has closed. “I think it is being redeveloped. So, in that process they must have found this letter hidden somewhere, perhaps fallen behind some furniture.”
He said: “The Upper Norwood and Crystal Palace area became very popular with wealthy middle-class people in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The letter is from Christabel Mennel, the daughter of a local wealthy tea merchant, Henry Tuke Mennell. And she was friends with Catherine – or Katie – Marsh.
“Oswald Marsh is recorded in 1901 living in Crystal Palace as a lodger and as a stamp dealer. He was 20 then and I suspect he was being funded by his father, who was a quite wealthy architect who lived in Northern Ireland. They were a Quaker family.”
Oswald, who married Catherine in 1904, would become a highly regarded stamp dealer who was often called as an expert witness in cases of stamp fraud, and later moved from where the letter was addressed to a large Victorian house with stables nearby.
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Finlay Glen with the letter outside his flat. Photograph: Finlay Glen
The house the letter was addressed to has long been demolished and is now a block of flats. Parts of the letter are difficult to read, but it mentions someone being unwell.
Glen, 27, said when he and his girlfriend, Lucy, first saw the date “we thought 2016, then saw it had the king’s stamp on it, and realised 1916 so thought it was probably OK to open it.
“We were fairly mystified as to how it could have taken so long to be delivered but thought it must have got lodged somewhere in the sorting office and a century later was found and someone stuck it in the post.”
Initially, they “shoved it in a drawer”. The envelope was in fairly good condition, although a bit weathered at the top.
“We held on to it and tried to decipher it, though some is hard to read. And then we got in touch with the local historical society, because I thought they might be able to tell us about the people involved.
“I had no idea that so many people would find it so interesting.”
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
The Australian foreign affairs minister’s speech in London about Britain’s colonial history caused “no sense of discomfort or diplomatic tension” with the UK, a senior official has declared.
The Coalition opposition used a committee hearing in Canberra on Thursday to suggest that Penny Wong’s remarks caused an unnecessary “distraction” during annual high-level talks between Australia and the UK.
During a wide-ranging speech in London two weeks ago, Wong welcomed the UK’s “tilt” to the Indo-Pacific region but also reflected on different experiences of British colonisation.
Wong, who was born in Malaysia, said her father was descended from Hakka and Cantonese Chinese, and many from those clans “worked as domestic servants for British colonists, as did my own grandmother”.
Wong told an audience at King’s College London such stories “can sometimes feel uncomfortable” but it “gives us the opportunity to find more common ground than if we stayed sheltered in narrower versions of our countries’ histories”.
This aspect of the speech attracted media attention in the UK, with the Telegraph running a story under the headline: “‘Woke’ Australian diplomat tells UK to confront its colonial past.”
But Wong said on Thursday that at no point had she used the word “confront”. After the King’s College speech, Wong and the defence minister, Richard Marles, joined their counterparts James Cleverly and Ben Wallace for talks in Portsmouth.
The most senior official at Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Jan Adams, who attended the meetings, said the colonialism comments were “not the mainstay of the discussions both formally and informally”.
“We spent a lot of time together. Frankly it was, in the context of modern Britain, an unexceptional comment,” Adams told a Senate estimates committee.
“There was no sense of discomfort or diplomatic tension whatsoever. I can say that with complete confidence.”
Wong said she had been seeking to make the point that “if we recognise our history and we recognise how we have changed, we find more common ground” with other countries in the Indo-Pacific.
She said such an approach also helped to “deal with some of the ways in which others seek to constrain us”. Chinese diplomats have sought to portray the Aukus security deal among Australia, the US and the UK as an “Anglo-Saxon clique”.
Wong mentioned that Australia was seeking to “challenge disinformation” and projecting Australia’s modern multicultural image was about increasing Australia’s influence and power in the region.
She said such a message was important “in the context of Aukus and the Quad” partnership with India, Japan and the US.
The opposition’s Senate leader, Simon Birmingham, who led the questioning, also mentioned “the importance of balance” and taking care with “how you put your messages”.
He asked whether there were positive aspects of “the UK’s historical contribution around systems of democracy, systems of justice”.
Wong answered: “Of course there are.”
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Asked about comments by News Corp’s Greg Sheridan that this was the “worst and strangest speech of Penny Wong’s life”, the minister said she had “a lot of regard” for the author but would “tell him to relax”.
“I maintain my view that working on how we maximise Australian influence, including in how we speak about who we are and recognise where others are, is a central part of the job of anyone in this role.”
Speaking at a post-meeting press conference in Portsmouth two weeks ago, Cleverly confirmed the talks did address “the nature of the relationship between the UK and other countries which are now in the Commonwealth but which were previously British colonies”.
But Cleverly said these were “not the mainstay of the conversations”.
In a separate interview with Australia’s Nine newspapers shortly after the speech, Cleverly was asked whether the UK had satisfactorily confronted its colonial past.
“You’re asking the black foreign secretary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain?” Cleverly replied. “Yeah, I think the answer is yes – you’re looking at it, you’re talking to it!
“I mean, the bottom line is we have a prime minister of Asian heritage, you have a home secretary of Asian heritage, you have a foreign secretary of African heritage.”
Cleverly said history mattered but “what matters more is the stuff we can do in the future”.
Australia is finalising the details of its plans to acquire at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with help from the UK and the US.
Leaders of the three Aukus countries – Anthony Albanese, Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden – are expected to make an announcement next month.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
