Tag: sign

Rishi Sunak travels to Belfast in sign NI protocol deal is imminent

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Rishi Sunak arrived in Belfast on Thursday night, in a sign that a deal on the Northern Ireland protocol is imminent.
The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, will also travel to Brussels on Friday for talks with the European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič.
The movements suggest that an announcement of a negotiated solution between the UK and EU could come as early as Friday. Sunak is being accompanied by the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, Downing Street said. Security is already in place at a central Belfast hotel.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “Whilst talks with the EU are ongoing, ministers continue to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure any solution fixes the practical problems on the ground, meets our overarching objectives and safeguards Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market.
“The prime minister and secretary of state for Northern Ireland are travelling to Northern Ireland this evening to speak to political parties as part of this engagement process.”
EU Diplomats have reportedly been summoned to a briefing on Friday, with speculation that a draft deal is about to be shared and road tested both in Belfast and Brussels.
A UK government spokesperson confirmed Cleverly’s meetings in Brussels but played down the prospect of a deal being unveiled on Friday.
“This is part of their ongoing engagement and constructive dialogue with the EU to find practical solutions that work for the people of Northern Ireland,” they said.

A deal would conclude four months of negotiations to end a row that has caused fissures in the Tory party for the past three years and led to the suspension of power-sharing in Belfast.
An agreement has been on the cards for the last four weeks and is expected to include a settlement on an elimination of some checks on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and a new dispute resolution mechanism not involving the European court of justice in the first instance.
Checks and governance were sources of tension in the Conservative party and with the Democratic Unionist party. The government is expected to say its new deal complies with the strict seven tests the DUP set in exchange for its support.
Earlier this week, Nigel Dodds, a former deputy leader of the DUP, indicated that the DUP would not be supporting any deal that continued regulatory divergence between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, claiming this would continue the “colonisation” of Northern Ireland by the EU.
A government source said: “The DUP have published in black and white what their seven tests are. We believe this meets them, otherwise we wouldn’t have brought the negotiation team home nearly a week ago.”
Sunak is meeting all political parties on Friday morning but the focus will be on the DUP, which has insisted it will not return to power-sharing unless its seven conditions for reform of the protocol are met. Few expect the DUP to support the deal unless it eliminates the application of EU law in Northern Ireland, which is one of their seven demands of negotiators.
A breakthrough has already been made on reducing checks on goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland, however, with a “green lane” involving no customs declarations being proposed for food and farm produce destined for Northern Irish supermarkets, corner shops, hospitals, schools and prisons and other public settings.
Negotiators have agreed that products for retail should go through this “green” lane, with discussions continuing on how to deal with wholesalers who supply to independent shops and hospitality.
Talks have also been continuing on how to deal with “intermediary” goods, including components that may end up in finished products destined for sale in the EU’s single market.
A new path has been agreed in principle on governance and the role of the European court of justice in dispute resolution, a source of considerable political problems for Sunak with the DUP and hardline Brexiters in the European Research Group of Tory MPs.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

February 17, 2023
How a distress patient sent a help sign to Indian Embassy from 1500 KM away

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Jeddah: The plight of an impaired person who is confined to the bed in a hospital and inability to convey or relay the language or show any kind of sign following serious stroke is hard to narrate yet he was on the bed for over a year in a remote desert town in Saudi Arabia with only hope that someone would hear and send him to his home in India on one day.
Finally, his plea reached about 1500 KM away at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh that took him to his family and made the reunion.
56-year-old Shaikh Dastagir, native of Madanapalle town in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh was admitted into a hospital in desert town of Nariyah in Eastern Province in Saudi Arabia following brain hemorrhage as result of hypertension a year ago, since then he is in a vegetative state under palliative care.
Unable to speak or move he was confined to bed since then. There were no friends nor any relatives including employer for Dastagir, there was no single visitor nor any enquiry about him.
Sneha and Anu – Indian nurses hailing from Kerala- not only serve him as part of their job but go a mile extra to render humanitarian assistance and often console him with signs.
Iqama and Passport of Dastagir expired and even he was declared as Huroob – absconder – thus complicated his repatriation thus delayed his discharge from the hospital.
On other hand, the patient’s family back home in Madanapalle town of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh was worrying about their sole breadwinner as there were no calls nor any message from him.
Hamed Al Qaitani, hospital director, drew the attention of his higher officials. The Saudi authorities contacted the Indian Embassy in Riyadh through official channels to repatriate the patient. The ministry of health, foreign affairs and Governorate officials involved in the process.

The poor family was informed about the condition of Dastagir and it expressed its inability to bear any cost of airfare or treatment owing to poverty reasons.
The battery of Indian diplomats led by M.R. Sajeev worked hard to coordinate the repatriation efforts as result of Huroob case and expiry of document in addition to medical evacuation where it required acceptance letter from disembarkation point hospital.
Like these, the Indian embassy reaches its destitute compatriots far-flung remote deserts based
KMCC – the foremost expatriate welfare organization in Saudi Arabia – volunteered to assist in repatriation that goes through multiple places from remote town of Nariyah to Riyadh, from there to New Delhi then Bengaluru and finally Madanapalle.
Ansari, Mahbub, Siddik Tuvoor with the support of Telugu social worker Muzammil Shaikh coordinated the departure and finally the patient has reached his family.
Indian Embassy bore the cost of repatriation including escort along with the patient while AP NRT organization – AP state government arm to deal with NRI affairs – provided the ambulance service from airport to patient native place.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 12, 2023
For Improving Quality of Education, KU, Azim Premji University, SMC sign MoU

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SRINAGAR: In an initiative aimed at furthering the cause of universalisation of education, the University of Kashmir, Azim Premji University Bangalore and Srinagar Municipal Corporation on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to give a fillip to quality of education in 83 identified primary schools in Srinagar.
The tripartite MoU envisions joint collaboration in three critical areas, including visioning workshops with SMC core group, continuous professional development programmes for Zonal Education Officers, School Leaders and School Teachers, besides development of academic material like textbooks for these schools functioning under the ambit of SMC.
While the KU will provide all academic and technical support to finalise and contextualise the modules, Azim Premji University will bring in the necessary technical resources for the initiative. The SMC, on its part, shall extend necessary support in realisation of the desired objectives.
Prof Nilofer, KU VC, said the MoU is yet another opportunity for the University to connect with the community at grassroots and engage with the baseline feeders (primary schools) for higher education.
Mayor Srinagar, Junaid Azim Matoo, underscored the genesis of the MoU. He said the Kashmir University’s partnership in the MoU will offer a great impetus to “set our priorities right” vis-à-vis the upgradation of quality of education in the identified primary schools functioning under the aegis of SMC.
“Giving a decent schooling to children from disadvantaged sections of the society is the focus of the MoU, which we shall be able to attain with the vast academic strength of the University of Kashmir and support from Azim Premji University,” he said, underlining the need to evolve synergies and synchronisation to face the “challenges in the way.”
Commissioner SMC, Athar Aamir Khan called for bringing in best practices and cross-learning in schools to improve the learning outcomes.
Bijoy Shankar Das from Azim Premji University said the MoU aims to develop internal capacities of various stakeholders in primary education, right from the foundational stage. He said this will be in sync with the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), emphasising the need to offer quality education to children from socio-economically weaker sections of society.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Nilofer Khan chaired the MoU-signing ceremony as chief guest while Mayor Srinagar, Mr Junaid Azim Mattoo and Commissioner SMC Athar Amir Khan, IAS, were the guests of honour who represented the SMC. Azim Premji University was represented by Bijoy Shankar Das, Leader (NE States and J&K).

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#Improving #Quality #Education #Azim #Premji #University #SMC #sign #MoU
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 7, 2023
Hyderabad: IIDS, TRSRTC sign MoU to promote public transport

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Hyderabad: The ISB Institute of Data Science (IIDS) and the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) entered into an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) here on Tuesday.
The MoU would go a long way in route rationalization and profit maximization of TSRTC and will soon become a role model for other transport corporations.
TSRTC vice-chairman and managing director V C Sajjanar called on the need to promote public transport to address the challenges of the environment and other related issues.
Professor Madan Pillutla said that ISB is delighted to join hands with TSRTC in its efforts to become a citizen-centric, and service-oriented corporation.
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#Hyderabad #IIDS #TRSRTC #sign #MoU #promote #public #transport
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 24, 2023