By Albin Joseph

After a series of economic slowdowns, two of the world’s major economies, namely Japan and the United Kingdom, have plunged into recession recently. Japan has been displaced from its position as the third largest economy by Germany. The United Kingdom fell into recession at a critical juncture when the elections are just a few months away. This poses severe challenges to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose primary commitment to the nation was to promote the overall economic growth of the kingdom.

A recession is defined as two consecutive contractions in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country. If there is a dip in GDP growth for a continuous six months, then it’s termed a Recession; Japan’s economy contracted by 0.4% and that of the UK by 0.3% in the last three months of 2023. There was a steady decline in the economies of these two nations throughout the course of 2023. From July to September 2023, Japan’s economy witnessed a de-growth of 3.3%, and the UK’s economy had a slump of 0.1%. Going by these numbers, it’s obvious that these two economies are under the grip of Recession.

The cost of living in the UK has risen considerably, major sectors like manufacturing and construction have not been performing well, and the British Pound has been on a weakening trend against the US Dollar during the past six months. During 2023, the UK’s economy grew by a meagre 0.1%, which is the weakest growth ever since the 2009 financial crisis. All eyes are set on the next UK budget that UK Finance Minister (Chancellor of the Exchequer) Jeremy Hunt is to present in a couple of weeks. The budget is expected to bring in concrete measures to curb inflation and propel overall economic growth.

Japan was relegated to fourth place in terms of GDP which totaled $4.2 trillion in 2023, whereas Germany assumed third place with its GDP estimated at $:4.5 trillion. A weaker Japanese yen is the major reason attributed to the slump in Japan’s economic growth. Moreover, there has been a slowdown in business, which leads to a lack of wage increments and layoffs. This lead to a fall in domestic demand, which made people curtail their expenses and hold on to their earnings.

A decline in population growth and an ageing population have affected the overall GDP, as well as the productivity of Japan. Traditionally, both Japanese and German economies were powered by small and medium-scale industries that were renowned for their high productivity. Of late, Japan’s productivity took a beating because of its shortage of qualitative labour, whereas Germany managed to keep its productivity intact by endorsing immigration, which led to overall population growth as well. By immigration, Germany’s population grew to 85 million in 2023. This not only made up for the low birthrate in Germany but also fueled the overall growth in GDP. Japan could overcome its labour shortage by endorsing immigration, but the country has its own reservations in the formulation of policies on this front.

Though this recession wouldn’t last long, it’s quite obvious that whenever major economies plunge into recession, it will have a ripple effect across the world, at least in the short run. The Euro zone has revised its growth forecast for 2024 from 1.2% to 0.8%, and it remains to be seen whether other countries will follow suit.

The author is a Member of Loka Kerala Sabha

The post United Kingdom, Japan plunge into recession appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

“Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the first in-person G7 summit in almost two years to ask leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to seize the opportunity to build back better from coronavirus, uniting to make the future fairer, greener and more prosperous,” the statement said.

Boris Johnson was planning to visit India to Republic Day parade. He was the supposed to be the chief guest in R-Day parade. However the plan was cancelled because of the serious coronavirus situation in the UK.

Terming India as ‘pharmacy of the world’, the UK praised the efforts regarding the production of coronavirus vaccine and said, “India already supplies more than 50 per cent of the world’s vaccines, and the UK and India have worked closely together throughout the pandemic.”

Apart from India, Australia and South Korea,too, have been invited to attend G7 summit. The meet is scheduled to be held in Cornwall from June 11 to 14, 2021.

Announcing plans to hold the G7 Summit in June, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he wanted to use Britain’s presidency of the G7 to forge a consensus that the global economy must recover from the COVID-19 crisis in a pro-free trade and sustainable way.

“Coronavirus is doubtless the most destructive force we have seen for generations and the greatest test of the modern world order we have experienced,” he said in a statement. “It is only right that we approach the challenge of building back better by uniting with a spirit of openness to create a better future.”

The summit in June will address shared challenges, from beating coronavirus and tackling climate change, to ensuring that people everywhere can benefit from open trade, technological change and scientific discovery.

G7 is a grouping of leading economies — the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the USA and the EU.

Last year’s G7 meeting, due to be hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump, was cancelled due to the pandemic.The leaders of Britain, Germany, France, the United States, Italy, Japan, the European Union and Canada have not met in person since the 2019 meeting in Biarritz, France.

The post UK invites PM Modi to G7, Boris Johnson plans to visit India appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Confirming this, the Health Ministry said that apart from the six positive cases found on December 29, these cases have been reported from person in Delhi and Bengaluru. The persons have been isolated, said the Ministry.

The Indian government has become alert after the new fast-spreading Covid strain was discovered in the UK.The Ministry is also planning to extend the ban on flights from the UK.

It also stepped up testing in airports. But testing people who have specifically returned from the UK may not be enough as the new Covid strain has also spread in many other countries like United States, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy and Sweden.

The health Ministry in India has now decided to test five percent of all passengers for the new Covid-19 variant.

“This particular virus strain may have its own run- it has travelled to many countries – so we have to be very careful. Initially, it is easy to suppress the spread of the virus because the chain of transmission is smaller,” Dr VK Paul, a member of the Niti Aayog, said.

The new SARS –CoV-2 is believed to be 70 percent more transmissible than the older strain but less lethal, according to scientists. Experts said that people need to take same precautions for the new virus strain and added that the vaccines currently in development will be effective against the new strain as well.

The post 20 UK returnees test positive for new COVID-19 strain appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Vaccines are underway and they are still effective against the new strain. Although the new strain is any more deadly, people are highly worried because this mutation appears to be 70 percent more infectious.

The new variant, which has been named VUI-202012/01 (the first Variant Under Investigation in December 2020), is thought to have first occurred in mid-September in the country’s southeast, in the capital London or the county of Kent.

Susan Hopkins of Public Health England said the agency notified the government on December 18 when modelling revealed the full seriousness of the new strain. The UK submitted its findings to the World Health Organization the same day.

Since then it spread quickly, becoming the dominant form of the virus there.

In London , 62 percent of cases were due to the new variant in the week of December 9. The rapid turn of events forced UK government to enforce stricter lockdown measures over the coming Christmas period. UK Health Minister Matt Hancock said the new lockdown measures might stay in place for some time.

Scientists says the new strain contains 23 changes , many associated with alterations in a protein made by the virus.

Patrick Vallance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, said the new variant may be in other countries as well but might have started in the UK.

In a bid to stop the new strain from spreading, The Netherlands and Belgium banned travellers from the UK.

Dutch authorities said they had at found at least one case of the new strain and flights carrying UK passengers have been banned until January 1. Belgium is suspending flight and train arrivals from the UK for at least 24 hours, according to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo who spoke to Belgian television channel VRT.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Twitter that cases of the mutant strain were lower in Scotland “than the rest of the UK,” but warned, “preventative action may be necessary to stop the faster-spreading strain taking hold.”

More than 67,000 people have died of COVID-19 to date in the UK, making it one of Europe’s worst-hit along with Italy.

Italy has also detected a patient infected with the new strain of the coronavirus, the health ministry on Sunday informed. The patient and his partner returned from the United Kingdom in the last few days with a flight that landed at Rome’s Fiumicion airport and were now in isolation, the ministry said.

Meanwhile the Health Ministry of India’s top advisory body will meet urgently on Monday to discuss the new strain of novel coronavirus in the United Kingdom. Reports suggest that experts from AIIMS and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), along with a representative from the World Health Organisation(WHO) will attend the meeting.

The post New coronavirus strain in UK: All we need to know appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

The United Kingdom’s European neighbours began closing their doors to travellers from the United Kingdom on Sunday, and others were considering similar action, amid alarm about a rapidly spreading strain of coronavirus that has caused cases to soar in the country.

France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,Belgium, Austria, Ireland and Bulgaria all announced restriction on travel to the UK, hours after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Christmas shopping and gatherings in southern England must be cancelled because of rapidly spreading infections due to the new coronavirus variant.

France banned all travel from the U.K. for 48 hours from midnight Sunday, including trucks carrying freight through the tunnel under the English Channel or from the port of Dover on England’s south coast.

“The coronavirus variant recently discovered in London is worrying and will need to be investigated by our scientists,” Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said.

Meanwhile, Indian National Congress, too, has demanded that all the flights to the UK be suspended.

The post Canada stops commercial and private flights to UK appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

The corporation said it had approved the appointment of former Supreme Court judge John Dyson to lead the probe. The decision for investigation happened after the late princess’ brother Charles Spencer alleged that the flagship “Panorama” programme reporter who conducted the interview, Martin Bashir, showed him fake documents to persuade his sister to take part.

The November 1995 interview was watched by a record 22.8 million people. Diana detailed her collapsing marriage and famously said “there were people” in her marriage—her, Charles and his long time lover Camilla Parker-Bowles — and also revealed she had been unfaithful.

Diana and Charles divorced in 1996, the year after the interview and the princess was killed in a car crash in Paris the following year.

There were reports that journalist Martin Bashir allegedly used fake bank statements to persuade Diana to agree to be interviewed for BBC Panorama. After the explosive interview, the little-known Bashir went on to have a global career.

The accusations compelled BBC to hire independent investigators to get to the truth of the infamous royal interview, appointing former Supreme Court judge Lord Dyson to lead the mission.

BBC will publish the report of the investigation at its conclusion.

The post BBC announces probe into Diana’s explosive 1995 interview appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

This came as a shock as Burger King and McDonald’s often roast each other on social media platforms.

The company’s UK arm tweeted a statement asking consumers to support their local fast food outlets during the coronavirus pandemic, whether they are Burger King or not.

Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and many independent food outlets also got a mention.

We know, we never thought we’d be saying this either. pic.twitter.com/cVRMSLSDq6

— Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) November 2, 2020

They wrote a heartwarming note which read, “Order from McDonald’s. We never thought we’d be asking you to do this. Just like we never thought we’d be encouraging you to order from KFC, Subway, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, Five Guys, Greggs, Taco Bell, Papa John’s, Leon… or any of the other independent food outlets, too numerous to mention here. In short, from any of our sister food chains (fast or not so fast).”

They added that they never thought they would be asking their customers to do this, but people need help right now.

The hospitality industry is hit hard in UK due to the pandemic and new restrictions from November 5 are expected to make things worse.

The post An unusual request from Burger King left foodies in shock appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

A mysterious event that happened in Coventry, UK, on October 17 made many people believe that aliens have visited earth. It all happened when a laser beam appeared in the night skies of all of a sudden. The eerie leaser was green in color, and it was visible even many miles away. The laser was seen intact in the skies for several minutes, and finally, it disappeared in the clouds.

The news of this eerie event soon went viral on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and many people bizarrely concluded that extraterrestrial beings from deep space have visited earth. Some of them even went a step ahead and claimed that these laser beams are advanced weapons used by aliens.

But soon, the mystery behind the laser beams was unfolded. The laser beam was actually used by Matt Lawrence of Kvant Lasers, and he was actually testing how far the world’s most powerful lasers could be seen from. While talking with Coventry Live, Matt revealed that these lasers could be seen at least 20 miles away from the area where it is shot.

However, he made it clear that this visibility range can be achieved only if the weather conditions in the area are perfect. Before testing the recent laser beam, Kvant Lasers had sought permission from the Coventry airport. During the time of laser beam testing, airport authorities had apparently routed flights safely away.

“We were testing out the world’s most powerful display laser and getting some photographs from around the city. We have been doing it in various cities, but I cannot help but think people would rather read we were talking to aliens or something,” Lawrence told Coventry Live.

The post Green laser beam in UK skies triggered panic among UK residents appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Several conspiracy theorists and some space scientists strongly believe that alien life is a reality, and these extraterrestrial beings have been visiting the earth for hundreds of thousands of years. To substantiate this theory, they often cite the examples of mysterious UFO sightings that had happened in various parts of the world.

One such UFO incident recently happened in the United Kingdom, and the video of the alleged event has sparked debate on online spaces. In the video, uploaded to YouTube by a user named Paul Bryan TV, a UFO can be seen screeching across the skies at a mindblowing speed. The UFO was captured in a security camera on September 9.

The clip was later analyzed by popular conspiracy theorist Scott C Waring, and he outlandishly claimed that this sighting is a proof of alien existence on planet earth.

“This eyewitness set up a camera on a tripod and went through the video later to see if he caught anything. He was surprised to find out he caught a UFO disk shooting across the screen. But it doesn’t shoot from right to left of the screen. Instead its shoots from within a cloud on the left side and its much smaller so we know its very far away. I believe it came from the cloud itself and was searching for another cloud to hide within. The speed, shape and cloud it exited from…all indicate this is an alien craft,” wrote Waring on his blog UFO Sightings Daily.

However, skeptics soon dismissed the alien angle, and they made it clear that the object appeared in the skies is nothing but a fast-flying bird. Some others suggested that the unknown object could be a bug moving across the camera lens.

The post Alien craft or bird: UFO in UK skies sparks debate appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

As top medics in the United Kingdom have predicted a surge in coronavirus cases by October, prime minister Boris Johnson has warned Britinos that the country will not return to normalcy at least for the next six months. Johnson made these remarks after ordering new restrictions in the UK, as an attempt to suppress the dramatic surge in coronavirus cases.

Interestingly, a couple of weeks ago, Johnson had asked citizens of the country to go back to work, stating that London could become a ghost town. But now, as fear looms up, Johnson has asked everyone to work from home. The new order also asks pubs, restaurants, and other entertainment venues in England to close down between 10 PM to 05.00 AM.

“We will spare no effort in developing vaccines, treatments and new forms of mass testing, but unless we palpably make progress, we should assume that the restrictions I have announced will remain in place for perhaps six months,” said Johnson.

It was on yesterday that Professor Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance, two top medics in the United Kingdom issued a warning regarding the possible surge of coronavirus cases in November. The duo revealed that the country could witness at least 50,000 positive cases and 200 deaths in a day by November.

On Monday alone, the country recorded 4,300 coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom, the highest number since May. Experts believe that easing lockdown restrictions could drastically increase the cases in the country which will ultimately create chaos in NHS hospitals.

The post UK will not return to normalcy in next six months, Boris Johnson warns appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Experts also revealed that coronavirus pandemic in the country could last for six months, and the only way to combat this drastic spread by implementing another nationwide lockdown.

“In every age group, we have seen an increase. It is now estimated that roughly 70,000 people in the UK have COVID infection and that about 6,000 people per day are getting the infection. If that continues unabated and this grows doubling every seven days then what you see, is by mid-October we would end up with something like 50,000 cases per day,” said Vallance.

Whitty revealed that there is currently no evidence which substantiates that the coronavirus is any milder than it was in April. According to Whitty, there could be unbelievable ramifications if the country fails to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Whitty, sudden rise in coronavirus cases in the country could completely fill NHS hospitals in the country, which will result in ultimate chaos. The nation will also witness increased deaths from other illnesses due to the huge waiting time needed to treat people with coronavirus infection.

The post Second lockdown awaits UK as coronavirus cases and deaths could surge by November appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

They said the ‘red notice’ has been issued on Tuesday by the global police body on the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Once such a notice issued against a fugitive, the Interpol asks its 192-member countries to arrest or detain the person if spotted in their countries after which extradition or deportation proceedings can begin.

Ami Modi was last seen in the United States in 2019. Probe agencies are unsure of her current location. Nirav Modi has been jailed in the United Kingdom, where he is fighting extradition to India.

Ami Modi is stated to have left country soon after the alleged bank fraud case came into light in 2018. The ED has charged Ami Modi for conspiring and money laundering with her husband and jeweller Nirav Modi apart from his uncle Mehul Choksi and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Nirav Modi has been declared a fugitive economic offender by a Mumbai court early this year and the court had also ordered confiscation of his assets. The ED has already confiscated about Rs 329 crore of his linked properties.

The businessman, Choksi and others are being probed by the ED on money laundering charges in connection with an over USD 2 billion alleged bank fraud at a PNB branch in Mumbai.

Similar Interpol notices have been earlier been issued against Nirav Modi’s younger brother Nehal Modi and sister Purvi Modi.

The post Interpol issues red notice against wife of Nirav Modi appeared first on The Gulf Indians.