London: A new free trade agreement with the UK is expected to deliver Australian jobs and business opportunities for exporters, bringing both countries closer together in a changing strategic environment.
Prime Ministers Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson have agreed on the broad outlines of an Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The FTA is the right deal for Australia and the United Kingdom, with greater access to a range of high-quality products made in both countries as well as greater access for businesses and workers, all of which will drive economic growth and job creation in both countries.
Australian producers and farmers will receive a significant boost by getting greater access to the UK market.
Australian consumers will benefit from cheaper products, with all tariffs eliminated within five years, and tariffs on cars, whisky, and the UK’s other main exports eli.....
London:The Delta variant of coronavirus, first identified in India, doubles the risk of hospitalisation compared with the Alpha variant first found in the UK, but Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines provide good protection against the strain, says a study published in The Lancet journal.
Researchers at Public Health Scotland and the University of Edinburgh, UK, found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offered better protection against the Delta variant compared to the Oxford-AstraZeneca preventive, known as Covishield in India.
The analysis covered the period from April 1 to June 6, 2021, for the demographic distribution of cases.
The team analysed 19,543 confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections over the period of interest, of whom 377 were admitted to hospital for COVID-19 in Scotland.
Around 7,723 community cases and 134 hospitalisations were found to have the Delta variant of coronavirus.....
New Delhi: Retail sales in India slipped 79 per cent in May compared to pre-COVID sales in the same month of 2019, as businesses across states were closed due to the second wave of the pandemic, as per a survey by Retailers Association of India (RAI).
The decline in sales was the steepest in West and North India, which witnessed an 83 per cent dip last month as compared to May 2019, RAI said in a statement.
Eastern region saw a decline of 75 per cent, while South was relatively better with degrowth of 73 per cent as compared to the same month in 2019.
On a sequential basis, the decline in May was much steeper compared to the previous month, when overall sales across India were down 49 per cent as compared to April 2019, according to the RAI survey.
In terms of retail categories, beauty, wellness and personal care saw the steepest decline at 87 per cent, followed by footwear w.....
The McGowan Labor Government has fast-tracked its Plan for Plastics by four years with single-use plastic bowls, cups, plates, cutlery, stirrers, straws, polystyrene food containers, thick plastic bags and helium balloon releases to be phased out by the end of the year.
The new timeframe will see Western Australia's Plan for Plastics fully implemented by the end of 2022, four years earlier than originally planned.
Last year, WA was rated the leading jurisdiction in Australia for action on single-use plastics by the WWF Australia. The new timeframes will mean that WA remains a leader in this space.
"Single-use plastics have a terrible impact on our environment, wildlife, public health and recycling efforts, and the vast majority of Western Australians have told us that they want this to stop," said Premier Mark McGowan. "By bringing the timeframes forward for single-use plastic b.....
Wellington: Aupito William Sio recalled the terrifying day during his childhood when police officers holding German shepherd dogs turned up at his family home before dawn and shined flashlights into their faces while his father stood there helpless.
Now the minister for Pacific peoples, Sio and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday the government would formally apologise for an infamous part of the nation's history known as the Dawn Raids.
It's when Pacific Island people were targeted for deportation in the mid-1970s during aggressive home raids by authorities to find, convict and deport overstayers. The raids often took place very early in the morning or late at night.
Sio became emotional as he and Ardern discussed the apology at a news conference.
We felt as a community that we were invited to come to New Zealand. We responded to the call to fill the labor workfor.....
Australia has joined an international coalition of countries committed to forging a global deal to conserve 30 per cent of the world’s land and sea, in order to halt the loss of biodiversity.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the G7 Summit that Australia will join the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, an intergovernmental group of 60 countries.
The HAC is a global pact to protect 30 per cent of the world’s land and sea, to halt the loss of species and ecosystems. G7 leaders have championed global biodiversity targets and with a view to supporting these global targets, Australia is committing to protecting a combined 30 per cent of domestic land and ocean by 2030.
“Australia is a frontrunner when it comes to taking action to conserve our biodiversity,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
“Currently, Australia has more than 29 per cent of its land .....
The Commonwealth Government is providing $146 million for the first phase of a new National Strategy to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse, including nearly $40 million in new funding to the AFP.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison today joined Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ben Morton and Member for Swan Steve Irons at the AFP Headquarters in Perth to speak about the forthcoming National Strategy and highlight new AFP funding as part of the package.
“My Government’s number one focus is on keeping Australians safe and the AFP is at the frontline of those efforts,” the Prime Minister said.
“The Royal Commission, which recommended development of the National Strategy, revealed the shocking extent of child sexual abuse in this country.
”As part of the National Strategy, we are boosting AFP efforts with a further $59.9 million worth of initiatives, enhancing the.....
United Nations: India has been elected to the Economic and Social Council, one of the six main organs of the United Nations, for the 2022-24 term.
The 54-member Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is at the heart of the United Nations system to advance the three dimensions of sustainable development economic, social and environmental.
It is the central platform for fostering debate and innovative thinking, forging consensus on ways forward, and coordinating efforts to achieve internationally agreed goals.
It is also responsible for the follow-up to major UN conferences and summits.
India was elected in the Asia-Pacific States category along with Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Oman in the elections held on Monday.
From the African states, C te d'Ivoire, Eswatini, Mauritius, Tunisia and the United Republic of Tanzania were elected while from the eastern European states, Croati.....
The McGowan Government will modernise the State's animal welfare laws following a comprehensive review of the Animal Welfare Act 2002.
Today, the State Government released its response to the independent review, led by Western Australian barrister and regulatory law specialist Linda Black, and will embark on five key areas of reform to ensure the welfare of animals.
The 18-month review included extensive industry and public consultation, and has provided a series of recommendations to improve the animal welfare regulatory system in WA.
The McGowan Government will modernise the Animal Welfare Act to better protect and promote the welfare of animals.
This will include being clear on standards of care expected for animals, strengthening compliance, and developing legislation and policies that are science-based and reflect community expectations.
"Modernising our animal wel.....
New Delhi: India's manufacturing sector activity witnessed a significant loss of growth momentum in May due to the intensification of the COVID-19 crisis and its detrimental impact on demand, a monthly survey said on Tuesday.
The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), fell to 50.8 in May, down from 55.5 in April, as companies observed the slowest rises in new work and output in ten months amid intensification of the COVID-19 crisis.
In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion while a score below 50 denotes contraction.
"The Indian manufacturing sector is showing increasing signs of strain as the COVID-19 crisis intensifies. Key gauges of current sales, production and input buying weakened noticeably in May and pointed to the slowest rates of increase in ten months. In fact, all indices were down from April," said Pollyanna De L.....
New Delhi: Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Thursday said the company continues to engage closely with partner Jio on the initiative of building an affordable smartphone and that work is underway on the project.
Last year, Google had picked up a 7.7 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 33,737 crore. It had also entered into a commercial agreement with Jio Platforms to jointly develop an entry-level, affordable smartphone.
"We are focused on building an affordable phone... we are committed to making progress on the project and we are working with them (Jio)," Pichai said in a virtual conference with select reporters from Asia Pacific.
He, however, did not divulge other details, including possible launch date and pricing.
Availability of affordable devices, along with cheap data rates can help bring the internet within reach for more people across the country.
Google's investme.....
Coronavirus is taking a heavy toll on people in the 31-40-50 age groups while largely sparing children and those over 60 in the ongoing second wave in Andhra Pradesh.
The State has now crossed the 10,000-mark in the total number of Covid-19 deaths since the first one was reported on April 3, 2020.
The overall mortality rate so far since the outbreak of the pandemic stood at 0.65 per cent, with women constituting 34.27 per cent of the total deaths and men 65.67 per cent.
The toll percentage and the case mortality rate in the first and second waves in the state remained almost the same, a death audit by the State government revealed.
About 50.4 per cent of the deaths were being reported from urban areas and 49.6 per cent from the rural side.
The State currently occupied the 19th position in the country in overall Covid-19 toll.
Mortality in the 41-50 age group jumped up b.....