First freight train service from China to London takes off

China has started its first freight train service to London from Yiwu - this is a famous wholesale market town in the eastern province of Zhejiang. The train will travel for 18 days and cover more than 7,500 miles (12,000km) to reach Britain from China.
It will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before arriving in London.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 4 January 2017.

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron had wanted to open up trade with China and had pitched for Britain as the pre-eminent gateway to the West for investment from China. He had proposed to make London the main international trading centre for offshore yuan.
The present Prime Minister Theresa May has continued with that trend and has said that the relationship with China remains "golden". She seeks to bring in billions of dollars in Chinese investment as Britain prepares to leave the European Union.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Theresa May to pay upto £13,000 to families who stay on sources of shale gas

Theresa May has taken over as Prime Minister of Britain three weeks back and she has already taken several major decisions like scrapping the climate change department and, threatening to scupper the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant deal with China and France. She now plans to transform her predecessor David Cameron’s cautious fracking rewards scheme.
It seems she wants to offer five-figure cash payouts under a radical plan to boost the drive for controversial shale gas fracking. This Lottery-style ‘Frackpot’ windfall scheme is all about paying individual householders cash sums (this could be as high as £13,000) if they are living in areas where the gas can be extracted.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 7 August 2016.

This move by the new Prime Minister marks a major shift in policy from David Cameron’s blueprint for Britain’s energy needs. She is hopeful that her bold post-Brexit plan would open the doors to access the untapped energy reserve of Britain and give a boost to the economy.
However, it may not be plain sailing because environmental critics could argue that it is a sort of ‘bribe’ which could undermine local democracy. Councillors who are opposed to fracking could find themselves under pressure from voters who would be keen to get their share of the fracking lottery.
As per the existing proposals for fracking - sums of up to £10million in each affected area were to be taken from business rates paid by fracking firms and given to town halls and community groups. However, the new plan envisages diversion of all or some of that money to individuals to ensure that ordinary families ‘personally benefit from economic decisions’. The decision could be a game-changer in the politically explosive energy sector because it could override the green lobby’s fierce opposition to fracking.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Theresa May, the new Prime Minister of Britain, and the Nuclear Red Button

Theresa May is slated to become Britain's new Prime Minister once David Cameron relinquishes office and will be given a security briefing from the Cabinet Secretary, National Security Adviser and Chief of the Defence Staff. These three men will bring her up to speed on the UK's secret military deployments. Specifically, she will be told the whereabouts of the Royal Navy's on-duty nuclear submarine.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 13 July 2016.

The nuclear submarine is normally on patrol somewhere in the North Atlantic, and her exact whereabouts is known only by a handful of people. In fact, even most of the crew on board are unaware of its location. The three men will apprise the new Prime Minister about the Nuclear Red Button and she will then be have to make the gravest decision of her premiership. It will be a decision that she will never live to witness.
This is because she will have to decide how she wants the military to react in the event of nuclear war. There will be four options - from retaliating to doing nothing. Once she takes the decision, she will write four handwritten letters which will be addressed to the Commanders of the four Vanguard class submarines. They will be delivered to the boats and locked away.
David Cameron had written similar letters when he took office and they will be burned without being opened. Unless he tells the world, no one will ever know what his decision was.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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UK to join US to tackle ISIS - do we see the making of WWIII?

WWII was all about a menace called Adolf Hitler and his Nazis – that was in the 1940s. Now, in 2015, it is a menace called Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, his dreams of a ‘caliphate’ and his ISIS. There is a lot of similarity – Hitler was ruthless in his murder of Jews and al-Baghdadi is equally ruthless in his murder of not only other Muslims but anyone else that he fancies. He has an added advantage over Hitler because, al-Baghdadi has at his disposal internet connectivity and is misusing it for propaganda.
Therefore, when Prime Minister David Cameron indicates that he will throw in the towel in the global fight against ISIS and says that Britain is committed to working with the US to destroy the "caliphate" set up by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, one can sense that things are heading for a showdown.
This has been reported in bbc.com dated 19 July 2015.

However, for Britain to really take the plunge, it must have the backing of its Parliament and, it may be recalled that MPs voted against proposed military action in Syria two years ago.
Of course, Prime Minister David Cameron on his part is trying to send out a message to young Britons who may be influenced by the ISIS propaganda and be tempted to join IS fighters. He wants to tell them that they will end up as little more than "cannon fodder". If a boy, they will brainwash you, strap bombs to your body and blow you up; if you are a girl, they will enslave and abuse you.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Cameron agrees to depute another 125 troops to Iraq to train its Army

#SchlossElmau #Germany #G7Summit #Obama #DavidCameron Based on a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi, the British Prime Minister David Cameron has agreed to send another 125 troops to Iraq to train its Army personnel to battle the Islamic State militants.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 7 June 2015.

This additional deployment would increase the number of British troops in Iraq to 275. The ISIS has seized large parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria and the one section of British troops numbering about 100 would train local forces in how to detect and deal with improvised explosive devices. The remaining 25 will focus on logistical challenges such as bridge-building.
Till now, the British mission has concentrated on the Kurdish capital of Irbil, and the fresh batch of troops will be stationed at bases around the country, including the capital Baghdad. They will remain inside the bases and will not be involved in field action.
In the course of his talks in the G7 summit in Germany, Cameron has described the fight against Islamist extremism as the "biggest challenge" facing Britain and the international community.
The British Prime Minister had met US President Barack Obama in the margins of the Schloss Elmau summit for one-on-one talks that would have laid emphasis on defense issues.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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#DavidCameron #UKElection2015 #Conservatives Signaling an end to the coalition government in Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron`s Conservatives won an impressive victory by a huge margin in the just concluded elections in Britain. Following his own re-election in Witney, near Oxford, David Cameron went to London to pay a visit to Buckingham Palace. Here, he was reconfirmed as prime minister by Queen Elizabeth II.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 9 May 2015.

The stunning victory by the Conservatives cut short the careers of Cameron’s top three rivals and put the country`s European Union future in doubt.
There had been widespread predictions that there would be a neck-to-neck contest with the opposition Labor party but it did not happen. David Cameron won 331 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. This will pave the way for a majority Tory government.
Incidentally, the counting of votes and declaration of results for the 650-seat House of Commons was over within 24-hours. In India, it takes days. Wonder when Indians will be able to improve its systems and bring them at par with world standards. Past leaders have expressed desires to make Mumbai at par with Shanghai and make Kolkata into London. Will such a transformation ever take place in India - or will these remain dreams?

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England burdened with the load of over half a million migrants post 2011

#OxfordUniversity #migrantpopulation #england #DavidCameron As per rough estimates of an Oxford University research, more than half a million migrants have entered England from abroad over the past three years and two-thirds of the 565,000 migrants are believed to have arrived between 2011 and 2014. They are citizens of EU countries. The study was carried out by the university's Migration Observatory.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 6 March 2015.
The estimated numbers have been compiled in order to provide an up-to-date idea of the migrant populations across England and comes in advance before the official estimates are released by the Office for National Statistics which is due in June.
It seems London is the city which has absorbed most of the new migrants – its population has increased by nearly 200,000 as compared to figures of 2011. Other areas are increase of 79,000 in the rest of the South East while the North East has recorded rise of 26,000 migrants who have chosen to relocate there.
In the opinion of Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory, the aim of the exercise was to provide an insight ahead of the General Election because immigration is a major problem that is being faced.
Incidentally, Prime Minister David Cameron had said at the beginning of his tenure as premier that he would like to reduce the net number to "tens of thousands".

David Cameron warns Vladimir Putin of more sanctions if Ukraine aggression continues

#DavidCameron #VladimirPutin #Ukraine #sanctions From all appearances it is becoming evident that Britain is planning to take drastic steps against Russia until it takes necessary action to put an end to aggression in Ukraine. Britain Prime Minister David Cameron has intimated as much to Russian President Vladimir Putin as reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 6 March 2015.
The Prime Minister has expressed his feelings by saying that the Russian president has ‘ripped up’ the rule book and could not expect still to have access to international markets and finance. He has given an indirect threat of take sanctions against Russia to a ‘whole different level’ if Vladimir Putin goes ahead with his tactics of aggression.
He has also hinted that the West must be prepared to ‘settle in for a long and determined position’ against the Moscow government and that in case there are further incursions into Ukraine, those should not be treated lightly but be punished.
Britain’s Prime Minister was sharing a piece of his mind with the Wall Street Journal and commented that if Russia is going to rip up the rule book of the 21st century and destabilize a sovereign country, then it should be told that such actions cannot be condoned. There will be repercussions and its effects would be felt by Russia in different areas like having access to international markets, international finance, and international systems.

Defense Secretary Michael Fallon feels Russia is testing the NATO nations

#michaelfallon #russia #balticstates #ukraine #NATO #davidcameron Defense Secretary Michael Fallon has voiced fears that Russia could be nurturing plans to destabilize NATO alliance countries like Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia following its activities in Ukraine and Crimea. In the opinion of Michael Fallon, there exists "real and present danger" that Russia could go in for using irregular troops, or carry out cyber-attacks or inflame tensions with ethnic Russian minorities.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 19 February 2015.
The Defense Secretary has gone on to add that his worry was about Russian President Vladimir Putin's "pressure on the Baltics" and that NATO must be ready to face any kind of aggression from Russia, in whatever form it comes.
While on the subject, Michael Fallon pointed out that quite recently, two long-range Russian bombers had flown down the English Channel off the coast of Bournemouth. It was the first instance after the height of the Cold War that such an incident has happened and it reveals the intentions.
His comments have come against the backdrop of Prime Minister David Cameron urging Europe to tell Russia that it would faces economic and financial consequences for "years to come" if it continues to destabilize Ukraine.
As proof on the involvement of Russia in the Ukraine affairs, the Prime Minister indicated that the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine are using Russian rocket launchers, Russian tanks, and Russian artillery, you these cannot be bought on eBay. They are sourced from Russia and that is unacceptable.