UK FM Sunak writes to PM Johnson to ease COVID travel curbs: Report
The Hindu
The FM calls for an urgent easing of COVID-19 travel curbs to aid the revival of the country’s economy
The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has reportedly written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, calling for an urgent easing of COVID-19 travel curbs to aid the revival of the country's economy. According to ‘The Sunday Times’, the senior Indian-origin Cabinet minister has warned that Britain’s border rules are damaging the economy and tourism, ahead of a ministerial meeting planned for Thursday to confirm the traffic light system upgrade for international travel. India remains on the red list, which means an effective ban on travel and compulsory 10-day hotel quarantine for returning British residents, and there are widespread hopes within the diaspora of that status easing up to amber in next week's review.Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.