From the Newsroom: India suspends all flights from UK due to new coronavirus strain

In your evening news brief, From the Newsroom, India bans all flights from the UK; United Kingdom goes back into strict lockdown due to the discovery of the new strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus; Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says the government is fully alert and there is no need to panic, and Taiwanese contract manufacturer for Apple Inc., Wistron Corp says the recent violence at its facility in Karnataka will not cause significant impact to the company.

Here is the top news of December 21, 2020:

A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped and killed by a man living in her neighbourhood in Haryana's Jhajjar city, police said on Monday.

The 30-year-old man, who has a criminal background, kidnapped the girl from her house at night and took her to his residence where he allegedly raped and then killed her, a police official in Jhajjar said

The body was recovered from the house of the man and he has been arrested, police said. The official said that a case has been registered against him under relevant provisions of the law.

The United Kingdom has gone back into strict lockdown due to the discovery of the new strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, weeks after it started vaccinating against the virus.

The UK government said the highly contagious infection was “out of control” which has led to many countries including France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Austria, banning flights to and from the country.

Experts have deemed this new virus at least 70 per cent more infectious than the other strains of the virus. Most new positive cases that have surfaced in the UK, especially in London, have been because of the new strain.

India on Monday announced suspension of all flights originating from the United Kingdom from Tuesday midnight till December 31 amid concerns of emergence of a new coronavirus strain in that country.

“Considering the prevailing situation in the UK, the Government of India has decided that all flights originating from the UK to India will be suspended till 31st December 2020 (23.59 hours),” the ministry of Civil Aviation said.

It said the suspension of flights will come into effect from 23:59 hours on December 22, 2020, the ministry said.

The government is fully alert and there is no need to panic, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday amid concerns over the emergence of a new coronavirus strain in the UK.

The Union Health Ministry has called an urgent meeting of its Joint Monitoring Group on Monday to discuss the new strain, which has led to a surge in the infection rate in the UK.

Responding to a question on the panic and a demand to ban flights from the UK, Vardhan told reporters, "I would say this to all that all these imaginary situations, imaginary talks, imaginary panic... don't involve yourself in this."

Taiwanese contract manufacturer for Apple Inc., Wistron Corp. has said that the recent violence at its facility in Karnataka will not cause significant impact to the company.

Workers at the Wistron's iPhone manufacturing plant at Narsapura in Kolar district had gone on the rampage on December 12 over the alleged delay in payment of salary and overtime wages.

"Regarding the event at our Narsapura facility in India, the investigation which includes collaboration with related government authorities is ongoing, as well as related insurance claims. The company will work with our customer in terms of correcting issues and operation recovery," the firm has informed the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Source: DHNS/ PTI