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U.K. is easing Covid rules, bringing businesses fresh concerns

Jul 6, 2021 | , , , ,

Ministers highlight the link between infections, hospitalizations and deaths has been weakened by one of the world’s most advanced vaccination programs, yet infections have increased by two-thirds in the past week, fueled by the fast-spreading delta variant.
Tony Danker, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, said it will be “critical” to build both customer and employee confidence and that the government has a “vital” role to play in providing guidance to employers. The big question remains: Will consumers come back?

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Unveiling its last petrol car, Lotus sets off in pursuit of Porsche

Jul 6, 2021 | , , , ,

The Emira, which will start at around 60,000 pounds ($83,000), is the first new petrol Lotus model in more than a decade but it will be the last powered by fossil fuels.
Lotus is currently developing an electric sports car platform in partnership with Renault for the French company’s Alpine brand, and that framework will also be available to other carmakers.
Lotus and its Chinese owner Geely want to transform what is now a tiny company making some 1,500 sports cars a year into an electric powerhouse churning out tens of thousands of high-end saloons and sports-utility vehicles (SUVs) as well.

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Up to 1,500 businesses affected by ransomware attack, says US firm’s CEO

Jul 6, 2021 | , , , , ,

One of those tools was subverted on Friday, allowing the hackers to paralyze hundreds of businesses on all five continents. Although most of those affected have been small concerns – like dentists’ offices or accountants – the disruption has been felt more keenly in Sweden, where hundreds of supermarkets had to close because their cash registers were inoperative, or New Zealand, where schools and kindergartens were knocked offline.

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Rural India sinks deeper into debt as Covid-19 pandemic wipes out work

Jul 6, 2021 | , , ,

The coronavirus and a lockdown aimed at stopping it last year saw millions of people thrown out of jobs in cities and towns and forced back to their villages, and ever higher levels of debt.

Interviews with 75 households in a cluster of eight villages in India’s most populous state showed household incomes have slumped nearly 75% on average. Almost two thirds of the households have taken on debt.
Rural unemployment rate, which used to hover around 6% before the pandemic, rose to 8.75% in June, according to the Mumbai-based Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

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COVID-19 recovered with one/two doses of vaccine have higher protection against Delta variant: Study

Jul 5, 2021 | , , , ,

“The high transmissibility associated with Delta variant led to second wave of the pandemic in India which affected millions of people. Besides this, variant of concerns have been reported to show lower neutralisation to several approved vaccines. This has led to breakthrough infections after completion of vaccination regimen,” it said.

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