Special treatment: Passengers heading to Kolkata are waiting to see when the airport there does what the rest of the country, and most of the rest of the world has begun to do— to do away with Covid testing for arriving passengers. Kolkata airport has exempted them all except for passengers arriving from Britain. Nothing of course stops anyone taking a flight to Delhi or Mumbai and then travelling on to Kolkata. It’s not the sort of exception that can be effective.
Next up, in the Nirav Modi case: Following yet more weeks of delay, next week is set to bring a decisive hearing date over Nirav Modi’s appeal against extradition. He has been allowed to appeal only on grounds of mental health. The court of appeal is due to give directions in the case, and everyone is hoping these will be directions that are decisive, and at least pave the way for an order even if they do not in themselves amount to a final order one way or another.
Success story: Grant Thornton and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) have between them produced another report on the success of the Indian diaspora in the UK. The average success is remarkable, earlier reports have indicated that Indians in Britain pay as much tax as the average Briton. Over time this is only likely to have gotten better, and many are eagerly awaiting the findings of the new report due out early in March.
Precious tadka: The British are discovering that some of the joys of Indian cooking are becoming rather costly. No proper North Indian tadka to a dal or a vegetable is complete without garlic and tomatoes, and the prices of both are rising particularly fast, among just about everything beginning to cost more. There are other Indians who swear by great food without those two going in. Those discoveries have yet to be unleashed on the British public.
Trade deal challenges: Among all the sweet talk around the start of discussions on an India-UK trade deal, thorny issues continue to arise. British officials raised the matter of the Indian refusal to renew the registration of Oxfam India during a bilateral meeting between home departments of both countries earlier this month. The issue was raised, but neither side has spoken of any agreement or any resolution. This is among several differences that continue to fester.
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