Bharat Rakshak

A science superpower in the wings?

Declaring oneself—or aspiring to become—a global superpower sits uneasily with a British tendency towards self-deprecation. Rather, in this post-Elizabethan, post-Brexit chapter of the United Kingdom’s story, public debate is undercut by fear of decline. References to Britain’s imperial past are often sidestepped or accompanied by apologies. The exception is in political discussions of science, where assertions of national supremacy and manifest global destiny are now commonplace. Ministers and prime ministers past and present insist that the UK is already—or is well on the way to becoming—a “science superpower.” Whether this goal is sensible or even feasible is barely discussed.

Beneath the froth of superpower lies a bedrock of substance: For a country of 69 million people, the UK benefits from an above-average share of leading universities. Its scientific talent pool runs deep. Public R&D investment has risen over the last 3 years by around 25%. And private sector R&D, though uneven, has peaks and clusters of undoubted strength. These are assets any nation would prize and build upon, but they must be set against serious weaknesses. The UK’s post-pandemic economic recovery remains sluggish, and it is forecast to be the only advanced industrialized country where the economy will shrink in 2023—by more than even sanctions-hit Russia. Its economy is more regionally unequal than any other wealthy nation. Since 2008, it has failed to kickstart economic productivity—the amount of output per hour worked—which has limited investment and depressed wages. This and a cost-of-living crisis has pushed industrial relations to a low ebb, with 2022 the worst year since 1989 for strike days across health and transport sectors and at universities. Still bleeding under all of this are the self-inflicted wounds of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU) in January 2020. Brexit has already made the UK 5% poorer than if it had remained in the EU.

How many of these problems can science and technology fix? The language of superpower is alien to most British scientists, who gravitate toward collaboration. Few would disagree on the need for greater emphasis and investment in R&D, yet the research community does itself few long-term favors by colluding in a pretense that it can dig a country out of holes this deep. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, now in office 4 months, has presented himself as an antidote to the excesses of his immediate predecessors. But in science, he has adopted their rhetoric and recently created a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) with building “an S&T superpower” part of its mandate. For a research system that was unaltered for decades, this is the third restructuring of key public institutions in 5 years. A 2018 consolidation under a single funding behemoth, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), was designed to bring strategic focus. Two years later, Patrick Vallance, as government chief scientific adviser (GCSA), was tasked with creating an Office for Science and Technology Strategy that would succeed where others failed. Now DSIT is supposed to swallow these and spit out a system that hums and purrs like never before.

While politicians tinker, the science community has focused its attention on a more tractable question: Will Britain continue to associate with Horizon Europe, the €95 billion program for R&D collaboration? For 2 years, this issue has been caught in a political knot between London, Brussels, and Belfast over trade across the Irish border, which had to be unpicked first. Resolution is now tantalizingly close—but the science community has learned not to take anything for granted. If the UK does associate with Horizon Europe, it will still take time to rebuild the trust on which European frameworks depend.
This week, Angela McLean, a professor of mathematical biology at the University of Oxford, was named the UK’s next GCSA—the first woman to ...

Lisa wrote:Strange, very strange. Rob an Indian bank and have umpteen different appeal options. Rob an American bank and quickly get extradited!

...

Lisa wrote:Strange, very strange. Rob an Indian bank and have umpteen different appeal options. Rob an American bank and quickly get extradited!

https://www.dawn.com/news/1741195/arif- ... tion-to-us

Arif Naqvi loses final appeal against extradition to US

"They also argued that the 2021 .

P.S."

Manish_P wrote:

Lisa wrote:Strange, very strange. Rob an Indian bank and have umpteen different appeal options. Rob an American bank and quickly get extradited!...

No. nothing strange. This is Good crook / Bad crook... like the Good taliban, Bad taliban.

yensoy wrote: As they say in Indian, the one with the stick owns the buffalo. We need a big stick.

What exactly did Lineker say?
The row kicked off on Tuesday when the government unveiled controversial plans to ban people arriving in the UK illegally from ever claiming asylum.

Gary Lineker reacted on Twitter, calling the plan an "immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s".

That comparison to Nazi Germany caused issue among some MPs, including the Home Secretary Suella Braverman who described it as "lazy and unhelpful".

The BBC announced three days after Lineker wrote the tweet that he would be suspended from presenting flagship football show, Match of the Day, "until we've got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media".

NEW DELHI: In remarks intended to embarrass the British public services broadcaster after it pressed ahead with the broadcast of a controversial two-part documentary on the Godhra riots that had irked India, Union I&B minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday took a dig at BBC and said that while it "makes lofty claims about journalistic objectivity and independence", its actions back home proved otherwise.
This week, BBC suspended football commentator Gary Lineker for his comments on social media criticising the UK government's asylum policies, which the broadcaster said breached the network's impartiality guidelines. It also suspended the airing of an episode of Sir David Attenborough's new series on British wildlife, fearing that it would invite a backlash from the right-wing leaders and press.
"Interesting to see how the BBC, which makes lofty claims about journalistic objectivity and independence, suspended their star anchor over his social media activity," Thakur said in a series of tweets.
In its statement on Linekar, BBC said that it considered his "recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines". It added that Lineker should "keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies".
Lineker has stirred a controversy by responding to a video message by UK home secretary Suella Braverman, who has since been dropped, outlining the government's plans to ban people who arrive illegally into the UK from ever claiming asylum. The presenter has referred to the actions as an "immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s".
"Fake narrative-setting and ethical journalism are inherently contradictory. Those indulging in malicious propaganda forged in concocted facts can obviously never be expected to have the moral fibre or the courage to stand up for journalistic independence," the Union minister said on Twitter.
Earlier this week, Thakur had lashed out at the New York Times, stating that their opinion piece on the freedom of press in Kashmir was fictitious and published with an objective to drive an agenda against India.

IndraD wrote:Although it is trollworthy for us, we shouldn't overlook that the bbc baiting in uk is coming from woke liberandu commie complex. Tim Davie, the bbc boss is tory nominee, hence to be expected. The RWers, if they had any sense should up the ante for bbc defunding. The likes of lineker are devouring (£1.3 million pa) malai and that comes from the exchequer.

It’s game, set and match to Gary Lineker and the radical left

sanjaykumar wrote:Rampage? No my dear man rampage can be used to describe the European/ Christian depredations of the world.

But little India?

sanjaykumar wrote:Rampage? No my dear man rampage can be used to describe the European/ Christian depredations of the world.

But little India?

vijayk wrote:https://archive.ph/0UW8s
India’s rampaging rise threatens to tip world’s fragile balance of power
US and its allies need a China bulwark, but Modi's ‘unbreakable’ friendship with Putin complicates an alliance

IndraD wrote:BBC surrenders to librandu-naxal commie, Gary linker much higher in stature now, reappointed in BBC all this happening under Tories rule! tories have scored another self goal and librandu commies have trounced tories w/o fight once again! Even when radical left is out of touch from ground they r winning politically, next, bbc director will be scapegoated

It’s game, set and match to Gary Lineker and the radical left

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/enterta ... ormat=link

Pro-Khalistani elements in the United Kingdom held a protest at the Indian High Commission in the UK. In the absence of adequate security from the British side, the goons were able to storm the premises of the High Commission and they brought down the Tricolour. The Tricolour was later retrieved by Indian officials. India has raised a strong objection with the UK over the incident. It summoned the senior-most British diplomat in Delhi over reports of bringing down of Indian flag at its high commission in UK.

Ashokk wrote:On cam: Pro-Khalistani goons storm Indian High Commission premises in London, bring down Triciolour

Pro-Khalistani elements in the United Kingdom held a protest at the Indian High Commission in the UK. In the absence of adequate security from the British side, the goons were able to storm the premises of the High Commission and they brought down the Tricolour. The Tricolour was later retrieved by Indian officials. India has raised a strong objection with the UK over the incident. It summoned the senior-most British diplomat in Delhi over reports of bringing down of Indian flag at its high commission in UK.