London knife attack suspect served prison term for terrorism charge in 2012

A man suspected of stabbing two people to death in a terror attack on LondonBridge was a former prisoner convicted in 2012 for terrorism offences, police said on Saturday.
Police identified the man, who was shot dead by officers after the Friday attack, as 28-year-old Usman Khan, saying they were not actively seeking any other suspects in relation to the incident.

"This individual was known to authorities, having been convicted in 2012 for terrorism offences. He was released from prison in December 2018 on licence," Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said in a statement.

UK court denies Vijay Mallya permission to appeal against extradition

A London court has denied businessman Vijay Mallya permission to appeal against his extradition to India where he is accused of defrauding lenders of Rs 9,000 crore.
Mallya, 63, had filed the application in the High Court after UK's home secretary Sajid Javid signed off on a Westminster Magistrates' Court order for his extradition to face the Indian courts back in February.

"The application for permission to appeal was refused by Mr Justice William Davis on 05/04/2019," said a spokesperson for the UK judiciary. "The appellant (Mallya) has five business days to apply for oral consideration. If a renewal application is made, it will be listed before a High Court judge and dealt with at a hearing."

The application seeking “leave to appeal” had been passed on to a single judge, who was to make a decision on the basis of papers submitted as part of the application. Now that the “judge on papers” application has been rejected by Judge Davis, Mallya has the option to submit for a “renewal”.
The renewal process will lead to a brief oral hearing during which Mallya's legal team and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on behalf of the Indian government will renew their respective claims for and against an appeal for a judge to determine if it can proceed to a full hearing.
Mallya has living in the UK since March 2016 and remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017.
In her verdict at the end of a year-long extradition trial in December last year, Judge Emma Arbuthnot had ruled that the "flashy" billionaire had a "case to answer" in the Indian courts.

UK court favours extradition of liquor baron Vijay Mallya to India

A London court on Monday ruled that fugitive tycoon Vijay Mallya should be extradited from Britain to India. The ruling marked a significant point in the high-profile extradition trial that had been going on for over a year.
Westminster Magistrates' Court Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot ruled that Mallya could be extradited to India to stand trial on the charges brought by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED).
India wants the 62-year-old businessman, who has been in Britain, to be brought to the country to face criminal action for default on loans taken by his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. A clutch of banks want to recover about $1.4 billion they say Kingfisher owes them.

The judge referred the extradition case to the Secretary of State.
ALSO READ: Awaiting extradition verdict, Mallya says offer to repay banks 'not bogus'
The judge's decision to send the case to UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid could be appealed with the UK High Court's permission. Mallya is entitled to make an application for permission to appeal to the High Court within 14 days of the date of the Chief Magistrate's ruling.
"In case the individual concerned does not file an appeal, and Secretary of State agrees with the magistrate's decision, then the individual must be extradited from the UK within 28 days of the Home Secretary's extradition order. This will also apply if an appeal lodged by either party in the High Court is unsuccessful, but the 28 days will commence from the date when the appeal hearing was concluded," Pavani Reddy, a UK-based legal expert and Managing Partner of Zaiwalla & Co, told news agency PTI.
Earlier in the day, Mallya sought to disprove the narrative that he had "stolen" money and said his offer to repay the principal amount to the Indian banks was "not bogus".
Mallya made the remarks while talking to reporters outside the Westminster Magistrates' Court. The former Kingfisher Airlines boss was on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year.
"My settlement offer is made before the Karnataka High Court. It is not related to this extradition trial. Nobody disrespects a court of law by making a bogus offer. The assets have been attached by the ED so they cannot be bogus assets," he said.
The embattled liquor tycoon said that the value of his assets was more than enough to pay everybody and that was exactly what he was focusing on. "I want to disprove the narrative that I have stolen (money)," he said.
He had said his legal team would review the judgment and take proper steps thereafter.
Referring to the settlement offer before the Karnataka High Court, Mallya said he had requested the court if the settlement was granted then the employees of Kingfisher should be paid first.

London mayor condemns 'offensive' UK visa policy that hurts Indian students

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he will continue to lobby the UK government to change its rules around immigration as he branded the exclusion of Indians from an easier student visa application regime as "offensive" and a "wasted opportunity".
Dismissing UK government claims over visa overstayers from India, Khan said the evidence did not back up the concerns.

To link the two, illegal immigration and students is deeply offensive and also muddies the waters. This hostile environment (to immigration) is still here and we need real concrete evidence that it will change, Khan said on the sidelines of the UK-India Awards here last evening.
There isn't a problem about students overstaying All the evidence shows that Indians who study here leave with a very positive attitude. So, when they become chief executives or investors, they invest in the UK, he said.
The senior Labour party leader challenged the Theresa May-led Conservative party government's blind spot, which fails to take into account the benefits of immigration to Britain.
I feel this government is being very complacent about Indian investment. They assume it will always be here. My message to the government is no; these talented people can go elsewhere, he warned.
Khan said he would continue to lobby the government to change rules, not just for tourists and students but also for Bollywood because film producers are now going to other parts of Europe as filming in London becomes far more difficult because of visa restrictions and the high cost of visitor visas.
He added, "As we leave the European Union (EU), we need to use this opportunity to build better links with countries outside the EU. We must realise Indians are equal partners, we mustn't talk down to them. It's a competition to attract talented Indians and we have got to be competing".
His intervention came as the UK government seemed to indicate a softening of its stance over the issue of visas. UK Foreign Office Minister Mark Field told the audience of senior business and political leaders at the UK-India Awards that the government was determined to make the changes necessary and it was just a matter of time before these become visible.
I think all of us realise that there has to be a change in the visa system. I will just say that these things do take a little bit of time and I think we are making some progress in that area, said Field, who is also the minister of state in charge of India in the Foreign Office.
His comments come in the wake of brewing India-UK tensions since last week when the UK Home Office unveiled new reforms to its Tier 4 student visa system, adding countries like China, Serbia and the Maldives to an expanded list from where overseas students could access a more streamlined university application process.
But India was conspicuous by its absence on that list, leading to an outcry among student groups and other senior leaders.
The British High Commission in New Delhi has insisted the move would mean no change to the experience of Indian students applying to UK universities, but critics have questioned the perception it creates at a time when Indian students are already being put off applying to the UK and choosing alternate destinations.
The reality is there is so much talent in India, there is so much potential. Why aren't we rushing to try and get that talent to come here rather than letting them go to Canada, Australia, the US and New Zealand? questioned Khan.