From the Editors: Abu Dhabi’s Hope Consortium for vaccine storage a pioneering endeavour

Abu Dhabi’s Hope Consortium for vaccine storage a pioneering endeavour: In keeping with the UAE’s pioneering role in the world in the fight against COVID-19, the Hope Consortium for vaccine storage, maintained at Abu Dhabi Ports facility, is a huge panacea – not only for the UAE, but for the global community as well. Abu Dhabi’s Hope Consortium is in line with the UAE’s role as a major hub for vaccine storage and its distribution in several countries in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. This state-of-the-art facility has ensured an equitable distribution of this life-saving commodity around the world, allowing people in some of the most remote corners of the globe have access to a game changer in the fight against a humongous crisis. [COMMENT BY: Sanjib Kumar Das, Assistant Editor]

India cannot start vaccine exports anytime soon: The head of India’s COVID-19 task force has said the country hopes to resume vaccine exports - but only after the domestic needs are met. The situation in India, which had reached apocalyptic levels in recent months, is very slowly getting better. But in a country of 1.35 billion people, only about 4 per cent of the people are fully immunised. India’s confirmed coronavirus cases are close to 30 million, and deaths are more than 380,000. But everyone knows this is a gross underestimate, and real figures are many times higher. This being the case, India and Indian manufacturers can be forgiven for prioritising domestic needs. However, this would mean additional problems for developing countries that had hitched their hopes to buying vaccines from India. [COMMENT BY: Omafr Shariff, International Editor]

Defiant Scotland frustrate a star-studded England at ‘home’: It was a game that had everything we hoped it would have — as Scotland rode out a 0-0 draw against their ‘Auld Enemy’ England at Wembley to get that first point of Euro 2020 on the board. This was a tantalising game in the build-up because of the high stakes - a win would take England into the last 16 and a loss for the visitors would dash their hopes once again. Not even Harry Kane — who is amid a transfer-window power struggle — could find a way past a defiant Scotland, who fought for every ball and even had a few chances to snatch the three points for themselves. The Premier League’s top scorer was toothless and never came close to scoring, while Scotland earned the point they needed to keep their last-16 hopes alive. [COMMENT BY: Matthew Smith, Sports Editor]

Milkha Singh’s memory is much more than a Bollywood biopic: Milkha Singh was a legend long before Bollywood discovered the courageous tale of India’s Flying Sikh. The four-time Asian Games Gold medalist and the 1958 Commonwealth Games champion is perhaps best remembered for his 400-metre race at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, where he became the first Indian male to reach the final of an Olympic event. As we mourn the death of the athlete who succumbed to complications from COVID-19, what we can hold dear is Singh’s tenacious spirit that captured the attention of the world on track, and then later on reel when Bollywood star Farhan Akhtar brought Singh’s story to screen in ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’. In a touching tribute, an emotional Akhtar summed up what fans of the legend have always known: “…You represented an idea. You represented a dream. You represented how hard work, honesty and determination can lift a person off his knees and get him to touch the sky.” Rest in power Mr Milkha Singh, your legend will live on. [COMMENT BY: Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor]