Encouraging women to become entrepreneurs, self-dependent

Encouraging women to become entrepreneurs, self-dependent

Team girl power projecT

The role of gender in economic development process has been increasingly recognized as crucial, both in terms of potential for success and in the nature of the impact of particular development strategies and programs. Gender becomes especially important to consider in case of micro-enterprise approach, as the traditional homecentred roles of women can make it far easier for women to participate in such programs as opposed to the more traditional, large and medium scale enterprises.

Jharkhand is rich in mineral resources like coal, iron ore, copper ore, uranium, mica, bauxite, granite, limestone, silver, graphite, magnetite, and dolomite. 80 per cent of the rural population of Jharkhand depends upon agriculture for their livelihood. The effective literacy rate for Jharkhand in Census 2011 works out to 67.63 per cent, with corresponding figures for males and females being 78.45 and 56.21 per cent respectively, with at least 10 districts being below 50 per cent. It is estimated that 56 per cent of young women (ages 1524) are neither engaged in education, nor employment nor training. This is further accentuated by the lack of female education. It is estimated that beyond schooling, only 8 per cent of young women of age 18-24 ever participated in some form of training, and less than 0.1 per cent had secured a vocational training diploma. Given the above context, the gaps in educational status in girls, mainly due to marriage and domestic pressures, have contributed to fewer opportunities. Within the larger context of social entrepreneurship, Jharkhand has limited success in creating womenbased social entrepreneurship. First, the above lack of education has been a major barrier. Secondly, there is a lack of supportive ecosystems that can enable women to become social entrepreneurs. Most communitybased organizations and civil society organizations working on a rightbased approach focus on the objective of getting one employed rather than instilling a sense of entrepreneurship Girl Power initiated a baseline study of 5000 women to assess the livelihoods of the 10 districts of Jharkhand. The study also aimed to identify and explore the availability of raw materials, potential for entrepreneurship, current entrepreneurial activities and market access and environmental sustainability. With the larger project objective to promote entrepreneurship through a bundle of work packages of network building, capacity building, market connect, skill-building and policy dialogues, over the past year of project implementation, the community resource persons at the ground level have been rigorously working in 10 districts of the state of Jharkhand, gathering information and collecting data of 5000 potential women beneficiaries of the project. The baseline survey studied the potential of rural entrepreneurship among women and the current entrepreneurial activities that add to the larger livelihood generational activities of the household, and their market access for products and services to be sold. Entrepreneurial activities range from women involved in the selling of agricultural and non-agricultural produce, to nontimber forest produce that is so richly available in the state of Jharkhand.

Covering four zones of the state, the survey analysis concluded that 30 per cent of the respondents are already engaged in small entrepreneurial activities that include agricultural and non-agricultural produce. The respondents agreed on the feasibility of various other sectors - handicrafts, mushroom cultivation, organic farming, leaf plate production, candle, incense stick making and running a beauty salon, being a few among others that can be established within the village area.

Rural markets have been growing faster than the urban sector, resulting in overall balanced economic and social development. For consumer durables and services, the rural market has more potential than the urban market. Also, since the rural population largely depends on agriculture, it contributes to nearly 50 per cent of the total national income. Operating a business comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Women establishing and operating businesses come with added responsibilities and obstacles. During the baseline survey, it was visible that there were a lot of obstacles that existing women entrepreneurs had to face on a daily basis in the dayto-day operation of their enterprise. Major obstacles faced by women lie in the marketing of goods or services. Lack of knowledge of new products in the urban market and technical skills of running an enterprise are two of the major obstacles, coupled with the hiked transportation prices

Assessment of entrepreneurial opportunities with beneficiaries

for the long distance between the village and the market. The Girl Power Project will focus on a critical element of market-led enterprisebuilding, which is identifying gaps in already functioning value chains so that one knows where the maximum margins can be made to benefit the informally employed poor, create quality entrepreneurs for growing the business, laying emphasis to serve a variety of market segments and women with varying levels of capacities and social constraints. The integration aims to support women to move ahead confidently in new market situations. Integration allows for linking women’s roles in enterprise, their needs and therefore their rights, and hence builds perspective; it is less threatening for the ecosystem than directly addressing violence against women; it is novel to have mainstreamed domestic violence issues into core business-oriented training and hence has strategic value in many contexts.

The project aims at developing the capacity of the women beneficiaries turned entrepreneurs to contribute towards benefit and well being of their families. It tries to enhance the purchasing power, decision making, and dignity of women. Girl Power strongly believes in the transformative approach to economic empowerment in new market conditions, while empowering women to adopt differential roles the market expects, and internalize and manage the competition that market causes. It is imperative to realize that training and handholding in women’s microenterprise promotion would need to address life-cycle issues that are crosscutting along a spectrum of women’s market engagement because they affect women’s confidence and motivation, ultimately impacting sustainability of women’s empowerment through enterprise. It is necessary for gender sensitiveresponsive women enterprise promotion.

Indeed, gender-related issues such as traditional patriarchal norms have relegated women to a secondary status within the household and community. Women are commonly married young, quickly become mothers, and are then burdened by stringent domestic and financial responsibilities. They are frequently malnourished since women typically are the last member of a household to eat and the last to receive medical attention. Women receive little schooling, and suffer from unfair and biased inheritance and divorce laws. These laws prevent women from accumulating substantial financial assets, making it difficult for women to establish their own security and autonomy. These issues have rarely been addressed in these contexts. Civil Society Organisations deem such integration as imperative. Hence, implementing it if we want women to move ahead confidently in new market situations. Integration allowed for linking women’s roles in enterprise, their needs and therefore their rights and hence builds perspective; it’s less threatening for the eco-system than directly addressing violence against women; it is novel to mainstream domestic violence issues into core business-oriented training (consisting of topics such as production management, costing, pricing, feasibility and business planning) and hence has strategic value in many contexts. Integrating gender throughout the business model and engaging both women and men throughout the enterprise value chain has the potential to increase customers’ perceived value of products/services, as well as their adoption and use. Innovations that contribute to enhancing women’s quality of life or narrowing gender inequalities, can greatly impact their lives.

Delhi sees increasing mucormycosis cases in COVID patients

NEW DELHI: Several hospitals of Delhi reported increasing number of mucormycosis infection in COVID-19 patients, which is found to be caused due to high exposure to mucor mould found commonly in soil, plants, manure and decaying fruits and vegetables. It is spreading at a rapid pace, particularly among those who have recovered from the COVID-19 infection. This is because the condition is triggered by the use of steroids, which have proved to be life-saving among COVID-19 patients.

Mucormycosis, also known as the Black Fungus, has an overall mortality rate of 50 per cent and affects the sinus, brain, eyes and lungs. According to experts, the condition can be life –threatening among diabetic and extremely immunocompromised patients, including those with cancer and HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). After Delhi, other states like Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh also reported cases of black fungus among COVID-19 recovered patients. Due to the alarming rise in the cases, the Government of India has taken prompt action to stimulate the production of Amphotericin B, which provides relief from the disease.

The centre said in an advisory that the disease is caused in patients recovered from COVID-19 and having uncontrolled diabetes and prolonged stay in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Gujarat has so far reported more than 100 cases, whereas Western Maharashtra, home to Mumbai city, has reported more than 2000 cases of mucormycosis.

Dr Tatyarao Lahane, Head, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), said, “It is a serious fungal infection which is found among people with low level of immunity or those who are suffering from chronic diabetes or have gone through organ transplant.” He added that the fungus is present in the environment and people with suppressed immunity, including those who have received steroids while being treated for COVID-19, are more vulnerable to the disease.

Talking about the symptoms of the disease, Dr Lahane said that they can include headache, fever, pain under the eyes, nasal or sinus congestion, and partial loss of vision, among others. He added that patients infected with mucormycosis generally need a particular injection for 21 days, which costs around `9000 per shot. Dr Hetal Marfatia, Head of (Ear, Nose and Throat) ENT department, King Edward Memorial Hospital, suggested regular exercise and control over diet and said that unhealthy food habits can severely damage the immune system and make people vulnerable to the disease.

“While the exact numbers are not available, we are seeing an increase in the number of cases in Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat,” said Dr Aparna Mukherjee, Scientist, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The doctors have termed it ‘deadly’ as it is adding to the COVID-19 woes at the moment in the country. Dr Mukherjee added that the symptoms can be mild at the beginning and can often get missed at the initial stages causing a heavy toll on health and finances later.

Gadkari announces list of road development projects

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India, approved several road widening and upgradation projects in northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, on April 3, announced various road development projects, including rehabilitation, widening, and development of new roads in the states of Bihar, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and northeast India. A statement released by Gadkari said that in Bihar, rehabilitation and widening work for two lane of existing national highway between BhagalpurKahalgaon-Mirzachowki at a cost of `566.15 crore, and rehabilitation and widening work for national highway between Munger-Sultanganj-BhagalpurMirzachowki for `477.54 crore, has been approved by the Ministry. For Punjab, a centrally-sponsored and funded scheme with a budget of `1229.38 crore under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-1 has been approved. According to Gadkari, this is to include development of six-lane greenfield highway between Amritsar and Bathinda, and six lane Jalandhar Bypass from Kahiwan to Kang Sahbu for `1754.84 crore.

MoRTH also approved development of a six-lane Thatchur highway between Veera Kaveri Rajapuram and Pondavakkam on hybrid annuity mode in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, at a cost of `1102.63 crore. Gadkari informed that the upgradation to 2 lanes with paved shoulders of a section of Dulte- Kwalkulh road (International corridor) of NH-6 in the state of Mizoram has also been approved at a cost of `374.39 crore.

NEW DELHI: The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance (MoF), Government of India, on March 31, released a fund of `4608 crore to the states for providing assistance to local bodies. The grants have been released for both rural local bodies (RLBs) and urban local bodies (ULBs). RLBs will be provided `2660 crore while ULBs will be provided `1948 crore of the grant, on the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission. In the last financial year, the MoF had released a total amount of `87,460 crore to the states for their local bodies in which, `60,750 crore were for the RLBs and `26,710 crore were released for the ULBs. The ULB grants are provided to cities in two categories - Million Plus cities and Non-Million Plus cities. Million plus cities were provided the grant of `8257 crore and Non-Million Plus cities were provided `18,354 crore from the Ministry in the last financial year. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change will monitor and evaluate the progress and recommend the distribution of grants to the state. The grants to the Million Plus cities have also been linked to improving the conservation, supply and management of water and proper solid waste management. For this component, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is the nodal ministry and is given the task of evaluating the achievement of city-wise and year-wise targets and recommend distribution of grant to the cities.

In the Non-Million Plus cities, 50 per cent of the total will be the basic grant and the rest of it will be tied to drinking water and solid waste management.

MoF releases `4608 crore grant for local bodies

Access to Climate Finance critical for Asia: ADB

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has strongly suggested Asian and Pacific countries to significantly ramp up climate finance to implement a green and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Masatsugu Asakawa, President, ADB, said that expanding access to climate finance is critical if countries in the Asia-Pacific wish to meet the Paris Agreement goals and set ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and help adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. He added that there is need to put ambitious climate actions at the center of development.

“Record for fastest road construction by India”

While inaugurating Tedhi Pulia flyover and laying the foundation stone for the Khuram Nagar flyover in Lucknow on April 2, Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, said that India currently holds the world record for fastest road construction. India made it to the Guinness World Records for building a 2.5 km fourlane concrete road within 24 hours, and has also built a onelane 25-km bitumen SolapurBijapur road within 24 hours. A statement from MoRTH said that the construction of national highways had touched a record 37 km per day in the year 2020-21.

World Leaders call for intl pandemic treaty

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO, while addressing the press on April 1, said that over 25 leaders from the G20, G7 and other regions, have unanimously called for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response. The new treaty will charter an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics. Dr Tedros mentioned that the pandemic treaty would be a generational commitment to keeping the world safe in the future from new pathogens having pandemic potential.

KCCI seeks fund for inland waterways development

The Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has asked the Government of Karnataka to develop inland waterways on Netravati River and Gurupur River in Dakshina Kannada district, and has sought budgetary allocation for their development. Isaac Vas, President, KCCI, in a letter to the Director of Ports and Inland Water Transport, stressed on the need to promote tourism along the waterways. It mentioned that there are seven floating restaurants operational on the river but are unable to sail further since suitable waterways are unavailable. The proposed waterways should develop tourism.

Need for countries to build healthier, fairer world post COVID-19: WHO

NEW DELHI: For World Health Day, which was celebrated on April 7, the World Health Organisation issued five calls for urgent action to improve health for all people. Within countries, illness and death from COVID-19 have been higher among groups who face discrimination, poverty, social exclusion, and have adverse daily living and working conditions - including humanitarian crises.

According to WHO, the pandemic is estimated to have driven between 119 and 124 million more people across the world into extreme poverty last year. There is convincing evidence that the pandemic has widened gender gaps in employment, where women have been exiting the labour force in greater numbers as compared to men over the past 12 months.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO, commented that the COVID-19 pandemic has thrived amid the existing inequalities in our societies and the gaps in our health systems. Therefore, it is indispensable for all governments to invest in strengthening their health services and to remove the barriers that prevent so many people from using them, so more people have the chance to live healthy lives. WHO, therefore, issued the following five calls for action - Accelerate equitable access to COVID-19 technologies between and within countries; Invest in primary health care; Prioritize health and social protection; Build safe, healthy and inclusive neighbourhoods; and Strengthen data and health information systems. Dr Tedros said that the world does not need to choose between improving public health, building sustainable societies, ensuring food security and adequate nutrition, tackling climate change and having thriving local economies, when all these work in tandem.

Green Development Area Policy to boost Delhi’s green cover

NEW DELHI: National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) organised a consultative meet on Green Development Policy on April 6. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has proposed changes to Master Plan-2021 to incorporate the Green Development Policy. Some important points of the policy include Green Belt (agricultural land) along the border of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, low-density residential area, foster city level hubs for green living and recreation, create green jobs and economies, and encourage production of food and other natural produce to improve food security.

Manju Paul, Additional Commissioner (Planning), DDA, said that the Green Development Policy is very important and DDA will implement it without any delay. She added all the recommendations and suggestions will be presented before the board of enquiry and will be incorporated in the policy.

Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), said that NIUA acts as the bridge to fill the gap between policy making and development. He added that NIUA wants this change to happen in Delhi and the organisation will become the bridge between the policy formulators and the implementation process.

Gaurav Jain, Vice President (North),

NAREDCO, said that as this policy came to the public domain, it felt like something was missing in the past and people realised what they were missing in the past many years.

BMC to distribute used clothes

BHUBANESWAR MUNICIPAL CORPORATION (BMC) launched the Wheel of Kindness program under which people can donate their old clothes. The donated clothes will be washed, pressed and packed at the Kindness Hub set up at Madhusudan Nagar in Bhubaneswar. A specially designed vehicle named Wheel of Kindness will distribute clothes among nearby slums. The bus has segregated racks with dresses for children, ladies, and gents. The needy can pick any clothes from the bus based on their requirement. Vikash, a nongovernment organisation, has been engaged in the work. A cloth collection box has also been set up at the Kindness Hub at the BMC head office.

World’s highest arch on rail bridge completed in India on Chenab

Indian engineers on April 5 completed the arch of the world’s highest railway bridge on Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been built at a height 35 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower in France. The iconic Chenab Bridge is being constructed by the Indian Railways as a part of the Udhampur-SrinagarBaramulla rail link project. The bridge will be 1315 metres long, which will soar 359 metres above the river bed. The bridge is being built to provide muchneeded all-weather connectivity between Kashmir and the rest of the county. The bridge has been designed to withstand earthquakes, with a magnitude of up to eight on the Richter scale, and high-intensity blasts.

MITE partners with TIEI for skill development in engine manufacturing

The Mangalore Institute of Technology and Engineering (MITE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Toyota Industries Engine India Private Limited (TIEI) to aid skill development in the area of engine manufacturing. The main goal of this collaboration includes creating opportunities for students, teaching faculty, and industry personnel. The new MoU will allow exchange of students, faculty and industry executives between MITE and TIEI to strengthen overall competence in their respective fields. Experts from TIEI will deliver lectures and conduct workshops at MITE as part of boosting relationships between academia and industry, and additionally enable exchanges on latest trends in engine technology.

ADB approves loan for industrial corridor in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: In a bid to boost development of the Tamil Nadu industrial corridor, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of `3533 crore for the improvement of transport connectivity and road maintenance. The funds will be utilised for the development of the Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor, or CKIC. This industrial corridor project has been designed to connect the country to the production networks of southeast and east Asia. The said industrial project will involve redevelopment of around 590 km of state highways in the areas influenced by the CKIC. Numerous tasks, including improvement of drainage system, climate change adaptation measures, raising road embankments in critical areas, and resizing of culverts and bridges, will be carried out in the upgradation project of highways. The project is likely to generate more than 4.7 million additional jobs driven by annual manufacturing output of $222 billion. It is taking shape with the state strengthening the power infrastructure and resolving constraints in evacuation of renewable energy from districts in the southern CKIC. The ADB has already provided a loan of $645 million, which is to assist in establishment of extra-high-voltage (765 kV) transmission link between Virudhunagar and Coimbatore to transfer the expected added generation capacity of 9,000 MW by 2025 in the southern CKIC to Coimbatore, which is a major industrial centre. CKIC project will also push road safety improvement programs through modern technology. This will be conducted for road monitoring and enforcement. Additionally, the infrastructural project will also support better planning capacity of Tamil Nadu’s Highways and Minor Ports Department.

India-Denmark to address innovations in water, SDGs

NEW DEHI: Indian think tank NITI Aayog and Embassy of Denmark to India met on April 13 as a part of the IndoDanish bilateral strategic partnership to build a world class innovation ecosystem under the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM). Under this, Innovation Centre Denmark (ICD) in India will work with AIM to support current and future initiatives of AIM, NITI Aayog and other beneficiaries in India. It also aims to develop global innovation green economy partnership to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, said that he is looking forward to the collaboration. “We will also focus on water use in agriculture that takes up to 92 per cent of the water,” said Dr Kumar. As a part of the partnership, the collaboration will help people access technological expertise of Denmark and also encourage Danish innovators to work on Indian land. AIM and ICD in India should explore various areas of collaboration, including AIM-Denmark school student innovation exchange and co-innovation development, hosting Indo-Denmark innovation challenges, facilitating start-up incubator collaborations and exchanges, etc, through the networks and channels of both the parties.

Freddy Svane, Denmark’s ambassador to India, stressed in his address on three key and crucial points - Water, Women, and the World. He said that water is the stream of life hence its importance for present and future generations cannot be stressed enough. Women empowerment is key to the growth of a nation and to the sustainability goals of the world. If we do not solve water management issues, regardless of the location, it will impact lives across the world.

Delhi-NCR at the bottom in health infrastructure, Pune grabs top spot

NEW DELHI: A report by online realestate portal, Housing.com has found that Pune is the top performer when it comes to health infrastructure among major cities in the country. The DelhiNational Capital Region (NCR), which includes Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, has been ranked lowest in the list. The report is titled ‘State of Healthcare in India’ by Elara Technologies-owned online realty firm. The report ranks eight of the most urbanised centres of the country, which includes Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region) and Pune via its Housing City Health Card. The criteria include various parameters such as number of beds per 1000 people, quality of air and water, sanitation, liveability of the region and 40 per cent weightage is given to the number of hospital beds available in the public healthcare system.

The report suggests that Pune offers 3.5 hospital beds per 1000 people, which is much higher than the national average of half a bed for every 1000 people in the public healthcare system. Pune also scores good on various parameters such as ease of living, water quality, as well as the performance of local bodies and sustainable initiatives taken by the local government. However, Pune still struggles with lack of public healthcare delivery system, which is clearly evident by the fact

the report suggests that Pune offers 3.5 hospital beds per 1000 people, which is much higher than the national average of half a bed for every 1000 people in the public healthcare system

that the city is crippling due to high caseload of COVID-19. Whereas, on the other hand, Delhi has performed poorly due to its poor scores on air and water quality, sanitation and performance of the municipal bodies. The report mentioned that the density of hospitals is lower in the Ghaziabad and Greater Noida region as compared to Gurugram, Noida and Faridabad, which have more service, warehousing and manufacturing activities.

Ahmedabad is ranked at the second spot with 3.2 beds for every 1000 people and Bengaluru is ranked next in the list, in spite of higher number of beds and top ranking in the ease of living index. The city has come down in the list due to its poor scores in air and water quality and poor municipal performance. MMR is ranked at the fourth spot, followed by Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.

Ankita Sood, Head of Research, Housing.com and PropTiger, said that India spends just 3.5 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on healthcare as compared to 10-18 per cent spent by other developing economies. She added that the residential development in top eight cities is seriously skewed as the healthcare development does not match the level of direction of the residential development of the region. Mani Rangarajan, Group Chief Operating Officer, Housing.com, said that the country needs to spend more on its healthcare which has been made eminently clear as the nation is struggling to keep the people safe from the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For City Health Card methodology, hospitals with more than 100 beds are considered and all the data for each hospital has been taken from government sources or official hospital websites.

Several Indian projects launched in Seychelles

At the India-Seychelles high level virtual event held on April 8, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Wavel Ramkalawan, President of the Republic of Seychelles, jointly inaugurated a series of projects completed under the development partnership between the two countries. Projects inaugurated at the event included a new Magistrates’ Court Building, a Made-in-India fast patrol vessel, a one mega watt solar power plant, and 10 HICDPs (High Impact Community Development Projects). The Magistrates’ Court Building project is being called as a landmark project, for it will help bring magistrate courts spread over different locations in Mahé into a single building.

61% samples in Maharashtra show double mutant variant: Report

61 per cent of the COVID-19 samples taken from Maharashtra between January and March this year for genome sequencing have shown the presence of double mutant of coronavirus, officials said. It is being suspected as one of the prime reasons behind the second wave of COVID-19 in the country. As the name suggests, double mutants involve two variants of the novel coronavirus. The National Institute of Virology showed that initially, the double mutant was found in three COVID-19 samples in Akola and one in Thane. Centre had also said last month that the double mutant of virus had been detected in 18 states in India.

UN calls for urgent action on debt, vaccines around the world

WASHINGTON: The United Nations Organisation (UN) called for expanded debt relief to all the requesting developing countries in April this year. It also called for more equitable COVID-19 vaccinations to tackle the ongoing pandemic. Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said on behalf of the UN that to avoid a development crisis, the world must avoid a debt crisis.

Steiner also said that 84 per cent of the COVID-19 vaccines that have been administered so far have been provided to the wealthier countries and also urged some swift measures to address the gaps in vaccine funding and boost the production in poor countries. He added that lesser developed countries have spent almost 580 times less in per capita terms in comparison to advanced economies.

The UN has appealed to stakeholders to offer legal and technical advice on the options of debt and debt relief to include vulnerable countries on case-by-case basis. He also asked the stakeholders to consider other mechanisms which would allow the countries to access debt relief without risking their credit ratings. 60 per cent of all the developing and vulnerable countries are highly debt vulnerable.

The report estimates that the strings of default are not the most significant threat but the possibility of a prolonged debt crisis that leaves these countries with crushing debt crisis burden for years is. This burden also prevents countries from making critical investments to benefit their own people and address climate crisis. The International Monetary Fund has proposed for a new allocation of $650 billion in ‘Special Drawing Rights’ which would provide funds to poor countries as international grants.

WASHINGTON DC: 2021 Best Countries Report, a ranking and analysis project by United States of America (USA) News and World Report; BAV Group, a unit of global marketing communications company named VMLY&R; and Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, found Canada to be the best country in the list, for the first time. The model behind this report has evolved due to the transformational year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis is based on the cultural, economic, political and technological influences and two new categories have been added: social purpose and agility. Kim Castro, Editor and Chief Content Officer, USA News, said that countries are impacted on many critical fronts by how they are perceived globally, going from foreign relations to international business to tourism. He added that these perceptions are ever evolving in a rapidly changing world and the report analyses data and storytelling to explore how nations compare on a host of global issues. Japan and Germany followed the list after Canada, whereas Switzerland, which was the winner previously, has come down to the fourth spot. Canada has ranked as the top country in quality of life and social purpose. Canada and Nordic countries are viewed as the most committed to social justice. USA stands at the 18th spot in the list.

Canada tops USA’s Best Countries Report

Double masking can protect people from COVID-19: Study

A study by University of North Carolina Health C a r e showed that wearing two face masks can nearly double the effectiveness of filtering out SARS-CoV-2 particles. It will prevent the novel coronavirus from reaching the wearer’s nose and mouth. The findings have been published in JAMA Internal Medicine and suggest that the reason behind this is not wearing multiple layers but eliminating any gaps or poor fitting areas of mask. When the cloth mask is layered with procedure mask, it improves the fit by eliminating the gaps and holding the procedure mask closer to the face.

UP to get `14,246 crore as

disaster response fund

The 15th Finance Commission has made a proposal to provide a total of `14,246 crore to Uttar Pradesh for disaster management in the next five years. With this fund, the state government will be able to make proper arrangements to deal with all types of natural disasters such as floods, famines, droughts, etc. The state will be provided the highest amount for disaster relief after Maharashtra. `13,411 crore will be given to Madhya Pradesh, `11,8819 crore to Odisha and `10,432 crore will be provided to Bihar.

Norway tops World Press Freedom Index, Eritrea ranks last

NEW DELHI: The World Press Freedom Index (PFI) 2021, which is published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), ranked India 142, same as last year. It has been classified as one of the countries which are bad for journalism, and are considered as dangerous countries for journalists trying to do their jobs properly. Brazil, Mexico, and Russia came in the bad category along with India in the PFI 2021. The Index ranked 180 countries in total and was topped by Norway, followed by Finland and Denmark. Turkmenistan stood at the 178th rank, China at 177, and Eritrea has been placed at the bottom of the Index. Among South Asian countries, Nepal was ranked at 106, Sri Lanka at 127, Pakistan at 145, and Bangladesh at 152.

According to the report, an environment of intimidation is created by supporters of political parties for any critical journalist, who is then tagged as ‘anti-state’ or ‘anti-national’. It added that journalists in India are being exposed to every kind of attack, including police violence against reporters, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials. The report stated critical journalists in India are exposed to public condemnation in the form of extremely violent social media hate campaigns, which often include calls for them to be killed, especially if they are women.

COVID-19 has altered trajectory of students’ development

PATIALA: A collaborative research titled ‘COVID-19 lockdown and the reconstruction of urban middle-class home in India’ has found that school closure during the lockdown has altered the normal trajectory of development for many students. It was carried out by Dr Damanjit Sandhu, Associate Professor, Punjabi University, and a professor at Royal Holloway University of London, United Kingdom (UK). The research was conducted through focus group discussions and interviews in Patiala and outside.

The research will be published in a special issue of the international interdisciplinary journal ‘Children and Society’ in October this year. The research highlights the negative effects of overuse of technology on physical health of students. The professors noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has exaggerated and complicated the pre-existing issues within each section of society. They said that the closure of schools during lockdown and the ensuing shift to online teaching has posed serious challenges to a child’s wellbeing. Dr Sandhu said that with the help of the series of interviews conducted with boys and girls of age group 15-17 years, they discovered a huge digital-literacy gap between parents and children, and this caused parental ineptness to monitor the digital usage of children. This, he believes, has exacerbated the children’s growing uncertainties about the future. They also found that non-productive online teaching, inability to pay attention to online classes, and maintaining study routines has greatly impacted the students mind. She added that the study found a growing fear among children of not being able to perform well and crack competitive examinations for admissions to elite colleges. They also witnessed young children’s excessive social media usage and involvement in risky online behaviour and game addiction. This has resulted in significant effects on children’s growth.

Patent waiver on COVID vaccine Development and Discussion

NEW DELHI: The European Parliament has requested the European Union (EU) to support the waiving of patent rights on COVID-19 vaccine. The lawmakers approved the amendment to support the Indian and South African World Trade Organisation (WTO) initiative for a temporary waiver of intellectual property (IPR) rights for COVID-19 vaccine. The discussion rose due to the rising disparity in the access to COVID-19 vaccines between the high and low-income countries. According to United Nations Children’s Fund data, 86 per cent of all the administered doses of the vaccine till March 30 have been received by people in high and middle-income income countries. On the other hand, just one per cent of the doses have been given to those in the poorest regions of the world.

India and South Africa submitted the proposal to WTO regarding waiving of the IPR for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments under Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) treaty in October last year. The big pharma industries have opposed the petition on the grounds that suspending the IPR will kill the incentive for pharma industries to innovate. According to a report by the Intercept, almost 100 pharma companies have requested the members of the Biden administration to reject the proposal of the IP waiver. However, despite various efforts by influential pharma companies to block the waiver request, the Government of the United States of America backed the proposal.

Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative, said, “The administration strongly believes in the IP protection but to help this pandemic worldwide, the administration supports the waiver of the protection of COVID-19 vaccines.” However, WTO also said that waiving the IPR for COVID-19 alone will not help to decrease the gap in vaccine supply between rich and poor countries. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General, WTO, said that countries have to be holistic to solve the problem of inequity in the access to vaccines. She added that various developing countries have complained about the cumbersome licensing process and the manufacturers should work to expand the production. She also said that there should be a transfer of technology and know-how, as vaccines are often harder to produce than drugs.

The Government of the United Kingdom is streamlining a plan to waive the COVID-19 vaccine patents to boost the production for middle and low income countries. Michael Weinstein, Founder, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, warned that the failure to act smoothly could result in the destruction of the world’s poorest countries resulting in a moral and public health failure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

India is supporting the cause because the weakness in India’s vaccination programmes have been exposed over the last few months as the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic hit the nation brutally. Vaccination centres across the country have faced shortage and the current pace will not result in herd immunity by the end of the year. The Government of India has also urged the Court to not discuss or exercise its statutory powers in the matters related to vaccine and essential drugs.

‘Strong evidence’ that COVID spreads mainly through air: Lancet

A study published in the medical journal Lancet has found ‘strong evidences’ that SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads predominantly through air. It found consistent evidences supporting the airborne transmission of virus and evidences supporting large droplet transmission is almost non-existent. Experts reviewed the public research and found as many as 10 evidences in support of airborne transmission. The researchers highlighted that spread of SARS-CoV-2 from the people who are not coughing or sneezing accounts for almost 40 per cent of all the transmissions. Measures such as handwashing and surface cleaning, while not completely unimportant, should be given lesser emphasis than the airborne measures.

US companies create global task force to help mitigate COVID-19 in India

During a meeting of USIndia Business Council of the US Chamber of Commerce, and the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum and Business Roundtable, CEOs of 40 top American companies came together to create a global task force. The task force committed to provide 20,000 oxygen concentrators to India in the next few weeks. It will also provide other supplies like monitoring kits. The announcement came amidst a shortage of crucial medical supplies and an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases in India. The task force comprises of representatives from the retail sector, e-commerce, pharmaceutical, technology industry and large manufacturing entities.

$157 billion dollar to be spent on COVID vaccines through 2025

WASHINGTON DC: A report by United States-based health data company IQVIA Holdings Inc (IQVIA), said that the global spending on COVID-19 vaccines is expected to reach $157 billion by 2025. IQVIA provides data and analytics for the healthcare industry. The report established that the first wave of COVID-19 vaccinations is expected to reach about 70 per cent of the world’s population by the end of 2022. According to the report, excluding the cost of COVID-19 vaccines, overall medicine spending is forecast to be $68 billion lower over the six years from 2020 to 2025 than it would have been without the pandemic.

Based on current data on the duration of effect of the vaccines, booster shots are likely to follow initial vaccinations every two years. According to an official from the White House, the United States of America is preparing for a possible need for booster shot, which will be needed between 9 to 12 months after people receive their full inoculations against COVID-19.

Murray Aitken, Senior Vice President, IQVIA, said that the expenditure on vaccines is expected to be highest this year, at $54 billion, owing to the massive vaccination campaigns that are underway across the globe. However, due to the increased competition and increased vaccine volume, this yearly expenditure on vaccines is expected to decrease after eventually decreasing to $11 billion in 2025. He added that the COVID-19 vaccines will cost over $157 billion over the next five years globally.

LONDON: A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine has found that people who were leading a sedentary lifestyle for at least two years before the pandemic were more likely to be hospitalised, to require intensive care, and to succumb to the disease, as compared to people suffering with other pre-existing risk factors such as smoking, obesity, advanced age, diabetes, being males or hypertension. The authors said that ‘physical inactivity was the strongest risk factor across all outcomes.’

As a risk factor for serious COVID-19 disease, physical inactivity was surpassed only by advanced age and a history of organ transplant. The research was conducted between January and October 2020 in the United States among 48,440 adults infected with COVID-19. Some 15 per cent described themselves as inactive (0-10 minutes of physical activity per week), nearly 80 per cent reported “some activity” (11-149 minutes/week), and seven per cent were consistently active in keeping with national health guidelines (150+ minutes/week). After accounting for difference in race, age and underlying medical conditions, sedentary COVID-19 patients were more than twice as likely to be admitted to a hospital as those who were most active. They were also 73 per cent more likely to require intensive care, and 2.5 times more likely to die due to the infection. While the link is statistically strong, the study is observational, as opposed to a clinical trial, and thus it cannot be construed as direct evidence that a lack of exercise directly caused the difference in outcomes.

People leading sedentary lifestyle require intensive care if infected with COVID: Study

No access to safe drinking water for 50 million

NEW DELHI: A report by UNICEF India revealed that 50 million people from 15 cities of India do not have any access to safe and affordable drinking water. Amidst the current second wave of coronavirus pandemic in India, clean drinking water becomes more than significant because health experts believe hydration works as an important factor in helping the body fight the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

However, the UNICEF India report stated that the scarcity of safe drinking water in cities has become as high as the density of population in urban India. Manjari Chandra, Consultant (Nutritional Medicine), said that it is of utmost important to realise the purity of water that one is consuming. She said that usually while checking the purity of water, if people find it to be looking clean, they assume it to be safe for drinking, but she stressed that water looking clean might not always be safe for drinking.

The report found that the majority of population in urban India is consuming water from privately owned water sources. Moreover, due to the hustle and bustle of hectic urban life, people living in urban India rarely notice the discrepancy in the water pipelines of their own houses, which often cause water contamination. Prof (Dr) Sanjay Rai, President, Indian Public Health Association, said that urban population often ends up not paying any attention to maintenance and cleaning of water tanks placed on their roofs or underground, which ultimately contaminates the water right before its consumption.

NEW DELHI: Healthcare experts have established that people should not delay taking COVID-19 vaccines at all, for they believe that delay will give virus an opportunity to develop new variants and some of them may reduce the efficacy of current vaccines. The Government of India had recently announced that all individuals aged above 18 years of age would be eligible to take COVID-19 vaccine jabs from May 1.

Dr Mervin Leo, Cluster COO, Gleneagles Global Hospitals, said that the virus causing SARS-CoV-2 infection still has many hosts left to replicate in, and thus many opportunities to randomly develop new variants. He believes that if given the chance to mutate any more, many variants may reduce the efficacy of the current vaccine, and therefore it is important that people encourage each other to get vaccinated at the earliest and this way ensure that the virus is driven out of our lives before it engulfs us.

Dr Aarathi Bellary, Consultant (Internal Medicine), SLG Hospitals, said that both the vaccines, Covaxin and Covishield currently available in India, are effective, and that recent cases and reports have proved that even a single dose of the vaccine can provide decent protection against the infection and its fatal effects. She said that it is unnecessary and irresponsible for people to wait for a year to get vaccinated to observe any side effects of the jabs, because the longer the people will wait, the more likely it will be for the virus to develop into stronger mutations. Health experts, emphasizing the need of getting vaccinated, said that the goal cannot be achieved unless each and every one joins the drive and gets themselves vaccinated.

Lack of vaccination may lead to new, stronger COVID-19 variants

India prepares report on climate vulnerability of states and districts

In a bid to tackle the impact of climate change, India has prepared a report on climate vulnerability in its states and districts. This comes after India ranked 20th and was described as one of the most vulnerable country in the Climate Risk Index released in late January this year. The report had stated that India incurs losses of $910 billion annually, due to the extreme weather events. According to Ministry of Science and Technology, hands-ontraining and capacity building activities helped in identifying vulnerable districts, which will ultimately help in initiating suitable climate actions.

UoM becomes world’s most environment friendly university

The University of Manchester (UoM) has become the world’s most environment friendly university, according to the Higher Education Impact Rankings released by Times. The Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UoM has done the most work towards the UN’s SDGs among 1200 universities in 98 countries. UOM committed its operations to achieve a zerocarbon future, paying staff a living wage, and the quality of reporting of progress on each of the 17 SDGs.

Covaxin can neutralise 617 variant of COVID-19

Dr Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Adviser at the White House, said in a statement that India’s home-grown vaccine, Covaxin has been found to neutralise the 617 variant of the deadly coronavirus. While speaking to reporters on a conference call, Dr Fauci stated that while health experts are still gaining data on a daily basis on this aspect of the vaccine, the most recent data based on the convalescent Sera of COVID-19 cases and people who received the vaccine used in India, the Covaxin, revealed that it can effectively neutralise the 617 variant.

Need for countries to build healthier, fairer world post COVID-19

For World Health Day, which was celebrated on April 7, World Health Organisation issued five calls for urgent action to improve health for all people. Within countries, illness and death from COVID-19 have been higher among groups who face discrimination, poverty, social exclusion, and have adverse daily living and working conditions - including humanitarian crises. According to WHO, the pandemic is estimated to have driven between 119 and 124 million more people across the world into extreme poverty.

Covishield comprises over 90% of the total vaccines administered in India

NEW DELHI: Data released by the Government of India in mid-April 2021 stated that Covishield vaccine comprises over 90 per cent of the total vaccines administered across the country, which amount to around 12.76 crore doses. It established that out of all the states, 15 states and union territories were only supplied with Covishield vaccine, which is being manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India.

Experts have said that Covishield is being produced at a much higher scale than Covaxin. However, Dr Samiran Panda, the Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research, said that the production of Covaxin will be ramped up soon. According to a statement by Bharat Biotech, capacity expansion for Covaxin has been implemented across multiple facilities in Hyderabad and Bangalore. This has been done to reach a capacity of approximately 700 million doses per year. In a bid to enhance vaccine production capacity, the Department of Biotechnology has also been providing financial support in the form of grants to vaccine manufacturing facilities.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Science and Technology on April 18, the current production of indigenously developed vaccine in India will be doubled by May-June 2021 to meet the vaccination demand in the nation and then the production will be increased by nearly 6-7 folds by July-August 2021.

NEW DELHI: A study led by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in the United States of America (USA) found that people who recovered from COVID-19 require just one dose of vaccine. The study suggests that the survivors had a robust antibody response after the first mRNA (Ribonucleic Acid) vaccine dose and low immune benefits were found after the second dose. The study has been published in the journal Science Immunology.

The study from USA said that two doses are optimum to induce strong antibody and B cell responses for the people who have not been in contact with SARSCoV-2. Researchers also added that the antibodies induced by the vaccine can also protect against the more infectious and deadly South African variant.

Another study by Public Health England suggested that a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine can decrease the transmissibility of the virus by half. The findings of the study also offer some hope that the pandemic can be controlled as it indicates that the people who are vaccinated are less vulnerable to the novel coronavirus.

According to a United Kingdom study, people who have been administered a single dose of Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccines and are tested positive after three to four weeks of the vaccination are almost 38 to 49 per cent less likely to transmit the virus compared to those who are not vaccinated. Other studies have also suggested that both these vaccines are highly effective in protecting against the SARS-CoV-2 infection and its transmission. This study included more than 57,000 people living in 24,000 households, and claimed that one dose of either vaccine cuts nearly two-third of the cases and is 74 per cent effective against them.

One dose can halve infection’s transmission

India receives foreign aid from various countries to supplement COVID-19 battle

NEW DELHI: After India suffered from an acute shortage of medical supplies such as oxygen cylinders, medicines, other distribution equipment such as cryogenic tankers, concentrators, etc., various countries from around the world began to supply aid in order to help the nation in its time of need. It was the first time in 16 years that India accepted international aid to battle the situation. The United Kingdom was the first nation to chip in for the cause beginning on April 27, 2021, with almost 2000 oxygen concentrators, 1220 ventilators, around 900 cylinders of 46-lakh capacity and 3 oxygen generation units. The United States of America sent a total of 10 lakh Rapid Diagnostic Tests, 545 oxygen concentrators, 16 lakh N-95 masks, 457 oxygen cylinders, 440 regulators, 220 pulse oximeters and 1 deployable oxygen concentration system during the period between April 30 and May 5, 2021.

Russia has donated more than 20 oxygen concentrators, 75+ ventilators, 150+ bedside monitors and several medicines. Other countries which aided India during the pandemic are-

COVID-19 contributions from countries to India

Australia

Ventilators- 1056 Oxygen Concentrators- 43

Switzerland

Ventilators- 50 Oxygen Concentrators- 600

Ireland

Oxygen Concentrators- 1,248 Ventilators- 730

The Netherlands

Ventilators- 449 Oxygen Concentrators- 100

Denmark

Ventilators- 53

Romania

Oxygen Concentrators- 80 Oxygen Cylinders- 75

Austria

Oxygen cannulas- 1900 Oxygen cylinders- 396

Italy

Oxygen production plant capable of supplying an entire hospital

Canada

Oxygen Concentrators- 1,450 Remdesivir- 25,000 Ventilators- 50 Luxembourg

Ventilators- 58

Czech Republic

Oxygen cylinders- 500

Poland

Oxygen Concentrators- 100

Belgium

Remdesivir- 9,000

Uzbekistan

Oxygen concentrators- 151

Singapore

Oxygen cylinders- 256

Japan

Oxygen concentrators- 200

Mauritius

Oxygen Concentrators- 200

France

Oxygen Generators- 8

Germany

Ventilators- 500

Israel

Oxygen concentrators- 1660+ Oxygen generation units- 3+ Respirators- 400