VISION

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Daily Current Affairs, 11th August 2020

1) National Infrastructure Pipeline Online Dashboard launched

•The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) Online Dashboard has been inaugurated by the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman. The newly launched platform “NIP” will act as one stop solution for all stakeholders seeking for information on infrastructure projects in New India. The platform is being considered a step towards the vision of an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat. It will attract investors for PPP projects and also ensure easy accessibility to updated project information.

•The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) Online Dashboard will improve project preparation, attract investments (both domestic & foreign) into infrastructure and would be hosted on the India Investment Grid (IIG). IIG is an online platform that provides information about the updated & real-time investment opportunities in the country to the global investor community. NIP will cover both economic as well as social infrastructure projects.

2) Webinar on ‘AtmaNirbhar Madhya Pradesh: Health and Education’

•A webinar with title ‘AtmaNirbhar Madhya Pradesh: Health and Education’ was inaugurated by Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in New Delhi. The webinar was held to discuss the topics namely education and health with subject experts from across the nation for Madhya Pradesh as part of the ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ programme.

•While addressing the webinar, the Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ highlighted the various initiatives taken by the Ministry of Education during COVID- 19 pandemic. He also applauded the state Government of Madhya Pradesh for swiftly responding to the COVID-19 crisis by introducing a series of interventions across all sectors.

3) GoI launched National Portal “SURAKHSYA” on Human Elephant conflict

•Union Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar has launched National Portal on Human-Elephant conflict called “SURAKHSYA”. The portal aims to collect real-time information and will also manage conflicts on a real-time basis. The portal will help to set data collection protocols, data visualization tools and data transmission pipelines.

•The National Portal was launched during the celebration of international annual event World Elephant Day. The World Elephant Day is celebrated every year on August 12 to create elephant conservation and share knowledge for better protection of wild captive elephants. The portal will help to set data collection protocols, data visualization tools and data transmission pipelines.

4) Mahinda Rajapaksa takes oath as Sri Lankan PM for 4th time

•Sri Lanka’s former President, Mahinda Rajapaksa took oath as the country’s Prime Minister for the fourth time, after his party secured a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections on 5 August 2020. Mahinda Rajapaksa was administered the oath of office for the ninth Parliament by his younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at a historic Buddhist temple, Rajamaha Viharaya in Kelaniya, a north Colombo suburb.

•The 74-year-old Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) leader has been appointed as the PM of Sri Lanka. Prior to this, Mahinda Rajapaksa was first elected prime minister in 2004 and again appointed for brief periods in 2018 and 2019. He has also served as the island nation’s president from 2005 to 2015.

5) Walter Roger Martos Ruiz becomes new PM of Peru

•The former defence minister and retired army general, Walter Roger Martos Ruiz becomes new Prime Minister of the country. His appointment was confirmed by President of Peru, Martin Vizcarra. Ruiz will succeed Pedro Álvaro Cateriano Bellido. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Government Palace in Lima.

6) Mohamed Ould Bilal becomes new Prime Minister of Mauritania

•Mohamed Ould Bilal has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Mauritania. The appointment was made by the Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani. Mohamed Ould Bilal is a veteran public administrator and has served as the head of the country’s national water agency, a presidential aide and a cabinet minister.

•Appointment of Mohamed Ould Bilal as the Prime Minister of Mauritania was made following the resignation of his predecessor Ismail Ould Cheikh Sidiya and his entire government.

7) Russia becomes 1st country to register COVID-19 Vaccine

•Russian President, Vladimir Putin has announced that a COVID-19 vaccine developed in the country has been registered for use. Russian Ministry of Health has given regulatory approval for what it claims is the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute. Russia is the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine.

•The vaccine has proven efficient during tests, offering enduring immunity from the coronavirus. Many scientists within the country and abroad are sceptical, however, questioning the choice to register the vaccine before Phase 3 trials that normally last for months and involve thousands of individuals.

8) Belarusan President Alexander Lukashenko wins sixth term

•President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko has won his sixth consecutive term with 80.23 per cent of the vote at the country’s presidential election. A former English teacher Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, who emerged as Lukashenko’s main rival at the elections gets 9.9 per cent of the vote.

9) GoI bans import of 101 Defence items to boost Atma Nirbhar Bharat

•The Ministry of Defence has announced a list of over 100 items that would be banned for import beyond the time indicated against them. The government has prepared a list 101 items on which there would be an embargo on import to give a push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” (Self Reliant India Movement). It is estimated that contracts worth almost Rs 4 Lakh crore will be placed upon the domestic industry within the next six to seven years.

10) A.P. governent signs MoU with US Based IT Firm “Boston Group”

•The Boston Group has signed an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up an IT company in Visakhapatnam. The new IT company stated to be installed in the state according to the MoU is expected to create 250+ jobs in the IT sector.

•The employees of this centre would be deployed in the R&D on Learning platforms and leverage advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Cyber Security and Human Resources.

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VisionIAS 13:50

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The HINDU Notes – 11th August 2020

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VisionIAS 12:08

📰 The WHO’s relevance is fading

It has been reduced to a coordinating body, beholden to the interests of rich member states

•COVID-19 has infected more than 19 million people, claimed over 0.7 million lives and devastated economies. As the pandemic transcends geopolitical boundaries, one is forced to ruminate on a counterfactual with a series of timely global health interventions by the World Health Organization (WHO) duly supported by governments. An early warning and timely policy measures by the WHO would have forewarned countries and set their preparatory efforts in motion for mounting a decisive response strategy.

Slow response

•With regional offices in six geographical regions and country offices across 150 countries, the WHO was expected to play the dual role of a think tank and oversee global responses to public health emergencies. It was reported that the earliest COVID-19 positive case in China was reported in November, but China informed the WHO about the disease only in January. With the WHO country representative stationed in Beijing, it is unlikely that widespread transmission went unnoticed.

•Then, even though confirmed cases were reported from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the U.S. in January, the WHO continued to downplay the severity of the virus. It took some inexplicable decisions and actions such as declaring the pandemic as a public health emergency of international concern only on January 30 and ignoring Taiwan’s hints of human-to-human transmission and requests on sharing “relevant information”. Further, the WHO went on to praise China’s response to the pandemic.

•WHO was severely criticised for its poor handling of the Ebola outbreak in 2014 as well. Incontrovertibly, the relevance of the health agency has been fading. The WHO has been reduced to a coordinating body, beholden to the interests of rich member states. Its functional efficiency has been disadvantaged with organisational lethargy, absence of decisive leadership, bureaucratic indolence, underfunded programmes, and inability to evolve to meet the needs of the 21st century.

•Director General Tedros Adhanom has been criticised for his leadership abilities during this pandemic. In contrast, Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Director General of the WHO (1998-2003), spearheaded the global health response with a host of significant policy decisions. She focused on projecting WHO as one entity and publicly reproached the Chinese leadership for its response to the 2003 SARS pandemic. The timely containment of SARS despite an unfavourable response from China bears the stamp of her decisive leadership.

Relying on rich member states

•WHO is funded through assessed contributions made by the member states and voluntary contributions from member states and private donors. While assessed contributions can be spent as per the organisation’s priorities approved at the World Health Assembly, the irregular voluntary contributions are allocated in consultation with the donors. While voluntary contributions accounted for nearly 80% of the budget in 2018-19, assessed contributions merely constituted 17% of the total budgetary support. The challenges owing to constrained finances encumber autonomy in decision-making by favouring a donor-driven agenda.

•While the WHO has failed in arresting the pandemic, governments across the globe are equally responsible for their inept handling and ill-preparedness. However, that does not vindicate WHO’s tardiness in handling the crisis. Many countries, especially in Africa and Asia, rely predominantly on the WHO for enforcing policy decisions governing public health. Political leanings and financial compulsions of WHO cannot betray that trust. The burden of their expectations must weigh heavily on every policy decision taken by the global health agency, for when the WHO fails, many innocent lives are lost.