whatsapp no. 88986-30000 · 7/11/2020 · public health. the departure of the u.s. will be a...

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1. U.S. withdrawal from WHO

Relevant for GS Prelims & Mains Paper II; IOBR

On July 6, when the number of novel coronavirus cases and deaths in the U.S. reached over 2.8 million and nearly 0.13 million, respectively, the U.S. officially notified the United Nations of its intention to withdraw membership from the World Health Organization. This comes after President Donald Trump announced on May 29 his decision to halt funding and pull out of the global health body. After accusing WHO of being “China-centric” on multiple occasions, this unfortunate development is one more attempt by Mr. Trump to deflect blame for gross mismanagement of the crisis. What are the allegations by Trump? In a May 18 letter, he officially demanded that the WHO make “major substantive improvements” in 30 days while charging that the global body lacked “independence” from China, was slow to respond to the threat, and had “repeatedly made inaccurate or misleading claims” about the virus. Chances that US might not withdraw

Since the decision has apparently been taken without the approval of Congress, and as the withdrawal will become effective only on July 6 next year, there is a possibility that Congress or courts might reverse the withdrawal. Already, Democratic challenger Joe Biden has promised to revoke it if elected President. Implications if US withdraws

The capricious decision to withdraw from WHO will have dire consequences for global public health. The departure of the U.S. will be a significant blow to the WHO in terms of loss of technical expertise and, according to Mr. Trump, an annual funding of about $450 million. The pandemic has clearly brought to the fore several shortcomings and weaknesses in the global health body. For instance, the 2005 revision of the International Health Regulations made it mandatory for countries to notify the WHO of all events that may constitute an international public health emergency and to “respond to requests for verification of information regarding such events”. Yet, the WHO has limited power to ensure compliance by member States, including limitations in independently verifying member states’ official reports. If the U.S. was majorly involved in the 2005 IHR revision, it will now have no role to play in strengthening the WHO. It will lose a seat at the table to determine the virus strain to be used for developing influenza vaccines (flu killed over 34,000 people in the U.S. in 2018-19), and have no access to new influenza virus samples for research. With no more U.S. scientists embedded in the WHO in key roles, including outbreak response teams like the

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one that visited Wuhan, it will lose out on health intelligence that will compromise the country’s response to international disease outbreaks. In the end, none gains from a further weakened WHO. Source: The Hindu

2. PM Modi launches Asia’s largest solar plant in MP Relevant for GS Prelims & Mains Paper III; Science & Technology

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Asia’s largest solar plant in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa with a capacity of 750 MW through video-conferencing and said the state will emerge as a major hub for clean and cheap power in the country. Apart from Rewa, work is underway on solar power plants in Shajapur, Neemuch and Chhatarpur. Details about Rewa Project

The Rewa project comprises three solar generating units of 250 MW each located on a 500 hectare plot of land situated inside a Solar Park (total area 1500 hectare). The Solar Park was developed by the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), a joint venture company of Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (MPUVN), and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a Central Public Sector Undertaking. Source: The Indian Express

3. Mukesh Ambani- now richer than Warren Buffett Relevant for Prelims

The chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd. is now worth $68.3 billion, surpassing Buffett’s $67.9 billion as of Thursday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Shares of Ambani’s Indian conglomerate have more than doubled since a low in March as its digital unit got more than $15 billion in investments from companies including Facebook Inc. and Silver Lake. This week BP Plc paid $1 billion for a stake in Reliance’s fuel-retail business. While Ambani’s wealth has jumped — he became the only Asian tycoon in the exclusive club of the world’s top 10 richest people last month — Buffett’s fortune dropped this week after he gave away $2.9 billion to charity. The 89-year-old, known as the Oracle of Omaha, has slipped down the rankings after donating more than $37 billion of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock since 2006. Berkshire Hathaway’s stock performance has also underwhelmed recently.








Ambani, 63, is now the eighth richest person on the planet, and Buffett is ninth, according to the index, which started in 2012. Thanks to Ambani’s deals, India has emerged as a hot-spot for M&A this year, accounting for more than 12% of those announced in Asia Pacific — the highest ratio since at least 1998. Source: Financial Express





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whatsapp no. 88986-30000 · 7/11/2020 · public health. the departure of the u.s. will be a...

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