The Indian Weekender, Friday 31 July 2020

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INDIA
Friday, July 31, 2020 The Indian Weekender
India: Coronavirus cases
Confirmed:1,531669, Deaths:34,193, Recovered: 988,029 Active: 509,447
India’s coronavirus epidemic is
now the world’s fastest growing
India’s coronavirus epidemic
is now growing at the fastest
in the world, increasing 20%
over the last week to more than 1.4
million confirmed cases, according
to Bloomberg’s Coronavirus Tracker.
Infections in the nation of 1.3
billion people have reached 1.43
million, including 32,771 deaths,
India’s health ministry said, with
daily cases close to a record 50,000
on Monday. India is only trailing the
US and Brazil now in the number of
confirmed infections, but its growth
in new cases is the fastest.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh and Karnataka are among the
states where the maximum number
of daily cares are being reported.
The world’s second-most populous
country has been ramping up testing,
with 515,472 samples taken on
Sunday, according to the Indian
Council of Medical Research.
Still, India and Brazil have some of
the world’s lowest testing rates, with
11.8 tests and 11.93 tests per 1,000
people respectively, compared to the
U.S. with 152.98 tests per 1,000 and
Russia with 184.34, according to
Our World in Data, a project based
at University of Oxford in the U.K.
Uttarakhand’s youngest girl to scale Mt.
Everest now starts 10-year mountaineering
project for women from across country
In a novel bid, Uttarakhand’s
youngest girl to scale Mt.
Everest last year has now started
a 10-year mountaineering project for
women from across the country who
do not get a platform to showcase
their mountaineering skills.
Sheetal Raj, who scaled Mt.
Everest last year to become the
youngest in the state to achieve the
feat, said that after achieving her
goal, she wanted to do something
to bring more women in the field of
mountaineering which is mostly a
male dominated field.
“After I had scaled Mt. Everest,
my only wish was to see more
women to come into this field.
Many women have the potential to
reach great heights but do not get a
platform where they can be given
training or the financial support.
With this project, I aspire to train
girls and women in mountaineering
and help them go for expeditions in
future,” said Raj.
For the first year of training, around
30 women have been selected who
have been trained in Darma Valley
in Pithoragarh district at a height of
3000m under an organisation named
‘Climbing Beyond the Summit’
Pollution levels in India shave
off 5.2 years from the life
expectancy of the average
Indian and it most acutely hits
people living in the Indo-Gangetic
plains, according to an assessment
by the Energy Policy Institute at the
University of Chicago, which also
showed that the situation had slightly
improved between 2016 and 2018.
India is the second most-polluted
country globally after Bangladesh,
while Nepal, Singapore and Pakistan
are the other top countries with dirty
air. The authors use an air quality life
index (AQLI), which takes particulate
air pollution and determines the hit it
has on life expectancy.
According to the AQLI, India’s
yearly average particulate pollution
concentration of 63.2 ug/m3 in
2018 reduced life expectancy of the
(CBTS). Raj and her coach Yogesh
Garbiyal founded this organisation
to promote mountaineering
among women.
She said that first these women
are being given basic training and
then they will be enrolled with
Nehru Institute of Mountaineering
for certification course before the
final expedition. Girls and women
from the age group 13-40 have been
selected for the first expedition.
Garbiyal, co-founder of CBTS
said that the project not just aims
to bring women into the field
of mountaineering but also give
exposure to women from local
areas and train them with basic
mountaineering skills which they can
average Indian by 5.2 years. The
life expectancy lost in 2016 was 6.1
years when the particulate pollution –
which is linked to diseases affecting
the lungs and heart – was at 71ug/m3.
In 2018, Lucknow’s (the most
polluted district in the country)
residents were exposed to an average
annual PM 2.5 concentrations of
114.6 micrograms per cubic metres
which is likely to cut short life
expectancy by 10.3 years compared.
That makes Lucknow the most
polluted district in the country
followed by 13 other districts, all in
Uttar Pradesh.
The National Capital Territory of
Delhi is the 15th most-polluted region
use to become trek and tour guides.
“There are many places in the
remote areas of Uttarakhand which
have potential for tourism but not
many people know about them. We
are taking these women for training
in the three valleys, Darma, Vyans
and Chaudans. The women can
use the exposure learnt from these
training sessions to connect it to
livelihood opportunities in tourism
sector,” said Garbiyal.
The selected women were
supposed to go on their first
expedition in September this year,
but due to Covid-19 epidemic they
have postponed it by a year and plan
to take the women on expedition next
year with better practice.
Air pollution cuts Indians’ life
expectancy by 5.2 years: Report
in the country as per the analysis,
which relies on satellite data. The
average PM 2.5 concentration was
106 micrograms per cubic metres
which can lead to loss of 9.4 life
years compared to if Delhi had met
the WHO guidelines for air quality.
The analysis did not include
figures from 2019 and 2020.
The report, released in India,
Pakistan and Bangladesh on Tuesday
evening, showed air pollution
problem that was severe in India in
the late 90’s only worsened further
in recent years with an estimated
life expectancy loss of 3.4 years
in 1998, 4.8 years in 2010 and 6.1
years in 2016.
NEWS in BRIEF
India to export 40m surgical masks,
2m medical goggles every month
The government permitted export
of 40 million surgical masks
and 2 million medical goggles every
month as country is producing these
protective gears in excess to their
domestic demand, a top official said.
“Following PM @NarendraModi
ji’s mantra of Aatmanirbhar Bharat [Self-reliant India], in a momentous
decision to promote Make in India & Industrial growth, Govt. permits export
of 4 crore 2/3 Ply Surgical Masks & 20 lakh Medical Goggles every month,
along with restriction-free export of Face Shields,” commerce and industry
minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet. Earlier exports of these items were
banned to ensure their adequate domestic availability as these equipments
are crucial in fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic.
India’s involvement in ITER reflects capabilities for
advanced design and manufacturing: PM Modi
As scientists started assembling the world’s largest fusion device at ITER
in southern France, India said the project demonstrated the country’s
capabilities for design and manufacturing at the most advanced levels. A
special message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi was delivered by
India’s envoy to France, Jawed Ashraf, during the virtual ceremony at
ITER headquarters that marked the start of the assembly. French President
Emmanuel Macron and leaders from China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, the
US and Europe joined the event.
“India is proud to be part of a global enterprise that is at the frontier of
science and engineering,” Modi’s message said.
“Indian scientists have made valuable contributions to the development
and fabrication of the cryostat, the cooling system, the cryo-distribution
system and several kilometres of cryo-lines. They remain involved in many
other aspects of the project,” it added.
With $4.5bn in loans, and a $1bn more in pipeline,
co-founder India is top China-led bank borrower
The China-led Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB)’s prompt
move to set up a Covid-19 support
fund for its members is an example of
the Multilateral Development Bank’s
(MDB) “power of action”, President Xi
Jinping said.
Xi said the AIIB, coalition in which India is a co-founder, moved “…
promptly to set up a Covid-19 Crisis Recovery Facility (CRF) to support
its members in containing the virus and reviving their economies. This is a
typical example of the AIIB’s power of action”. The Chinese President was
speaking at the fifth annual meeting of the Beijing-based bank, proposed by
him in late 2013, and launched in January 2016. Since its launch, India has
emerged as the overall top borrower — $4.5 billion — from the Beijingbased
bank, and also the top beneficiary of Covid-19-related relief fund. As
the largest borrower, India has almost 25 percent of all approved AIIB loans
channelled to it.
India and UK join forces on new £8 mn research on
antibiotic-resistant bacteria
India and Britain will deepen scientific research collaboration with five
new projects to tackle anti-microbial resistance (AMR) that could lead to
advances in the global fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes.
The five projects are planned to start in September once they receive
the appropriate clearances. Britain is contributing £4 million from the UK
Research and Innovation Fund for International Collaboration, and India
will match this with an equal amount. The Indian side will be represented
by the department of biotechnology. The funding awards by the UK were
announced by Tariq Ahmad, minister of state for South Asia and the
Commonwealth, ahead of a virtual visit to India on Tuesday.
India is a key producer of antimicrobial for the global pharmaceutical
supply chain, and the research projects aim to develop a better understanding
of how waste from antimicrobial manufacturing could be inadvertently
fuelling AMR.
Indian climate activist Archana Soreng named
by UN chief to new advisory group
A
climate activist from India has been
named by UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres to his new advisory group comprising
young leaders who will provide perspectives and
solutions to tackle the worsening climate crisis,
as the global body mobilizes action as part of the
Covid-19 recovery efforts. Archana Soreng joins
six other young climate leaders from around the
world who have been named by Guterres to his
new Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.
Soreng is “experienced in advocacy and
research, and she is working to document, preserve, and promote traditional
knowledge and cultural practices of indigenous communities,” the UN said.