Moscow, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin (Sputnik via Xinhua/IANS)
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin proposed appointing Energy Minister Alexander Novak as the tenth deputy prime minister, the official website of the cabinet said on Monday…reports Asian Lite News
JERUSALEM, Jan. 23, 2020 (Xinhua) — Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during the 5th World Holocaust Forum at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, on Jan. 23, 2020. Dozens of world leaders gathered on Thursday in Jerusalem to commemorate 75 years for the liberation of the Auschwitz camp and called on to combat the resurgence of modern-day anti-Semitism. (Yonatan Sindel/JINI via Xinhua/IANS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order to increase the number of deputy prime ministers from nine to ten.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin proposed appointing Energy Minister Alexander Novak as the tenth deputy prime minister, the official website of the cabinet said on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Putin relieved several ministers of their duties earlier in the day, and Mishustin proposed candidates for these posts, saying that they have extensive experience in various industries.
At his daily briefing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the government reshuffle a routine rotation.
“The American people to Donald Trump: ‘You’re fired!'” reacted former UN Environment Executive Director and a green optimist Erik Solheim in a tweet…reports Vishal Gulati
Lawmakers and climate advocates from around the globe have lined up to work eagerly with US President-elect Joe Biden to move quickly to implement green recovery policies that will accelerate the shift to a cleaner and safer world for all and also restoring the US climate leadership.
For them, Biden’s climate plan strives for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and unveiling $2 trillion investments in clean energy and climate-resilient infrastructure as a core pillar of his economic recovery and jobs program.
In his victory speech on Saturday night, Biden said he will “marshall the forces of science in the battle to save our planet”.
Sending well wishes to Biden and running mate Kamala Harris, Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, “The US is our important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security,” remarked Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
In Fiji, where rising sea levels and intense cyclones have forced people to abandon their homes, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama tweeted his congratulations to Biden.
“Together, we have a planet to save from a climate emergency and a global economy to build back better from COVID19. Now, more than ever, we need the USA at the helm of these multilateral efforts (and back in the Paris Agreement — ASAP!” he said in a message.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he was looking forward to strengthening excellent US-Swedish relations and to work jointly for multilateralism, democracy and global security.
“Together, we can lead a green transition creating jobs for the future,” he informed in a tweet.
The EU was closely following the Presidential and Congressional elections in the US, said European Council President Charles Michel.
“The EU is ready to engage for a strong transatlantic partnership. COVID-19, multilateralism, climate change and international trade are some of the challenges which Europe wants to address together,” he tweeted.
“The American people to Donald Trump: ‘You’re fired!'” reacted former UN Environment Executive Director and a green optimist Erik Solheim in a tweet.
Congratulating Biden and Harris, COP26 President-Designate and British Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Alok Sharma, “Very much looking forward to working with the US on climate action and COP26 and thank you for your commitment to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.”
The US Department of State on November 4 began the process to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
Combo photo shows U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump attend their respective events on different occasions. (Xinhua/IANS)
President Trump had announced the withdrawal in 2017, stopping an Obama-era pledge to cut emissions.
To tackle climate change and its negative impacts, 197 countries adopted the Paris Agreement at the COP21 in Paris on December 12, 2015.
Entered into force less than a year later, the deal aims to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and to limit the global temperature increase in this century to 2 degrees Celsius while pursuing means to limit the increase even further to 1.5 degrees.
For an optimistic Harjeet Singh, Global Climate Lead at ActionAid, Biden’s victory must put an end to the influence of USA’s fossil fuel industry in the global climate talks.
“Being the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, his country has the greatest responsibility to act,” Singh told IANS.
“We hope the new government will show true climate leadership by drastically bringing down carbon emissions domestically and providing finance to developing nations, as per its fair share,” he added.
Responding to the victory, Christian Aid’s Senior Climate Lead, Kat Kramer, told IANS: “This is a significant victory for the climate which should have a material impact on efforts to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon world.
“The United States may have formally withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, but it’s telling that despite four years of waging war on climate action, Donald Trump’s successor will make this a very brief exit for the United States.
“We’ve seen countries announcing plans to decarbonise with net-zero emission goals set in Europe, China and Japan. And we’ve seen a groundswell of sub-national climate action taking place in the United States at the state and city level which will now be given new support from a Biden White House.”
Throughout their campaign, Biden and Harris have promised to Build Back Better and get the country on track for a Just Recovery.
May Boeve Executive Director of 350.org, said: “The US must now prove it can be taken seriously in the climate change fight by immediately re-entering the Paris Agreement, humbly working with global leaders on bolder climate ambitions and a global Just Recovery from COVID-19, and domestically taking rapid steps towards bold, comprehensive climate action.”
“The US must shift finance flows out of a fossil fueled past and toward solutions that will help us secure a livable future for all.”
The day US formally withdrew from the Paris agreement, Biden said, “Today, the Trump Administration officially left the Paris Climate Agreement. And in exactly 77 days, a Biden Administration will rejoin it.”
Beyond rejoining the Paris Agreement, say climate advocates, there are a number of other approaches Biden could take to accelerate climate action by using substantial existing executive authority to require clean energy adoption and restrict investments in infrastructure to extract, transport, process, and consume fossil fuels.
While the pandemic has killed over 1.2 million people worldwide, the announcement by Pfizer and BioNTech raises hope that effective Covid-19 vaccine dose could be on its way, and if approved, before the end of this year itself…report Asian Lite Newsdesk
US-based pharmaceutical major Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech on Monday said that their vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19 in first interim analysis of data from late-stage Phase 3 trial.
Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla called the development “a great day for science and humanity.”
While the pandemic has killed over 1.2 million people worldwide, the announcement by Pfizer and BioNTech raises hope that effective Covid-19 vaccine dose could be on its way, and if approved, before the end of this year itself.
The two companies said that their mRNA-based vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, has demonstrated evidence of efficacy against Covid-19 in participants without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus responsible for Covid-19.
The analysis was conducted on Sunday by an external, independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) from the Phase 3 clinical study.
The case split between vaccinated individuals and those who received the placebo indicates a vaccine efficacy rate above 90 per cent, at seven days after the second dose, the two companies said.
This means that protection is achieved 28 days after the initiation of the vaccination, which consists of a two-dose schedule.
As the study continues, the final vaccine efficacy percentage may vary.
The DMC has not reported any serious safety concerns and recommends that the study continue to collect additional safety and efficacy data as planned.
The data will be discussed with regulatory authorities worldwide, Pfizer and BioNTech said.
“Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent Covid-19,” Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
“We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development programme at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen.
“With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis,” Bourla added.
The Phase 3 clinical trial of BNT162b2 began on July 27 and has enrolled 43,538 participants to date, 38,955 of whom have received a second dose of the vaccine candidate as on November 8.
The trial is continuing to enroll and it also will evaluate the potential for the vaccine candidate to provide protection against Covid-19 in those who have had prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2, as well as vaccine prevention against severe Covid-19 disease.
“We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks,” Bourla said.
Pfizer and BioNTech said they are continuing to accumulate safety data and currently estimate that a median of two months of safety data following the second (and final) dose of the vaccine candidate will be available by the third week of November.
Along with the efficacy data generated from the clinical trial, the two companies are working to prepare the necessary safety and manufacturing data to submit to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to demonstrate the safety and quality of the vaccine product produced.
Based on current projections, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses this year and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.
“The first interim analysis of our global Phase 3 study provides evidence that a vaccine may effectively prevent Covid-19. This is a victory for innovation, science and a global collaborative effort,” said Ugur Sahin, BioNTech co-founder and CEO.
More than 200 vaccines to protect against the virus are being developed by scientists around the world in a process that is taking place at unprecedented speed.
Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Sunday congratulated Joe Biden on his election as the next President of the US, saying climate change is indeed pressing.
“As you may be aware,” he wrote in a letter to to the President-elect, adding: “I have long been an admirer of the US as the anchor of liberty, democracy, religious freedom and the rule of law.”
“Humanity places great hope in the democratic vision and leadership of the US as leader of the free world. Particularly in these challenging times, I hope you will be able to contribute to shaping a more peaceful world in which people suffering poverty and injustice find relief.
“The need to address these issues, as well as climate change, is indeed pressing,” the Nobel Peace Laureate added.
“May I also commend you for your choice of a woman, Kamala Harris, to be your Vice President.
“Following my devolution of political authority over matters relating to the cause of Tibet to the elected Tibetan leadership in exile, I have been committed to promoting human values, religious harmony and the principles of non-violence and compassion, which I believe are very much needed in today’s world.
“I would like to thank you for your support for the Tibetan people, during your time in Congress and the previous administration, as well as for your statement in September this year. It has been the Tibetan people’s good fortune to have received the friendship and encouragement of the American people and their respective Presidents in our endeavor to protect and preserve our ancient Buddhist culture — a culture of peace, non-violence and compassion — that has great potential to benefit humanity as a whole.
“On their behalf, I take this opportunity to express my gratitude once again,” the elderly Buddhist monk said.
Wishing him every success in meeting the challenges that lie ahead in fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the people of the US and in contributing to a more peaceful and harmonious world, His Holiness concluded his letter by offering his prayers and good wishes.
The China smartphone market witnessed a 14.3 per cent drop in the third quarter this year with 84.8 million units shipment, according to an IDC report, as the country faced soft demand, Huawei’s supply constraints and delayed flagship launches from both Huawei and Apple.
At the top of the table with 41.4 per cent share, Huawei cautiously managed its shipments across its product lineups and lowered the production of some popular models like the Mate 30 series.
Its channel management and prioritisation also resulted in a supply shortage in the lower-tier cities, delaying purchases from loyal customers, said IDC ‘Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker’.
“The escalated US trade restrictions in August ultimately impeded Huawei’s momentum in its home market. Nevertheless, the ban did not cool off the enthusiasm of local Huawei loyalists that supported Huawei’s market share to stay above the 40 per cent mark,” said Will Wong, Research Manager for Client Devices at IDC Asia/Pacific.
Huawei (File Photo)
At a distant second position with 17.8 per cent market share, Vivo put more focus on various consumer segments at different price points and recorded a narrower decline from a year ago.
The vendor continued to penetrate the less than $300 segment with the 5G-enabled Y-series while enhancing its positions in the mid-range and high-end segments with the new S7 and iQOO 5 series as well as the X series flagship.
OPPO at third position with 16.6 per cent market share narrowed its decline from a year ago by focusing on the $200-400 5G segment.
Xiaomi was at fourth position with 13 per cent marlet share. And Apple fifth with 8.3 per cent market share in China.
Apple’s delayed iPhone 12 launch resulted in lower shipments compared to the same period last year.
“Nevertheless, Apple managed to mitigate the shortfall with its iPhone 11 series, as the models still performed well in both online and offline channels and will continue to be promoted in the upcoming Singles’ Day shopping festival,” the report noted.
China has so far shipped a total of 117 million 5G handsets since 2019, with 49.7 million in Q3 2020 alone.
Scientists including two of Indian origin have used machine learning (ML) to analyse more than 800,000 Reddit posts and found that users anxiety and suicide risk levels are rising, among other negative trends, in the pandemic.
The ML models helped identify changes in the tone and content of language that people used as the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic progressed.
The team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University showed they can track the pandemic’s impact on mental health by analysing the language that people use to express their anxiety online.
“We found that there were these natural clusters that emerged related to suicidality and loneliness, and the amount of posts in these clusters more than doubled during the pandemic as compared to the same months of the preceding year, which is a grave concern,” said Daniel Low from Harvard and MIT and the lead author of the study.
The analysis revealed varying impacts on people who already suffer from different types of mental illness.
“When the mental health needs of so many in our society are inadequately met, even at baseline, we wanted to bring attention to the ways that many people are suffering during this time, in order to amplify and inform the allocation of resources to support them,” says Laurie Rumker, a graduate student in the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics PhD Program at Harvard and one of the authors of the study.
Satrajit Ghosh, a principal research scientist at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, is the senior author of the study published in the Journal of Internet Medical Research.
The researchers analysed posts from 15 sub-reddit groups devoted to a variety of mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder.
Using several types of natural language processing algorithms, the researchers measured the frequency of words associated with topics such as anxiety, death, isolation, and substance abuse, and grouped posts together based on similarities in the language used. The researchers found that while people in most of the support groups began posting about Covid-19 in March, the group devoted to health anxiety started much earlier in January.
They also discovered that the mental health groups affected the most negatively early in the pandemic were those related to ADHD and eating disorders.
The researchers also found the introduction of new topics specifically seeking mental health help or social interaction.
“The topics within these subreddit support groups were shifting a bit, as people were trying to adapt to a new life and focus on how they can go about getting more help if needed,” said Talkar.
The researchers now plan to apply this approach to study whether posts on Reddit and other social media sites can be used to detect mental health disorders.
The findings could help psychiatrists, or potentially moderators of the Reddit forums that were studied, to better identify and help people whose mental health is suffering, the researchers said.
Researchers have revealed that climate change will extract an acute toll worldwide, with rising temperatures, wildfires and poor air quality, accompanied by higher rates of cancer, especially lung, skin and gastrointestinal cancers.
In a study, published in the journal The Lancet Oncology, the researchers provided a synopsis of future effects from global warming on major cancers, from environmental toxins to ultraviolet radiation, air pollution, infectious agents and disruptions in food and water supply.
Ultimately, the most profound challenge to the global cancer picture could come from the disruption of the complex health care systems required for cancer diagnosis, treatment, and care, the authors wrote.
“In the worldwide battle to mitigate climate change, the international community is not on track to slow emissions of greenhouses gases,” said lead author Robert A Hiatt from the University of California, San Francisco in the US.
The impact of climate change on health is large and is expected to continue growing without rapid action. High temperatures, poor air quality and wildfires lead to higher rates of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
Warmer temperatures and changing rainfall patterns raise the risk and spread of vector-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue.
“Extreme weather events cause death, injury, displacement, and disrupt health care delivery,” the authors wrote.
Cancer is widely predicted to be the leading cause of death in the 21st century.
The authors said the biggest cancer threats are likely to be from air pollution, exposure to ultraviolet radiation and industrial toxins, and disruptions in food and water supply.
Lung cancer, already the primary cause of cancer deaths worldwide, is expected to increase as a result of increasing exposure to particulate matter in air pollution, estimated to be responsible for as much as 15 percent of new cases.
According to the researchers, one comprehensive modelling study predicted more than half a million climate-related deaths worldwide, including cancer deaths, as a result of changes in food supply by 2050.
Major disruptions are also expected to take place in the infrastructure of health care systems for cancer control, which could affect all cancers.
The Covid-19 pandemic has provided a clear example of this disruption, shifting medical resources away from cancer and causing thousands of patients to delay cancer screenings out of fear of contracting the virus.
By reducing pollution deaths from lung cancer could decline, the authors said, and there are numerous clinical, behavioural, and policy solutions to slow climate change and prevent cancer cases and deaths.
The uncertainty regarding the US election outcome impacted the Indian rupee which plunged to a two month low mark during Wednesday’s trade session.
The rupee hit an intraday low of 74.88 as there were indications that the US presidential results might be contested in courts.
At around 3.15 p.m., the rupee traded at 74.80 to a greenback.
“Markets would not like a delayed result, which can lead to prevalence of more risk-off sentiment,” Sajal Gupta, Head, Forex and Rates, Edelweiss Securities.
“No matter who wins. Stimulus shall be coming. So expect US dollar to weaken in two week’s time after a clear win.”
At the end of the day’s trade, the rupee stood at 74.7462 from its previous close of 74.4063 to a greenback.
“A lack of clarity on the outcome of the US Presidential Election has created a lot of uncertainties,” said Nish Bhatt, Founder and CEO, Millwood Kane International.
“Global equity and currency market have reacted according to it. With the US Dollar gaining strength, the Indian rupee saw a decline, as it slipped towards the crucial 75 per US dollar mark.”
Rahul Gupta, Head of Research, Currency, at Emkay Global Financial Services, said: “The USDINR spot is respecting the immediate resistance of 75, but the caution and volatility will keep the appreciation intact.”
“For the coming sessions, we expect USD-INR spot to trade in between 74-75.50.”
India is likely to spend around $513 billion on infrastructure by the year 2030 to accommodate its growing population, according to a report by Mace.
A report titled ‘INSIGHTS 2020: Blueprint for Modern Infrastructure Delivery’ said that other large countries will also incur equally large infrastructure spends.
“By 2030, India will be spending $500 billion a year to accommodate its rapidly expanding population, the USA will be spending $665 billion to maintain its status as a global super power, and Peru will be spending $28bn a year to make it more resilient to natural disasters like El Nino,” it said.
During a survey conducted by Mace to find the reasons for impact on projects and programmes across the globe, it found that lack of clarity of outcome when deciding on which schemes to take forward as a major issue. Often decisions are driven by political pressure rather than rigorous cost and benefit analysis, the report said.
“The poor predictive abilities of project teams in their early stages, who are pressured into providing fixed point price estimates and programmes well before accurate predictions are possible or realistic,” it said.
Further, procurements based on ‘cheapest price’ rather than ‘value’ to fit within unrealistic initial budgets. On large and complex projects, ‘cheapest price’ procurement is a false economy, it added.
Jason Millett, CEO for Consultancy at Mace, was of the view that around the world, good infrastructure is vital for socioeconomic prosperity, both directly through investment and jobs, and indirectly through thing like improvements to transport connectivity and access to clean water.
He added that India is no different and, unfortunately, not all infrastructure projects are properly planned and delivered, resulting in delays, cost overruns and under-delivery against expected benefits.
“The negative impact of this is significant, with our calculations showing that, in India, this could result in an additional cost of Rs 10,820 billion by 2030. Globally, the cost could be as much as $900 billion,” Millett said.
This financial burden, combined with a perceived lack of delivery capability due to project delays and mismanagement, risks severely damaging public confidence in the sector, he said.
“With COVID-19 placing greater emphasis on the importance of infrastructure as an economic multiplier, it is more important than ever that we get this right. Our major projects and programmes must have clarity of direction and outcome-focused decision making to ensure they do not become a burden, but rather an enabler for post-pandemic growth,” said Millett.
Commenting on the report, Anuj Puri, Chairman for Anarock Group said: “Construction halt, labour shortage and revocation of toll collection were some of the major challenges India’s infrastructure sector faced due to the COVID-19 lockdown since March.”
He noted that the government’s focus has shifted primarily towards building healthcare infrastructure to accommodate the pandemic’s fallout. “Even now, after a staggered easing of lockdown rules over the last months, major infrastructure work across the country have not resumed usual pace,” Puri added.
“In India, there is a very real need to ensure timely implementation. Many of India’s infrastructure projects were already delayed even before the pandemic,” he said.
Gita Gopinath, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has urged policymakers to provide more fiscal stimulus to boost the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as the global economy is in a liquidity trap.
“For the first time, in 60 per cent of the global economy — including 97 per cent of advanced economies — central banks have pushed policy interest rates below 1 percent. In one-fifth of the world, they are negative,” Gopinath wrote in an op-ed article in the Financial Times, adding central banks have little room to further cut interest rates if another shock strikes, Xinhua news agency reported.
“It has led to the inescapable conclusion that the world is in a global liquidity trap, where monetary policy has limited effect. We must agree on appropriate policies to climb out,” Gopinath said on Monday, noting fiscal policy must play a leading role in the recovery.
Gopinath suggested that fiscal authorities can actively support demand through cash transfers to support consumption and large-scale investment in medical facilities, digital infrastructure and environment protection.
“These expenditures create jobs, stimulate private investment and lay the foundation for a stronger and greener recovery,” she said.
Gopinath noted that “the importance of fiscal stimulus has probably never been greater” because the spending multiplier, the pay-off in economic growth from an increase in public investment, is much larger in a prolonged liquidity trap.
“Monetary policy has and will remain central to this effort, but with the world in a global liquidity trap it is time for a global synchronised fiscal push to lift up prospects for all,” said the IMF chief economist.
In its World Economic Outlook report released last month, the IMF revised up the 2020 forecast for global economy to a contraction of 4.4 per cent. Despite the upward revision, the IMF said the ascent out of this crisis is likely to be “long, uneven and highly uncertain”.
