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Photo: One of the biggest government-run COVID-19 hospitals in the Indian capital. Source: News Click

A Story of Nightmare for Patients in India's Government-Run COVID-19 Hospital

By Tarique Anwar

This report was first published in News Click on May 8, 2021.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The healthcare staff at Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital in Delhi frantically clear the facility of bodies. One of the biggest government-run COVID-19 hospitals in the national capital, it is swamped by patients, triggering chaotic situations for doctors and paramedics who are scrambling to cope with the virulent infection amid a shortage of beds, oxygen, ventilators, doctors and other medical professionals.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; South Asia; 09 May 2021

Photo. Colombo Port City (land reclamation) seen from Galle road. CC BY-SA 4.0

New Commission to Govern Colombo Port City Soon

Sri Lanka Embarks on Ambitious Project to Create Another Asian Financial Hub

By Sugeeswara Senadhira

COLOMBO (IDN) — The Sri Lankan Supreme Court’s determination on the proposed Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill will be placed before the parliament on May 18, paving way for the legal act to establish the Commission, with an amendment in accordance with the judiciary's verdict. The Supreme Court conveyed its decision to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, who will discuss with party leaders on May 18 on fixing a date to debate the Bill.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 08 May 2021

Photo credit: Pexels | Harry Cunningham @harry.digital

Renewables Are the Building Blocks of Global Energy Transition

By J W Jackie

RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) — The latest International Renewable Energy Agency IRENA analysis reveals that by 2050, variable renewables like wind and solar PV will dominate the global total power supply. The insights from IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook were released on March 16-17, 2021, at the Berlin Energy Transitions Dialogue.

With 163 Members, IRENA plays a leading role in the energy transformation as a centre of excellence for knowledge and innovation, a global voice for renewables, a network hub and a source of advice and support for countries.

: Europe Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Affordable Clean Energy; 08 May 2021

Photo: Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab hosts the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' Meeting in London, 3 to 5 May 2021. Credit: GOV.UK

Europe and the US Need to Talk About Sanctions Against Russia

Viewpoint by Agathe Demarais

The writer is Global Forecasting Director at The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU). This commentary* was published on the European Leadership Network (ELN) website on May 7.

LONDON (IDN) — Convening in London this week (May 3-5), the G7 foreign ministers expressed their interest in standing together in the face of a variety of challenges, including how to engage with Russia and China.

After four years of bombastic tweets and erratic declarations from Donald Trump, the first 100 days of the Biden presidency have shown that the new US president is more willing to work with European allies than his predecessor was. Yet this does not mean that all is well for the transatlantic alliance.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 May 2021

Photo: Bill and Melinda Gates. (File Photo via Facebook / Gates Foundation)

Busybodies Outside the Gates

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — Bill and Melinda Gates had barely finished saying the “D” word when all kinds of marriage counsellors and grief-mongers besieged social media with suggestions of why they think the couple is breaking up.

The sentiments, ranging from the probable to the bizarre, with a sprinkling of fictional tales in between, have defied the couple’s request for privacy. Misery loves company. Some accounts even make you wonder if the composers might have had a bedside view of the 27-year-old marriage.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 May 2021

COVID-19 Accelerates Digitilization of Economies and Societies

Viewpoint by Kaveh Zahedi *

A defining feature of the post-COVID world will be the digital transformation of the world, though it might also widen gaps in economic and social development within and between countries. The digital transformation has gone hand in hand with the rise of digital technologies, writes Kaveh Zahedi, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) — We are living through a decisive moment. The COVID-19 pandemic’s devasting impact is reaching every corner of the world. As we look back at this period, we will see history divided into a pre-COVID and a post-COVID world.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 06 May 2021

Image Credit: Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations.

Avert the Worst Impacts of Climate Disruption

Viewpoint by António Guterres

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German government convened this year’s Petersberg Climate Dialogue virtually on May 6 with Alok Sharma, the UK Chair-designate of 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), in Glasgow, from November 1 to November 12, 2021. UN Secretary-General António Guterres also spoke. Following are major excerpts from his remarks.

NEW YORK (IDN | UNDG*) — Six months ahead of COP26, and still deep in the COVID-19 crisis, I would like to share my assessment of where we stand.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 06 May 2021

Photo: Health workers in front of the Jumbo Covid facility in Pune on May 5. (Express photograph by Arul Horizon)

Modi Govt. Abdicates Responsibility in the Face of Skyrocketing Death Toll

Viewpoint by Prabir Purkayastha*

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The COVID-19 pandemic continues its brutal march across India. Figures of new infections reached 355,828 on May 3—which accounted for more than 62 percent of the world’s new infections on that day. As hospitals run out of beds, ICU capacity, and even oxygen, these factors have been contributing to the already skyrocketing death toll in the country. Dead bodies in mortuaries, crematoria and burial grounds speak of the awful toll of the pandemic.

: South Asia Bureau; THE WORLD; South Asia; 05 May 2021

Photo: Tents of the homeless in San Francisco, California, May 2020. CC BY 2.0

Conquering Poverty in America Is Possible

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Adam Smith who in 1776 wrote “The Wealth of Nations”, the Bible of capitalism, which has become the standard economics text for over two centuries, was quick to single out monopolistic tendencies as the most important tool in undermining the virtues of capitalism. It kept the poor poor. The laws that give these capitalists their freedom to exploit the marketplace, so-called rent-seeking, “may be said to be all written in blood”. At the moment, Amazon is in the firing line for practicing such practices. Indeed, a majority of Silicon Valley companies rent-seek. Big pharma companies, like Pfizer, which is expecting this year 25% profits on its corona virus vaccine are another.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 04 May 2021

Photo: Indian-Australians Stranded in India. Credit: The Canberra Times.

Australians Blast Government For "Racist" Indian Flight Ban

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — A controversial ban on flights from Covid-hit India landing in Australia, has blocked around 9,000 Australians from returning home. Most of them are Australians of Indian origin, while there are also a handful of Australian elite cricketers, coaches, and other officials currently taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket extravaganza.

This unprecedented move of banning its own citizens from returning home has angered many Australians, who have also branded this move by Prime Minister Scott Morrison government as "racist" because no such bans were imposed on flights from the UK and US during the peak of the pandemic there.