India votes against UNGA resolution banning death penalty

India continues to remain ranked 43rd on an annual World Competitiveness Index compiled by Institute for Management Development (IMD) with some traditional weaknesses like poor infrastructure and insufficient education investment keeping its ranking low, the international business school said on Tuesday.

Singapore has retained its top position on the 63-nation list.

Denmark has moved up to the second position (from 8th last year), Switzerland has gained one place to rank 3rd, the Netherlands has retained its 4th place and Hong Kong has slipped to the fifth place (from 2nd in 2019).

The US has moved down to 10th place (from 3rd last year), while China has also slipped from 14th to 20th place. Among the BRICS nations, India is ranked second after China, followed by Russia (50th), Brazil (56th) and South Africa (59th).

India was ranked 41st on the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, being produced by the business school based in Switzerland and Singapore every year since 1989, but had slipped to 45th in 2017 before improving to 44th in 2018 and then to 43rd in 2019.

While its overall position has remained unchanged in the 2020 list, it has recorded improvements in areas like long-term employment growth, current account balance, high-tech exports, foreign currency reserves, public expenditure on education, political stability and overall productivity, the IMD said.

However, it has moved down in areas like exchange rate stability, real GDP growth, competition legislation and taxes.

Arturo Bris, Head of Competitiveness Center at IMD Business School, said India continues to struggle on the list and the recent country rating downgrade by Moody’s reflects the uncertainties regarding the economy’s future.

"In our ranking this year, we again emphasize the traditional weaknesses of India -- poor infrastructure, an important deficit in education investment, and a health system that does not reach everybody. For India to follow the path of China, it must stress its intangible infrastructure," Bris said.

"In a less global world, with China, USA, and Europe looking inwards, currencies like the rupee (and the Brazilian real for instance) are going to suffer and display high volatilities.

"Moody’s has threatened the country with a downgrade to junk and that would put India in a terrible position to attract foreign capital. So the urgency for the government should be to fix the short-term problems—and this requires to improve the credibility of the government itself," Bris added.

With the exception of Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan and the Korean Republic, most Asian economies dropped in rankings this year, the IMD said.

The reason for the Asian economies’ less stellar performance as a region, this year is partly the result of the trade frictions between China and the US, particularly because these economies are highly dependent on trade with China.

About Singapore, which moved to the top rank last year, the IMD said its position is largely driven by the relative ease of setting up business, availability of skilled labour and its cutting-edge technological infrastructure.

The IMD said the impact of COVID-19 on the competitiveness ranking has partially been captured by executives’ opinions about the effectiveness of the different health systems.

In the ASEAN countries included in the survey, only Singapore and Thailand have a positive performance in the effectiveness of the health infrastructure.

Washington, May 30: The United States will end its relationship with the World Health Organization over the body’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday, accusing the U.N. agency of becoming a puppet of China.

The move to quit the Geneva-based body, which the United States formally joined in 1948, comes amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over the coronavirus outbreak. The virus first emerged in China’s Wuhan city late last year.

Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Trump said Chinese officials “ignored their reporting obligations” to the WHO about the virus - that has killed hundreds of thousands of people globally - and pressured the agency to “mislead the world.”

“China has total control over the World Health Organization despite only paying $40 million per year compared to what the United States has been paying which is approximately $450 million a year,” he said.

Trump’s decision follows a pledge last week by Chinese President Xi Jinping to give $2 billion to the WHO over the next two years to help combat the coronavirus. The amount almost matches the WHO’s entire annual program budget for last year.

Trump last month halted funding for the 194-member organization, then in a May 18 letter gave the WHO 30 days to commit to reforms.

“Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs,” Trump said on Friday.

It was not immediately clear when his decision would come into effect. A 1948 joint resolution of Congress on U.S. membership of the WHO said the country “reserves its right to withdraw from the organization on a one-year notice.”

The World Health Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s announcement. It has previously denied Trump’s assertions that it promoted Chinese “disinformation” about the virus.

“It’s important to remember that the WHO is a platform for cooperation among countries,” said Donna McKay, executive director of Physicians for Human Rights. “Walking away from this critical institution in the midst of an historic pandemic will hurt people both in the United States and around the world.”

‘ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL’

The United States currently owes the WHO more than $200 million in assessed contributions, according to the WHO website. Washington also gives several hundred million dollars annually in voluntary funding tied to specific WHO programs such as polio eradication, HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis.

Amesh A. Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said that in practice Trump’s decision was unlikely to change the operations of the WHO.

“From a symbolic or moral standpoint it’s the wrong type of action to be taking in the middle of a pandemic and seems to deflect responsibility for what we in the U.S. failed to do and blame the WHO,” said Adalja.

When Trump halted funding to the WHO last month, two Western diplomats said the U.S. suspension was more harmful politically to the WHO than to the agency’s current programs, which are funded for now.

The WHO is an independent international body that works with the United Nations. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last month that the WHO is “absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against COVID-19.”

When asked about Trump’s decision, a U.N. spokesman said: “We have consistently called for all states to support WHO.”

Trump has long scorned multilateralism as he focuses on an “America First” agenda. Since taking office, he has quit the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. cultural agency, a global accord to tackle climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. He has also cut funding for the U.N. population fund and the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees.

“The WHO is the world’s early warning system for infectious diseases,” said U.S. Representative Nita Lowey, a Democrat who chairs the House Committee on Appropriations. “Now, during a global pandemic that has cost over 100,000 American lives, is not the time to put the country further at risk.”

Jun 10: Indian-origin California Senator Kamala Harris has joined former vice president and 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to raise USD 3.5 million for the upcoming November elections.

Tuesday's fundraiser is the second-largest single event haul so far for the Biden campaign, which raised USD 4 million at one event earlier this month.

Harris' presence during the virtual mega fund raiser assumes significance as the Democratic Party leaders consider her to be one of the front-runners to be the nominee for vice president. The 55-year-old lawyer-politician was once considered to be a strong opponent of Biden in the 2020 Democratic primaries.

Introducing Harris to the 1,400 supporters present at the event, Biden underlined the history-breaking nature of her past electoral wins.

"For much of her career, she was the only person in the room who looked like she did," he said.

At the start of the campaign last year, Harris was very critical of Biden. She later endorsed him, months after she decided to withdraw herself from the race to the White House.

During the fundraiser, Harris was effusive in her praise for Biden.

Referring to Biden's meeting with George Floyd's family, she said, "He (Biden)is someone who whether one on one or speaking to the nation always has a sense of how people are experiencing this world, and what their needs are...This moment in the history of our country really represents an extraordinary exercise in contrast."

"On the other hand, we have a Donald Trump who had the gall to dispatch the US military to clear the streets so that he could prance down and then, like a prop, hold up the bible for a photo op," Harris said.

The death of African-American Floyd during police confinement in Minneapolis on May 25 has resulted in widespread protests not only in the US but across the world.

"There are so many contrasts between Joe Biden and Donald Trump that really point to the choice that we as Americans have today," Harris said.

California Lt Governor Eleni Kounalakis also joined the fund raiser.

In his remarks, Biden, 77, said the US is reeling in anguish and anger over the brutal killing of Floyd or the systemic racism that still infects every part of the society. "Harris knows better than anybody," he said.

"At the same time, we're facing the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. American history is not a fairy tale with a guaranteed ending, a happy ending. This is a battle for the soul of the country.

"It's been a constant tug of war between the American ideal that we all are created equal -- and the harsh reality that racism has long torn us apart...I'm going to ask every American to look where we are now and to think, is this who we are? Is this who we want to be?" Biden asked.

Participating in the questions and answers session, Harris said America has still not fully embraced, acknowledged or addressed its history of racism and its current history of racism.

"One can think of this moment as an inflection moment, and it will require bold action and it will require immediate action...This stresses the importance and the immediacy and the urgency of electing Joe Biden," she said.

Replying to a question, Biden said, "Did you see today where the President of the United States while George Floyd was being buried, was condemning the older man who was knocked down with his head bleeding and everyone walking by. Did you see that? I mean, my lord. What have we become if we abide by this? So much we can do and must do."

Harris said the election is going to be rough and tumble.

"There are very powerful forces that thrive off of the hate and division that Donald Trump has been sowing. This is not going to be easy. And we have about just a few months to get this thing done," she said.