Category:

Policy

Bad for business: World Bank China rigging scandal rattles investors

Economists said such reports – by the World Bank and others – were useful but had long been vulnerable to manipulation. They said some governments, especially in emerging market countries who want to demonstrate progress and attract investment, could become obsessed with their position in the reports, which assess everything from ease of paying taxes to legal rights.

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U.N. says world likely to miss climate targets despite COVID pause in emissions

“This year has seen fossil fuel emissions bounce back, greenhouse gas concentrations continuing to rise and severe human-enhanced weather events that have affected health, lives, and livelihoods on every continent,” he said. Concentrations in the atmosphere of the major greenhouse gases – CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide – continued to increase in 2020 and the first half of 2021, the U.N. said.

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GST Council to meet on Friday; rate review, tax concession to 11 COVID drugs on cards

The Council, comprising central and state finance ministers, will deliberate on the proposal of extending the existing concessional tax rate structure on Amphotericin B, Tocilizumab, Remdesivir, and anti-coagulants like Heparin, till December 31, 2021, from the present September 30.

Tax rate on Amphotericin B, Tocilizumab was cut to ‘Nil’, while Remdesivir and Heparin were reduced to 5 percent in June 2021.

The Council on Friday may also discuss the proposal of reducing GST from 12 percent to 5 percent to seven more drugs till December 31, 2021. These are Itolizumab, Posaconazole, Infliximab, Bamlanivimab & Etesevimab, Casirivimab & Imdevimab, 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose, and Favipiravir.

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EU launches health crisis body to prepare for future pandemic

The new health emergency preparedness and response authority (HERA) will assess potential health threats, promote research, ensure the availability of critical production and help build stockpiles.

If a new health crisis struck, it would activate emergency funding and help coordinate monitoring, procurement and purchase of medical equipment or treatments.

The authority is partly designed to avoid a repeat of the ad hoc measures taken by individual EU countries at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of them inefficient, others coming at the expense of other EU members.

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