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Moderna chief executive sees pandemic over in a year

“If you look at the industry-wide expansion of production capacities over the past six months, enough doses should be available by the middle of next year so that everyone on this earth can be vaccinated. Boosters should also be possible to the extent required,” he told the newspaper in an interview.

Vaccinations would soon be available even for infants, he said.

No climate finance for hydropower: ‘Rivers for Climate’ declaration

Incentivising and expanding hydroelectric power construction would not only fail to prevent catastrophic climate change, but it would also worsen the climate crisis by exploding methane emissions and diverting scarce climate funds away from meaningful energy and water solutions in a world that is already grappling with severe impacts of climate change, the release said.

As workers age, robots take on more jobs: study

“Aging is a huge part of the story” in robot adoption, said Daron Acemoglu, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who conducted the study with Pascual Restrepo of Boston University.

The research fits a longstanding trend of countries such as South Korea and Germany – which both have very rapidly aging workforces – also being among the world’s fastest adopters of robots, based on the number of robots per human worker they deploy.

Telangana-Wingsure pact to provide AI-driven insurance advisory services to farmers

Farmers are vulnerable to the impact of climate change and other livelihood risks. They have sub-optimal access to risk awareness programs, modern resources, and government-backed schemes.
The alliance is among the first in the global farming ecosystem and will help Telangana to promote social inclusion and digital transformation in Indian agriculture. Overall, it will support the government’s objectives to promote economic empowerment and offer opportunities for collaboration, innovation of value chains, growth, and job creation.
Underserved farmers in the state will access diverse insurance solutions with rapid claim resolution through mobile phones using the Wingsure app.  

Kharif foodgrain output estimated at record 150.50 mn tonne this year: Govt

Releasing the first advance foodgrain production estimate for the ongoing kharif season, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said: “A record foodgrain production is estimated at 150.50 million tonne in kharif season.”

Bumper crop is being achieved on account of tireless hard work of farmers and scientists besides farmer-friendly government policies, he said.

Britain launches 220 mln pound support scheme for industry to go green

“With innovation and investment across the economy, we can power the UK’s green industrial revolution. But we know for the most polluting and energy-intensive businesses, this will mean a big shift in the way they operate,” Prime minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.

German auto giants place their bets on hydrogen cars

Stephan Herbst, general manager of Toyota in Europe, speaking in his role as a member of the Hydrogen Council business group, which forecasts that hydrogen will power more than 400 million cars by 2050, said he was confident that now governments had set ambitious carbon-reduction targets, they would push hydrogen alongside battery electric cars.

“We strongly believe this is not a question of either or,” he added. “We need both technologies.”

U.S. flood insurance rates to rise for 77% of policyholders -study

Under the new “Risk Rating 2.0” system from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) taking effect Oct. 1, new premiums will be based on a property’s value, risk of flooding and other factors, rather than simply on a home’s elevation.

Meant to account for climate-change-driven shifts like increasing flood frequency, the new plans also will make the program more equitable, said Nick VinZant, QuoteWizard senior research analyst.

India needs to make its air quality norms more stringent, say experts after new WHO guidelines

WHO’s new guidelines recommend new air quality levels to protect the health of populations by reducing levels of key air pollutants, some of which also contribute to climate change.”There is a body of scientific evidence to prove that air pollution is leading to severe health impacts and 90 per cent of the entire global population is breathing polluted air,” IIT-Kanpur professor S N Tripathi, said.

India likely to block Chinese investment in insurance giant LIC’s IPO -sources

State-owned LIC is considered a strategic asset, commanding more than 60% of India’s life insurance market with assets of more than $500 billion. While the government is planning to allow foreign investors to participate in what is likely to be the country’s biggest-ever IPO worth a potential $12.2 billion, it is leery of Chinese ownership, the sources said.

India may allow smaller gap between Covishield doses sold privately: Report

Earlier this month, the high court in the southern state of Kerala ordered changes in the health ministry’s vaccine-booking platform to give people paying for vaccination this choice, which is already being offered to those flying abroad. 

“Since the high court has given a judgement, it will have to be done,” said one of the sources. “For the government’s programme, the ideal gap remains 12 weeks.”

India’s first framework for air quality forecast, SAFAR, accepted globally: Project director Beig

“Now that India has its own air quality framework whose credibility is proven beyond doubt, we need to take its advantage to become self-sufficient in replicating in other cities as originally envisaged in the National Clean Air Programme plan document rather than borrowing foreign framework with a cost,” Dr Gufran Beig said.

Using this, all urban local bodies can issue timely health advisories to alert citizens about ‘bad air’ days, which will help save vulnerable groups from severe health impacts of air pollution, the senior scientist added.