World Bank to lend $1 billion to support India’s health sector

World Bank to lend $1 billion to support India’s health sector

• Bank says the loans will support India’s efforts to improve public healthcare infrastructure across the country
• The World Bank is lending up to $1 billion to help India with preparedness for future pandemics as well as to strengthen its health infrastructure. The lending will be divided into two complementary loans of $500 million each.
• Through this combined financing of $1 billion, the bank will support India’s flagship Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), launched in October 2021, to improve the public healthcare infrastructure across the country. 
• In addition to the national-level interventions, one of the loans will prioritize health service delivery in seven States including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.
• The $500-million Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness Program (PHSPP) will support the government’s efforts to prepare India’s surveillance system to detect and report epidemics of potential international concern. 

China calls for resuming direct flights with India and is willing to solve the boundary issue.

• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar highlighted the “abnormal” state of ties and the need for peace on the LAC in talks with Chinese counterpart Qin Gang
• Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar called on India to look at relations “in the context of once-in-a-century changes in the world” and to put the border issue “in the proper place”, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
• In a talk, Mr. Jaishankar had flagged the “abnormal” state of ties and reiterated India’s position that restoration of peace on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was required for a return to normalcy.
• Mr. Qin, in what is his first visit to India as Foreign Minister for the G-20 meet, said China “supports the Indian side in fulfilling its chairmanship of the G-20 and is ready to strengthen communication and cooperation to safeguard the common interests of developing countries and international equity and justice, so as to inject stability and positive energy into the world”.
• On bilateral ties, he said both sides “should view their bilateral relations in the context of the once-in-a-century changes in the world, understand bilateral cooperation from the perspective of their respective national rejuvenation, and be partners on the path to modernisation,” a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing quoted him as saying.
• “As neighbouring countries and major emerging economies, China and India have far more common interests than differences,” he said. “The development and revitalisation of China and India display the strength of developing countries, which will change the future of one-third of the world’s population, the future of Asia and even the whole world. 
• The two sides should implement the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries, maintain dialogue and properly resolve disputes, and promote the improvement of bilateral relations and the steady moving forward of the relations.”

India scores 74.4 in World Bank index on life cycle of working women

• Laws affecting pay, pension, inheritance and property rights are among the areas where India lags behind in terms of gender equality for working people, a World Bank report says
• The laws affecting the Indian working woman’s pay and pension do not provide for equality with Indian men, dragging India’s score in a World Bank index on the life cycle of a working woman down to 74.4 out of a possible 100.
• A score of 100 on the Index means that women are on an equal standing with men on all the eight indicators being measured, according to the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law 2023 report. India scored higher than the 63.7 average for the South Asian region, though lower than Nepal which had the region’s highest score of 80.6. Out of the 190 economies covered in the Index, only 14 scored a perfect 100: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
• For India, the Index used data on the laws and regulations applicable in Mumbai, viewed as the country’s main business city.

PMI suggests services activity hit 12-year high in Feb.

• Favourable demand conditions, new business gains support activity, S&P Global’s survey shows; Index rises to 59.4 from January’s 57.2
• The Indian services sector expanded at the strongest rate in 12 years in February supported by favourable demand conditions and new business gains, a monthly survey showed.
• The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 59.4 in February, from 57.2 in January.
• For the 19th straight month, the headline figure was above the neutral 50 mark, denoting expansion.