Author: 123b

The US Senate on February 23, 2021 confirmed Linda Thomas-Greenfield as US ambassador to the United Nations. Greenfield’s name was nominated for the post by US President Joe Biden.

The Senate voted 78-20 to confirm Thomas-Greenfield for the Cabinet-level position. Greenfield is the eighth confirmed member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield is a US diplomat with vast experience in Africa. She is a three-decade veteran of the US State Department. 

Key Highlights 

•  Linda Thomas-Greenfield is exceptionally qualified and in her new role, she will have to work to rebuild America’s reputation and reasserting the first instrument of American power and diplomacy. 

•  Her appointment comes as the Biden administration is taking steps to reassert the US position within the United Nations by reversing policy decisions taken by former President Trump’s administration, which left the US isolated globally. 

•  Her appointment also comes at a time when the US is rallying allies to push back against the military coup in Myanmar and amid the Biden administration’s renewed push for diplomacy to resolve the Yemeni civil war. 

•  However, Greenfield’s biggest task will be asserting US leadership and uniting allies to confront China’s influence and ambitions at the global body.

About Linda Thomas-Greenfield

•  Linda Thomas-Greenfield is a retired foreign service veteran, who had resigned during the Trump administration.

•  She will be the third African-American and the second African American woman to hold the post of UN ambassador to the UN. 

•  Greenfield is expected to work with international partners to confront their collective challenges head-on and play an active role in ensuring that the United Nations evolves with the demands of the era. 

Following her confirmation to the post, Thomas-Greenfield made it clear that there would be a change under Biden to re-engage internationally and promote American values.

She stressed that US leadership must be rooted in the country’s core values — “support for democracy, respect for universal human rights and the promotion of peace and security.” 

She added saying that effective diplomacy means developing “robust relationships,” finding common ground and managing differences, and “doing genuine, old-fashioned, people-to-people diplomacy.”

Second phase of COVID-19 vaccination to begin in India from March 1

•  The second phase of COVID-19 vaccination will begin in India from March 1, 2021. Under this phase, people above the age of 60 years and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities will be vaccinated. This was informed by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on February 24, 2021 while addressing a press conference after the Union Cabinet meeting.
•  All the beneficiaries will be vaccinated at 10,000 government and over 20,000 private vaccination centres. The vaccine will be given free of cost at government centres but those who would take the vaccine at private centres will have to pay for the vaccine shots. 
•  The amount of the vaccine shot will be decided by the health ministry within the next 3-4 days after discussing with manufacturers and hospitals.
•  Around 1,07,67,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far in the first phase of vaccination which began on January 16, 2021. Almost 14 lakh people have received the second dose as well. In the first phase of the vaccination, only healthcare and frontline workers were vaccinated.

Cabinet approves imposition of President’s Rule in Puducherry

•  The Union Cabinet on February 24, 2021 approved the proposal to impose President’s Rule in Puducherry. The move comes just a few days after a Congress-led government in the union territory lost the trust vote in the assembly. 
•  Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced the Cabinet decision, saying that the decision was taken as no party had claimed to form a government in Puducherry following the resignation of Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy. 
•  President Ram Nath Kovind on February 23 accepted the resignation of Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and his council of ministers.
•  Following this, Puducherry’s Lieutenant General had recommended President’s Rule in Puducherry and the Union Cabinet gave its approval for the same. The President’s rule will be officially imposed on the UT after President Ram Nath Kovind gives his assent.
•  Puducherry is soon going to have elections.The Election schedule is expected to be announced by the Election Commission soon. 

Ishant becomes Second Indian fast bowler to play 100 Tests

•  Ishant Sharma has become the second Indian fast bowler to play 100 Test matches. He reached the milestone when he bowled the first over in India vs England pink-ball Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 24, 2021.
•  Former Indian skipper Kapil Dev was the only fast bowler to achieve the feat before this. 
•  Sharma has also become the fourth Indian bowler and the eleventh Indian cricketer to feature in 100 Test matches. 
•  Kapil Dev (131), Anil Kumble (132) and spinner Harbhajan Singh (103) are the only bowlers other than Ishant to feature in 100 Tests for India.

Subject Expert Committee to discuss Dr Reddy’s application seeking emergency use of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

•  The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation’s (CDSCO) Subject Expert Committee (SEC) is scheduled to meet today to discuss Dr Reddy’s Laboratories application seeking emergency use approval (EUA) for Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine- SputnikV. 
•  Dr Reddy’s had partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct the clinical trials of the Sputnik V and for its distribution rights in India in September 2020. The vaccine is currently undergoing the phase 3 clinical trial in India.
•  According to Dr Reddy’s, Sputnik V vaccine has demonstrated an efficacy rate of 91.6 percent in the interim analysis of phase 3 clinical trial. The data covers  19,866 volunteers in Russia, who received both the first and second doses of the vaccine.
•  Overall, the Sputnik V vaccine has maintained a consistent efficacy at 91.8 percent even among the group of 2,144 volunteers over 60 years old. The vaccine has been developed by Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.

Union Environment Minister uses Sanskrit for first time at UNSC on climate change

•  Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar used Sanskrit for the first time in United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Debate on climate change on February 23, 2021. 
•  Javadekar began his UNSC debate on climate change by addressing the other dignitaries with the Sanskrit hymn from Sukla Yajurveda. He asserted that there is no common, widely accepted methodology for assessing the connection between climate change, conflict and fragility.
•  He further added saying that fragility and climate impact are highly context-specific and the idea of climate action should not be to move the climate ambition goal post to 2050.
•  He emphasised on the importance of countries fulfilling their pre-2020 commitments and stated that climate action goes hand-in-hand with the framework for financial, technical and capacity-building support to countries that need it

Patch, the carbon offset API developer, has raised $4.5 million in financing to build out its business selling customers a way to calculate their carbon footprint and identify and finance offset projects that capture the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions associated with that footprint. 

Confirming TechCrunch reporting, Andreessen Horowitz led the round, which also included previous investors VersionOne Ventures, MapleVC and Pale Blue Dot Ventures.

Patch’s application protocol interface works for both internal and customer-facing operations. The company’s code can integrate into the user experience on a company’s internal site to track things like business flights for employees, recommending and managing the purchase of carbon credits to offset employee travel.

The software allows companies to choose which projects they’d like to finance to support the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, with projects ranging from the tried and true reforestation and conservation projects to more high-tech early-stage technologies like direct air capture and sequestration projects, the company said. 

Patch founders Brennan Spellacy and Aaron Grunfeld, two former employees at the apartment rental service Sonder, stressed in an interview that the company’s offset work should not be viewed as an alternative to the decarbonization of businesses that use its service. Rather, they see Patch’s services as a complement to other work companies need to do to transition away from a reliance on fossil fuels in business operations.

Patch co-founders Brennan Spellacy and Aaron Grunfeld. Image Credit: Patch

Patch currently works with 11 carbon removal suppliers and has plans to onboard another 10 before the end of the first quarter, the company said. These are companies like CarbonCure, which injects carbon dioxide into cement and fixes it so that it’s embedded in building materials for as long as a building lasts.

“Carbon removal credits can help to dramatically accelerate the deployment of technologies like CarbonCure’s, which are absolutely critical to helping us reach our global climate targets. Demand for high-quality, permanent credits is sky-rocketing, and listing credits on Patch will help us to attract a broader range of buyers,” said Jennifer Wagner, president of CarbonCure Technologies, in a statement. 

It also has around 15 customers already using its service, according to earlier TechCrunch reporting. Those buyers include companies like TripActions and the private equity firm EQT, which intends to extend the integration of Patch’s API from its own operations to those of its portfolio companies down the road, according to Spellacy.

Grunfeld said that the company would be spending the money to hire more staff and developing new products. From its current headcount of six employees, Patch intends to bring on another 24 by the end of the year.

As the company expands, it’s looking to some of the startups providing carbon emissions audit and verification services as a channel that the company’s API can integrate with and sell through. These would be businesses like CarbonChain, Persefoni and another Y Combinator graduate, SINAI Technologies.

“An increasing number of businesses are taking leadership positions in an effort to reduce emissions to try to counteract global warming,” said Jeff Jordan, managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz. “Patch makes it much easier for companies to add carbon removal to their core business processes, aggregating verified carbon-removal supply and offering turn-key access to it to companies through an easy-to-implement API.”