WORLD

The United States is back in the Paris climate accord, just 107 days after it left. While Friday's return is heavily symbolic, world leaders say they expect America to prove its seriousness after four years of being pretty much absent. They are especially anticipating an announcement from the US in the coming months on its goal of cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases by 2030.

The US return to the Paris agreement became official Friday, almost a month after President Joe Biden told the United Nations that America wants back in. "A cry for survival comes from the planet itself," Biden said in his inaugural address. "A cry that can't be any more desperate or any more clear now." Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office reversing the pullout ordered by his predecessor, President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration had announced its withdrawal from the Paris accord in 2019 but it didn't become effective until Nov. 4, 2020, the day after the election, because of provisions in the agreement. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that the official American re-entry is itself very important, as is Biden's announcement that the US will return to providing climate aid to poorer nations, as promised in 2009.

Nepal approved on Thursday the emergency use of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by an affliate of China's Sinopharm, a government official said, the second vaccine cleared after Oxford-AstraZeneca's product.

The move paves the way for China to donate 500,000 doses of the Sinipharmvaccine to the Himalayan nation, which last month recieved one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine free of charge from its other big neighnpur India.

Nepal will also buy the AstraZeneca vaccine from India.

India has invited Pakistan to join a health secretary-level meet virtually on Thursday to discuss the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

India is hosting the workshop with other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC ) countries.

The virtual workshop will discuss issues like the management of Covid-19, response to the pandemic and exchange of best practices amid the pandemic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a video conference of the SAARC Heads of State on March 15, 2020, had proposed a Coronavirus Emergency Fund for the region.

This emergency fund was set up in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. The initiative seeks to mitigate the risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic in the South Asian region with India contributing USD10 million to it.

Nepal has conveyed its “formal objection” to India over Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb’s remarks about expanding the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) influence to Sri Lanka and Nepal and forming governments there.

Deb, who is no stranger to controversy, created a flutter when he told an event held in Agartala on February 13 that Union home minister Amit Shah had purportedly talked about plans to expand the BJP's influence in neighbouring countries.

Responding to a tweet from a Nepalese citizen on Deb’s comments, Nepal’s foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali said on Tuesday, “Noted. Formal objection has been already conveyed.” Gyawali didn’t give details.

India's nominee and current director general of TERI, Ajay Mathur, was on Monday elected as new chief of International Solar Alliance (ISA) – an inter-governmental body, set up in 2015 as a joint initiative of India and France to accelerate use of safe, sustainable, and affordable solar energy for all.

A coalition of 73 member countries, ISA, aims to mobilize over USD 1 trillion of investment into solar projects by 2030 through policy and regulatory support, capacity building, and by overcoming perceived investment barriers.

“This is a great honour for me, and I look forward to ISA enabling global solarization,” Mathur told to after his election at the first special assembly of the Alliance, held virtually. He will replace the incumbent Upendra Tripathy as new director general of this global body on March 15.