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71. Pursuing a Clean Air Agenda in India During the COVID Crisis

Author:
Santosh Harish and Shibani Ghosh
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
Air quality was gradually gaining political salience in India in the last few years, but COVID-19 and the deepening economic recession may now change the speed, and possibly the direction, of progress. The aim of this report is to begin the process, even amidst uncertainties, of understanding the effects of the COVID crisis on the air quality discourse in the country, and on the mitigation efforts already underway. We begin with a brief overview of the air quality improvements observed during the lockdown, and then identify some likely implications of the pandemic on how we frame the air quality problem. In view of state actions and public response during the COVID crisis, how should we, if at all, adapt our current framing of air pollution as a public health crisis? In the next section, we discuss broad financial, regulatory and institutional implications: in particular, the need to engage with the available funding channels to initiate and sustain measures to improve air quality amid significant fiscal constraints. There is a worrying erosion of environmental safeguards, which may – in part – be justified as a prerequisite to restarting the economy, and facilitating “ease of doing business”. Given that air quality management in India needs a multi-pronged approach across disparate sources, we then reflect on how the disruptions affect each of the major sources, and the resultant opportunities and challenges.
Topic:
Environment, Governance, Pollution, Public Health, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

72. Crammed In Or Shut Out? Implications of Delhi's Homeless Shelter System's Floor Space Constraints - with Attention to the Potential Public Health Risks of Overcrowded Shelters during COVID-19

Author:
Ashwin Parulkar
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
In May 2020, about 50 residents of a cluster of homeless shelters near the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital tested COVID-19 positive. Officials from the Delhi Shelter Urban Improvement Board (DUSIB), the state nodal agency responsible for the capital’s approximately 220 24X7 night shelters, later admitted these residents to nearby hospitals but did not initiate widespread testing in Delhi’s shelters. The AIIMS shelter cluster consisted mostly of tent structures set up by the government each winter on a temporary basis. Their tenure was extended this year to accommodate more people in need during the nation-wide Lockdown. AIIMS shelters were crowded spaces. The tents were 600 square feet in size and officially reserved for 50 residents – just 12 square feet per person. About 18 people actually used these tents each night, indicating that 33.8 square feet of personal space existed between residents. This is far below the national shelter floor space guideline of 50 square feet per resident stipulated by the National Urban Livelihood Mission Scheme of Shelters and endorsed by the Delhi High Court and the Honorable Supreme Court. Floor space constraints pervade Delhi’s homeless shelter system. DUSIB allots, on average, 18 square feet of personal space to the 18,478 residents that the system’s 223 shelters can officially accommodate. About 7400 people - 40% of the system’s official residential capacity - use these shelters. The amount of personal space available to these residents – the true as opposed to official shelter area - is 45 square feet per person. This tells us that (a) the average Delhi shelter operates at full capacity to overcrowded conditions and (b) the low percentage of homeless people who use the capital’s shelters represents a limit of how many people can access shelters, not merely the number who do. In that context, this study examines the question: What is the extent of overcrowding in Delhi’s shelters and its implications on the ability of residents in these spaces to socially distance to prevent the spread of COVID-19? Through an analysis of (a) occupancy, residential capacity and floor-space data archived by DUSIB; (b) district-wise homeless and overall population estimates tabulated by the Census; and (c) discussions with DUSIB and Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials , this study examines the nature and implications of limited floor space across Delhi’s homeless shelter system to ascertain the extent to which the system’s capacity and coverage problems are: rooted in shelter planning and design; and how in that context, shelter space constraints may pose a public health risk to homeless people during the COVID-19 pandemic districts with rapidly growing overall populations where such space shortages are concentrated may continue to exclude homeless people from shelter; and shelters that, comparatively, have more space may also have the potential to accommodate more people, at least in the near-term.
Topic:
Homelessness, Public Health, COVID-19, and Housing
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

73. “The Political Striptease Show Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic Is Unattractive, Off-Putting”

Author:
Sergey Ryabkov
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
East View Information Services
Abstract:
Interview with Sergey Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, World Health Organization, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

74. Coronavirus: Political Philosophy

Author:
A. Shchipkov
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
East View Information Services
Abstract:
THE CRISIS caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world. Yesterday, we were living under the slogan, “Live as friends in a society without borders”; today, we are advised “to remain home and avoid con- tacts.” Each country is for itself. The slogan, “Less state and more mar- ket” has been pushed aside: anyone and everyone asks the state for help and protection. Yesterday, medicine was optimized to earn money; today, the sacred principle of profit has tumbled down. In January, hospitals were closed; today, new hospitals are being built. On the other hand, not all consequences of the pandemic are clear; we have not yet reached its end to verify the information collected about immunity, vaccines and virus mutations. We can only guess whether the pandemic happens only once or will regularly repeat itself. Today, the economy lives amid deep-cutting changes imposed by the pandemic. Promptly ended, they will be nothing more than temporary changes; if they continue for many years, they will change the very foundations of the economic, social and political systems. Overlaid on the other symp- toms of a world crisis (including a financial crisis), the pandemic created a synergetic effect. Time has come to assess possible results.
Topic:
Public Health, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

75. Two Superpandemics for One Humanity Is Too Many!

Author:
A. Krutskikh
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
East View Information Services
Abstract:
Interview woth Andrei Krutskikh, Special Representative of the Russian President on International Cooperation in the Field of Information Security, Director of the Department of International Information Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
Topic:
Cybersecurity, Public Health, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus