News in Short

• The Indian Army has proposed a three-year “internship” for youths, both as officers and soldiers, citing resurgence of nationalism and unemployment.
• The short, voluntary “tour of duty” is for youths who “do not want to make defence services their permanent vocation, but still want to experience the thrill and adventure of military professionalism.
• However, the entry criteria for such candidates will not be relaxed. The major crux lies in making the proposal attractive to the government, Armed Forces, corporates and most importantly the individuals who opt for it.

• India has moved up two positions to rank 74th on a global ‘Energy Transition Index’ with improvements on all key parameters of economic growth, energy security and environmental sustainability.
• In its report, the WEF said its study measuring readiness for clean energy transition in 115 economies showed that 94 have made progress since 2015, but environmental sustainability continues to lag.
• Sweden has topped the Energy Transition Index (ETI) for the third consecutive year and is followed by Switzerland and Finland in the top three.

• Generic pharmaceutical firm and leading producer of anti-retroviral drugs Hetero has entered into a licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences Inc. for the manufacture and distribution of Ebola drug Remdesivir in 127 countries, including India.
• Besides Remdesivir, other anti-viral drugs being considered for treatment of COVID-19 globally are Favipiravir and anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine.
• Hetero is one of the four drug makers from India, including Mylan, Jubilant Life Sciences and Cipla Ltd, to have entered into non-exclusive, non-royalty based voluntary licencing agreements with US-based Gilead Sciences.

• The United Nations forecast that the COVID-19 pandemic will shrink the world economy by 3.2 per cent this year, the sharpest contraction since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
• The UN’s mid-year report said the impact of the coronavirus crisis is expected to slash global economic output by nearly $8.5 trillion over the next two years, wiping out nearly all gains of the last four years.
• The United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects report also forecast a 15 per cent contraction in world trade in 2020 as a result of sharply reduced global demand and disruptions in global supply chains

• Pakistan have named Babar Azam as their captain in the ODI format, officially confirming his role as skipper in both white-ball formats.
• Former ODI skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed has been formally removed with Babar Azam’s appointment. He had been removed from the captain’s role in Tests and T20Is in October last year.