Day: July 21, 2023

Japan and India have signed an agreement for the joint development of semiconductors, in what appears to be another indication of how global businesses are reconfiguring post-pandemic supply chains as China loses its allure for foreign companies.

India’s Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister for railways, communications, and electronics and information technology, and Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry, Yasutoshi Nishimura, signed the deal Thursday in New Delhi.

The memorandum covers “semiconductor design, manufacturing, equipment research, talent development and [will] bring resilience in the semiconductor supply chain,” Vaishnaw said.

Nishimura said after his meeting with Vaishnaw that “India has excellent human resources” in fields such as semiconductor design.

“By capitalizing on each other’s strengths, we want to push forward with concrete projects as early as possible,” Nishimura told a news conference, Kyodo News reported.  

Andreas Kuehn, a senior fellow at the American office of Observer Research Foundation, an Indian think tank, told VOA Mandarin: “Japan has extensive experience in this industry and understands the infrastructure in this field at a broad level. It can be an important partner in advancing India’s semiconductor ambitions.”

Shift from China

Foreign companies have been shifting their manufacturing away from China over the past decade, prompted by increasing labor costs.

More recently, Beijing’s push for foreign companies to share their technologies and data has increased uneasiness with China’s business climate, according to surveys of U.S. and European businesses there.

The discomfort stems from a 2021 data security law that Beijing updated in April and put into effect on July 1. Its broad anti-espionage language does not define what falls under China’s national security or interests. 

After taking office in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a “Make in India” initiative with the goal of turning India into a global manufacturing center with an expanded chip industry.

The initiative is not entirely about making India a self-sufficient economy, but more about welcoming investors from countries with similar ideas. Japan and India are part of the QUAD security framework, along with the United States and Australia, which aims to strengthen cooperation as a group, as well as bilaterally between members, to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Jagannath Panda, director of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs of the Institute for Security and Development Policy, said that the international community “wants a safe region where the semiconductor industry can continue to supply the global market. This chain of linkages is critical, and India is at the heart of the Indo-Pacific region” — a location not lost on chip companies in the United States, Taiwan and Japan that are reevaluating supply chain security and reducing their dependence on China.

Looking ahead

Panda told VOA Mandarin: “The COVID pandemic has proved that we should not rely too much on China. [India’s development of the chip industry] is also to prepare India for the next half century. Unless countries with similar ideas such as the United States and Japan cooperate effectively, India cannot really develop its semiconductor industry.”

New Delhi and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding in March to advance cooperation in the semiconductor field.

During Modi’s visit to the United States in June, he and President Joe Biden announced a cooperation agreement to coordinate semiconductor incentive and subsidy plans between the two countries.

Micron, a major chip manufacturer, confirmed on June 22 that it will invest as much as $800 million in India to build a chip assembly and testing plant.

Applied Materials said in June that it plans to invest $400 million over four years to build an engineering center in Bangalore, Reuters reported.  The new center is expected to be located near the company’s existing facility in Bengaluru and is likely to support more than $2 billion of planned investments and create 500 new advanced engineering jobs, the company said.

Experts said that although the development of India’s chip industry will not pose a challenge to China in the short term, China’s increasingly unfriendly business environment will prompt international semiconductor companies to consider India as one of the destinations for transferring production capacity.

“China is still a big player in the semiconductor industry, especially traditional chips, and we shouldn’t underestimate that. I don’t think that’s going to go away anytime soon. The world depends on this capacity,” Kuehn said. 

He added: “For multinational companies, China has become a more difficult business environment to operate in. We are likely to see them make other investments outside China after a period of time, which may compete with China’s semiconductor industry, especially in Southeast Asia. India may also play a role in this regard.” 

Bo Gu contributed to this report.
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The World Health Organization warns dengue fever is spreading to more regions and countries around the world due to the increased movement of people, urbanization, and climate-related issues.

“About half of the world’s population is at risk of dengue,” Raman Velayudhan, a top official of the WHO’s global program on the control of neglected tropical diseases, told journalists at a briefing Friday in Geneva. “Dengue affects about 129 countries. We estimate about 100 to 400 million cases are reported every year. This is basically an estimate.”

The disease, which is spread by the Aedes species of mosquito, thrives mainly in tropical and subtropical climates. WHO reports it has grown dramatically worldwide in recent decades, with cases increasing from half a million in 2000 to more than 4.2 million in 2022.

Last year, the Latin American region reported 2.8 million cases and 1,280 deaths. Just seven months into 2023, the region has already matched those figures, with nearly three million cases and an almost equal number of deaths. 

Velayudhan said dengue is a global disease, noting that the mosquito which causes dengue has been found in 24 European countries. 

He said that in Africa there recently have been reports of more than 2,000 cases and 45 deaths in Sudan, as well as new reports within the past week of dengue being present in Egypt. 

He said the presence of dengue in Africa is of special concern, noting that the figure of over 200,000 cases reported annually from the continent is likely an underestimate. 

He added that the reporting of dengue cases in Africa must be improved.

“We know it is there,” said Velayudhan. “But it has been masked by other diseases. But now that [the battle against] malaria, in particular, has made great strides and has reduced in Africa, we have seen an increasing percent of dengue, and this is something we really encourage the governments [to address].”

He said this is already happening as the WHO is currently tracking cases of the disease reported in Sudan, Ethiopia, Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria and Sao Tome.

The monsoon season has begun in Asia, a situation that health officials find very worrying as the region accounts for about 70 percent dengue cases. The WHO has issued an alert to governments to take preventive measures to control the spread of the disease.

Velayudhan said the monsoon already has hit many of the dengue endemic regions in the Indian sub-continent, where high precipitation, increased temperature and even water scarcity favor mosquitoes and pose a real threat.

“So, we really need to be better prepared and make sure that all our health facilities are alerted and as the water recedes, we need to prevent [mosquito] breeding. And this is the key message,” he said.

He said people can protect themselves by eliminating stagnant water and other possible breeding areas around their homes. 

Most people with dengue do not have symptoms and get better in one to two weeks. However, those who develop severe cases often require hospital care. 

While there is no specific treatment for dengue, WHO says patients can be treated with medicines to lower the temperature and ease body pain.

The World Health Organization says new tools, such as diagnostics, antivirals, and vaccines for preventing and controlling dengue, are under development. Indeed, it notes one vaccine is in the market, and two are in the final phase three clinical trial and review.

Meanwhile, Velayudhan noted that the mosquito that transmits dengue tends to bite during the day. So, his advice to people is “to cover up during the day to lower their risk of being bitten and getting dengue.” 
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Environmental activists and experts are increasingly concerned about the impact that military activity by India, China and Pakistan is having on the unique biodiversity and pristine ecosystems of Ladakh, an Indian-administered region high in the Himalayas.

Simmering tensions between India and China since a deadly border confrontation in 2020 have led to a surge in military deployment, with both sides fortifying their positions to ensure territorial security.

The influx of troops, equipment and infrastructure construction for military purposes has disrupted the fragile Himalayan ecosystem. The unchecked expansion of military bases, roads, helipads and related projects has led to deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and increased air and noise pollution, the experts say.

They point to the rapid degradation of sensitive habitats, such as alpine meadows, wetlands and high-altitude forests, which are home to several endangered species, including the elusive snow leopard, Tibetan antelope and black-necked crane.

“Rare birds such as the black neck crane face disturbances in their habitats due to the heavy military presence on both the Chinese and Indian sides,” said Sonam Wangchuk, an environmentalist and past winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award – sometimes referred to as the Nobel Prize of Asia.  

He and other experts explained that the military activities disrupt the natural breeding patterns, feeding habits and migration routes of these vulnerable species, threatening their survival.

The damage caused by military activity is exacerbating degradation already underway from rising global temperatures attributed in large part to the burning of fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide, trapping heat from the sun in Earth’s atmosphere.

Mountain regions like the Himalayas are rapidly changing because of the climate crisis, said Doug Weir, policy director at the Conflict and Environment Observatory, a U.K.-based charity working to develop policies that will reduce the environmental harm caused by conflicts and military activities.

Weir told VOA that military activity is estimated to account for 5.5% of all global carbon dioxide emissions.

“Increased military spending and activity help accelerate the climate crisis and the regional changes that are already readily apparent,” he said. “While India has begun to acknowledge a need to reduce its military emissions, efforts are in their infancy. China’s views on military emissions reductions remain unclear.”

Wangchuk argued in an interview that the military buildup in Ladakh is contributing significantly to the warming climate.

“The Indian side alone emits approximately 300,000 tons of CO2 [carbon dioxide] annually, considering the substantial amount of fuel transported and burned for military operations,” he said. “Similarly, the emissions would be slightly higher on the Chinese side and somewhat lower on the Pakistani side, resulting in nearly 1 million tons of CO2 being emitted each year in this triangular junction.

“Pollution doesn’t know borders,” Wangchuk added, urging governments to prioritize the well-being of soldiers and civilians alike, irrespective of their nationalities. He compared the disputes between nations “to squabbling neighbors fighting over a fence while an impending avalanche threatens them both.”

Not only the wildlife is threatened. A recent study indicated that if temperature trends continued, the Himalayan glaciers might disappear entirely, “having a significant impact on regional water supplies, hydrological processes, ecosystem services and transboundary water sharing.”

Ladakh is particularly vulnerable to the threat, Wangchuk said. “Its glaciers play a crucial role in sustaining not only the local population but also communities across northern India and northern Pakistan. Consequently, many villages are teetering on the brink of becoming climate refugees.”

In a media report last year, the village of Kumik witnessed residents abandoning their homes and relocating to other parts of Ladakh because of water scarcity.

On a more positive note, Wangchuk said efforts are underway to collaborate with the Indian army to introduce passive solar-heated shelters, which have proven effective in significantly reducing emissions.

“These innovative zero-emission buildings have been successfully tested during two harsh winters, ensuring soldiers’ warmth without relying on conventional fuel sources,” he said, calling for China and Pakistan to adopt similar environmentally friendly practices. 
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As the planet warms, mosquitoes are slowly migrating upward. 

The temperature range where malaria-carrying mosquitoes thrive is rising in elevation. Researchers have found evidence of the phenomenon from the tropical highlands of South America to the mountainous, populous regions of eastern Africa. 

Scientists now worry people living in areas once inhospitable to the insects, including the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and the mountains of eastern Ethiopia, could be newly exposed to the disease. 

“As it gets warmer at higher altitudes with climate change and all of these other environmental changes, then mosquitoes can survive higher up the mountain,” said Manisha Kulkarni, a professor and researcher studying malaria in sub-Saharan Africa at the University of Ottawa. 

Kulkarni led a study published in 2016 that found the habitat for malaria-carrying mosquitoes had expanded in the high-elevation Mount Kilimanjaro region by hundreds of square kilometers in just 10 years. Lower altitudes, in contrast, are becoming too hot for the bugs. 

The African region Kulkarni studied, which is growing in population, is close to the border of Tanzania and Kenya. Together, the two countries accounted for 6% of global malaria deaths in 2021. 

Deaths decline, still numerous

Global deaths from malaria declined by 29% from 2002 to 2021, as countries have taken more aggressive tactics in fighting the disease. However, the numbers remain high, especially in Africa where children under 5 years old account for 80% of all malaria deaths.  

The latest world malaria report from the World Health Organization recorded 247 million cases of malaria in 2021 — Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Mozambique alone accounted for almost half of those cases. 

“The link between climate change and expansion or change in mosquito distributions is real,” said Doug Norris, a specialist in mosquitoes at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who was not involved in the research. 

But mosquitoes are picky about their habitat, Norris added, and the various malaria-carrying species have different preferences in temperature, humidity and amount of rainfall. Combined with the use of bed nets, insecticides and other tools, it becomes hard to pin any single trend to climate change, he said. 

Jeremy Herren, who studies malaria at the Nairobi-based International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, said there is evidence that climate change is affecting where mosquito populations choose to live. But, he said, it is still difficult to predict how malaria will spread. 

For example, in Kenya, Herren said researchers have documented “massive shifts” in malaria in mosquitoes. A species that was once dominant is now almost impossible to find, he said. But those changes are probably not due to climate change, he said, adding that the rollout of insecticide-treated nets is one explanation for that shift. 

In general, however, mosquitoes grow faster in warmer conditions, Norris said. 

Pamela Martinez, a researcher at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, said her team’s findings on malaria trends in Ethiopia, which were published in 2021 in the journal Nature, lent more confidence to the idea that malaria and temperature — and, therefore, climate change — are linked. 

“We see that when temperature goes down, the overall trend of cases also goes down, even in the absence of intervention,” Martinez said. “That proves the case that temperature has an impact on transmission.” 
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