LONDON – In an April commentary about the wild gyrations in financial markets during the February-March phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, I noted that the behavior of equity markets had been as bewildering, complex, and fascinating as ever. Still, I suspected that a weird logic was at work, and argued that markets might continue to rally despite the collapse of the world economy. And so they have. Will that change?

It's an undeniable fact that no country, however powerful or developed, has been able to develop total protection mechanism against disasters. The natural calamities like earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, epidemic, flood, or snowfall have been claiming the lives across the world. Still, a state can adopt every possible measure to minimize the loss.  But international cooperation, coordination and collaboration is crucial in disaster risk reduction and management.