India facilitates Transit traffic from Bangladesh to Nepal

Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The bill seeks to replace the ordinance brought to the same effect by the President on 30th of December last year. The legislation aims to amend the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act, 2011. Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said that ordinance in this regard was necessary since the Winter Session of the Parliament was suspended in view of the Corona pandemic and the 2011 Act was valid till 31st of December last year.Puri said that if the ordinance was not brought into effect, the state agencies in Delhi could have started sealing operations against the set-ups in the unauthorised colonies. He said, the NDA Government is committed to provide a house for everyone till 2022. Puri added that out of the total target of building one crore 12 lakh houses under the PM AWAS Yojana in the country, construction of nearly one crore 11 lakh houses have already been sanctioned. He said the legislation will benefit over one crore 35 lakh people living in the unauthorised colonies in the city of Delhi. The Minister asserted that the long awaited demand of residents regarding ownership rights for the houses will be fulfilled by the bill. He said that the government has also introduced an affordable housing rental scheme for the migrant workers living in the city.

-India will make up the biggest share of energy demand growth at 25% over the next two decades, as it overtakes the European Union as the world’s third-biggest energy consumer by 2030. The IEA said in its India Energy Outlook 2021, India’s energy consumption is expected to nearly double as the nation’s gross domestic product GDP expands to an estimated $8.6 trillion by 2040 under its current national policy scenario.The IEA said that this is underpinned by a rate of GDP growth that adds the equivalent of another Japan to the world economy by 2040.  India’s growing energy needs will make it more reliant on fossil fuel imports as its domestic oil and gas production has been stagnant for years despite government policies to promote petroleum exploration and production and renewable energy.

-In Uttarakhand, 31 bodies have been recovered from the disaster-hit areas of Chamoli district so far. As per the official report of the State Government, 175 people are still missing. Twelve people have been rescued and six of them are injured. The rescue operation is underway. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat visited disaster-hit areas of Chamoli district.

-In a big boost to sub-regional connectivity and cooperation, India facilitated the transit of fertiliser export from Bangladesh to Nepal via the Rohanpur-Singhabad rail route. The first train loaded with fertiliser for export to Nepal was handed over by Bangladesh railways to Indian railways last week. Presently, 27,000 metric ton of fertiliser will be exported to Nepal through the rail transit route. Another lot of 25,000 metric ton of fertiliser is likely to be exported subsequently.India and Bangladesh had signed an agreement in 1976 to allow for export of commodities from Bangladesh to Nepal and import from other countries to Nepal via Indian territory as ‘traffic in transit’. India has been providing the transit facility to Bangladesh exclusively for their exports and overland trade with Nepal.The ‘transit in traffic’ through railways between Bangladesh and India is carried out via two crossing points at Rohanpur (Bangladesh) –Singhabad (India)  and Birol (Bangladesh) - Radhikapur (India) railway route.

-In the Moroccan city of Tangier, heavy rains flooded a garment factory killing at least 28 workers. The total number of workers at the site wasn’t immediately known.To meet growing international demand, numerous factories in Morocco, notably in Casablanca and Tangier, rely on unregulated shadow factories to speed up production and meet deadlines.