Railways achieves highest freight loading of 1233 million tonnes

Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep S Puri has said that the Model tenancy act will ensure formalising the shadow market of rental housing. Addressing a press conference Wednesday the Minister said that its implementation will give confidence to landlords to more readily put their premises on rent. He said this will have a dual advantage. An asset which is lying dormant will become a productive asset and secondly, people would invest to build units for residential and commercial use. Puri said the model tenancy act provides a model for urban, rural, residential and commercial properties. It would be a written agreement with terms and conditions to be determined by the landlord and the tenant. He said one of its innovative features is a time bound and robust grievance redressal mechanism.

-Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar on Wednesday said there is a need for think tanks and strategic intellectual input as the nature of security challenges are changing. Giving a virtual lecture on Recent Reforms in India's National Security Apparatus, Mr Kumar said it is extremely important to be proactive and create your own strategic thoughts. He said, the Defence Ministry endeavours to continuously engage with such strategic think tanks. He said, the Ministry is working with 8 to 10 think tanks in the country.

-Punjab Transport Minister Razia Sultana, has announced that now 3 wheeler auto drivers can give the driving test for getting Driving License by using a 3 wheeler auto rickshaw. Earlier, three-wheeler drivers were tested on four-wheelers.She also directed to all the Enforcement Authorities that if any three-wheeler driver has Driving License of Light Motor Vehicle he should not be harassed, because as per provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act 1988, the 3 wheeler auto rickshaw has been categorized into Light Motor Vehicle.State Transport Commissioner Dr. Amarpal Singh said that instructions have been issued to the Licensing Authorities & Automated Driving Test Tracks of Punjab. He said that the enforcement agencies have been instructed that a person producing a digital Driving License/Registration Certificate of vehicle and other documents in digital format on m Parivahan application of Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and DigiLocker app of Govt. of India, he/she is not required to produce the printed document, accordingly, all the enforcement staff should be sensitized.

-Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan  successfully completes his tenure as Chairperson of Executive Board of WHO Wednesday. On the occasionhe  addressed the 149th Session of the World Health Organization, Executive Board Meeting through Video Conference. The Minister commend the World Health Organization for its steadfast support to all Member States throughout the pandemic. Dr Harsh Vardhan said, he is inspired that the World Health Assembly vigorously supported equitable global access to COVID-19 medicines and vaccines. He said, Global solidarity and cooperation are fundamental to all areas of the pandemic response and must continue to be strengthened. Director General of WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus congratulated, Dr Harsh Vardhan for his pivotal leadership to global health. Dr Tedros also congratulated him for receiving the Special Director-Generals Award of WHO. Appreciating his contribution towards tobacco control, he said that Dr Harsh Vardhan has been instrumental in driving global efforts towards Tobacco Control.

-Railway Board Chairman Suneet Sharma has said that despite COVID-19 challenges, Railway had achieved nine consecutive months of record freight loading from September last year to May this year. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi Sharma said, the highest ever loading of 1233 million tonnes was achieved in 2020-21.The chairman said, 738 Kisan Rail services have been operated on 59 routes so far carrying around 2.33 lakh tonnes of agriculture products. He said, the major commodities transported are onion, potato, Banana, capsicum, orange and other fruits and vegetables. The first Kisan Rail train was flagged-off on  August 7 last year between Devlali, Maharashtra and Danapur in Bihar. He said, Railways had started running Kisan Rail train services, to transport perishables and agri-product.