There is tremendous scope for Australian investment into India

Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday called for fully tapping the immense tourism potential of the North-Eastern states and stressed the need to improve air connectivity to the region. He said that eco-tourism and cultural tourism can become the mainstay of development in the North-East if the tourism potential was fully leveraged.Noting the efforts of Central and State governments in providing connectivity and tourism infrastructure, Naidu said that improving air connectivity to the region can singularly bring a significant positive impact on tourist inflows. Pointing out that India has 26 million outbound tourists every year, Naidu  said that one could assume that most of them would prefer to ‘travel local’ in the post-Covid-19 phase. He said, this presents a huge opportunity for North-Eastern states to promote their tourism sector for this domestic audience.Virtually releasing the book ‘Oh Mizoram’, written by Governor of Mizoram,  P S Sreedharan Pillai, the Vice President, praised the region for its pristine natural beauty and said that Mizoram’s colorful festivals, folk music, and energetic dance make Mizo society truly unique. He added that often called as "Songbird of the East '', the Mizos are blessed with a natural talent for music.

-Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that there is tremendous scope for Australian investment into India as India has eased its FDI norms and opened up different sectors.Addressing the CII session on Enhancing India Australia Bilateral Economic and Trade Relationship, Goyal said that India has also opened up the Agri sector for greater investments in food processing and value addition. He also launched India-Australia Economic Strategy Report.The Minister said that India is continuously trying to make the FDI policies more facilitative, congenial and supportive of foreign investment. He said that newer areas like space, nuclear energy and defence production will open up good opportunities for the mutual engagement.

-After almost nine months, Maharashtra government has allowed sportspersons to resume training for all outdoor sports in the state as per Covid-19 protocols. A notification was issued in this regard yesterday. However, the government has not allowed competitions or training camps till further orders. The government has instructed sports bodies to conduct practice sessions for under-14 groups separately as they are not allowed to train with senior players.A notification syas thatthe sports activites nave been divided into four categories including non-contact games, minimal/medium contact games, full contact games and water sports with specific guidelines to be followed. The trainers and sports persons will have to strictly comply with COVID-19 protocols and standard operating process (SOP) including social distancing and avoid crowding. According to the notification, during practice session at a time only 10 to15 sports persons will be present at the predetermined timing. Sportspersons and parents with cold, cough and fever will be strictly prohibited at the training grounds or centers.

-Fourth Bilateral Joint Working Group, JWG meeting between the Narcotics Control Bureau NCB India and the National Narcotics Board BNN, Indonesia was held on Friday in New Delhi. The Indian delegation was led by Director General, Narcotics Control Bureau, Rakesh Asthana and the Indonesian delegation was led by Deputy of Legal Affairs and Cooperation, National Narcotic Board of Indonesia, PujiSarwono.Mr Asthana highlighted issues particularly the trafficking of Heroin and Amphetamine Type Stimulant ATS in the country through land and maritime routes originating from the Golden Triangle. He also mentioned the new emerging challenge of trafficking of drugs through the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. DG, NCB also emphasized on the emerging trends in the production and trafficking of New Psychoactive Substances and usage of Darknet markets. He said, COVID-19 has brought new challenges for containing the sudden spurt in trafficking through courier and parcel. He ensured that the Government of India is committed towards strengthening the existing mechanism of coordination and cooperation with Indonesia in combating drug trafficking. PujiSarwono elaborated the growing threat of trafficking of Methamphetamine in Indonesia, which has caused grave concern in the region even though the cooperation mechanism between Indonesia and India has enhanced over the past years. He urged India to develop frequent information exchange on drugs trafficking and precursor smuggling activities at every level. He complimented the Government of India and the NCB for their continuous efforts to combat the growing threat of the drug menace.Both the countries agreed on exchange of intelligence information in a timely manner to conduct follow-up investigation in drug seizure cases,

-Bangladesh has extended the closure of all educational institutions except Qawmi Madrasas till January 16, 2021. This was announced on Friday in a notification issued by the Ministry of Education.The educational institutions of Bangladesh have remained shut since Mar 17 after the first Corona Positive case was detected in Bangladesh in early March. The government had earlier announced closure of educational institutions till December 19.In order to control the spread of Coronavirus in the country, the government had also cancelled this year’s examination at the primary, junior secondary and higher secondary levels. In the meanwhile, the death toll due to Coronavirus in Bangladesh has gone up to 7217 with 25 people succumbing to the virus on Friday. According to the latest figures released by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Friday, with 1318 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of people infected by the coronavirus now stands at 4,98,293. Recovery rate in the country has steadily gone up to 87.02 percent.