Nepal
NEW DELHI, Dec 31: Vinay Mohan Kwatra, Ambassador of India to Nepal, met and congratulated Top Bahadur Rayamajhi on being inducted as Minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. He was allocated the Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation portfolios by the prime minister.
The meeting took place at Rayamajhi’s office. Kwatra, expressed his best wishes and their discussions revolved on several forward-looking areas of power sector collaboration between India and Nepal, including the facilitation and early implementation of several large-scale joint ventures.
India and Nepal have a multi-faceted presence in the power sector, which has intensified considerably in the last four to five years since the signing of the Power Trade Agreement in 2014. It includes Indian investments in the Nepalese hydropower sector, the development of high-voltage and medium-voltage cross-border transmission lines, and the facilitation of power trading and coordination of grid operations.
Sri Lanka
WEBINAR ON INDIAN OCEAN NAVAL SYMPOSIUM COVID -19 WORKSHOP
A Virtual Workshop “Indian Ocean Naval Symposium COVID-19” for Expert Interaction and Sharing of knowledge was conducted last week between the Indian and the Sri Lankan Navy. The goal of the webinar was to share the existing standard operating procedures, best practices and relevant problems in the management of COVID-19 and the way forward for participants to administer the vaccine.
The webinar was inaugurated by, Commodore Ajit Gopinath, Principal Director of Medical Services (HS), Indian Navy. He emphasised the importance of adjacent countries joining hands to work together in fighting the pandemic.
He also commended the significant involvement of the Sri Lankan Navy and acknowledged the involvement of GSR Jayawardhan the Surgeon Rear Admiral and Principal Adviser on the spread of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka. Other participants included Commodore Maramage, Director General of Naval Health Services and other medical experts from the Sri Lankan Naval Field Headquarters.
Experts from other countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, France, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Oman, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Timor Leste and the United Kingdom participated in the event.
Bangladesh
India extends e-ITEC Courses during January – March, 2021
India has expanded online courses to its partner countries under the aegis of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC).
In a statement the High Commission of India, Dhaka said “we are pleased to announce that Government of India has announced, some more advanced courses to partner countries under ITEC. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these courses will be delivered online. It will take place from January to March 2021 and includes courses such as Capacity Building in Electoral Technology, Buddha’s Art of Living, Buddha’s Words and Teaching, Buddha’s Path of Liberation and Gender-inclusive Governance for policymakers.
(Venkatesh Iyer)