National
Nitish Kumar sworn in Bihar Chief Minister for a fifth time
Nitish Kumar was sworn in Bihar Chief Minister for a fifth time at a grand event attended mostly by non-BJP leaders. The two sons of RJD chief Lalu Prasad â Tejaswi and Tej Pratap âand 26 others were also sworn in.
In the late-evening allocation of portfolios, Tejaswi Yadav, the younger son of Mr. Lalu Prasad, became Deputy Chief Minister. The elder son, Tej Pratap, was given charge of three important Ministries.
Apart from Nitish Kumar, 12 members each from the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal and four from the Congress were administered the oath of office.
After Mr. Kumar, Tejaswi Yadav and Tej Pratap took the oath. All the family members of Mr. Lalu Prasad were present at the glittering ceremony on Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan.
International
ADB pledges $120 million loan to finance India, Bangladesh electricity link under SASEC Programme
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pledged to provide 120 million dollar loan in order to finance cross-border electricity link between Bangladesh and India under SASEC Programme. In this regard, loan agreement was signed by ADB Country Director Kazuhiko Higuchi and Mohammad Mejbahuddin, Senior Secretary of Bangladesh Finance Ministry.
The loan fund would be used for Second Bangladesh-India Grid Inter connectivity project under the ambitious South Asia Sub-regional Economic Co-operation (SASEC) Programme.
The projects under SASEC Programme aim to promote regional prosperity through improved cross-border links in trade, power, road and rail links between India and Bangladesh.
The second project under will double the existing capacity from 500 MW to 1000 MW of the inter-connectivity link connecting power grid at Bheramara in western Bangladesh and the grid of eastern India at Bahrampur (Odisha).
It should be noted that the networks under the first project were connected in 2013 and was financed by ADB under the SASEC Programme.
About South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program
Set up in 2001 to bring together Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka in a project-based partnership.
This sub-regional partnership aims to
• Strengthening regional economic cooperation Boosting trade among member countries. Promote regional prosperity by improving cross-border connectivity.
• Build a better quality of life for the people of the subregion. Since its establishment, SASEC member countries have implemented over 37 regional projects worth more than 6.75 billion dollars in the energy, trade facilitation, transport and ICT sectors.
• Manila (Philippines) based Asian Development Bank (ADB) serves SASEC Secretariat for the member countries.
UN approves resolution urging action against IS
The UN Security Council unanimously approved a French-sponsored resolution calling on all nations to redouble and coordinate action to prevent further attacks by Islamic State terrorists and other extremist groups.
The resolution says the Islamic State group “constitutes a global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security” and expresses the council’s determination “to combat by all means this unprecedented threat.”
The measure is the 14th terrorism-related resolution adopted yesterday by the UN’s most powerful body since 1999.
It was adopted a week after violent extremists launched a coordinated gun and bomb assault that killed 130 people in Paris which the Islamic State claims it carried out.
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