collaboration’ diplomacy in BBIN countries

Bhutan and Nepal have bilateral cooperation models with India. Bangladesh also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for hydropower import from Nepal, using transmission lines from India. Since Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal have variations in the availability of energy resources and demand patterns, exploiting the untapped potential of greater cooperation can help them generate the leastcost electricity, address seasonal energy scarcity and advance the promotion of renewable energy.

These four countries have great similarities in terms of socio-economics. However, the electricity production and consumption patterns of these countries are different. For example, fossil fuel is the main method of electricity generation in Bangladesh. A total of 23 thousand 482 megawatts of electricity comes from here. On the other hand, less than 3 percent of electricity is generated from renewable energy. Besides, 1160 MW electricity is imported from India. It is estimated that the electricity demand in Bangladesh will reach 60,000 megawatts in 2041.

In 2022, Bhutan’s ‘installed power’ capacity was 2,335 MW. 99 percent of Bhutan’s national grid comes from its hydroelectric projects. In 2021, Bhutan generated 11,059 gigawatt-hours of electricity and exported most of it, or about 74 percent, to India. Again this Bhutan has to import electricity during the dry season. Because then the hydropower project was stopped due to lack of water. Bhutan’s Department of Hydropower Systems forecasts that the country’s electricity demand will increase fivefold in 2030 compared to 2022. As a result, Bhutan will have to increase its power generation capacity at a large rate in the coming years.

On the other hand, India could collectively generate 409 GW of electricity till November 2022. The country’s power generation still depends on fossil fuels like Bangladesh. But the country is now increasingly dependent on other renewable energies, including hydropower. The country produces more than 166 GW of electricity in this way. Renewable energy and hydropower provide about 41 percent of India’s electricity grid. India aims to generate 500 GW of electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Nepal can generate 2 thousand 191 MW electricity. The country is 96.2 percent dependent on hydropower. Besides, there are 3.7 percent thermal power plants. Like Bhutan, Nepal also suffers from power shortages in winter. Because, at this time the speed of water decreases. The country will need 19 thousand 151 megawatts of electricity in 2040. Which is 8.5 times more than their current capacity.

Energy demand in the BBIN region varies from country to country. For example, December, January and February in Bhutan have high electricity demand. But this demand decreases from June to September. Electricity demand is high in Nepal from January to February. On the other hand, Bangladesh’s electricity demand is lowest at this time of the year.

The peak demand in Bangladesh is from April to June. And between November and February the electricity demand drops significantly. Some regions of India have high electricity demand from January to March or October to December.

For example, India is considering Nepalese and Bangladesh proposals to allow Kathmandu to sell electricity to Dhaka via Indian territory and Indian infrastructure which would deepen sub-regional cooperation in a big way. Officials say a meeting between Nepali and Indian officials led by energy secretaries of the countries will finalize the matter. The meeting is scheduled to be held in the third week of February in New Delhi.

India offers the opportunity to interconnect the Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal electricity supply industries. The possibility of using Indian power infrastructure for electricity trade between Nepal and Bangladesh is another facet of India’s neighborhood engagement. These bonds of support, trade and economic opportunities should bind the countries, with India as a critical player. Acting in unison would be in the enlightened self-interest of each country in South Asia. This approach makes India a reliable partner. The power trade

Child marriage an ongoing problem in Assam

Child marriage is a social phenomenon prevalent in several cultures and religions. In some communities, marriages are arranged as early as age two. Although child marriage is considered obsolete in some countries, it continues to be a serious issue in others. Child marriage is common in Assam. According to the 5th National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) conducted in 201920, 31.8% of women aged 20-24 in Assam were married before the legal age of 18, higher than the state figure of 23.3% %. The state also has high infant and maternal mortality rates. CM Sarma cited the figures as the reason for the wave of arrests.

In 2016, the UK government repealed a law allowing children under 16 to get married with parental consent. Similarly, India’s Supreme Court banned child marriages in Gujarat in 2017, but loopholes in its law allowed child marriages to take place in secret. As a mother nation, India must eradicate this practice throughout the country.

“The Assam government is determined to end the threat of child marriage in the state. @assampolice has recorded 4,004 cases across the state so far, and more police action is likely in the coming days. Cases to begin on 3rd Feb Trial. I urge everyone to work together,” CM Sarma tweeted.

It’s a story of a steady decline In underage marriages, with the vast majority of such marriages restricted to the 15-17 age group – only 8% were married at or before age 14.

Assam accounts for just 3% of all pre-18 marriages in the country – even a state like Gujarat has 4.4%. One statistic that sets Assam apart and might explain the sudden adoption of “zero tolerance” is the religious statistic. According to NFHS-5, while the underage marriage rate for Hindus in Assam is 23.5%, which is close to the national average (23.2%), it is similar for Muslims (45.8%) and Christians (23.8%), far from That’s above their respective averages of 26.4% and the national average of 15.2%.

All Indian data shows that early marriages are concentrated among the poorest, and this is even more so in Assam, where 42% of people marry minors in the poorest 20%.

Poverty is strongly correlated with religious minority status – 51% of Muslims belong to the poorest class, while only 31% of Hindus are in the same class

“The general perception is that child marriage is a problem in Muslim societies. But Duburi has a high child marriage rate because it is one of the poorest districts in Assam where most of the families are illiterate.

No Because Muslims live here,” Mr Zaman said. Child marriage is not uncommon in Assam. According to the 2022 Population Sample Survey conducted by the Union Home Ministry, Jharkhand and West Bengal have the highest child marriage rates in the country, more than any other state.

PG 1st semester, Department of MCJMS, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam between Nepal and Bangladesh also reflects the active role of a silent organization BBIN. Nepal will gain from the sale, and Bangladesh will benefit from access to electricity.

Besides opening the opportunity for bilateral trade between Nepal and Bangladesh, a new opportunity for sub-regional energy trade among BBIN countries is also emerging, with India itself pushing for it. For this, transmission line connectivity alone will not be enough. There is a need for harmonized rules and regulations among the participating963.- countries and there should be a multilateral agreement on details including the wheeling charge of electricity among the participating countries. It is hoped that Nepal and Bangladesh will widen collaboration in the power sector and include partner nations to solve the energy interdependency in South Asia.

That is, these four countries can meet each other’s electricity needs at different times of the year. Nepal can generate up to 40 GW of hydropower if it wants. But they are using only 5 percent of their potential. Bhutan has a potential of 23 GW from hydropower but they are only able to use 10 percent of it. Bangladesh’s problem is about adding renewable energy to the grid. Bangladesh can expand its renewable energy path by investing in Nepal and Bhutan.

Jubeda Chowdhury, The writer is a columnist, researcher.

Reader’s Post

To those who sold their votes and gave proxy vote

Sir, I would like to tell those who sold their votes and engaged in proxy voting that they are responsible for:

1. Lack of employment for the youths.

2. Government servants not getting salary on time.

3. Blatant and rampant corruption in Nagaland.

4. Students not getting scholarship on time.

5. Lack of world class infrastructures for the public.

6. Nagaland being amongst the poorest states in India.

7. Backdoor appointments.

8. Dilapidated or no roads in remote areas.

9. A stadium that has not been completed.

10. Government schools with proxy teachers or no teachers.

Ironically, people who are indulging in such malpractices are youngsters their 20s and they don’t even know they are destroying their own future. Sad state of affairs.

Amenla Jamir, Dimapur, Nagaland.

Snippets

Amit Shah to flag-off

‘Yatra’ in Ktaka on Mar 3

NEW DELHI, FEB 28

(PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah will undertake a day-long visit to Karnataka on March 3 during which he will flagoff two ‘Rath Yatras’ and address a public meeting, sources said on Tuesday.

From March 1, the BJP plans to start four separate ‘Vijay Sankalp Rath Yatra’ from different parts of Karnataka, where assembly elections are due in May. BJP President J P Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders will join the two other yatras that will converge at one place after 20 days.

BJP leader booked for abetment to suicide

GURUGRAM, FEB 28

(PTI): Haryana BJP state secretary Manish Yadav has been booked by the Grurgram police in an abetment to suicide case, officials said on Tuesday.

The case was registered at Sector 9A police station here on Monday after a 48-year-old milk booth owner allegedly ended his own life by hanging in his rented house and left a suicide note in which he wrote that he took the step after being harassed by Yadav and one Bachchu Singh, they said.

Couple killed in road mishap on Expressway

MATHURA, FEB 28 (PTI): A man and his wife were killed when an unidentified vehicle hit their scooter from behind on the Yamuna Expressway here on Tuesday morning, police said. A youth who was also travelling on the scooter with the couple was seriously injured in the accident, they said. Woman held for stealing jewellery in Maharashtra

MUMBAI, FEB 28 (PTI):

A 40-year-old woman was arrested on Tuesday, 24 hours after she allegedly stole gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 7.5 lakh from her employer’s house in suburban Kandivali here, police said. The woman was apprehended from neighbouring Thane district and the stolen jewellery was recovered from her possession, an official said.

Overage Army aspirant commits suicide in MP

SHIVPURI (MP), FEB 28 (PTI): A 22-year-old Army aspirant allegedly committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district on Tuesday after failing to qualify for the Agniveer selection process as he was overage, police said.

Kedar Pal left home in the early hours of the day to go for a run, but was later found hanging from a tree, around 200 metres from his house in the town, an official said. According to Pal’s friends, he had aspired to join the Army and exercised a lot to keep fit.

K’taka govt employees set to go on strike

HUBBALLI/BENGAL-

URU, FEB 28 (PTI): With the government employees in Karnataka set to go on an indefinite strike from March 1, seeking fulfilment of various demands, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday reached out to them, saying the administration was ready to seek 7th Pay commission’s interim report and implement it.

Six booked for dowry harassment in Maha

THANE, FEB 28 (PTI):

A 28-year-old man and five of his family members have been booked for allegedly harassing his wife and driving her to commit suicide in Maharashtra’s Thane district, police said on Tuesday. The case against the six came on a complaint by the woman’s father, said the official.