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India, UK to launch solar Green Grids Initiative at COP26 climate summit

The new Green Grids Initiative, to be launched at COP26 on Tuesday, will mark a merging of flagship interconnection initiatives from India and the UK as part of their bilateral cooperation.

This initiative will bring together an international coalition of national governments, financial organisations, and power system operators to accelerate the construction of new infrastructure needed to deliver a massive scale-up of secure, reliable and affordable power, such as modern, flexible grids, charging points, and electricity interconnectors, the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said, in reference to the joint project.

ISA recently announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies to mobilise USD 1 trillion in global investments for solar energy across ISA’s member countries.

The two organisations plan to work with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to develop a Solar Investment Action Agenda and a Solar Investment Roadmap, which will also be launched at COP26.

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India-led ISA, an inter-governmental treaty-based international organisation with a global mandate to catalyse global solar growth by helping to reduce the cost of financing and technology for solar, is designed to establish solar energy as a shared solution that simultaneously addresses climate, energy, and economic priorities across geographies.

ISA, headed by Director General Dr Ajay Mathur and with 98 countries supporting its framework, is aimed at facilitating energy transition at a global level, energy security at national levels, while also ensuring energy access at the local level.

The alliance said it is working with development banks to bring the benefits of solar across the world. Apart from bringing down prices for solar water pumps, it is enabling technological transfer, storage solutions, financial assistance, along with skilling and enabling countries to adopt solar.

It added: The ISA is an observer to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has been an active participant at Conference of Parties (COPs).

“To continue with ISA’s efforts at global outreach, the ISA Secretariat will participate in the forthcoming 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), to be held under the UK presidency, at Glasgow (Scotland) between November 1 and November 12, 2021.

PTI
TAGS: #COP26 #Green Grids Initiative #solar energy #UK #UN Climate Summit #United Nations
FIRST PUBLISHED: OCT 31, 2021 06:26 PM

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INDIA
COVID-19 vaccination drive needed to be taken door-to-door: PM Modi
MONEYCONTROL NEWS NOV 03, 2021 / 02:26 PM IST

Modi made the remarks at a meeting, held via video conferencing, with district magistrates of over 40 districts having low vaccination coverage.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Illustration: Moneycontrol)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asserted that the COVID-19 vaccination drive needed to be taken door-to-door and asked officials of districts having low inoculation to adopt innovative ways to boost the campaign.

Modi made the remarks at a meeting, held via video conferencing, with district magistrates of over 40 districts having low vaccination coverage.

Pointing out that he recently met Pope Francis at the Vatican City, the prime minister said special emphasis was needed on taking message of religious leaders spreading awareness and encouraging the vaccination drive to the people.

He urged the district officials to take the help of local religious leaders to spread awareness about COVID-19 vaccines and fight rumours. Modi stressed that there is a need to adopt innovative ways to increase vaccination in districts with low coverage.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions
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“So far you’ve been working to take people to vaccination centres, now it’s time to reach every house and work with ‘har ghar dastak’ campaign,” he said.

Ensure that the first dose is given to unvaccinated people, but also give equal attention to second dose, the prime minister told the officials. The districts in focus at the meeting were those with less than 50 per cent coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of vaccine.

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The 40 districts are spread across Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Meghalaya, among other states, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Chief ministers of the states, including Maharashtra’s Uddhav Thackrey and Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel, were present at the meeting. Prime Minister Modi held the meeting immediately upon his return from abroad after attending the G20 and the COP26 meetings.

(With PTI inputs)

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TAGS: #coronavirus #Covid-19 #Current Affairs #India #Narendra Modi #PM Modi
FIRST PUBLISHED: NOV 3, 2021 02:26 PM

 

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INDIA
Air quality in Delhi slips to ‘very poor’ as traders dodge cracker ban
MONEYCONTROL NEWS NOV 03, 2021 / 01:23 PM IST

Over 800 kg firecrackers were seized from central Delhi’s Sadar Bazaar, an official statement said on Tuesday.

Mixing height is the vertical height in which pollutants are suspended in the air. It reduces on cold days with calm wind speed.
Air quality in Delhi slipped to ‘very poor’ category making it the first time in this season due to unfavourable conditions for dispersion of pollutants, authorities said.

Stubble burning accounted for six percent of PM2.5 pollution in Delhi. The rest of the pollution is due to local sources, said Gufran Beig, the founder project director of SAFAR, a government framework for air quality forecasts. Stubble burning accounted for six percent of PM2.5 pollution in Delhi.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the capital recorded a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 303. It was 281 on Monday, 289 on Sunday, and 268 on Saturday. The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (306), Ghaziabad (334), and Noida (303) also recorded very poor air quality.

“It is (very poor air quality) a result of the accumulation of pollution from local sources due to low temperature and low mixing height, Beig said. “It is (very poor air quality) a result of the accumulation of pollution from local sources due to low temperature and low mixing height, Beig said.

Mixing height is the vertical height in which pollutants are suspended in the air. It reduces on cold days with calm wind speed.

Meanwhile, local sellers in Noida and Ghaziabad in the national capital region are delivering crackers on doorstep despite the ban across Delhi-NCR, a report in The Times of India said.

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Several traders in the industrial areas of Muradnagar and Loni in Ghaziabad and in stores in Nithari and Nevada in Noida, the report said adding that small traders are selling it by hiding them behind small Diwali decorations.

“The usual cracker market no longer exists. We also don’t order in bulk, like we did earlier from south India (Sivakasi). There are a few manufacturers in Loni who supply small quantities. Since crackers are not readily available in the market, customers are not very choosy about brands and quality,” a trader at Shahdara in Ghaziabad told the publication.

Over 800 kg firecrackers were seized from central Delhi’s Sadar Bazaar, an official statement said on Tuesday. According to the statement, the central district administration received information about the illegal sale of firecrackers in Sadar Bazaar following which a team of officials under the supervision of District Magistrate Akriti Sagar was constituted.

[Inputs from PTI]

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TAGS: #Air pollution #Delhi #Diwali #India
FIRST PUBLISHED: NOV 3, 2021 01:23 PM

 

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REAL ESTATE
COVID-19 realty: Your next office could be in a hotel or a shopping mall
NOV 03, 2021 / 02:23 PM IST

Here’s how commercial real estate spaces will be repurposed in a VUCA or volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world.

In many ways, the pandemic has accelerated the transition that was taking place in the commercial real estate space with advances in technology, growing need for healthcare, shift in attitudes and preferences of younger generations for hybrid workspaces that included work from anywhere and work from a co-working space.

With lessons learnt from the lockdowns imposed across the country, leading players have been actively seeking ways to diversify sources of revenue, pursue new digitally enabled business models and focus more on the tenant experience. Today, developers and business owners are increasingly focusing on building resilient and agile models in the commercial real estate industry by leveraging the adaptive reuse technique.

As we rethink office spaces, commercial spaces will shift to intentional and purpose-driven environments.

Hospitality converging with commercial real estate spaces

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions
View more
How does a vaccine work?
A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.
How many types of vaccines are there?
What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?
View more + Show
With the rise in the hybrid work model, lines between offices, event spaces, restaurants and gyms within commercial buildings are getting blurred, allowing these spaces to co-exist.

This change in the behavioural patterns of customers has accelerated the process of ‘hotelisation’ of commercial real estate with an aim to provide all amenities in one place. For example, a commercial real estate space such as a hotel property can have co-working spaces, cafes, spas and shopping centres.

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Amit Ramani
CONTRIBUTOR|MONEYCONTROL
In fact, integration of co-working spaces is a concept that is quickly gaining momentum in the hotel real estate space. Leading companies offering co-working spaces are partnering with hotels to cater to the discerning needs of today’s clients. Therefore, in my opinion, multi-services in a commercial space not only attracts a younger audience but provides huge opportunities for real estate owners to generate more revenue.

When workspaces and shopping come together

As commercial real estate leaders seek to redefine spaces, the impact of the retail revolution is seeping into offices to suit the dynamic lifestyle of today’s generation. With a gradual return to work, many developers are considering malls to set up co-working spaces. Shopping malls offer abundant parking space, several food and beverage choices and options for shopping for daily needs among others.

Co-working spaces within an office or a mall makes it easy to meet all requirements on a common platform. It is a much more convenient place to meet friends and get away from work pressure. Considering the new lifestyle we all have been adapted to, shopping malls will make a conducive bet for offices in the new normal.

Enabling return to work through on-ground health facilities

With health and safety taking centre stage, commercial real estate spaces have begun to incorporate health services to enable a smooth return to work. Apart from enabling health facilities on the ground, many office space owners are abiding by government rules and regulations that include timely sanitization of workstations, six-feet distance between workstations, daily temperature checks of employees, automation of systems to avoid surface contact, on-ground team for RTPCR tests, allowing only fully vaccinated people in the property, etc.

The desire to break out of the monotony of work-from-home and the need to venture out of familial surroundings is compelling commercial real estate developers to focus on creating spaces that offer a variety of services. Another trend is that of demand for commercial real estate picking up in Tier2 and 3 towns after the second wave of COVID-19.

As commercial real estate markets get ready for a post-pandemic recovery with the swift rollout of vaccines, I am certain that commercial real estate spaces will not just be confined to one particular activity but will follow a multipronged approach as work-from-home fatigue sets in and officegoers’ demand for variety and change goes up.

TAGS: #co-working #Covid-19 #hotels #malls #Real Estate
FIRST PUBLISHED: NOV 3, 2021 02:23 PM

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