The Thinker

Former BSE Chairman, Sethurathnam Ravi gives his views on how major sectors are impacted by the economy during the pandemic.  He talks on some of the critically affected sectors in India during the pandemic wave. According to Sethurathnam Ravi , the first major sector that was affected is the real estate and construction sector. It star ted facing disruption during the pandemic situation as a huge number of migrant workers left for their villages. This led to a lack of required laborers for both construction and housing projects in the states and urban areas. As a result, a delay in the completion of projects was observed. As per S. Ravi, the labor unions have confirmed that more than 2 lakh migrant laborers left Delhi NCR during the lockdown and returned to their hometowns every day. This means the construction sites were working with even less than 50% workers along with other disturbing situations like shortage of raw material, and much more. Even currently the sector remains ...

  LONDON: According to an exclusive Arab News-YouGov poll, the majority of people across the Middle East and North Africa do not seem to care very much about the war in Ukraine. Experts, however, say there are plenty of reasons why they should. “It does seem like it is taking place so far away,” said Abeer Etefa, the Cairo-based senior spokeswoman for the UN World Food Programme in the Middle East and North Africa. Read More : https://www.arabnews.com/node/2092891/middle-east

 The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) has introduced a ban on single-use plastic bags in the Emirate, which will be brought into effect tomorrow. However, certain bags have been exempted from the ban. The excluded bags are: Inspectors from EAD were trained on the new executive regulations regarding single-use plastic products and their alternatives in the Capital. Major retailers, shopping malls and pharmacies earlier told Khaleej Times that they are keen on supporting the government's policy and were looking at alternatives to single-use of plastic bags, which are more sustainable and eco-friendlier. Authorities in the Capital had earlier announced that the decision to ban single-use plastics was based on the Emirate's integrated single-use plastic policy that was introduced in 2020.

  The Middle East’s green hydrogen market is set for a major boom in the coming decades, estimated to reach $700 billion by 2050, according to a report by Arthur D Little. In its report titled ‘Paving the way for green hydrogen’, the global management consultancy explores the role green hydrogen will have in the future energy mix, concluding that green energy “can be a key technology to bridge decarbonization ambitions.” “Decarbonization is high on the world’s agenda and countries are actively seeking to lower emissions and transition to clean energy sources,” explained Carlo Stella, a partner at Arthur D Little  in Dubai.