National
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (SSB) for Science and Technology 2022
⇒ Dr. N Kalaiselvi, Secretary, DSIR and Director General, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) announced the winners of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize for the year 2022 in the presence of the Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh. Dr Jitendra Singh is also the Vice President of CSIR.
- The announcement was made at the inaugural event of ‘One Week One Lab’ programme of CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication & Policy Research (NIScPR) in New Delhi on 11 September 2023.
Winners of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (SSB) for Science and Technology 2022:
The prestigious SSB Prize for the year 2022 has been awarded to twelve leading scientists in the seven disciplines. Two scientists each have been awarded the prize for Biological, Chemical, Engineering, Mathematical and Physical Sciences respectively.
- Ashwani Kumar & Dr. Maddika Subba Reddy in Biological Sciences
- Akkattu T Biju & Debabrata Maiti in Chemical Sciences
- Dipti Ranjan Sahoo & Rajnish Kumar in Engineering Sciences
- Apoorva Khare & Neeraj Kayal in Mathematical Sciences
- Anindya Das & Basudeb Dasgupta in Physical Sciences
- Vimal Mishra in Earth Sciences, and
- Dipyaman Ganguli in Medical Sciences
List of Winners of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize 2022 (Official Link)
About Award:
Bhatnagar Award, each of the value of Rupees five lakh, are awarded annually for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in the following disciplines:
Biological Sciences; Chemical Sciences; Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences; Engineering Sciences; Mathematical Sciences; Medical Sciences; Physical Sciences
International
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced the launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA)
⇒ Creating history in the global energy sector, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced the launch of Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) on the sidelines of the G20 Summit on 10 September 2023.
- 19 countries and 12 international organisations have already agreed to join the alliance.
About GBA:
» GBA is an India-led Initiative to develop an alliance of Governments, International organizations and Industry to facilitate adoption of biofuels.
- Bringing together the biggest consumers and producers of biofuels to drive biofuels development and deployment, the initiative aims to position biofuels as a key to energy transition and contribute to jobs and economic growth.
- GBA will support worldwide development and deployment of sustainable biofuels by offering capacity-building exercises across the value chain, technical support for national programs and promoting policy lessons-sharing.
- It will facilitate mobilizing a virtual marketplace to assist industries, countries, ecosystem players and key stakeholders in mapping demand and supply, as well as connecting technology providers to end users.
- It will also facilitate development, adoption and implementation of internationally recognized standards, codes, sustainability principles and regulations to incentivize biofuels adoption and trade.
» The initiative will be beneficial for India at multiple fronts.
- GBA as a tangible outcome of the G20 presidency, will help strengthen India’s position globally.
- Moreover, the alliance will focus on collaboration and will provide additional opportunities to Indian industries in the form of exporting technology and exporting equipment.
- It will help accelerate India’s existing biofuels programs such as PM-JIVANYojna, SATAT, and GOBARdhan scheme, thereby contributing to increased farmers’ income, creating jobs and overall development of the Indian ecosystem.
- The global ethanol market was valued at USD 99.06 billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% by 2032 and surpass USD 162.12 billion by 2032.
- As per IEA, there will be 3.5-5x biofuels growth potential by 2050 due to Net Zero targets, creating a huge opportunity for India.
India-Saudi Arabia Investment Forum 2023
⇒ The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu received His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 11, 2023.
On the sidelines of the State Visit of the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to India, to participate in the Leaders’ Summit of the bilateral Strategic Partnership Council, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India and the Saudi Ministry of Investment organized an India-Saudi Arabia Investment Forum 2023 (“The Forum”) in New Delhi on 11 September 2023.
The Forum witnessed the attendance of more than 500 companies from India and Saudi Arabia. This was the first such formal investment symposium between India and Saudi Arabia. It was the follow-up to the announcement made, previously, by the Saudi Crown Prince to invest approximately $100 Billion in diverse sectors of the Indian economy.
Co-chaired by:
The Ministerial Session of the India-Saudi Investment Forum 2023 was co-chaired by the Union Minister Shri Piyush Goyal and the Minister of Investment, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Khalid A Al Falih.
Discussion:
- Jointly addressing the business gathering, the two Ministers discussed, inter-alia, ways and means of expanding bilateral collaboration in various domains including start-ups, digital infrastructure development, increasing collaboration between the business and investor ecosystems of the two countries including through closer cooperation between the Investment promotion agencies of the two countries and through setting up of investment promotion offices, encouragement of Saudi Sovereign Wealth Funds to consider direct investments into India in addition to the current inflow of investments through funds, and possibility of joint projects.
- Some of the other key outcomes during the Ministerial discussion included concurrence on fast-tracked realization of partnership opportunities identified under the Committee on Economy and Investments of the Strategic Partnership Council. The Ministers also outlined potential investment collaborations in the domains of food processing, logistics and infrastructure, healthcare, energy particularly renewable energy, skill development, space, ICT, start-ups particularly in the digital domain.
- The Forum also witnessed Presentations by Invest Saudi, Invest India, Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority of Saudi Arabia, GIFT City, IFSC (International Financial Services Centre), Saudi Ministry of Culture and the Film Commission, and National Center for Privatization, Saudi Arabia; in which showcased the abundant investment opportunities in both India and Saudi Arabia.
- Further, breakout sessions were conducted with the discussion centred on potential bilateral collaboration in the domains of: ICT & Entrepreneurship; Chemicals & Fertilizers; Energy & Sustainability; Advanced manufacturing; and Food security.
» Earlier in the day, more than 45 Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) were concluded between the two sides, in G2B and B2B formats.
- These MoUs are expected to further deepen the economic engagement between the two sides and are also likely to accelerate investment flows between the two sides.
Important Day
1st International Day of Police Cooperation 2023
⇒ The first International Day of Police Cooperation has been observed on 07 September 2023.
- Every year 7 September has been designated to celebrate ‘International Day of Police Cooperation’.
- This day recognizes the essential work of the world’s law enforcement community in global security.
Theme:
The theme of the inaugural International Day of Police Cooperation 2023 was “Women in Policing”.
History:
- On December 16, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly during its 77th session, adopted a historic resolution (RES/77/241) to designate 7th September as the International Day of Police Cooperation.
- The resolution emphasizes ‘the need to strengthen international cooperation at the global, regional and sub-regional levels in various areas related to preventing and combating transnational crime, in particular transnational organized crime, and preventing and countering terrorism.’
- The selected date for annual observance on 7th September, coincides with the date when INTERPOL’s predecessor the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) was created in 7 September 1923.
» INTERPOL observed its Centenary year in 2023 and is the world’s largest police organization with 195 member countries.